Mickey and I thought we’d be the only nuts on the lake Saturday morning. The North wind was cold and roaring. We were wrong. Taff and a  companion were already out when we arrived at the wharf.  The 87 pound treeline was the first stop – nothing. Then to the steep bank where we caught two right off the bat, a 4-11 and a 3-13, pictured. We caught one more and then we ran into Taff with a friend. They had four nice bass in the livewell saved for photos. They had caught more but smaller fish. Before we left they caught a couple more. After that we took our whippin’ like men and went home,

My year is having a slow start. I only caught two today, although one was 5 1/4 and the other 3 1/2. Quality fish, but quantity is lacking. Caught the big one on a king shad and the other was on a 1/4 oz. Booyah spinnerbait. Late this afternoon one even took a swipe at a buzzbait but missed. Water temp started at 50 and slowly went to 56. The sun staying out really would have helped. One boat was fishing with shiners and I saw them catch three in about 30 minutes. One was really big, not sure how big but 8+ I think. My picture taking needs some practice. You can see what I mean from these two photos.

Wednesday I went to the Belzoni Cutoff, also known as the firetower, and did not have a great day. Ended up catching only 7 and none of those were worth a photo. Had one good fish on but lost him after a brief fight. Not many bites. Water temp started out at 54 and went up to 60, plenty warm to get the bite started. The water was turbid, visibility about a foot,  and higher than normal. It was over all the stumps that you usually see. Caught them all on a Rapala DT-4 in firetiger shown in the photo.  Caught a lot there on a Booyah spinnerbait last year but could not get a bite on it Wednesday.The ” best days” number on the tables was only a 10 for yesterday. Might be something to that rating.

The skunk was hiding in the grass and I smelled him but was saved by a back hook of the King Shad on the outside of the jaw. Only bass bite of the day. 4 1/2 pounds. Lake Monticello. I called Hal on the way home to see how he and Richard did. Richard saved them from the same skunk at Beaverdam. Both fish bit close to 2 o’clock.

Mickey and I revisited the garhole Saturday with muted results.  The fish never really started to bite. Water temp started at 46 and went to 52 on the North bank in the middle of the afternoon. When you caught one the bite felt as if your bait had encountered a wad of moss. They just glomed on. We caught a dozen, mostly with a Rapala shad rap. One or two on a worm and one on a DTF-7. The DTF-7 is misnamed. It should be DTF-11+. I hung it once and tried to reach it with my 11 foot “gitter” (lure retrieving pole) and could not reach it. Had to break out the plug knocker on a rope to save it.

The Garhole is a great place to fish when the wind is howling as it’s down in a bowl and protected.  In that protection today I caught 16 bass with the FOD at 3 lb – 1 oz . Most were caught on a Rapala DTF-7.  A few, including the FOD, were caught on a worm. I started about noon and fished till 4:30. The fish bit best in the middle of the afternoon. None hit it particularly hard. Most were around cover close to the bank but one was out in the middle, suspended I guess. The water was extremely clear as you can see in this photo.Mickey and I are going to give it another try tomorrow.

There was a thin skim of ice on Lake Whittington this morning when I went to the Garhole. The water temp there was a balmy 47 to start and rose to 51 before the day was over. The water was so clear that you could stick a 7 foot rod in the water up to the handle and still see a white spot that is your bait. The first fish was a 2 lb 4 oz crappie caught on a DTF-3 out in the middle pulled slow and paused now and then. A carp also came too close and the Rapala hooks snagged him too. Three bass were caught none of any size. They bit a DTF-7. Had a couple more bites but they are sluggish.  Since the landing was too muddy for me to launch my boat, I liberated a boat from the woods (from the flood last spring) , installed a Walmart plastic chair for a seat and cast off. It did pretty well, didn’t leak much, but went sideways.

I hope some better fishing weather is coming with it.  The weather only lets you fish a few days this time of year and the good ones have all been occupied with other things to do.  One of the best strings of bass I ever was in on was caught in February in upper Lake Ferguson in the early 70’s.  It was on a windy day (SW) where you had to go with the wind. Hal and I caught 27 bass that weighed 87 pounds, on cordell hot spots. Here is the picture from the Delta Democrat Times.  Once again before the days of catch and release. That day gave the name to the 87 pound treeline.  The lake was high and falling fast which had the fish on the outside edge of the trees. The next day the cold front had come through and our two boats only caught 4 or 5.

I received news that Taff and partner came in second in the Team Trails tournament on Lake Chicot Saturday.   Two tournaments and a first and a second. Pretty impressive. No details yet.

More stats came in from Hal on 2008. Of his 143 trips, 62 were on the BVL,  where he caught 1255 fish, one of which weighed 10 pounds even. Also 10 trips were in Canada in the boundary waters. He caught 224 smallmouth, 2 largemouth, 43 northern pike,15 walleye, and 1 lake trout. He also caught 27 over 4 and was skunked only 4 times.

Caught the year’s first bass Friday about 30 minutes after launching. A “solid” 5 pounder, as Sandy Ingram would say. The scales in the picture say 4-15 but when I stopped jiggling them while trying to take my picture they settled to 5-0.If you click on the picture it will blow up enough for you to read the scales. After catching that one, I thought I was going to tear them up, WRONG. Not another bite until 3 p.m. when I quit.  Caught it on a King Shad swimbait in 13 feet of clear water.

The next photo is of Frank Howell and his flyfishing craft, the Titanic.  That would be a great craft for the garhole except for the 10 foot alligator that resides there.