# Tappan Lake report 05-29-07



## "EYE" DOCTOR (Apr 16, 2005)

Caught 3 keepers and a couple of short saugeye. Also caught some bass,whitebass, crappie, and bluegill. Fishing was a little slow and by the time i ran down a pattern it was time to leave. The fish are getting bigger but they are still on the move. Water temp was from 72 degrees to 76 degrees with about 2 feet of visibility. Might get out again Thursday. The center windshield busted out of the boat while driving down 250 so ill have to fix that first.


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## Rec (Mar 27, 2006)

"Eye" Dr. - I've been reading your posts for the past couple months. My father just bought his retirement home on Tappan (Lower Beaver Dam Bay) and I'm trying to figure out the saugeye fishing pattern there. I'm use to fishing Alum and Hoover where the points and flats are the ticket. However, with Tappan's steep banks there doesn't seem to be many points or flats. Am I missing something or is there a different pattern there. Any input would be greatly appreciated. And I hope you can tell that I'm not asking for your hot spots just general techniques at Tappan. Thanks and I enjoy reading your Tappan reports.


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## "EYE" DOCTOR (Apr 16, 2005)

This is one of those "it depends" answers but it should help. On small local lakes I break the water into 3 or 4 sections. Knowing that Saugeye are migrational tells me which 1/3 or 1/4 of the lake they will be using at certain times of the year. Example: Split Tappan into 3 parts. Spring will find them in the shallowest 1/3. As the water warms and the spawn ends the fish will move into the middle 1/3. Towards late summer the fish will move into the deepest 1/3. This is oversimplified because Saugeye can be caught in the entire lake year round. This will give you a starting point to find the most and most active saugeye in a given body of water. 
Once youve chosen the section of lake to start in you need to look at the weather and water conditions.Example: If its a bright sunny day and youre at Piedmont with 6 feet of water visibility you wont catch many fish shallow. At Tappan on the same day with 2 feet of visibility the shallow bite could be very good. Weather related starting points are a bit tougher to nail down. I split this into 3 parts as well. The day after a storm = coldfront. The days following = stable. The day of the storm = up and down. The affect on the fish will vary with the intensity of the weather so it pays to be flexable. When fishing the cold front I start with inside bends. The fish will normally be on the deepest edge of the structure. In stable weather ill start with points and bays and the fish will be lightly scattered along them. On the up and down day Ill start with flats and when the fish are active they should be spread over the entire flat and fairly shallow. As the up turns to down "during and after the weather front moves through" the fish will back off of the structure onto its deepwater edges.
Choosing a color depends on all of the above. In the spring ill start with natrual minnow colors such as silver, gold, white, shad ect. As the water warms and the fish switch to worms ill start with colors like orange, yellow, green ect. In the fall when the fish change back to minnows and shad i switch back as well only ill start with bigger baits. On cold fronts ill start with lighter shades and more natural looking baits. On stable conditions ill start with something in the mid-range. On up and down ill start with something pretty bright and slowly change out to naturals.
These are just general guidelines to start the day and you will have to adapt to what the fish are telling you. Sometimes this system will put your right on top of the fish first thing. Most times it will get you close enough to work out an early pattern. Once in a while it will fail miserably but not often.
The "hot spots" and "hot lures" change constantly so even if i told you to go there and do that it wouldnt work most of the time unless im on the lake and catching fish when you ask.
Corey at Cripple Creek definately knows his stuff and he can get you close. If you stop to ask him its always a good idea to buy some lures and or bait. Its a small price to pay for the information and it helps to keep a valuable resource up and running.
That being said i normaly prefer to start out on my own. The bait shop is a good resource but alot of times they are only able to tell you where the fish were. You need to know were the fish are. The best way to find the fish is to go find them. Sometimes ill locate an even better bite than everyone else and sometimes i fail miserably. The key here is to stock the freezer when youre right and when youre wrong learn why your wrong and apply those lessons to the next trip.


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## chopper (May 15, 2004)

Hey Eye Doc, I am going to bass fish Tappen Sat. Do you have any ideas on that? Is there any pads or weeds anywhere? I think that I should work the shallow end, what do you think?


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## "EYE" DOCTOR (Apr 16, 2005)

There are a good number of lily pads on the shallow side of the gasline. The weeds that ive found are up to about 10 inches high. There were some big severe thunderstorms out by the lake last night with more possible tonight so that will be a factor. I dont know if the bass are spawning or recovering right now because ive been focused on saugeye. I havent been catching any big bass in the deeper sections while saugeye fishing just small ones so the shallow end would be a good starting point. This time of year the entire shallow section of the lake is a no wake zone. It takes forever to eliminate structure but it gets you away from the ski boats.


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## TClark (Apr 20, 2007)

Great posts "EYE" DOCTOR!!!


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