Belwood Lake Update

I've been lucky enough to spend lots of time on Belwood Lake over the last couple of weeks. I've spent most time on the water between 5:00PM and 9:00PM. Firstly, the Belwood Lake water level is extremely low for August. I understand from locals it's the lowest it's been at this time of year in the last 20 years. I can believe it. The low water level caused me to abandon my typical hot spots and seek out new ones. I am staying close to shorelines and islands and typically cast into 5-10 feet of water. This has proven extremely effective for both smallies and pike. The two baits that have been most productive are 3" GULP minnows on a 1/4 oz white jig and a 3" white tube on a 1/2 oz white jig. The bass love the minnows and surprisingly, the pike are loving the tubes. I thought it was a fluke the first time i caught a pike on the white tube but quickly realized the toothy creatures really like them. I've caught many pike using the tube and it's become my new go-to bait for pulling them into the boat. Note: I caught a 36 inch pike with a leader coming out of it's mouth from a previous angler. Upon looking closer, I noticed an old hook sticking out of it's stomach. If you look closely at the main pic in this report, you can see the hook just below the top fin. It took me about 5 minutes but I was able to cut the barb off the hook and remove the leader from the pike through it's mouth. After releasing her, she went belly up for 30 seconds and then slowly began swimming away. I think I did the right thing but to be honest second guessed the decision afterwards. My new favorite technique for hauling in smallies is drop shotting a 3" GULP with the weight being 10-12 inches from the minnow. I cast out 20 feet, reel in slow, and am getting bites about 10% of the time throughout the lake. I tried using a "drop-shot" hook but quickly abandoned the idea. The hook seemed too small and I lost quite a few smallies on the retrieve and I've decided to use a slightly larger hook using a palomar knot which has proven to be the right decision. I'm guessing I only have a couple more weeks of fishing Belwood before it gets too low so i plan on spending as much time on the lake as possible in the coming weeks. Tight lines, Ken