Picked up my 92 yo friend this AM about 5:30 and headed to Koontz. This is one of his old stomping grounds and I wanted to pick his brain and fish some of his memories. I have fished Koontz a bit but not like he has. So, we launched at the public launch with only 2 other rigs parked. Navigated slowly and talked about the changes he had noticed from previous years. He had me drive/boat across the big lake area and we stopped where I think is the north shore -- northwest actually of the main lake in about 12' of water. Put the I pilot down and on a slow speed heading east. We basically used a crappie rig/drop shot rig with bee moth and had a blast. Ended up with several nice lake perch - up to 12" and a few crappies and a bunch of average gills. Tried the 31' hole with no luck and just had a good morning. Got off the water by 11 and again, we stayed at about 12' of water and would either cast shallow or deep and if we got into a few, I would hit the spot lock to keep us there. Even though it is hot out there, if you go early or wait until after about 4, there is a lot of good fishing out there. I would also like to say how nice it was to have pleasant, polite, respectful conversations with people at the launch or on the water.
