# Camp Ernst Lake 5/10/13: Subtle changes



## BassAddict83 (Sep 21, 2010)

I didn't have a lot of time to fish this morning so instead of heading up to the LMR again I just hit Camp Ernst Lake since its so close to my house. This lake has a terrible reputation for being over-pressured and fished out. If you've ever driven by it during the evening or weekends it's very easy to see why it has such a reputation. Cars and people line the banks as if waiting for a parade to go by. BUT with limited time, I had to play the hand I was delt and figure out how to catch some bass. 

I took my kayak, tackle bag, a medium action rod, an ultra light rod, and thankfully a net.

It was about 6:30am when I showed up to the lake. I had the entire place to myself. The sun hadn't fully come up yet and there was decent cloud cover. The water clarity was pretty good but with the lack of light I knew I needed to tie on something very visible. I needed something bright, something flashy, something that was going to make a lot of comotion. I dug through my tackle bag and found my Berkley minnow kit. I pulled out a white and chartreuse minnow and rigged it on an 1/8oz black jig head. I'm a firm believer that black works just as well if not better than bright colors in low light conditions. Then I took that and rigged it on a gold spinner just like a beetle spin. This thing was sure to be deadly. 









(Do not pay attention to how jacked up the head of the minnow looks. This one had been eaten a few times and was getting torn up. Normally you wouldn't see that little part of the jig head)

I paddled across the lake where there are a couple coves. Just knowing that it's spring time and the spawn is going to play a major role in where the fish are right now I knew I needed to find shallow water with structure and cover. One of the best places to find that is on the points of coves and pockets. I immediately started hooking up with fish. 



















At one point I threw my minnow lure out near some weeds that were sticking out of the water a little deeper into the cove to see if anything might be hiding back there. I was using my 4.5 ft. ultra light rod and cranking it back to me when my lure got SLAMMED!!! I set the hook as hard as I could (BassMaster style for those who have fished with me haha). Even with that though I was afraid that it still wasn't enough with this flimsy little rod. I quickly loosened up my drag so whatever this was wouldn't snap my 6lb line. I battled this fish for what seemed like an hour but was probably only about 5 mins before I got it to come up to the surface and realized it was a nice channel cat! I'm a bass guy 100% but I always love when a good catfish hits an artificial lure. They fight like mad men! I finally got it close enough to the kayak, grabbed the net, and scooped it up.



















That thing put up an amazing fight! Measured at 23 inches. I didn't weight it but I'd say it was probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 lbs. I know for you regular catfish guys thats nothing but on a kayak with an ultra light rod that was awesome! Especially after fighting a few 10" largemouth....

After I thanked Mr. Catfish for such an enjoyable fight I let him go and threw my lure back out to the same spot. I hooked up with another little largemouth but after it's second jump it spit my lure back at me and swam free. 

Then the bite stopped. My pattern wasn't working anymore. I knew the fish wouldn't have gone anywhere because its spawning time. They'd still be there but for some reason they weren't biting. By this time the sun had come up a little bit and there was a lot more visibility. I figured the white and chartreuse minnow was just too much now. It was no longer an issue of visibility. Now it was that the white and chartreuse didn't look like anything they'd want to eat. I got my kit back out and found something a lot more natural looking. 










Just that subtle change was all it took to start catching fish again. I still casted to the same types of areas (points of pockets and coves and weeds near the bank) and kept the same slow steady retreive. 










I even hooked up with a hungy bluegill who engulfed my bait so deep the hook came out of its eye. 










After I did surgery on that little guy and let him go a couple ducks swam about 5 ft. from my kayak. I thought to myself, "I bet if OldStinkyGuy was here with me he'd be able to get these things to come close enough so that I could pet one".










And finally as I was heading back to the boat ramp to take out and call it a day, I got one more. This ended up being the biggest bass of the day at 13". 










So after two hours in the yak I had 7 largemouth ranging from 8"-13", one bluegill, and one 23" channel cat. No monster bass but definitley a fun morning!


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## deltaoscar (Apr 4, 2009)

Great information. Great report. A+.

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## thedudeabides (Apr 13, 2009)

Nice work bassaddict83. Probably not many put kayaks in that lake. 

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## ARReflections (Jan 7, 2011)

Great report ba. Try a hopper and nymph on the fly rod. There are some good size gills that will make a light weight outfit a blast. Will have to connect next time I am there.


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## BassAddict83 (Sep 21, 2010)

ARReflections said:


> Great report ba. Try a hopper and nymph on the fly rod. There are some good size gills that will make a light weight outfit a blast. Will have to connect next time I am there.


I wanted to bring the fly rod but I first need to rig a rod holder for it on the yak. The ones I have on it now will only fit the long handles of spinning rods. I'll figure it out though. Definitely let me know next time you're there. I also found another lake we can hit about 10 mins away from CEL. It's got some monster gills and plenty of room to fly fish!

Dude-- now that you mention it I don't think I've ever seen another yak out on CEL. I've seen plenty of Jon boats and even a couple bass boats. It's a Great Lake for a yak. Nice and calm and not too big.


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## GMR_Guy (Apr 10, 2004)

It looks like you had a good morning with plenty of action, which is not an easy thing to do on a pressured water.

I fish for carp and I am always on the lookout for new waters. Does this lake contain any carp?


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## BassAddict83 (Sep 21, 2010)

Yes there is a decent carp population at CEL. They were jumping all over the place while I was out. 

If you're looking for Carp waters in KY try a lake named Doe Run Lake. It's not far off of 275 in Kenton County. The carp are PLENTIFUL in that lake to say the least. I've fished for them many times there and done really well just using corn. If you haven't already you should check it out. I hope to get one of those bad boys on the fly this year.


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## Matulemj (May 29, 2012)

BassAddict83 said:


> Yes there is a decent carp population at CEL. They were jumping all over the place while I was out.
> 
> If you're looking for Carp waters in KY try a lake named Doe Run Lake. It's not far off of 275 in Kenton County. The carp are PLENTIFUL in that lake to say the least. I've fished for them many times there and done really well just using corn. If you haven't already you should check it out. I hope to get one of those bad boys on the fly this year.


A carp...jumped?


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## BassAddict83 (Sep 21, 2010)

Matulemj said:


> A carp...jumped?
> 
> 
> Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


Many. It was as if I was Mother Nature was whispering a poetic masterpiece ever so softly in my ear the whole time I fished. It was beautiful.


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## inrll (Apr 6, 2012)

BassAddict83 said:


> I wanted to bring the fly rod but I first need to rig a rod holder for it on the yak. The ones I have on it now will only fit the long handles of spinning rods. I'll figure it out though. Definitely let me know next time you're there. I also found another lake we can hit about 10 mins away from CEL. It's got some monster gills and plenty of room to fly fish!
> 
> Dude-- now that you mention it I don't think I've ever seen another yak out on CEL. I've seen plenty of Jon boats and even a couple bass boats. It's a Great Lake for a yak. Nice and calm and not too big.


I'm surprised I've never seen you out there. I went quite a bit last year and a few times this year cleaning up on the rainbows. The bass are usually pretty cooperative out there too! Biggest I've ever caught out there though was an extremely skinny 15incher.


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## BassAddict83 (Sep 21, 2010)

inrll said:


> I'm surprised I've never seen you out there. I went quite a bit last year and a few times this year cleaning up on the rainbows. The bass are usually pretty cooperative out there too! Biggest I've ever caught out there though was an extremely skinny 15incher.


I honestly don't fish that lake much. It's just a back-up plan if the creeks and rivers are blown out. I do ok with the bass there. Ive caught a few 3 and 4 lbers out of there. Never from the bank though. They've all come from a boat or yak. Me and one of my buddies took his raft out there earlier this year and I ended up hooking into the biggest rainbow of my life! 










I called the KDFW and asked what the chances are a trout could survive thru the summer and live on to the next winter in that lake. The lady I talked to said nearly impossible. She said there was a very small chance but she highly doubted it was a second year fish and it was most likely an accident that that fish made it into the truck when the lake was stocked. That thing fought like crazy though!


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## inrll (Apr 6, 2012)

Whoa! That thing is twice the size of any rainbow I've ever seen come out of there. Nice one man!
That lake has always been my back up spot too. Its also a good one to take my kids out on.


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## Nubes (Dec 3, 2012)

its small but they stock the sh** out of it...seems most people fish live bait in that lake. All the bass are generally the size you show in your pics. I used to fish this lake when I was younger and have only had my kayak out in it once and did fairly good. Ive seen people catch more snapping turtles than fish before. I assume theres a lot of snappers in that lake because of the easy pickings with so many people buying minnows up at the corner store??


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## BassAddict83 (Sep 21, 2010)

Nubes said:


> so many people buying minnows up at the corner store??


That corner store is no longer there. It was torn down a little while ago. A year maybe??? I work with a guy who's father is a Boone County Sherriff and he said the nice old woman who owned/worked it was murdered. I was sad to hear that. She was always so nice and would always talk to my kids and tell them how adorable they were. Now it's just an empty lot on the corner. Very sad.


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## Nubes (Dec 3, 2012)

BassAddict83 said:


> That corner store is no longer there. It was torn down a little while ago. A year maybe??? I work with a guy who's father is a Boone County Sherriff and he said the nice old woman who owned/worked it was murdered. I was sad to hear that. She was always so nice and would always talk to my kids and tell them how adorable they were. Now it's just an empty lot on the corner. Very sad.


that is sad...We used to buy minnows from that store all the time when I was younger!


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