Mickey and I went early this morning to the private hole to load the boat so we could take it to the “L” hole (known by some as the 4 1/2 pound bass hole) and fish some new territory. I took my waders because both landings are rather shallow affairs and the boat trailer does not have a winch.  We got the boat loaded and unloaded without mishap by backing the jeep out into the water until the exhaust was bubbling.  When we started it was still relatively early, cloudy and a very light sprinkle of rain. Last week we started with topwaters so they got the call again. At the start Mickey was wearing me out by 5 to 0 so I had to mount some sort of comeback. There is a rudder that we clamp on the boat to keep it from swapping ends in the wind, so I told Mickey to clamp it on. While he was clamping it down I made a two fish comeback. A man has to do what he has to do. After the comeback I figured out the reason I fell behind was simply accuracy. Mickey was throwing so much closer to the cover that he was getting the bites.  The “L” hole is a lot smaller than the private hole but by the time we circled it once we had caught 13. By the third time we had 38. The first time was with topwaters and the next two were with shakey heads. Today was the first time I have been in that hole with a depthfinder. It was 22 feet in the deepest part and drops down quickly to that depth. We had to take the boat back to the private hole so we left at around 11:00 so we would have time to fish some in that hole too. Although it was almost noon when we started fishing again, I pulled out my topwater again and caught a few before resorting to the shakeyhead . The grinners were terrible. I bet we hooked a dozen for the day. The ones we caught got cracked on the head before being released. Every one had a bloody tail which shows they were in the spawning mode.  Just like last week, another one hit Mickeys topwater with a lick any 4 pound bass would have been proud of.  There was no lull in the bite today- pretty steady all day which is why we stayed longer than we should have. We ended up with 71 bass and a FOD of 4-0.  Our top 5 today weighed 17-13.

Dan Branton emailed me this picture of a bass he caught in Cottonwood Chute. It is the body of water that you cross on the new river bridge before you get to the river.

It, like all bodies of water affected by the River, has benefited by the high water the last few years.  He said  the fish was caught on a black jig, which I assume was a crappie style jig. Speaking of crappie, Mickey caught two on a worm yesterday which is sort of an odd occurrence. Dan also mentioned that the bream were out in the open water in force. We noticed the clouds of them floating out in the open too. I thought they were supposed to bed on the full moon in May which is now.

This morning Mickey and I went to the Private hole since the river is rising which generally messes up the fishing for me.  We started fishing at around 7:20 so we missed a part of the “good” time of the morning. The weather was overcast with no wind which was perfect for topwater fishing. I started with a Phillips Cripple Killer and Mickey had on a Chrome Crazy Shad. The fish cooperated right off the bat. We had 10 by 7:45 and some good ones in the mix. Here is one that just came up and sucked it down.

They would not just come up and blast the baits. Especially the big ones just sucked it in.  As the morning went on the fish got a little more timid. Sometimes a little luck was needed to get one to bite. I threw out in the middle by a log that came in with the flood that I have never caught a fish by. After working the bait for a few feet, my attention shifted to whatever Mickey was doing and when I looked back my bait was gone. Four pounds and change.  Another time when I threw by the end of a top, a gar ran out to get it and then another 4 pounder charged out and took it away from the gar. EDIT:  I forgot to write about when we saw a fish feeding in shallow water, knocking small bream up on the bank. Mickey threw his Crazy Shad to the spot and the fish hit with gusto. As the fish came to the boat, we discovered it was not a bass at all, but a large grinner. It hit the topwater just like a bass would. It also had one of Mickey’s few remaining Chrome Crazy Shads in its mouth. Finally the hook came out and we were relieved. The large 3 1/2 inch versions are no longer made so he is guarding the ones he has left. They are all scarred up but boy do they still work. We caught 22 on topwaters before we shifted gears and tried spinnerbaits, worms, DT-6′s and 4′s.  When trying a spinnerbait, I tied on a “found” one  that was small and had no skirt. For a skirt I threaded on a curly tail Kalin grub whose tail I had dipped in the red dyed Spike It.  I caught one little on on it before the line snapped when I set the hook on another.   That fish jumped several times in the next 15 minutes trying to throw the bait. Each time the fish jumped the bait’s blade jingled like 5o cents worth of change.  We ended the day around 2 p.m. with 46 bass, the largest 5 weighed 21 – 3. The FOD was 4-8.  A sure enough fun day of fishing.

I have not been fishing since last Sunday afternoon but I hope to correct that pretty soon. In the meantime, I received a call from Hal yesterday afternoon telling me about his fishing trip to some borrow pits.  He had a great day, catching over 50 fish. On his first trip there about a week ago (caught high 40′s that day), he caught a 5 1/2 pound bass on a spinnerbait by an isolated cypress tree. When he came back by the tree he had changed to a square bill crankbait but caught the 5 1/2 again. He could tell it was the same fish because of the hook mark in its mouth. Yesterday when he came by the tree he had a white swim jig on  and his old friend cooperated again. By then they were getting to be pals and he recognized the fish easily. I accused him of going over there to run up his big fish numbers with that one bass.  The whole episode is a great example of the benefits of practicing catch and release.

This has nothing to do with fishing but was fun.  I went down to pick up some white doves the other day from a bird lady in Jackson. Flying loose in her house were 4 parrots. One named Rookie was quite friendly. He came and lit on the nearest perch and looked at me intently.  The lady told me that he wanted to come to me and for me to stick out my hand. I did and he/she /it  came aboard.

The bird kept staring at me and the lady said it wanted to hold the bill of my hat with it’s beak, which was fine with me.  Up my arm it walked until it got to my shoulder. It never seized my hat and seemed quite friendly. I had noticed the parrots were not housebroken and  my fear during the whole episode was that I might become a poop recipient. The whole thing ended nicely and was great fun.

Yesterday morning Mickey went to Ferguson and caught 31, 30 of which were caught on a topwater. You know if it was Mickey then it had to be a crazy shad. He caught a 4.98 as the FOD. He also got two fingers pinned together by a hook that a gar shook into his hand.  Managing to get the gar off, he then pushed the hook points through and clipped them off and kept on fishing. Ouch !! We got together after church today and went for a rematch. Spinnerbaits got the starting call and we caught a few but they were small. Several places were tried with not much success but the major feeding period has been early in the morning and late in the evening and we were fishing in the middle of the afternoon.  The water was close to the level we caught them on the 87 pound treeline so we tried there.  At first the fish were nipping at the bait but as we progressed along the treeline the fish got more serious about eating and the fish got bigger. This is the almost FOD @ 4 3/4.

The treeline played out so we went back to the starting place and went back the other way.  The fish were still biting but another boat that had been in the woods and came out to the outside and was in front of us. Rather than fishing second hand water, we left for where Mickey caught them on top yesterday. It was getting late and the lake was calming down so the topwaters got the call. I got a great demonstration from the master plying his trade with the crazy shad. One fish, a 4.82 FOD came up and sucked the bait down and the fight was on. I netted the fish for Mickey and as he reached down to get the fish out the fish shook and he was hooked again.  I quickly put a full Nelson on the fish to stop any movement and Mickey reached for pliers to remove the hook from his hand. The hook did not come out easily but he worked with it and finally it was out. He continued fishing and caught a couple more before it was too dark to see.  We caught 42 in all with two in the 4 3/4 range and one at 4 even. The largest 5 weighed 20 pounds.

I had not been to the private hole in so long I had to weed the boat before I fished.

There were weeds growing in the dirt in the cracks between the flotation.  The North wind was blowing so hard Monday I gave up on the turkeys in the afternoon and went fishing. It was such a bluebird day I had no confidence in really catching any fish but figured I’d have better luck with them than with the turkeys. I started out with a DT-6 in one of my favorite spots for it but there were no volunteers. A shakey head was next and soon a chunky private hole bass was in the boat.

Continuing with the shakey head, the picture started to take shape with the wind, once again, doing the painting.  The bite was slow  and soft but after starting at 3:00 , by 7:30 the count was up to 17.  The gnats were terrible all afternoon and I had left my Buggins Natural gnat repellent in my turkey vest. I was ready to quit.  Fearing a mosquito attack at the bank, I remained  out in the hole to put up my rods and baits. They were all wrapped up when I saw  some fish activity all the way across the hole. The decision was made to go see what was going on, and on the way a “found” spinnerbait, refurbished with a new blade and a grub for a skirt, was tied on. The bass were concentrated in one spot where they had some shad hemmed up. I missed several but by the time I quit the count was up to 31. I retied my bait, almost in the dark and about two fish later the line broke. The blades were rattling when the tighteye jumped to throw it a few minutes later. Another was tied on and very soon another break. Moral: Old guys should not try to tie knots in the dark.

This is a photo of the 4 1/4 FOD. The largest fish was a grinner, grinnel, or bowfin, whatever you want to call it that was “long as my arm”.  It came off the hook when I put the “tenderizing” lick on it with the cut off hoe handle. Not a bad day for the conditions.

It’s been that long since I’ve been fishing. Today I went to Lake Monticello to break the streak. The weather was great, which means on that lake, not much wind.  I started out with a Cripple Killer which is a prop type topwater that caught one pretty quickly.  When I got to the lily pads I switched to a Ribbit Frog which just may be my favorite bait to catch a fish on.  No bites on the Ribbit until noon however. In the meantime, a swimbait got the call and caught a couple, none big.  I was fighting myself all morning, having to make myself not use the frog, which is so much fun, but was just not working.  Finally when I got to a good looking group of pads out came the Ribbit and one actually bit it.  The next one hit it like it meant it, but after that it was hard to find a Ribbit bite.  I ended up with 5 fish all just over or just under 3 pounds.  Lake Ferguson would have made a better choice because I understand people have been catching them lately.

No, I have not quit fishing , nor am I sick, but have been turkey hunting mostly.  Mostly, because a few days were taken up by the garden club.  I have not joined but there was a big three day meeting here and I had to go to some of the functions. The first few days of turkey season were good with two turkeys coming close and then getting to walk away because our club limit is one (floods) and I didn’t want to quit so soon.  Now they are educated, each one having been tutored by several hunters.  I am still on the hunt but sitting in the woods thinking a lot about fishing. It’s getting to be Ribbit frog time which I dearly love.

I took a break from turkey hunting Saturday afternoon to go to the private hole.  The wind was much too high to turkey hunt and I didn’t want to waste such a beautiful afternoon. At 1:30 I made the first cast using a small swimbait on a jighead. The trees were dropping both sycamore seeds and the tassels oak trees distribute their pollen with. All of this blew over to one side of the hole and prevented me from using the swimbait effectively so I put on a Rex spoon. On about the fourth cast one blasted the spoon. There is no way to adequately describe the strike other than a blast.  Surprisingly, I hesitated before setting the hook and when I did the fish came out of the water two feet in an astounding jump. Two more good jumps and I had the 4-8 FOD by the bottom jaw. Most of the fish Saturday put on an aerial display for some reason.  One of the better ones a little later slung the spoon up in the air and escaped. All I could do was laugh.  After I ran out of the flotsam, I had to change baits. The fish were not in the same two places they have been hanging out.  I put on a spinnerbait to search and after missing one on it, threw in a worm. One bit and was caught, and another and another until I caught 6 in this nondescript spot, some as deep as 10 feet. When I arrived, you could tell the bite was really on and during the afternoon it slackened pretty quickly until the worm was the bait to use. It’s funny how your mind takes pictures. I can still see the 4 pounder that threw the spoon back. It was a fun afternoon that ended up with 16 bass a goo and of course a grinner. Another thing of interest I saw was two large turtles with shells 1 1/2 to 2 feet in diameter close to one another up against the bank.  I suspect there was mating activity going on.