Jackson and I went to Monticello early knowing the major feeding period would not be until around 4:00 in the afternoon. Around 8:00 we must have caught a part of a minor because we caught a few fish. Jackson had a small Lake Fork swimbait with a club tail that he made first contact with but did not catch the fish. I had something close so I put on a BPS shad-o and caught  the first fish. The shad-o was just too slow fishing for me so I was quick to go back to a Ribbit . After catching a fish on the Ribbit it was mostly Ribbits for the rest of the day. Today was one of the most pleasant days on Lake Monticello weather wise, almost no wind, almost unheard of conditions. We did better on the bites than I did last time I was over there. We caught most of them. Most of the fish we caught were between 3 and 4 pounds, the same size we have been catching in the lily pads. The FOD was right on schedule, it bit at 4:00 and weighed 7 pounds even. I will tell you a 7 pounder on a Ribbit frog will get your excitement level up a notch or two.

We ended up with 14 and had what amounted to a fun day.

This is an email I received from Hal today after a trip to the new lake he just became a member of. How about the water clarity? Makes Monticello look like a mudhole.

Fished from 9 to 5:30 today had 30 total.  Had a 7.75#, 6.5#, 5.5#, 5.25#, 4.25#, 4#, 3# & 4 from 2 to 2.75, plus 19 small.  All big fish were on 4.5″  swimbait with 1/8 weighted hook.  Lost 3 good fish to snags.  Most fish were in stick ups from 4 to 12 feet.  Water clarity was at least 8 feet.  One  other boat showed up about 1.  Road was ok for two wheel drive. A good day

One of my rules is to never go fishing on the weekend in a popular public lake. I broke that rule Saturday by going to Lake Monticello. It was forecast to rain and also the opening day of Arkansas turkey season so I surmised the crowd might be lighter than normal. Indeed it was. Starting out early I went to one of my favorite places to fish a Ribbit and only had two “rushes”. A “rush” is where the fish does not strike but follows the bait making a surface wake behind the bait. Usually, about 8 of every 10 times, if you stop the retrieve and just let the bait slowly sink watching your line, you will see your line twitch and start to move off when the fish picks up the Ribbit . Neither time did the fish pick up the bait, which I took for a bad sign. Indeed it was, for by 9 o’clock still not one bite. In the meantime I watched a boat catch two fish and have another get off right at the boat. I also saw another boat catch two at the same time. I was beginning to feel left out. Both of those boats were fishing with jigs, which is not my forte, but I put one on anyway. After a spell with no luck, it was back to the Ribbit and the fish began to hit at it. “AT” because they were grabbing the legs and not getting the hook. Finally I shook the rust off of my Ribbit hook set and put a couple in the boat. After moving the biting picked up but there was some rust still there. One fish made a fast wake for the bait and when it hit there was no hesitation, I just could not stand it, and of course there was no hookup. I ended up getting 14 bites and catching only four, all in the 3 pound range. When the rain got heavy the fish quit and I left.

I thought I had a pretty good found bait collection until Hal sent me a photo of his. His was composed of mostly crankbaits and they were mostly in good shape. Even the hooks on his look good although he may have changed them.

As you may have guessed, I have been on the turkey scene more lately than on the fishing scene. That will change but I’m afraid not too soon. Please bear with me and stay tuned.