JUNE 29th

John, Brad, & I camped on the East Shore Campground the night of the 28th. I woke up at 6:30 hopped in the boat and headed towards the dam. I tried to get Brad up and going but he was just too tired from the 2 days previous camping/fishing/drinking adventures, so I went alone. It was cool and overcast and the lake was unusually quiet for a Sunday morning. I fished with worms and a float. I didn't get a lot of hits like but the fish I did catch were big gills. I caught 6 of the first 7 on a downed tree limb coming out of the 1st cove across from route 20. Those 6 were as big as any blue gills I have ever caught at Bluestone. They all had bull heads, good thickness, and fought well. I fished for 2 more hours and ended up catching 21 total, a slow day by bluegill standards. I did however catch 10 gills that were of really good quality size.

JUNE 26th

Dad & I fished Bluestone Lake from 7am till 12pm. We bass fished for 2 hour then bluegill fished the rest. I caugtht 5 small bass and Dad caught 1 on crankbaits fishing the pit bank and the Hoche Minn Trail area. We used fly pole with flies and worms with bobbers blugill fishing. Dad caught 23 bluegills and I caught 30 of varying sizes. There were a lot of people on the water and the fish seemed pretty lethargic. The bluegills didn't even seem like there usual selves, they would hit but not very well and you had to work for the fish you got.

JUNE 20th

Greg & I bass fished the lake from 5:15am until 12pm. We caught 10 bass each of which only 4 or so had much size. We had the most luck on Lucky Craft Ghost minnow crankbaits. Despite throwing one a ton I didn't catch any fish on flukes. I did have 4 smaller fish strike at it but I had no takers. Most of the fish we caught were on the pit bank stacked up in one section from the main point down towards the dam. There were many people out on the lake and the seasonal fishing pressure on both the lake and the rivers is really starting to pick up, especially on Friday and Saturday. On our way back it we spotted Dad set up on the bank fighting for carp. He caught 2 that were 27 inches, one was ~ 10lbs and the other was ~ 8 lbs. Dad also lost one more good sized carp after a long fight before giving it up for the day. He also had several other hits were the carp didn't fully take or stole the dough ball bait. But as carp fishing has been going on Bluestone this spring/summer he had a pretty outstanding day especially when you consider the amount of traffic on the lake. Although he didn't see carp jumping everywhere as you often do, they were feeding heavily in that area on that day.

JUNE 17th

Brad & I started bluegill fishing beside the dam on a sunny afternoon around 5pm. Using worms and a bobber we fished from the dam down to just above the east shore campground. I caught 30 bluegills and 5 bass. One of which was an 18 inch fish that weight a little over 2lbs, the picture didn't take though because the memory stick wasn't pushed in all the way. Brad caught 35 bluegills and a redeye. We then went down and tried to cranked the pits. I caught a 12 inch bass on a grave digger right away and Brad hooked and lost a bass on a red 300 series Bandit crawfish crankbait. Because the pit was so crowded we decided to head down the the triangle rock and fish. I caught 2 more bass down there on a fluke, one smallmouth and the largemouth in the picture that measured 14 inches. In roughly 3 hours we caught over 70 total fish and 6 bass including 3 bass over 12 inches.

JUNE 16th

Dad and I started bass fishing on Bluestone lake around 5:45am. Dad caught 2 spotted bass and I caught 3 bass on the pit bank with a grave digger crankbait. We then headed up to the fridge rock and fished up about 500 yards. I missed 3 smaller fish with a fluke and otherwise we had no success in a place that usually generates some fish. We headed over to the cliffs and fished. I caught one more smallmouth and a small largemouth on a grave digger and then we headed back down and re cranked the pits with no luck. We switched gears and headed up the bluestone river behind the pool and started carp fishing. We fished for carp from 9am until 11am having only one bite and no hook ups. At 11 we headed back home because it was getting hot. We caught 7 bass but they were all fairly small, the biggest being a 12 inch smallmouth.

JUNE 6th

Dad & I started fishing Bluestone lake on a hot one. It went from 70 to 90 degrees by 10 am. We caught all of our fish before 9:30am. We fished from 6am until 11am, but all the action was early in the shade before it got hot. I missed several fish off the pits and caught one smaller black crappie. We then got on a pretty good pod of fish above the fridge rock. I caught 5 LMB's up there a bluegill and a white crappie. Dad caught 2 nice sized largemouth bass. Dad also hooked and lost really good bass on a Zara Puppy. That fish was ~ 3 to 4 lbs, it hit on his first cast and only about the second twitch. I believe had that plug had a little bigger hooks he would have got that one. Before it got off it had a couple of really pretty jumps right in front of the boat.

JUNE 3rd

Dad & I fished Bluestone from 6am till 12pm. We started off bass fishing. From 9 till 12 we anchored below bertha and tried carp fishing. I caught 4 small bass on a grave digger crankbait off the bit bank and 1 more bass along with a 2 bluegills and redeye above the cliffs on the left. We had no luck what so ever with the carp. In three hours and moving the boat to three different place without even getting a bite. We tried Uncle Josh's carp bait, the usual homemade carp bait, berkely carp bait, night crawlers, and even trout power bait. We saw some several carp all around us, but they just wouldn't hit. We even tried chumming them up with a can of hominy. The chumming definitely got them stirred up but it didn't help us get any hits.

JUNE 2nd

Brad, Dad, & I started fishing Bluestone lake around 4pm. I caught 3 spotted bass and a spot off the pit bank with a grave digger crankbait. We headed up to the fridge rock and continued bass fishing. I caught a nice largemouth on a fluke right off. It was 17 inches long and was up shallow when he hit. Brad caught a redeye on a grave digger as well. We started bluegill fishing with nightcrawlers. We had mixed results. We caught a few here and there with mixed results. We were missing a lot of hits, catching a few fish, but the bluegills definitely weren't in full swing yet. Brad caught 20 or so bluegills and I caught 16. We caught a couple of bluegills that were pretty good sized. We recranked the pit bank just before dark. I caught one more spot and a bluegill off the pit bank with a grave digger before called it quits. The water temp was between 72 and 76 degrees.

JUNE 1st

Brad & I started fishing in the New River below the dam at 6:15am on a cloudy Sunday morning. When we arrived at 6am there were already ~12 other fishermen hard at it. We waded from just below the tail waters down to Jimmy Dillon's house. Brad threw in-line Elite spinners that he had made and I threw a Yo-Zuri Pinn's minnow. It rained lightly for a little while but the wind never blew much. Brad caught 25 small mouth bass. I caught 52 total fish including one bluegill, one spotted bass, and the rest were smallmouths. We caught 77 fish in less than 3 hours, all but about 5 of which were smallmouths less than 8 inches in length. I caught 1 fish over 10 inches and Brad caught 4 or so that were well over 10 inches.