While waiting on the storm to get here and leave, I decided to do something constructive toward fishing.  As one of my men once wisely said ” Grease is a whole lot cheaper than iron”. Changing the oil in your lower unit is one of the things you can do when you can’t do anything else. I ruined the top plug gasket doing mine and, when I went to get a new one, the “expert” I got it from told me some things about the process that may be good to know . When I changed mine last I just put in one tube of oil. Some bubbles and a little oil came out the top hole so I figured that was enough. When I drained my oil this time some looked a little milky which I thought might be water.  It was , I was told, air bubbles because the case was not completely full. Since I had just put in one tube of oil, I hightailed it out and got one more to completely fill the case. Another thing, any water that gets in will separate from the oil and be the first thing out when you take out the bottom plug. A few drops is nothing to get upset about. Indeed a few drops came out of mine but I thought they had come from someplace else. While I was lubricating I greased my trailer axles too.

Mickey and I went to Ferguson this afternoon with the gauge at 7 feet.  We started along a good bank and caught a couple on a series 5 XD. It looked as if things were going to be pretty good. After a couple more on a shakey head we expected to wear them out but then the drought took hold. There was a long dry spell without a fish and none of the ones we caught were giants. Finally Mickey broke the spell and caught another one and had one to jump and throw the worm. That action was encouraging as we figured the bite was picking up. We were not prospecting. The places we went were ones we knew were good for a fish or so if not more. The bite was not picking up but we did catch a 5 pound FOD as the sun went down. We circled and circled that spot but only caught a couple  of gar for our troubles. So we just took our whipping and went home after catching only 6 for the afternoon.

Mickey and I met at 4:00 at the ramp this afternoon for a late trip on Ferguson. We went straight to the North end where we just knew we were going to tear them up. Not at that spot today.  Taff was just leaving the spot and either there had been no fish there or he had vacuumed the place. We crossed the lake and started with a Strike King Series 5 XD  and a shakey head. Mickey got hung on a deep log and was shaking the shakey head trying to get it loose and a fish helped him out by taking it off for him. It just happened to be a 5 – 8 which was the FOD. Mark, do you recognize the spot.

     

Mickey was clowning with the shakey head, putting them in the boat right and left, so I finally had to switch. When that spot ran out we started down the bank looking for another. In one place, Mickey hung a fish and halfway to the boat it jumped and threw out his worm and another one that must have been in his mouth too. We caught several in a nondescript place where we could hear water trickling through the rocks on the bank. A spring must have been giving the fish some cool relief.  I pulled out the 5XD again as we went down the bank so I could cover more territory. It started working, catching some good fish . As a matter of fact, I wanted to keep some fish to try the new  ceviche recipe and was having a hard time getting ones that were small enough.  We ended up with 10 fish, only 3 in the icebox, but 4 over 4 pounds. Our largest 5 fish weighed 21 – 11.  Not bad for a couple of amateurs on a quick afternoon trip to Lake Ferguson.

This post covers two fishing trips, one Thursday afternoon and one Friday morning.  The one Thursday afternoon was at the “L” Hole and started around 3:30. I used my small sneak boat and sat on a cushion on the ice chest. I used a paddle for propulsion but found out a few casts with a deep crankbait would pull you where you wanted to go. After a time around I only had a couple of fish. The bites I did get were after setting the hook on a stick and then reeling to get the slack out of your line. When you would catch up, the fish would be on. I saw a bass in the 4 pound range make a break after a large bream. When the bream got away the bass just herded it down the bank keeping it in shallow water. Never ate it.  I figured that was a lay up but I could not get the bass to hit anything I threw at it. I was asked to bring some fish home and got worried there might no be enough.  Toward dark things picked up a little on both the cranks and a worm but still didn’t get wide open. I ended up with 11 and a FOD of 3.

The next morning the Private Hole got the call at 6;15. I figured the fish would be right on the bank so early so the start was with a spinnerbait.  After a few casts one struck, I set the hook, it struck twice more and we both missed, and I reeled in quickly only for the fish to miss again as the spinnerbait skipped across the top.  I needed a bait with more hooks. Alternating baits, I started around the hole and once again was treated to a slow start.  I had on a Strike King 5XD and began to catch one every now and then. Between that and a worm, I began to put a few in the boat. Around 10:30, bass started to chase shad in the shallows next to the bank. A “found” Struke King KVD 2.5 got the call and was working well until a grinner bit and after I saw the fish the line got cut with those sharp teeth. A Strike King KVD 1.5 was next and was catching fish. A short time later another grinner, made in the same mold as the lure thief, bit and as I had it coming  to the boat I was looking for my lure. No such luck. I was continually looking for the bait to float up as the day went on.Again no luck. Later on even another grinner grabbed the bait, and as it was coming to the boat, another one tried to take the bait out of its mouth. Too many grinners! I rotated between three main spots for most of the day and, as is normal in the Private Hole, one of the best was a bank that the wind was blowing toward. The FOD was 4 1/2 but I think I lost unseen two others. Both pulled drag and were not easy to turn. One was under the boat and about to make an appearance when it just came unpinned. The other was coming out to deep water from the bank pulled some drag and then just came loose. I ended up with 28 by 2 p.m. A little before I left, I saw a fish that appeared to be one hooked too deep that was not going to make it. I went over with net in hand to keep it from going to waste. It was not one that I had hooked as it had a 5 pound head, was skinny. and had no tail. The tail had been bitten off. Even its eyes were sunk back into its head. When I got in it weighed 3 1/2 pounds and had almost white gills. The flesh from the side I filleted was white as opposed to the translucent flesh of the other fish. I was scared to keep it. Some photos of the fish.

    The whole fish

   The missing tail

The sunken eyes

I have found a new Ceviche recipe in the Sriracha Cookbook.  As with all the rest I have tried, this is the best one so far. The citrus juice “cooks” the fish, and you’ll know when as the fish loses its opacity and turns a pale white. The recipe right out of the book makes way too much and is way too hot (as you would guess from a hot sauce cookbook) so I have cut it in half and adjusted to heat down to medium low. If it’s not hot enough you can always add some. Ceviche is good as a salsa type dip on crackers or in a chilled bowl or martini glass. EDIT: Slightly changed 8/24/12 after the second batch

 

12  ounces of FRESH bass fillets  cut into cubes roughly ½”  X  ½” X 1”

¼ cup of freshly squeezed lime juice  — There needs to be enough citrus juice to cover the fish–if you do not have enough just add more in the ratio 2 lime juice to 1 orange juice

3 ounces of freshly squeezed orange juice

1 medium tomato diced

½ red onion diced

1 medium cucumber, peeled and diced

½ ear of fresh sweet corn, kernels only

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ jalapeno, seeded and minced

¼ cup fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons  Sriracha , if not hot enough can add more after tasting

½ cup V-8 juice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 avocado, sliced, for garnish

1. In a large glass bowl, combine the fish with the lime and orange juices. Make sure the fish is covered with juice. If not squeeze some more of both until it is covered. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator, stirring (important step ) occasionally, until the flesh becomes firm and pale white, 6 hours will do but I like overnight.
2. Add the tomatoes, onion, cucumbers, corn, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, oil, Sriracha and V-8, stirring to combine. Cover and refrigerate for another hour or two to allow the flavors to marry. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve on chips or crackers or in chilled bowls or martini glasses, garnished with sliced avocado and cilantro.

This afternoon Mickey and I hit Ferguson with the gauge reading 8 feet. We were marveling at all the things that we can see now that the water is down. Good thing we had that to amuse us because we sure weren’t catching many fish. I started with a Bomber Fat Free Shad, the largest one they make and it was trying to pull the plug out of the lake bottom. When I tired of that a brand new Strike King XD5 was next. A gar promptly snipped it off after a few casts and it took about 5 anxious minutes to float to the top.  After that I went back to the FFS and finally caught a fish. It seemed like I had a strike and I set the hook, but nothing, so I stopped the bait to take up the slack line and when I caught up the fish was on. Mickey was fishing with a DT-16 and he caught a couple pretty much the same way. We moved and I came up with this.

Certainly not the FOD but an unlucky cooter hooked by the back foot. That FFS has some good hooks. By the end of the day I almost had a blister on my hand from that hard pulling FFS. We found a few fish but they were scattered and were not enthusiastic about biting. The fish are not fat but long and lean. The FOD we caught was 3-1 but earlier  this year would have been 3 1/2.  It seems almost like the warm water has diminished their appetite. I do not know the answer but we got our fanny spanked this afternoon. We only caught 7,  5 of which I invited home to dinner. I have a new ceviche  recipe that I want to try. If I like it I’ll put it on here.

I went to see Hal Friday in the Memphis hospital. He had a 4X bypasses and had returned to a room. I thought he looked surprisingly good.  Richard called today to bring me up to date on a few complications that have set in since I left. I think what started it all was the doctor told him it was going to be a pretty good while before he was going to be able to go fishing. Lets all say prayer for him to get well soon.

Last  year on August 10th Jackson and I went to Lake Chicot and caught 103 bass so I thought it would be appropriate to go again this year. Of course, we were hoping for the same results knowing it was not likely to happen. Early we could tell the bite was just not going on, even right at first light. After fishing down the bank where we usually do well we only had two fish. After trading sides of the lake, we finally saw a little activity and caught a couple more on a cripple killer and a rage tail shad. We missed a few more because they still didn’t exactly want the bait. Yozuri time was next and the fish seemed to like it. There was a little schooling going on but the schools were small and moved around quickly as opposed to last year when they were large and stayed in one spot until you caught 20. The lake was almost slick due to no wind. I’ve come to believe the wind, in moderate amounts, is your friend because it positions the bass where the prey is directed. Wind blows plankton, shad come to eat the plankton and the bass come to eat the shad. There was a commotion that drew our attention because we thought it was some bass feeding. On approaching it we saw it was a silver carp circling on and near the surface.  On one of its circles we saw a growth on the top of its head that was obviously about to kill it. I hope it is contagious to the rest of those things. We quit about noon with two dozen  bass and a FOD of 2 -13.