Jackson and I launched at Cane Creek at 6:15 on a slick lake with almost no wind. The water temperature was 68 and the lily pads were just the right thickness. The fish, however, were not just right and were closer to wrong. We fished a long time before a bite and even longer before a fish. The bass would not even think about the Ribbit that I was throwing. One finally just came up and gave it a weak slap. Jackson caught one on a Swim bait and also two chain pickerels. We fished the shallow end of the lake where there had been some old catfish ponds. The levees were still apparent. We pulled up to one for lunch and put the motor down to hold us in place because now the wind was up to around 10 MPH. I caught one there with a lot of luck involved because I was asleep at the wheel when the fish hit and it basically hooked itself. We tried another spot with no luck so we departed around 2:00. We ended up with 2 fish that were about the same size, co FOD’s.

The second Lake X trip started with a flat on the boat trailer on the way to pick up Mickey. It was only a few blocks from his house so he came to help me change it. When I left home something did not sound right and I even tried to look in the mirror and check the boat trailer tires but I couldn’t see the one on the right side. It is the one on the dark side of the garage next to the wall. We got it changed and took off for the lake. When we arrived at the lake there was a cold wind blowing out of the North, so cold in fact I put on my rain suit to help me keep warm. It had rained more there than in Greenville and the bank was a little muddy. I did not wipe my feet before getting in the boat and soon the foot pedal to the trolling motor was very slick making it almost impossible to maneuver the boat. I had to get out on a grassy spot and wipe my feet off and then use a rag to clean off the pedal. We fished along the bank with a variety of baits, got a few bites, hooked a couple but catching none. Finally we caught one on a wacky worm and then one on a jerk bait. Due to the wind we were confined to one short stretch of bank. We had tried to fish with the wind down the bank but that was going too fast and we caught nothing. There was one other boat on the lake with three people in it that had caught 6. We continued to try as the weather started to slowly improve. As the wind died we were able to fish more of the area. The fish were close to the bank mostly. We caught a few more and finally the 5-15 FOD bit the wacky worm.

Characteristically, we fought it until late. We ended up with 7 bass and a funky little catfish. The other boat caught in the high teens and had “several 5 to 6 ” fish.

A friend is pretty well along in the process of making a big bass lake and needed some small fish under 16 inches taken out. I was more than happy to help out. The lake is 30 acres and has been sculptured with deep spots channels and has all sorts of cover. I didn’t start until around 10. When I started two boats were leaving and a guy said they had caught a 9 pounder along with a 7 and a 5. A 12 year old caught the 9. The guy that told me was using a spinner bait for his last few casts. The trusty Booyah was the first bait out of my bag after seeing that. I went a long time with no bites. After two small fish made a pass at the Booyah and neither really hit it, I changed to a wacky worm. I have been watching Major League Fishing and a lot of those good fishermen catch a lot of fish on wacky worms. They can take a spinning rod and skip those things right under a dock or up into a top. I had a small spinning rod with a reel spooled with braid. The pros use a fluorocarbon leader so I did some knot research and tied one on. The hook I used had a wire loop weed guard. Threw it right up into a fuzzy top and on about the third cast a small one grabbed it and came to the boat. Caught another quickly and was liking the wacky worm setup. The wind was blowing pretty hard and that made line control and bait control difficult but I managed to catch a few more but then ran into a pretty long lull in the middle of the afternoon. There were some people still catching a few however and I wanted to figure out what I was doing wrong. There is a lot of stringy green moss in the lake and about every other cast my bait would come up with some. When I figured out how to avoid the moss the results improved but still no really big fish. There were some over 16 inches but no really big ones. Finally later in the afternoon a 5-7 bit and gave me a tussle on that small spinning rod although it had 30 pound braid and a 12 pound leader. Bites were coming more rapidly, the wind was decreasing, and the gnats were getting a lot worse. The gnats were so bad they made me keep my shades on to keep them out of my eyes until almost dark . Before I quit, another 5 pound fish came to the scales making me feel a lot better. I ended up with 19 fish, 13 of which came home with me and 6 were released. Had a fun day and learned about how to fish a wacky worm. I also figured out that since you use a leader you might as well use some hi vis braid so you can exercise better line control and see a little more of what you’re doing.

Have not been fishing due to the turkey season being open, thinking about it a lot however. The turkey season is still open in Mississippi but it is closed on my hunting spot due to the high River. We closed it at 39 feet on the Arkansas City gauge and it has continued to rise to 43.3 presently. I got my two turkeys out of the way by the day before it closed. The MS state limit is 3, so I have another, but the only place I have to hunt is a small parcel in Claiborne county that is good for about a hunt a week after an early two hour drive. I have tangled with a character down there who cooperated but I defeated myself. Looking at it from another direction, at least I can still hunt.

The ramp on Lake Ferguson was full of trailers Saturday with at least a dozen of the double axle bass boat variety. I have not heard any reports but that many participants indicates to me that something is happening there. Those people were not just tired of being cooped up from the Wuhan stay at home. I want to go but it’s been raining, or forecast to, every day. Speaking of rain, it is raining outside right now.

Jackson and I fished Lake Columbia Saturday and Sunday looking for an early repeat of last year. Unfortunately, a cold front had just passed through Friday. The lake was clear and the water temperature was 53.5 when we launched. The water temperature rose during the sunny day to a high of 64 degrees in an East cove. I believe we were too early by about a week as we only caught male bass (small). The first day we had many bites on a swimbait that we could not catch. The second day was better but the fish were still small for that lake. 2 1/2 pounds was the largest. Jackson caught some on a fluke too. Our total for the two days was 7, not good. It will be better in a week but turkey season starts next Sunday and rain is forecast for each day.

I usually try not to go to Lake Ferguson if the river is rising but today in desperation for a place with pretty water I went. The water has risen 3 feet since the last time I went, Greenville gauge 47 feet. When I went outside to go it was “foggy , misting rain” as Willie likes to say. That encompasses anything from a fog to just short of a straight pour down rain. The rain made me a little nervous but I sallied forth anyway. Fishing started sometime just after 1:00 and in the same place the fish were caught last trip. Coming back down the levee the other day I saw about 40 deer out and about, so I figured the bite time was around 3:00 when I saw them. That was wrong. The first fish caught had a shad tail sticking out of its gullet. They had been dining early. The DT-6 caught 5 rather quickly in about 5 to 6 feet of water with some vines and a few weeds that had grown when the place was dry. This spot was near a steep drop down to 20 feet. Just like before, when they quit, they quit. Not another bite. After it was obvious that the game was up in that spot, I left to go find another spot. The meadow used to be a good spot, and it still may be but not for me today. It is bordered by ironwood bushes so thick there is no way to get your boat through them. The rest is an open field with a few short weeds growing in it, not much cover. It might be good when the water really starts to warm up and the bass are thinking spawn. After snooping around a little, I returned to the spot but nothing was happening. No more bites even on a jig. Five fish total, FOD 3 1/2.

When eating out the other night Betsy told us about her catching a nice bass in her front yard. She showed us a picture and the fish I would guess was 7 pounds. The lake was falling and water must have been running out of her yard. She was trying to catch a crappie with a light rod and 6 pound test and a chartreuse crappie jig. The drag must have been set right because she said the fish would just pull out line and then she would get some back. Finally the fish was tired out but she was scared to try to lift it, so she just dragged it up on the bank. Screaming while all this was taking place. She said a neighbor thought she had been hurt due to all the racket. I was asleep at the switch or I would have asked her to email me the photo.

Aside from sailing or surfing, the wind is not the friend of anyone nautical. In certain places it positions the fish, but that was not the case today. Lake Ferguson was falling slightly this morning when I hit the lake around 9:30, and the wind WAS blowing around 12 MPH and was on the increase. I had many ideas of good places to fish but due to the wind many were almost impossible. The ironwood bushes, or closer to trees, were another impediment. The some of the willows around the lake have died and many of the others have had the tops broken out. When the water falls out, this allows sunlight to reach the ground and the ironwoods have prospered. Fishing around ironwoods is very difficult for me. When you get hung up in one it is rarely easy to get unhung and many times you end up sacrificing your bait. I have always said an ironwood bush is a bass’s best friend. I started off with a vibrating jig and a DT-6 of course. I have been taking a portrait of my DT-6 each time I go fishing because it has caught so many fish and it is getting beat up. If I lose it I want something to remember it by.

By 1:15 I had not the first bite and decided to try one more spot, which was the last I had in mind. By now I had the aforementioned baits on the deck along with two swimbaits, a KVD 1.5, a redeye shad and a green jig with a trailer. The water had 3 1/2 feet of visibility and was just over 51 degrees. I use the DT-6 just like a jerk bait moving it very slowly. As I eased into the spot I noticed some nervous shad which was a good sign. This place was out of the main wind, no waves but enough wind to blow you around. The spot was lined with ironwoods too. There was a sandy ridge where there was only one ironwood bush. I threw the DT-6 there first and at first thought I was hung but I began to feel a fish on the other end. It was a 6 1/2 pound that fought but not like they do when the water is warm. The bait was sideways in its mouth. When I put it in the boat I had to bring it in by the gill cover. No landing penalty, if you watch Major League Fishing on TV.

It is very hard to take a good photo of your fish, holding the fish with one hand and operating the camera with the other. Your arm is just not long enough. I am always in a hurry to return the fish to the water so they will not be stressed. Some of the guys on the TV fishing shows will hold the fish out for what seems for ever to me. When they catch one I wish they would hold their breath until they release the fish. If they hold the fish out too long while they are jabbering, I quickly turn them off. After I caught this one I had another bite but no fish. That made me think I needed a bait with more hooks so out came a deep diving jerk bait with three sharp trebles. I quickly caught three more but much smaller. I then went around the spot casting parallel to the ironwoods hoping to catch some that may be just on the outside of the bushes and be able to see the bait in the clear water. That worked for two more and a couple more bites but it was obvious that things were slowing down. If I were going tomorrow I would be in that spot at 11:45. Snatched the fat out of the fire with six bass in all with the 6 1/2 FOD.

Monday morning I went to the Garhole a little later than I would normally start fishing to allow the sun to start to warm things up. Fishing started at 10:15, and even with a late start, it took an hour before the first bite came. A DT-10 fished slowly, as a matter of fact when I stopped it, got the first bite. When I was reeling in the fish I got a good look at two other good fish trying to take the bait away. Only those two were all I caught in that spot, for a total of three. That was the total for that spot although it was visited three times more during the day. One of those was caught on a DT-6 which seems to be a bait that is good for cold water situations as long as it is fished painfully slow. The old beat up one is the one that was used. It floats higher than a new one when you start the day, but as the balsa soaks up water, later in the day it suspends just right like a jerk bait. I alternated the two crank baits, a deep diving jerk bait, and a jig all day long. The bites on the jig were so subtle they were to detect but I had one close to the boat that the line broke when I set the hook. Need to be more careful setting the drag. I liked the new D&L advantage Jigs with a protected line tie. They seemed to come through the limbs of brush tops with no hanging up. I tried all the regular spots with not much luck. I watched my depth finder all day trying to figure out where the fish were. As I floated over a treetop that I didn’t realize was there, I saw some fish hanging around it. After drifting away a little bit, I threw a DT-6 back over it and caught a fish, hooked on the rear hook as most of the fish I caught were. They were just nipping at the bait even though it was moving slowly. I quit at 3:45 with 8 fish, the largest was 3 pounds. Three or four others pulled off as they fought, certainly because of them just nipping at the bait due to the cold water.

Daughter in Law Mary Grace and I went hunting over the Christmas holidays trying to add to her successful marksmanship record and to the venison supply.

The first two times she has ever pulled the trigger on a rifle were last year when she downed two pigs in quick succession. This year she was going for venison and at 10:15 on the day before Christmas she struck. By the time I got out of the stand she was on the blood trail and when I stumbled down into the cane brake she yelled “she’s over here” and had found the doe. She has a perfect record so far, Three for three. Thus the title of this post. To say I’m extremely proud of her is an understatement. We have a tradition of having venison for Christmas lunch so the doe went right on the table.

I did the traditional honors with the makeup, we loaded the doe into the jeep, carried it to Freddie, and went back to the house for a celebratory pop of Scotch. It was nothing short of a wonderful day.

Hal was going to meet me at the gate at 8:00 this morning but we both were about 20 minutes early. It was a cool ride in the Jeep to the Garhole. Hal used to invite me there to fish when we were in high school in the early 60’s. Some of the logs that were there then are still there now. We started fishing slightly after 8:30 due to the early meet. It started off very slow. Hal tried a DT-6, a jig and a drop shot. He snagged a large bream on the DT-6 , had a pickup or two on the jig, and had a lot of bream tapping his drop shot. No real bites. Since I had no bites to start off on the jig, the DT-6 got the call. Hal finally caught a couple on the jig and my DT-6 caught a few but only if you fished it slowly with stops and pauses. We reached one place that had quite a few fish. It just happened to be one of the places I caught them last time. It was very slow fishing with a lot of the fish caught on the back hook of the bait indicating how much the cool water had slowed the fish down. When we moved from the first place, we started fishing around the bank and catching one every now and then. Hal was having good luck on the jig but I was having none on that bait. We trolled over to the second spot that I thought might be good. Nothing. Then we started around another section of bank. By now it was warming up and the fish were more ready to hit the DT-6. I threw by a log and was going to let my bait crawl over it when a fish hit. I hooked the fish but it stuck the hook in the log. Hal said to give the fish slack and let it pull the bait off of the log, which it did. It was a 5 pound FOD.

Continuing around the hole the fish seemed to be biting much better. We thought it might be a good idea to return to the place they were biting so slow. When we arrived they in fact were doing better but the presentation still had to be slow. We caught a few and things slowed down so we were going to return to the nothing place hoping that maybe a school had moved up. On the way Hal caught four out of one bush with a jig. After giving the bush a good going over with no more bites we continued to the other spot. Since the bush had been so good we tried another and it was full of fish too. I threw to the bush and hung on a vine. I twitched the bait trying to get it off the vine and a fish came up and helped me out by taking it off the vine for me. By now we had caught 38 and were trying hard for 40. Hal caught number 39 that was the co-FOD at 5 pounds even. It was getting late and the trolling motor battery was just about gone so we decided to quit. Besides the two FOD’s , there was a 4 and although we didn’t weigh any I’d bet a couple of the others were 3 which would make the best 5 weigh 20 pounds. Not too shabby.