Mickey and I went to the Garhole early Friday morning so there would be a chance of some topwater fishing. We started fishing somewhere close to 7:00, one side or the other. Mickey started off with his famous crazy shad and I started off with a DT-6. He commenced to put on a topwater demonstration. I caught a few on the DT-6 and all the fish were relatively small but willing to bite. The 5 pound log came up and I believe Mickey was unhooking a fish so I gave it a couple of casts with the DT-6 but nothing. When he finished with the unhooking job the shad went to the log next and look what came out.

A six pound head but a 4 -11 on the scales. A lot of the fish we caught were skinny, not all, but some. That makes me believe that something is wrong with the Garhole. There seems to be plenty of bream for them to eat, saw them everywhere. I didn’t see many shad “flicking” on the surface, there may be some around but they were not evident. The bites continued until about noon and we gave it another hour before we quit. 20 bass was the final tally.

Mickey and I started fishing on Lake X at 7:15 this morning and at first it looked like I was wrong for wanting to go early because we fished a good way before the first bite. I missed a fish on a worm because I had forgotten to set my drag. I usually loosen them when I put them up and this is not the first time I have forgotten. It was foggy and still so of course the crazy shad came out and it was not too long until the master came out with a fish, a 6 3/4 pound bass. Soon there after a 4-15 came on the shad. The fish were right up on the bank. The fog moved in more until you could not see across the lake but the fish seemed to love the darkness. The worm caught some between the tops and the bank. We then went to a secret spot and fished with a Carolina rig where Mickey caught this 8-2, his all time best.

As the sun began to win the battle with the fog the bite slowed down somewhat but we still found a fish here and there. We ended up with 11 fish four 2 pounders which we took home and are awaiting the skillet. The fish from Lake X seem to be especially tasty. Along with the aforementioned fish we also caught a 7-1, 6-4, 5-0, and 4-0.

Jackson and I went to Bussey break early Monday morning. He assured me that he knew where the fish were. When we pull up and some bushes and some lily pads sure enough the bass were hitting a shed. They were up in the bushes. Almost impossible to get to. It appeared to be a shed spawn going on because the shed were nipping around the edges of a lily pads and nipping in the bushes. The bass were only hitting in the middle of the bushes. Jackson taught one on a spinnerbait right by the boat and we had no other bites there. We left there and went to a shallow spot that had some small cypress trees among other bushes but nothing will shallow. We left the very shallow water and eased out into the lake where Jackson caught one out in the open and had another bite. After a while we left there and went over to the spot where Jackson caught the 11 lb and fish there for a long time with no luck. About 1:00. We called it a day and Jackson had caught two fish, probably two and a half to three pounds.

Mickey and I started fishing about 8:00. A minor period was to be between 8:30 and 930 that we hoped to get in on but it looked like we just caught the end of it. We caught 3 fish in the first few minutes and just knew we were going to load the boat but just when you get that feeling that’s when things tend to drop off and today was no exception. The fish were out in the middle and would bite a Carolina rig but it didn’t last too long. We had to resort to fishing in the middle of the tops with a worm which brings on hangups and missed fish. The wind was moderate which is great because the lake is in the wide open and there is nothing to break the wind. There was also a major period starting around 3, but I always say they actually start 2 hours ahead of time. As morning turned to noon the wind subsided even more and we found the fish were just out from the tops that are along the bank and would bite. About 1:00 this one bit a worm out from one of the tops.

9-0 . We caught more when we almost went around the bank again. Things were trailing off so we decided to head in around 3:00. We ended up with 14 fish, 7 under 16 inches and 7 over. The overs went back and the unders came home for supper tomorrow night.

My intention this morning was to go to Lake Jackson and fish the north end with a ribbit frog. I had been to Lake Jackson a little over a week ago to check it out. This morning the vegetation had grown since I looked and it was too thick for me to fish effectively. I left, came back home and dropped the boat off. I gathered up a different set of rods and the battery for the garhole boat and set sail for the garhole. I stopped at the house to pick up the boat with the Jeep and headed down to the gar hole. It took a good while to put the rack on the bank and get the winch situated. Fishing started around 11:00. Fishing was nothing to write home about as I caught a grinner, a big carp, a crappie and a gar along with three bass. I stopped fishing at 3:00 because nothing was really going on . The water was very clear with a 2 and 1/2 ft visibility. It was up a little bit because the river came up enough to run in just a bit. On to another lake.

Monday I went to lake X and faced winds of 15 to 20 all day. I fished until around 2:30 or 3:00 and quit because I thought my batteries might be getting weak. I would not have been able to fish at all but for the spot lock. It really affected my abilities of detecting bites on the plastic bites. I ended up catching 8 with 3 in the 4 pound range, 4 3/4 being the largest. When I felt most fish was when they were leaving. Next day was perfect but I had planned to go to Bussey break. The guys that did go caught 35 with a 9.93 FOD.

In Bussey Break Jackson and I hunted for the fish in relatively shallow water. A 4 pounder was caught on a spinnerbait. I had seen the Major League Fishing program that was filmed there, I think last year, where the guy caught one over 12 pounds and I think I figured out where he was in general terms. We went to that spot in 7 feet of water. Jackson had on a black and blue jig and soon had a bite and set the hook. We were near some willow trees and some bushes. A heck of a fight ensued and I scooped up this giant for Jackson. 11 pounds 9 ounces. He caught one other small one.

We talked to a nice man in the parking lot who said he had caught a 10 and a 6 that day and a 10 Saturday. How about 2 10 pound fish in 4 days?

I went to the Garhole Sunday after 8:30 church an was able to start fishing about 11:00. I went down the bank to a relatively shallow spot where I caught a 2 1/2 on a swim jig right where it should have been. There were shad in the extreme shallows but no bass feeding on them. Back out to the deep and no bites, I saw some small fish come up out in the middle chasing some shad. Maybe they are in the middle. I took off across the middle, 20+ feet deep, with a deep jerk bait. The water was clear. Sure enough a 3 1/2 loaded on and came to the boat from out in the dead middle. I made a circle or two but could not catch any more so I went to the North bank where the water temp was 61 degrees. None were in the tops until I drifted up next to one and just dipped the worm in through the cracks in the limbs. In the clear water I could see a big bass excitedly swimming around but I couldn’t tell whether it had my bait. Soon the line started to move and I set the hook. The fish thankfully came straight up out of the limbs and was out in open water. 5 3/4.

That was the last top so it was out to the deep again. Soon a 4 1/4 bit and I got a little optimistic, but could raise no more good fish. After a few more small ones I had to leave to get home to let the dogs out. Nice to have something worth writing about.

Not really too much to update as fishing has been slow for me lately. No zeros but no big numbers in either size or numbers. It’s still February but should be more to write about. This one was caught in February but in 2006.

I dragged the Garhole boat two boat lengths to the water by lying down sticks like railroad ties and then pulling it over them. The sticks kept the boat from digging in the mud. After I got it in the water I put the winch in the jeep and tied the rack to the bumper and dragged it down to the new spot. Spent the night and went early the next morning. The weather man was predicting showers in the afternoon and a high of 70. That didn’t seem like the case as about 9:00 there was a misting rain. The water temp was 52+. Caught one on a DT-6 fairly quickly, small and on the back hook. had a few bump type bites as I started but no hook ups. Went down to some shallow water and had two solid hits on a Jackhammer but no hook up finally caught another by drifting up to a top and dipping a shaky head down through the cracks in the limbs. I caught this crappie on a DT-6. Took its picture to prove that there were still some in the hole. Some people have said there were none left. I also wanted to try out the camera on my new phone.

Since the hole is much lower, I went to the spot where I fell in last year but it was not low enough to expose the sun glasses that I lost. The deck patch from last year that was eaten around the edges was in very good shape despite no paint to protect it. Going on around the hole I caught another on a DT-6 and thought perhaps the fish might start to bite, but I was wrong. I tried the shallow spot again with the jackhammer and had another strong hit but no hook up. When I looked at the hook, the point was bent sideways. I had been fishing with it all day and had not a chance of catching anything on it. Made me mad because I didn’t check it sooner, and since nothing was really going on, I left. That morning, I had threatened to drive to Wilmot to Lake Enterprise and the way the fish were acting and the bent hook made me glad that I had not gone.

Hal and I went to Enid this morning and the water level was sitting at 236 just where we had a terrific day two years ago. A north wind, a full moon, a lunar eclipse and a time change had the bass and us all confused. We caught 4.