Hey everyone, Captain Anthony Awgul the Lake Nockamixon fishing guide here! As part of my mission to help people catch more and bigger bass, I post free Nockamixon fishing reports at the beginning of each month from April through November as I guide on this lake full-time 5-7 days per week. Also, if you're interested in extra detailed weekly Nockamixon fishing reports and monthly livestreamed Nockamixon fishing seminars, be sure to subscribe to my, "Nockamixon Fishing School" by visiting www.awgulfishing.com/nockamixonfishingschool
August 2024 has seen various conditions and temperatures throughout the month. This changed the fish's patterns and made fishing a little more difficult than usual out there. We ended August 2024 with 5 bass over 5 pounds and 1 giant bass over 6 pounds. We averaged 2-5 bass per guided fishing trip (An average of 4-15 fish per day after 2-3 trips in a day) with the averaged sized bass ranging from 1-2 pounds this past month.
Coming out of an extremely warm July, water temperatures in August started around 80 degrees. Towards the middle/end of the month, water temperatures dropped into the low/mid 70's with an unusual cold snap. With the warmer weather at the end of the month, temperatures are now stabilizing in the upper 70's.
Historically, falling water temperatures during the summertime usually means tougher bass fishing conditions. This was exactly the case for me when the water temperatures plummeted with the cold snap. In the beginning of the month, we were averaging 3-6 bass per trip, but during the cold snap we were only averaging 2-4 bass per trip (And the fishing felt noticeably tougher than usual). As temperatures came back up towards the end of the month, our average quantity shot back up to 5-10 fish per trip.
I'm excited to report that after the unusual disappearance of the milfoil grass around the lake in the beginning of summer, the milfoil is finally growing back in very thick! At the end of the month now, thick mats of milfoil grass can be found all around the lake and scattered patches of grass are continuing to grow in nicely.
I originally predicted that when the milfoil grass grew back, the bass would push up into it immediately to feed. However, this generally has not been the case in August. Despite beautiful and thick milfoil grass growing in all around the lake, we only caught a couple handfuls of fish in this type of vegetation last month. As far as catching bass in vegetation in August, the lily pads have still been key. Most of our fish in vegetation have either been caught on a 4" Awgul Fishing Clumsy Craw, a 5" Awgul Fishing Silly Stick, or an Awgul Fishing Freaky Frog. We also had some fish caught on the Awgul Fishing Alive Spinnerbait throughout the month.
Despite the healthy vegetation growing back, our average catch rate in shallow vegetation in August was significantly less than it was in the earlier summer months. This has caused us to spend more time offshore and/or in deeper water with various types of cover & structure such as bluff walls, laydowns, rip rap, ledges, points, road beds, and submerged man-made structures. The 1/2 oz Awgul Fishing Compact Jig has been one of our top producing baits in these situations, followed by a 3" Awgul Fishing Finesse Fry rigged on an 1/8 oz jig head. The Awgul Fishing Jolly Jerkbait also produced some results around offshore structures.
Everyday, we'd catch fish on multiple baits in multiple types of spots throughout the day. There seemed to be minimal consistency in the bite throughout the month. The best way to describe our fishing techniques this past month has been, "junk fishing." This is an approach that simply refers to capitalizing on inconsistent patterns by covering as much water as possible while hitting as many high-percentage spots as possible with various effective baits and presentations.
There was a noticeable decrease to our average size of bass caught this past month. Historically, the month of August has usually proved to be a big bass month! Last year, we caught several largemouth bass over 7 lbs in August and handfuls of bass over 6 lbs. However this August, we didn't catch any giant bass over 7 pounds. This has been our first month without a 7+ lb bass so far this year (We're currently sitting at 6 bass over 7 pounds for 2024). I usually preach that we catch more bass over 2.5 lbs than under 2.5 lbs on Lake Nockamixon, but that wasn't the case this past month. I've never caught so many bass under 2 lbs on Lake Nockamixon. The state did report earlier this year that the population of juvenile bass has increased (Which is supposedly a good sign for the future health of the bass population in the lake). We also saw some smallmouth bass throughout the month. This is likely due to the fact that we've spent more time fishing deeper water and offshore structure this month.
The temperature outlook for the next month looks mild and pretty consistent. I expect to see water temperatures settle in the mid to low 70's in September. A lot of locals have been complaining about the lake feeling a little "off" this summer and I tend to agree. However, I'm optimistic for a hot early fall bite coming in soon as waves of fish push shallow to feed heavily for fall.
Stay tuned for my Lake Nockamixon Fishing Report for September 2024 that will be posted at the beginning of next month. In the meantime, be sure to subscribe to The Nockamixon Fishing School at www.awgulfishing.com/nockamixonfishingschool and book your guided fishing trip with me as soon as possible! We have just a few slots remaining for October until I'm fully booked for 2024, so be sure to get a spot on my calendar so we can target giant fall bass! Book now online at www.awgulfishing.com or call/text me at (267) 730-3203.
Also, be sure to sign up for notifications for 2025 bookings on the top of my website. If you're interested in booking a last minute opening, feel free to sign up for my 2024 cancellation list on the bottom right corner of my website so you get notified when I have a last minute opening!
Tight lines and I'll see you out on the water!
-Captain Anthony Awgul
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