Taff went to Lake Washington on Dec. 28th and caught 7 (I believe) nice ones on a jig worked slow. The one he is holding in the photo is not the largest he caught but is the one with him in the picture.

When I totaled up my fishing log for the year I was pleasantly surprised.  First, there were 78 days fished for bass. At the first of the year the fishing days were about 2/3 of the previous year.  Going a lot to Ferguson must have picked the numbers up because days ended up exactly equal to last year’s 78. The second surprise was the total bass caught of 980, way more than last years 709.  There were 36 bass 4 pounds or better, with 14 of those over 5.  Lake Ferguson was most popular with 22 trips and a smooth 300 fish caught. One of every 60 of those weighed 4 pounds or better.  One lake produced a 4 pounds or better fish every 3.6 fish caught.  The most prolific lake was Wolf Lake with an average catch of 47 bass per trip, for 5 trips. None caught there were over 4 however.  Perhaps all this analysis will help me to do a little better next year.

Hal Moore, the ICBM caster, caught a 10 pound even bass last January in the lake he lives on.  His picture is in Bass Master magazine in the Lunker Club section on page 70. His lake is overpopulated with bass, although he and some neighbors are on a mission to take as many small bass from the lake as possible. Hal told me the other day he had caught 1837 bass ( going for 2000) so far this year and I bet 837 or more were from that lake. He has only caught a few over four from there but one of those was 10. Go ahead Mo!

Lost Lake is a small, shallow lake on Catfish point.  I went there because I could use a small boat and my regular boat is still dirty from the last trip down the muddy gravel road to Catfish. Didn’t want to do that again. I started at about noon but was beginning to smell a skunk by 2:30. A Booyah saved the day and caught a fat 1 1/2 pounder that was the only one to make it to the boat. Only one other bite on a shakey head worm. How about this fishing rig?

Taff Hitt and partner won the team trails tournament on Lake Ferguson today. Their winning weight was 15.36. They caught them deep.  He said that he won enough to pay for a recently purchased depthfinder.  Go ‘head Taff.

I acquired some great photos of another trout fishing expert and the results of his fishing adventures. The first is a nice rainbow caught in Box Canyon on  the Henry’s Fork River in Idaho. He caught 15 this size and one 19 incher. The next photo is of Frank fighting a trout in the Box Canyon Rapids. If you will notice, he is occupying from what I understand is his usual spot in the boat, the front.  The third photo is my favorite. It is of Frank with a rainbow caught on the Grey Reef section of the North Platte River near Casper Wyoming. It captures the jubilation that comes with the catch of a nice fish.

I know this is a fishing site but Ben Robertson arrowed this beautiful 8 point the other day. It’s too nice a deer not to be shown.

Over the Thanksgiving holidays, Craig Tucker struck again, catching a large trout in either Northern Arkansas or Missouri. He described it as a lifetime trout but I do not believe that. I know that as good a trout fisherman as he is, he will catch a bigger one or two or three or… It was real neat that his family agreed to go on a fishing trip for the holidays. Maybe he could give the rest of us a seminar on how to work that out. Here is the photo.