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Post by themadone on Sept 28, 2015 10:55:13 GMT -5
I usually go to Chambers with an ultralight spinning outfit, hunting for panfish to fight. The last two Saturdays I tried a bit of a different tactic and went to the lake with my trusty 3WT. The first Saturday(the 19th) I fished almost exclusively dry flies and had some success with Sunnies and a few small Crappie. It was very foggy, so conditions for topwaters wasn't ideal. This last Saturday(the 26th) I worked nyphs from the dam up to the far end of the wading jetty. Had very limited action until I got up toward the end of the jetty, then I landed several good sized Sunnies and a few Perch. On my way back to the parking lot I tied on a streamer that was almost to large for the 3WT to cast properly and managed to hook into a small Bass, maybe 10 inches or so. Let me tell you, that little guy felt like Jaws on that ultralight rod! I think with a bit less wind I would have had more luck. All told, I think I'll be back with the fly rod soon and see if I can get another Bass on.
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Post by bassfever on Sept 29, 2015 3:58:14 GMT -5
You have sparked my interest, maybe I'll have to get the fly rod out again.
What is the water level like at Chambers?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2015 7:23:57 GMT -5
Last I heard the lake level is down over 6'. I was told that the dock is completely out of the water now and could be very difficult to get certain types of boats in the lake? If you have a small aluminum or john boat etc you would be fine but a bass boat or something larger might not make it. With all of the rain forecast though over the next few days maybe it'll help put a little bit of water back in there though.
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Post by themadone on Sept 29, 2015 8:24:35 GMT -5
Water level is very low, though I would dispute the 6' claim. I was able to walk on the wading jetty and stay dry, but any more than about half a foot of water would see the whole thing back under.
It does make it tricky to fish as normal shore cover like weeds are non-existent. The dock is grounded, and I wouldn't want to try launching anything with a deep draft. I wonder how the reservoir looks? If it's low as well, that would open up quite a bit of usually impossible to access shoreline.
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Post by wader105 on Sept 29, 2015 14:27:30 GMT -5
i'm embarrassed to say i've never fished chambers. is it wade-friendly? and, if so, where's a good location to start?
mad1 - i'm a big fan of UL spinning, too. i've been thinking about getting a 3wt fly rod. what maker is your 3wt and are you happy with it?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2015 14:58:21 GMT -5
The 6' low was only something I heard; last time I was down there; about three weeks ago I would honestly say it was down at least 4 feet at that time. As far as Chambers being "wade-friendly"; my guess would be not really? I have only fished the lake by boat so I dont know for sure though. I do see people wading the foundation quite a bit and also a little down from there; but I'm not sure there are a whole lot of other spots beside that to wade in.
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Post by themadone on Sept 29, 2015 15:06:46 GMT -5
Chambers is very wade-friendly. And just friendly in general. It doesn't seem to get many of the...less sporting water users, like the kayakers you get on marsh creek who think bobbers are those things that you HAVE to hit as you go by, being sure to splash as much as possible.
As for my rod, I'll admit that in a moment of weakness I bought an Orvis product. The Access 8'4" 3WT, to be exact. I got it for half price when they were dumping them to make way for the Recon series. It's a sweet rod, feels like it's probably actually a 4WT, but that lets me sling more line/heavier flies so I'm not gonna complain. I currently have it paired with Bass Pro's ultralight click Paw reel, but there's a Wychwood sitting here waiting for me to spool it up. I have Rio Trout Weight forward on the Bass Pro, and will use the same on the Wychwood.
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Post by Harry Miles on Sept 29, 2015 15:10:53 GMT -5
You can walk almost all the way around the shoreline of the entire lake. Its gotta be down close to 6'. The ranger said they've been letting water out to keep the c'ville res. full. If it gets any lower, the water will start beyond the dock at the launch. As of last weekend it was almost in line with it.
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Post by wader105 on Sept 29, 2015 16:32:24 GMT -5
thanks for the wade info. sounds like i'll check out chambers before the hard water season starts.
mad1 - i'm currently using an orvis frequent flyer 5wt and absolutely love it. still on the fence on moving down to 3wt because i mainly throw streamers and like the extra backbone when the wind is kicking up. tx for sharing and i hear ya loud n clear on the Marsh Creek yakkers. i've been fishing scots run and hopewell the past month or so and am sad to remember that MC had water that clear not so long ago.
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Post by themadone on Sept 29, 2015 17:46:57 GMT -5
I suppose that's a choice we each have to make. I just went to a 3wt this year. I was very nervous that it would be impossible to cast any distance. After a few trips to the local creek, I felt that, while not as good a a 5wt, the 3wt cast long enough for 99% of the fishing I do.
Chambers was very windy last Saturday, but I made a choice to leave the 5wt in the car, because while I could have probably caught more fish with it, being better able to cast through the wind, I wouldn't have had nearly as much fun per fish. That's why I always try to go as light as is safe, both for the fish and the gear. A good 3wt will hold up to a decent bass, and hopefully play them in fast enough to return them unharmed, but let them put up enough of a fight to put a smile on my face. I never understood the guys who go out for stocked trout with 8 or 10 pound test rigs. Where's the fun? The uncertainty? The finesse?
And yeah, I freely admit I skunked several (dozen) casts on Saturday. The wind would just grab the line and throw it into a pile at the end of the rod. It got so bad at times that I started using the direction of the wind to determine the direction of the next cast, to the point I was casting at nearly 90 degrees from where I was standing.
As for a good spot to start wading, with the lake so low, either end of the road that goes into the lake would be a good place to start. One end is right next to the boat launch, the other is at the north end of the lake. I recommend google mapping the lake for that one, as actually getting to where it starts can be a little tricky. Really, that whole northern area is a nice flat when the lake is full, I'd guess about 3ish feet of water out to about 10 feet from the shore, but I've not been up there since mid-July or so, so I don't know what it looks like now.
When the water comes back up there's the wading jetty, as well as the area to the south of the dock.
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Post by wader105 on Sept 29, 2015 19:17:16 GMT -5
mad1
excellent intel - will def check it out after the monsoon. many tx, brother.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2015 14:57:42 GMT -5
Quick question Mad1; how is the size on the gils' you are catching? I only fish for Bass at Chambers but I wouldn't mind bringing along the UL spinning combo and throwing on a few Gulp baits to try and catch a few. I have found that they can really turn around a so-so day on the water. A recent trip at another body of water the Bass wouldn't cooperate so I picked up the UL and the Gulp Baits and caught well over 50 hand-sized sunnies. That wasn't my first choice of fish for the day but I ended up having an AWESOME time catching them on the 4'-8" UL spinning combo with 4lb test.
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Post by wader105 on Sept 30, 2015 16:00:01 GMT -5
so, when i saw there was a break in the weather today, i had to give chambers a shot. spent about 2 hours fishing from the shore left and right of the ramp on wagontown rd. caught 3 smallies (one under, two over a pound) jigging a neon chart curly tail. just before cutting out i pulled in a 2 pound LMB on a top water. water was churned up/muddy, real choppy with heavy wind - forecast said 12 mph, but felt like 20. a little challenging, but an excellent day all in all.
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Post by themadone on Sept 30, 2015 20:12:49 GMT -5
Quick question Mad1; how is the size on the gils' you are catching? I only fish for Bass at Chambers but I wouldn't mind bringing along the UL spinning combo and throwing on a few Gulp baits to try and catch a few. I have found that they can really turn around a so-so day on the water. A recent trip at another body of water the Bass wouldn't cooperate so I picked up the UL and the Gulp Baits and caught well over 50 hand-sized sunnies. That wasn't my first choice of fish for the day but I ended up having an AWESOME time catching them on the 4'-8" UL spinning combo with 4lb test. Chambers is a Panfish special regs zone, I think Sunnies/Bluegills have to be 7" with Crappie and Perch needing to be 9" for harvest. This has lead to a nice abundance of chunky "almost" sized fish. |
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Post by duratechfa on Oct 1, 2015 18:23:54 GMT -5
Panfish are pretty much all I target at Chambers. My kids and I have gotten pretty good at catching the legal size fish there. I've done well there with a fly rod as well. I like to pick a breezy day and drift a long line with a wooly bugger with an occasional twitch
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