I started a little late this morning, probably first cast was at 7:30. Not surprisingly the spot where I caught the fish yesterday had nothing going on. The place had been hammered and the water was falling at a pretty good clip, a recipe for moving fish. I went down the length of the bank and did not get a bite so I extended my search and pretty soon I began to find a few. The DT-6 replaced the Yozuri and that seemed to help. For some reason I don’t have as much confidence in the gold colored Yozuri that replaced the silver one that was lost yesterday. Got a bait back today when I snagged some fishing line that had a good redeye shad on the end. Hooks were still sharp. Retracing back down the bank I started catching a few on either the Yozuri or the DT-6 but it still was not really going on. I noticed a couple of small fish with a big gash down the side. It appears like a big gar got hold of them. Ouch !

It became obvious that another spot was in order. I set out searching for a place close by that I had caught some at about this same level. It was a small sand ridge in very shallow water. It was not to be found. It actually may have washed down when the wind blew and the water was at just the right level. On with the search. At another place nearby where I have caught some but the water was at a lower stage but it was worth a try. The Yozuri got the call and it came up with one shallow tight eye. Most of the fish have been relatively shallow lately but I threw out into the deep water with the DT-6 and came up with a nice 3 pound bass. A few more throws and more fish. Then they stopped biting but I was throwing into 12 feet with a 6 foot bait. After drawing a bead on where I thought the fish were I moved the boat to where it would be in the same depth water as the fish and put on a DT-10. That did the trick. There was a stump that lined up with a tree and you go out into the lake until it gets 10 feet and then cast parallel to the depth change. The fish were better than I had been catching, between 2 and 3 pounds. When that place quit, I went searching again nearby in another place that was good at lower water but only 2 or 3 tight eyes there. It was 1:00 and time to head home. I had caught 41 with a FOD of 3 3/4 and 4 others over 3. In the last 7 trips to Ferguson I have caught 268 fish, hence the title of this post.

Got up the lake this morning a little later than intended. The wind was out of the Northeast at a pretty good clip, pushing me toward the place I expected to catch the fish. Not to worry, the trusty spot lock was on the job. I was worried about jinxing myself by catching one on the first cast and that was after I had already made the throw. Nothing, but on the second one one hit but didn’t get hooked. I still took that as a good omen. Soon they were biting and I was catching them. When I got hung up with the Yozuri, the bait I started with, going to get it I was shaking it gently trying to let it get itself loose, when all of a sudden a fish took it off for me and I released it quickly in thanks. They were scattered and traveling back and forth was necessary to keep in the fish. I lost two baits today, the Yozuri and a 3/4 oz ( yes that’s right ) redeye shad. The Yozuri to not retying and the redeye to tying a bad knot. It lasted for four fish and snapped on the fifth. When I started to get some hits and misses I put on a small 3 inch chigger craw on a shaky head with a big hook. It worked and I caught several until the school moved and I had to go back to the search mode. Speaking of the search mode, When I go to this spot I am always looking for the grabber that I lost when the fish flopped and got away with it. There was an orange spot back it the trees just about the right size and I thought that just might be it. The water was falling fast enough that you could tell it was going down. Wading and walking in the mud did not appeal to me so when I got as close as I could, I put the spy glasses on it. It was a willow leaf that fell from a tree that the beavers had girdled and was dying. Many of the leaves had turned orange. I’m still looking. At 1:00 it was time to quit and I did. The total was 52 bass with a FOD of 3 1/4. There were some more in that weight range and a lot of 2-13’s because they fooled me all day.

Hal had an interesting trip the other day. He fished the Tallahatchie River below the Sardis dam. He said the fish were mostly related to logs that were attached to the bank. Fishing in the current is a different deal. When you caught a fish, by the time you got the hooks out you were down the river. He did not have his boat with the spot lock but he will next time. He caught the fish on a DT-4, a whopper plopper and plastic. Every fish he caught was a spotted bass. They almost look like a smallmouth somewhat.

I met Hal at the gate at 6:30 this morning to fish at the Garhole for the first time since the middle of July. The leaf blower came along because I knew the boat would need a good cleaning. It was also a good way from the water because the water had fallen about a foot and a half. We finally got started after the depth finder would not work, and after taking a few minutes trying to fix it, finally saying to heck with it. If we had to waste time, early was the time to do it , because not much was going on. A DT-6, a worm, a swim jig and a shallow running crank bait were what we started with. We went into the Eastern hole, that is shallow, and caught a few small ones around the edges but nothing of note. When we came out into the large deep part it was still one here one there with the above mentioned baits. Finally we came to one of my favorite spots where I have caught not a fish this year, because I surmised the water has been too high. Even though it has fallen still nothing. At another good spot where I have not caught a fish this year we were able to catch some on a worm. The bites were very soft. By this time, beside the few bass we caught Hal was loading up on other species. A 10 1/2 pound catfish, another large catfish, a large carp of some kind, a goo, and a goggle eye or Warmouth bass. Here is the big cat.

As time passed the fish appeared to become more active especially at one spot with our DT-6’s. We caught several there, not one on every cast, but enough to get us excited. After that ran out we went to a nearby spot, fishing the bank all the way there and catching a few. When we arrived the fish were biting on the worms and DT-6’s. We had quite a flurry there. The fish were hiding under some bushes in the shade. When the DT-6 would make a “plop” near the bush they would come out and get it. Sometimes more than one.

One of the most fun fish of the day followed my DT-6 out to the boat. I saw it and stopped the bait allowing it to stay in the water. I twitched it and the fish bit the back hook and I caught the fish with about a foot or so of line out. I had to laugh. That spot eventually ran out so we visited all the good spots again picking up a few each time with bonus fish coming from the bank on the way to each. Finally all spots ran out and we also were running out of gas so we decided to quit. It was 3:30. We had caught 54 with a 3 3/4 FOD and another @ 3. I tried to get in on the other species with a catfish and another small carp of some type but I couldn’t keep up with Hal on that note.

Have not been fishing in a little over a week mostly because the river was rising and my luck is not as good on a rise. The first cast was around 7:00 with a Yozuri and shortly thereafter I used a DT-6 both with no takers. The place was where I ended up on the last trip with them biting almost every cast. Moving along the bank, I went back to the Yozuri and shortly I got a bite. The fish was not acting like a bass, and surely it was not, a Goo, but it had a bass with it trying to take the bait away. Goo or not it was a great sign. Soon it was a bass with the bait in its mouth and three others trying to take it away. By 8:00 I had 10 bass and the spot sort of ran out so I moved up the bank casting planning on coming back later. Another of those good spots showed up but the fish were scattered, not all balled up in one little place. About the time that place started to slow, the fish started striking shad in the first place again. I went back and caught a few more along with two on the way back. The fish now were all over the place, one here one there. To start the day the fish had the whole lure in their mouth when they came to the boat. It was hard to get the hooks out without hurting the fish. Later on they were just hooked on the back hook and every now and then there was just a bite. Things were slowing down. The warning light on my truck for a low tire was on this morning when I left. I hooked up the portable pump until it went out so I knew I had a trip to the tire store coming. When the fish slowed down I left at 11:00. Caught 22 with a FOD of 3-10 and another 3-6.

Lake Ferguson was at 20.0 feet this morning when the first cast was made at 7:00. This was the first trip with a new trolling motor, a Minn Kota Terrova and I was eager to see if I liked it. I did the installation and went to the lake late Sunday afternoon taking no fishing rods, to calibrate the heading sensor and to set the heading offset. It worked fine but it was different than in a fishing situation. The starting place was the West end of the 70 bank and since it was early a Yozuri was the first bait because it can operate in the shallow water. From West end to East end only one fish bit and I was beginning to be concerned. At the 70 spot itself was where it started to happen on every cast. That was where there was still some water over the land and a relatively brisk South wind was causing some wash over which probably attracted some shad and that attracted the bass. The wind was right in my face. When I hung the first fish I hit the spot lock on the trolling motor. Rather than the wind blowing me to the middle of the lake while I dealt with the fish, the trolling motor and the GPS were communicating and keeping the boat in just the right place. I sat there and “every casted ” them for quite some time. The bite slowed to a stop and I moved out a little deeper to see if they had retreated to the deep but a DT-6 could not raise one. I tried a worm but only a timid pick up and that was only if you shook it but there was also a put down after the pick up. Figuring the fish had to be somewhere close I headed back to the starting point. There was a log there not deep enough for the fish to be around but it must have herded the shad and the bass were out from it a little dining on the shad. It was one on every cast again and spot lock again. That spot lock is the bomb. I was using my new grabber most of the time especially when the fish was in the boat to hold it while I extracted the hooks. One fish while I was holding the line did that just right shake, the line broke, it fell on the front deck, and flopped into the water toting my DT-6. After that I started holding them over the open part of the back of the boat. Just like the other spot they quit just like someone turned off the switch. Probably the school just moved and I couldn’t figure out where. There was one more spot I wanted to try on the East side of the chute and I caught one there. I was almost relieved that there was not a school there because I was tired. That last fish made 61, all released in good shape. The FOD was 4-8 and there was also a 4-2, 3-13, 3-13, 3-8 , two 3’s and lots of 2-13’s. Outstanding day !

I usually do not fish on public lakes on the weekend and this morning was a good reason why. When I arrived to meet Mickey at 6:30 the ramp was covered with hydroblaster trailers, probably 40. My heart sank at the prospect of the crowd. We launched and headed for the 70 bank, although Mickey and Frank caught none there last Sunday after I had a 41 day there Friday. Mickey said all the waves had washed over a shallow spot and muddied the water. It is a spot that is unimpressive looking but usually has some fish there. No blasters were there and the fish started biting right away. We fished down and back catching fish all along with some places better than others. The DT-6 was our bait of choice although a DT-10 and a Yozuri caught one or two. We would sit in one spot until it ran out and move until we started catching again. Another boat, not in a tournament, was fishing toward us and it just happened we were on the other end of the bank and they came upon one of our good spots . After they caught a few it was no way they were going to leave. So in essence we were sharing our spot with the other boat. The big problem for me was they were keeping the fish. They didn’t look hungry. They looked well fed so why were they keeping every fish. The limit is 10 and I’m sure they were over it . 10 apiece would have been enough for anybody to eat but they kept throwing them in the box. We released every fish we caught in good shape to survive. It makes me feel good to do that even while others are being greedy. Things slowed and we left to try a few more spots. Having no luck we came back for one last try and wouldn’t you know it the interlopers were in our spot. Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. We went to the other end and caught a fish immediately which did me a lot of good. The whole time I was fishing there today I was looking for the grabber that the fish took away from me last Friday. The spot where it jumped with it in its mouth was high and dry today. Mickey was nice enough to replace it for me. We talked about how good those grabbers were when you were fishing with a bait with two treble hooks. Many times there is no way to get your hand safely anywhere close to a fish’s mouth to hold it while you dislodge the hooks. The FOD was 5 – 0 and we had 8 more between 3 1/2 an 3 pounds. 48 bass in all. Great day on Lake Ferguson even with all the blasters. The lake is in great shape but I wonder how long it will stay that way before it gets tournamented to death and ruined.

I just had to go back since we had a good day yesterday and the BFL tournament is going to get the lake stirred up. It’s already stirring it up with lots of boat traffic. I was the first boat to leave the waterfront this morning and made my first cast at 6:15 with a crippled killer. The lake was quiet and slick, perfect for some topwater fishing. Not for long. The blasters shattered the peaceful morning and the slick water too. I put down the topwater after about 10 casts and picked up the rod with the Yozuri on it. Caught one on the first cast and caught a hard hitting 3 3/4 a few casts later. Heading for the spot we caught them yesterday, I was casting the Yozuri and catching one now and then. When I got to the spot it was going on, one every cast. A 5-3 showed up and also a 4 along with some 4 or 5 on the day in the eyeballed 3 pound range. Later in the day just to check myself I weighed one of the eyeballed 3 pounders and it weighed 3-2. At 7:15 I had caught 16 fish. By 8:15 it was 24 and by 9:15 it was 29. The bite had almost quit in the good spot but I figured there were still fish around maybe farther back or maybe out, so I started prospecting. The BFL people were plentiful and some were just idling pretending to be looking at their depth finders but their head was looking and watching. When they came by I would just throw out into the lake so I would not catch anything. Backtracking I started fishing deeper with a DT-6 and caught one here one there. After reaching the end of the bank and trying to decide what to do there was one last log sticking out. The wind was blowing slightly from the West and apparently the bass were letting the log hem up the shad and they were out in front of it scooping them up. The DT-6 did a good job on them except for one about 4 pounds that jumped and threw the hook clean. About 10:00 I caught a small fish, probably 1 1/2 pounds and was using the small gripper to hold it while I removed the hooks with my pliers. I have great respect for those sharp hooks. The hooks came out and at the same time the fish shook, the gripper slipped from my wet hands and the fish hit the front deck and flopped into the water gripper still attached. To make matters worse, about an hour later I happened to see the fish jump back in the trees and could see the orange gripper. I felt as if I could have caught a few more but my time was up and I had had a great day. Ended up with 41 bass. My biggest 3 probably would not have won the tournament but I would have given them hell on Major League Fishing.

Jackson would have been proud of Mickey and me this morning because we left the waterfront in the dark with the idea of doing some topwater fishing. We went into the willows where it was about 4 to 5 feet deep and started throwing around the downed tree tops and “fuzzy” willows, the ones with small limbs around the base. It was slow to begin with but picked up as there was more light. The strikes picked up but not the catching. Except for one, it was obvious the fish just didn’t have their heart in it. We then tried a DT-6 just on the outside of the trees and began to catch a few. The DT-6 was dredging up willow leaves so we switched to a Yozuri. After one pass down the bank we made another and the places we caught fish on the first pass were good again. One place was much better than the others so we would sit there and catch several only to leave and then come back and catch some more. There were three main spots where we could depend on getting a bite. Mickey caught one and when he took the fish off of the hook threw the bait over the side while doing something else. He noticed his rod bumping up and down, pulled it up, and there was a fish. We surmised that a fish that was following the fish he caught saw the bait and grabbed it. We left for a side trip trying a couple of other spots when the bite slowed but came back to the main spot on the way in. We caught a few more but only a few. The fish were of decent size with a FOD of 3 – 8. There were a couple of others we eyeballed at 3 or a little better. We ended up with 31 bass. There was a Northeast wind blowing most of the morning that felt almost like air conditioning. Pleasant day. WARNING: BFL tournament this weekend, 100+ boats = madhouse. Only good thing is a 3 fish limit but both for boater and non boater. Six fish per boat.

Mickey and I went to Log Loader Chute this afternoon with plans to start fishing around 3:00. I didn’t look at my watch when we started but we were close. We caught several right off the bat that were small but the wind was blowing a gale out of the North making it difficult to hold position on the spot. At the higher speeds my trolling motor is hard to steer because of the torque and that was a real problem. Using two feet to steer helped but was not the real solution. The first spot gave out but there were others that looked just like it. Unfortunately the fish were not in them. The stripes were a real pain and difficult to get off of the DT-6 without getting stuck with a hook or one of those sharp gill plates. The day was not without mishap. First a big eyed carp of substantial size bit my DT-6, had the bait in its mouth, and was taking drag, going under the boat, and just generally clowning. I was afraid the little pretty blue back DT-6 was going to be lost. Mickey took my boat hook when the fish came close and hooked it in one of the hooks on the bait and pulled the fish up to the side of the boat where I took my pliers and unhooked the fish. Next we saw some fish schooling in shallow water and went over to investigate. They were mostly stripes but in the process of finding out what they were the level wind pawl in one of my reels shot out. Second one lately. Then a jumping carp launched over the side of the boat right into a pile of Mickey’s rods. Rods went everywhere and it was amazing none were knocked into the water or none were broken. Next a gar, one of many, cut off an XD5 of mine that I had just put some over sized hooks on and that had caught a few fish. In the almost a mishap category, I had caught a stripe and had unhooked it and thrown it back and dropped my Yozuri into the water. The rod started jumping and I pounced on it because another stripe was trying to make off with the whole thing. After seeing fish deeper on the depth finder we switched to an XD5 and started to catch a few more. We patrolled the same section of bank until we could catch no more. We ended up with 30 bass and a 3-6 FOD. The FOD had a 4 1/2 pound head and a sunken belly. Also we caught innumerable stripes, two catfish, a goo, and a bunch of gar that we usually left with a headache.

I went to Lake Ferguson this morning knowing there was a 100% chance of rain but today was the only day because tomorrow is Saturday and that means tournaments. Ferguson has been hammered lately it seems. I started off with DT’s, both 6 and 10 and a worm but could get nothing going. There were some shad moving down a shallow bank that were being harassed from time to time so I tried a Whopper Plopper and finally caught one after some misses, really didn’t want it. Probably had caught so many shad they were full but were still feeling mean and harassing the shad. I tired of all the misses and put on a Crippled Killer but again nothing but misses and little ones at that. Headed again for the deep to a spot I marked that had a treetop under the water where Mickey and I wore the fish out a couple of times. Hard to tell sometimes exactly where it is so I had it marked on the depth finder. Found it exactly but no bass there. Lots of other fish however. I then went to the 70 bank, a favorite place of mine to fish but I saw a couple of fish hit on top in the trees and was going to try to do some good there but then I heard the first lick of thunder. I did not hesitate even though it was relatively far off. Headed lickety split for the waterfront. Everyone else had heard it too and I was afraid there would be a traffic jam but the waterfront is wide with plenty of space for a lot of people to load at the same time. I was home in the garage before the boat got wet. Caught 2 small bass.