Mickey and I went to Ferguson this afternoon about 4:00.  We started in the very end of the lake and worked our way back to the waterfront. I tried a deep crank but nothing doing and after getting behind I had to switch to a worm and try to catch a few.  The first fish caught was the FOD which was 3 – 6. That fish was long enough to be a 4 but was not very fat. Long and lean but not overly skinny like it was sick or something. We caught a few here there and yonder but no big concentration in any one place. A rainstorm came by relatively close but no rain falling on us, only the downdraft wind that got fairly strong and made us move to a sheltered bank. Equipment malfunctions plagued us. I had a spinning reel that locked up and I had to wind the line in by hand until I started turning the spool and whatever was stuck came loose and I reeled in the last few feet. I made one more cast with it and it made noises when I reeled it in. A repair job for tomorrow. Mickey had the end line guide come loose after just getting someone to glue it on. We both had superglue but both tubes were hard. Another rod and reel deadlined.  Fifteen was the final number. I just looked back and saw that the last time I fished on Lake Ferguson was April 29th. Missed some good fishing there between then and now but I’ve missed a lot of fishing everywhere lately. Going to change that.

Fishing has been on the back burner lately due to a wedding, a move and a tooth.  In early May wedding preparations started in earnest. Immediately after the wedding getting back to normal began and then the move started. I drove to DC to get HMIV and move him back for a stint at the Ole Miss Law School.

On the way home a tooth, all the way in the back started to throb. Upon an xray, it was discovered to be a tooth that had been split before and was repaired with a root canal and a crown. Alas the crack must have continued, much like a crack in your windshield grows, and allowed those vermin bacteria to set up shop and start to hurt.  After a few days of antibiotics, here it is.

I hope this ends my fishing drought . When I came home from the dentist, I backed up to my boat in anticipation and preparation.

Mickey and I went to Lake Lee this afternoon probably a little after 4. We went to Lake Lee rather than Ferguson because of the 100 boat BFL tournament on Lake Ferguson this past weekend. We started with large crankbaits and Carolina rigs and caught fish on both.  Two would be caught in one place and you’d think “we’re getting ready to tear them up” but no more would volunteer. As we moved down the bank we would come upon some more. The size was good. No tighteyes.  Mickey caught this one on a Carolina rig a, 4 – 6.

We did hit one hot spot where we caught some good fish in a short time.  The FOD a 6 (5.99 on Mickey’s scales) had a big crankbait down deep in its mouth so we didn’t take it’s picture. It took so long to get the hooks out without hurting the fish, we just threw it back. I’m going to throw those 5.99 scales in the lake and get him some that round off. When you go to Lake Lee be prepared to get hung up a lot. We had 5 or 6 deep hangups that would have resulted in lost baits had I not had my “gitter” and another bait saver. The “gitter” is an 11 foot pole with a hook on the end that you can use to dislodge your bait from a hangup that is 10 feet deep or less. If it’s over 10 then the other one is used. It’s a piece of lead with chains attached and a small rope to let it slide down your line to your bait after you have put a circular holder on your line. Sometimes the weight will bump the bait loose and others the chain will catch in the bait’s hooks and you can pull it loose with the rope.You may have to bend your hooks back but it saves your bait. We caught 9 bass  with a 6, a 4-3, and a 4-6. The largest 5 weighed 20-3.

Chip, Jackson and I went to Craig’s pond at Hogwallow this afternoon. We paddled around fishing mostly with spinnerbaits from 4:30 to a little after 6. Our supper consisted of the 10 bass we caught and I caught one other on the way to put up the boat that got a reprieve to make a total of 11.  They were full of crawfish although there was not a crawfish castle to be seen. Two funny out of the ordinary things happened this afternoon. First, Jackson reeled up his bait to the end of his rod and stuck the end down to the bottom to see how deep it was. It was right beside a small top that we had drifted up against.  When he pulled the rod up a fish latched on and was included in dinner. Second, Chip hung up his spinnerbait on some sticks just out of the water. As he was jiggling it to get it loose, a bass jumped up, got  the bait , took it down , hung it up and got away. A fun couple of hours with low pressure and lots of laughs.

Last year in August I went to Lake Chicot with Jackson and we caught a lot of fish, over 100 one day. He had been going mostly to the same places for two months before I went with him, so I figured those spots would be good now.  I arrived at the ramp downtown early but two guys were just a little earlier and they started fishing down the bank without even starting the big motor, exactly what I had planned to do.  Motoring down the lake a half mile solved that problem as it’s all about the same.  The Cripple Killer topwater was the first bait out of the box and it got a bite on the first cast. Even though the fish were biting well it took a good bit of time to catch the first fish because they were missing a lot. I really wanted to catch the fish on a topwater but I also really wanted to catch some fish so I changed to a spinnerbait. It seemed that the fish were around a rip rap bank better than a sea wall . Getting in close and casting parallel to the bank was the trick.  Also casting around the ends of docks worked well. There were a lot of hits and misses. I found if you slowed down your reaction time the number of hook ups increased.  As the bank and dock bite slowed I went across the lake to the spots where Jackson and I had caught them. Nothing in the first spot. In the second spot I lost three spinnerbaits in rapid succession. One broke in two pieces at the wire neck (common with Booyahs), and two were lost on the hookset on small fish. After the first one I checked the line for abrasions but the very next bite broke off too. It broke halfway to the bait, not at the knot. It must have been where a backlash damaged the line when I threw a small one out.  After that I had no more trouble for the rest of the day.   I saw the fish schooling in one spot and thought I was going to wear them out but after catching 5 or 6 the school went away and I never could find it again.  Once again, the wind made a big difference. It was variable but when it blew against the rip rap or seawall the bass were there. The school was where the wind was blowing into a wire fence and it was like the bass had the shad hemmed up. I quit about noon with 33 fish and a FOD a little less than three pounds.

It’s been almost a month since I last went fishing (5/12/12) due to daughter’s nuptials.  Last night was a late one so it was hard for me to get out of bed this morning. I almost talked myself into getting back in bed but I knew I’d be disappointed in myself later this morning if I did. Lake Ferguson is covered up today with people practicing  for a big tournament and my boat has been banished for the wedding to the house on the river so what else to do but go to the private hole.  I started fishing at 6 a.m. because there is another function tonight and I wanted to have time to fish but also to nap in the afternoon. I started off with a Cripple Killer topwater and slowly began to catch a few.  The fish were reticent to hit on top but they could not resist a dying shad right in front of their face. They slowed down so I got out the DT-6 and caught a few more. That slowed down too (I believe someone has discovered my favorite spot) and a shakey head worm took over and caught some more. By this time I was noticing some bass striking and knocking bream up on the bank. Out came the topwater again. Here is one that wanted it . It’s sideways in his mouth.

I kept rotating using the DT-6, the worm, and another “found” deep diving crankbait all the while watching for surface activity.  Fish were caught on all the baits mentioned with the worm doing best but not by much. The topwater caught the largest fish. The FOD was this 5-1 caught on the Cripple Killer. I netted this fish and after weighing it , the fish flopped each time I tried for a photo. Finally it flopped onto the front deck and I got my snap. Looks better than holding it out at arms length.

The fish really slowed down as noon approached. I couldn’t even get a grinner to bite. I saw a half dozen swimming by or coming up to the top to burp. One that swam by I’d bet weighed 8 pounds. I ended up with 32 bass, a catfish, two bream (topwater), a catfish and a gar (deep crank).

Hal and Richard have been going to Beaverdam and catching a good quality of fish.  They have been biting frogs in the duckweed and a paddletail worm also. On their last trip they caught a 6.5, a 6 and two over 5. The top 5 weighed 27 1/2 pounds. They have been catching big ones all year. Here is a photo of one of the 6 pounders.  Look at the markings. I hope to be back in action soon.

Friday morning I awakened at the right time to get to Lake Whittington for the early morning topwater bite. I punted although there were only a few jobs I had to do that day for the daughter’s upcoming nuptials. With things overhanging, you just can’t enjoy yourself as much as if there is nothing to do. Gayden Bishop had opined as to how she wanted to have some fish to eat and I had said I would furnish them. Not to be. Saturday I was going to Jackson to get son Harley from the plane and as I crossed Lake Atchafalaya, I thought about Mickey who loves that lake and I decided to call him to see what he caught that morning in Lake Ferguson. He and a friend had caught 43 by 9:30, mostly on a Crazy Shad. He had filleted 8 and was taking Gayden Bishop the fillets when I called. They had run into one another later Friday and Gayden told him about wanting some fish but that I had “wussed out” on the fishing trip. How about that for a true friend ? He caught the fish on a Crazy Shad that Hal had sent him. The bait was old and scratched up. Mickey put on a new paint job and new hooks and when finished the bait looked great.  A bunch of those fish today thought so. Here is before and after.

         

The fish in all the river lakes are on fire. I’m not going to be able to go for at least another week+. I’m delighted my daughter is getting married but I wish the fish weren’t biting so well.  I’ll just have to take my whipping like a man.

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.