Went to Grand Lake and it was not grand. Had a lot of bites on a Ribbit but the hookups were non existent . Nips on a swim jig except for about a 2 pound catfish. Jackson came closest to catching a bass when he had one come up with a chatterbait to where we could see it and then get off. The coon tail is everywhere but the bass were just on the outside of where it has reached the surface. My guess is the fish are out deep in the cool. There are some lily pads but they are mostly the stand up kind. We had a bite or two on the periphery but none in the boat. There were a lot of gar.

Mickey and I checked out the private hole Saturday morning. The last  time we were there, top waters caught the fish. They are so much fun to fish not doubt that is what we started with. We went straight to the place we caught them the last time we went there.  It was the top water time of the day and it was overcast, perfect. The first one hit 6 inches behind my Whopper Plopper and would not come back for seconds. The WP moves along rapidly so Mickey tried his famous crazy shad routine, which is very slow. A fish that would have been the FOD blasted at it but did not touch the bait. We took that as the fish just didn’t want anything on top so we changed baits. For most of the day I used a DT-6 and Mickey rotated from worm to top water to DT-6. I had to leave early so we left at 11 with a total of 10 fish, no biggies.  I think the fish were biting in the afternoon. I say that because when I got home and let the dogs out nothing was moving. With the dogs back in I decided to take a nap but the squirrels started coming to the bird feeder and the dogs took offense because they can see it. I have two hounds and they can really make a ruckus. When the squirrels were chased off they came back in 10 minutes. I set a Have A Heart trap and caught two before the afternoon was over. Without a nap I did not have a heart when dealing with the squirrels. If we had been at the Private Hole when the squirrels were causing problems, I’d bet the fish were going after it. As hot as it’s been I believe we would have been hot, sweaty and tired to say the least.

I awakened at 4:00 this morning confused about where I could fish. Lake Ferguson was on top of the list until I went outside and saw the low clouds hustling by. Too much wind. I would have loved to go to the private hole but the road was too muddy. My jeep would have made it but I didn’t want to rut it up. Deer Creek, since there is a new ramp at Arcola, was also a possibility but with all the rain recently it may have been turbid. Yesterday when I went up to check the cabin, I saw Frank  fishing in the Towhead Chute. That gave me the idea of going up there. It came slow after about a half cup of coffee. I rounded up my stuff and took off. Frank was fishing a top water at 6:30 when I finally got in the water. He allowed as how he had caught “just a hand full”. Going a long way down the lake and on the other side so as not to cut him off, I too started with a cripple killer.  Bites were not forthcoming from bass but there were plenty from the gars. I finally managed to catch one but it was on his second try. One place got extensively worked over with the killer and no bite but when I threw in a found crank bait the 2 1/2 FOD latched on. That told me they really were not wanting a top water. The sky had become dark and ominous looking. The first thunder sent me to the landing where I parked the boat and sat in the dry truck. Shortly I was joined by Frank and we compared notes.  He said he had a good many blowups too. I went back when the rain slacked up and was going to fish a Booyah. The fish were not shy about biting it. The first fish broke the wire in the bend but it was already in the boat. I caught a few more before the next thunder rattled things. I had a rain suit on but by now I was worried about pulling the boat out and not getting stuck. The tires on my truck are street tires and are beginning to be worn. I quit at 9:30 with 6 fish and, although the tires spun, I made it up the hill just fine.

Jackson and I started out at daylight Friday morning on lake Enterprise. The fish had to wait until it got a little more light before they started biting. Topwaters were on our mind. Jackson used several chugger and spook type baits and I used a Cripple Killer. The fish were around scattered cypress trees in rather deep water. They would come a good way out from the tree to hit the baits which made it good for me and my poor casting. We caught 8 by 9:00, the largest being about 2 – 13. After 9:00 they stopped completely for us. Cheeseburgers called us off the lake at 12.

Arrived at the water front about 30 minutes later than I wanted to this morning. The wind was blowing up waves and there were already a half dozen hydroblasters in the lake. There were 20 by the time I left this morning. Must be some big tournament this weekend because I noticed some of the trucks had clothes, enough for a few days, hanging on racks. I had topwater on the mind so I started with a whopper plopper in a relatively calm place. No takers so I went to the other extreme a worm at 20+ feet and again no takers. Then I saw some activity and caught 2 small bass on a red eye shad but no more. Got back on the worm and caught two more in the 10 foot depth range. The worm fishing was slow so I put on a DT-10 and caught one more that just “glommed up on it” as Hal would say. That means, that when it bit, it felt like you had snagged a dishrag. The last three were just under 3 pounds. I fished a little longer but the weather was looking iffy. A big clap of thunder sealed the deal and sent me to the ramp at 11:00 with a total of 5 fish. I had a lot of places I wanted to fish but the weather stopped that. Discretion is the better part of valor. If no rain tomorrow I might go again.

Mickey and I arrived at the private hole this morning with top water in mind. We started on top but when nothing was really going on I threw a new Yozuri crank bait, a DB3 I think. I was hoping it would be close to a DT-6 but it was smaller, lighter and harder to cast without a professional over run. To start pickings were slim. We fished the two spots I thought would be the best but by 8:30 we only had caught 4 or 5 . As we passed a place that is usually good but produced nothing the first time we passed, a 4 – 3 latched on the new Yozuri. When Mickey had the crazy shad doing the little “chirp” that he is so good at, a 4  – 14 came up and ate it at another sunken top.

The best substitute I have for a crazy shad is a cripple killer and it was on the line after that. As we fished around the hole the bream were everywhere and coming to smack the back propeller on the top water baits. I am going to return with my fly rod on the next trip. The sun was high by now chasing the bass back into the shade. We tried the first spot again and the fish were active. A 3 -4 came up to smash the cripple killer as well as a few that hit a swim bait. As 12 o’clock rolled around and the sun was getting hotter we quit and headed for the air conditioning. We had a great time catching 21 fish, many on top water.

I have had my boat , motor, and trailer since 2005. My trailer lights have been a problem at times. They are now going through a spell where they will come on when I leave the house but one or both go out at the first little bump in the road. If you go back and slap the light fixture it comes back on, only to go out at the next small bump. When I investigated the problem, it seems the bulb holder was not holding properly (cheap) leading to the light going out. I had just had enough, so I bought a set of LED trailer lights at the Bass Pro Shop in Jackson. When I came home they went on the trailer and one would not come on  when the lights were on. The brake lights and the turn signals were fine. It was time to quit because it was late and the mosquitoes were hungry. I was stewing, ready to raise Cain because of having to take the drive back to Jackson for the exchange.  This afternoon the problem was revisited as I knew where any trouble with the wiring would be found. Sure enough I had not crimped one of the connectors. Hopefully no more trailer light problems.

I awakened this morning at 2:00 this morning and tried to go back to sleep but it just would not work so I bailed out of bed at 3:00 and started to go fishing. Cane Creek was my destination and was on the lake by 6:15 but a little late. On that lake you do not run to your spot because stumps are everywhere. Fishing started a little later with a Ribbit. The fish were just slapping at it to start but later hit in earnest. By then I was immune to the strikes, did not even want to set the hook. Almost, as Hal says, could have smoked a cigarette before I set the hook. That worked very well but the number of bites had really slacked off by then. I would just watch the line and look for movement. Some of the time the line would not move because the fish was swimming toward the boat. After I started that the hookup percentage rose a good bit. I had read about some schooling fish on the Arkansas Game and Fish fishing report website and that called for some inspection. The tip was good because they were there. The fish were widely spread out but would bite if the bait (red eye shad) was presented shortly after the came up. Finally about 2:00 that slowed down and I departed. Four schooling bass plus five on a Ribbit was nine for the day. FOD was 3 – 9.

On the way home, I talked to Jackson on the phone about Lake Enterprise. He had been talking to a friend who had been fishing. His friend told Jackson he saw a bass chase a shad up a cypress tree. The shad, running from the bass, hit the cypress and went up about a foot before falling back and becoming dessert.

I arrived at the private hole this morning a little later than normal because I was a little tired from getting the boat and the rack it’s parked on in place yesterday. I sounded like the first day of dove season. A nearby farmer had the noise making cannons wide open to keep the deer out of his soybean fields. When everything was in the boat and it was shoved off, I started putting on baits and setting the cast control and drag on my reels due to recent maintenance. I put a worm on one and pulled off line to check the drag and set the cast control. I noticed the line was  moving sideways so I set the hook and came up with a tight eye. Catching one on the first cast will put the hoo doo on your day but this wasn’t even a cast. The starting baits were DT-6, worm, swim bait, and Whopper Plopper and they were alternated as I generally do starting off when I have no idea what is going on with the bass. I had an inkling of where the fish were, but being open minded, all of the baits had a good try. I thought the Whopper Plopper was going to be the best today because my friend Hal has been catching a lot on them and the water was clear with 4 foot visibility. It was indeed the topwater that produced the second fish. Here it is:

The ironwood bushes were flooded and no telling how many fish were in them but the only ones I could catch were the fish that for some reason came out or that the WP called out. Things slowed as the day progressed and it showed itself by several airballs. Those did a professional job of blasting a topwater except they missed the bait completely. Caught the 3 – 1 FOD with a shad tail sticking out of its gullet.

In the clear water you could see a zillion carp cruising, lots of bream and I even saw a 4 foot alligator gar. Tempted to take a fly rod next time. Ended up with 12 bass, first one on the worm and all the rest on the WP.

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Jackson and I were in the boat in Lake Monticello this morning at 5:45. We were able to run the skunk off in the first five minutes when Jackson caught one on a Rage Tail Shad. Today we used a Rage Tail, a Red Eye Shad, various top waters and swimbaits. The best luck was had in 10 feet of water around wood stumps or small trees down to broom stick size with a swimbait. Let the bait sink to the bottom and then a slow retrieve. Most fish were small except for the FOD at 4 – 8 and two in the three pound range. We caught 11 and left at 2:00. When I drove into my driveway my phone rang. It was Mickey preparing to go on Ferguson and asking if I wanted to go. It had been hot today so I had to decline. He was caught in the rain but found shelter and stayed on the lake. I am awaiting his report.

EDIT: After the rain, Mickey returned and caught four bass, three in the 3 pound range and one smaller. He caught them on a Carolina rig and on a 5XD. Very good for a short trip.

EDIT 2: The larger bass we caught in Lake Monticello had bigger heads in proportion to the rest of their bodies. The one that weighed 4 1/2 looked like it should have weighed a pound more.  It appears that the fish may not have enough to eat. When we did see schooling fish but they were small and chasing small minnows. I know the fish have spawned but enough time has passed for them to gain back some weight if there is enough forage.