Fished a Cook County Forest Preserve Lake this morning from sun-up til about 11 and caught a total of 6 largemouth. Got started fishing a northern riprap bank where ...more there were balls of 3"- 4" shad spawning; so I tied on a 3/8oz white buzzbait with a white/green buzztoad in-place of the skirt and caught 3 fish from 6:30ish til 8ish. Fish were suspended up-high in the water column just like the bait I was seeing in the water and on my electronics; all 3 strikes came on the end of a long cast and within a few cranks of the reel handle. Biggest fish was 2.5lbs or so and they were all well fed (no marks from the spawn...). Riprap made a 45 degree drop into about 5 feet of water and flattened out to scattered rock; all bites came over the drop and not over the flat. Made a 200 yard move to an adjacent 3-5ft flat with scattered Milfoil and starting chunking a 1/4oz white swimjig with a 4" black Chigger Craw trailer. Moved around the area a bit and finally got a bite around the thicker clumps of scattered grass in 4ft of water. Stayed in the area for a few more hours landing 2 more fish with the biggest going 3lbs or so (spawned out female - big head, skinny belly). I wanted to break out the flipping stick and work the thicker clumps with the sun shining, but life's inconvenient responsibilities were calling (wind was tough anyway).

Peace

Conditions: Water 68-71 degrees; stained with about 1ft of visibility; wind SW at 15mph

Tackle:
Buzzbait (Strike King Tour Grade - 3/8oz) - 7'0" MH Duckett Micro-Magic Pro paired with a Shimano Casitas 7:2:1 spooled with 40lb Daiwa J-8 braid (I use either 40-50lb Daiwa or Sufix braid or 20-25lb Sufix Siege or P-Line CXX monofilament with cover/wind being the deciding factors).
Swimjig (Boss Outdoors - black head) - 7'1" MH Duckett White Ice II paired with a Shimano Citica I Series 7:2:1 spooled with 40lb Sufix 832 in chartreuse color (I can see it better than green). I only use fluorocarbon when the bite is tough (but only as a leader).