I couldn’t stand it. I called Hal and invited myself for another go at Cottonmouth Lake because the first trip was so good. It didn’t hurt that the last trip he made there he caught 3 over 6 pounds. At 5:30 we drove in the gate. That meant me getting up at 3 a.m. We started out in the mosquitoes when it was almost dark, but when the first dragonflys appeared the mosquitoes vanished. The game was to be in front of the bream feeder when it went off. We were there on time but the bass were not. The bream were and what big bream they were. If I go again, I’m going to take my fly rod . The bass were not interested in anything that moved too fast. Hal quickly caught a few on a worm but nothing too big. We caught small bass until the major period started about 10 a.m. Hal caught 3 that were about 3 3/4 apiece. They came from some trees in 15 to 20 feet of water. Notice the orange tag just behind the dorsal fin. One of the fish he caught was one that he had already tagged. He has caught several more than once.

The bass in Cottonmouth have a cottonmouth in that they just barely bite. You feel no big thump when they pick your worm up. The last time we went the small bass were schooled up out in the middle but they were not there Tuesday. They were schooled up, sort of, around the outside of the deep water trees. The visibility is at least 10 feet. Hal lowered a white swim jig until we couldn’t see it anymore. He then pulled it up with his rod and had at least three feet hanging under a seven foot rod. After I made a scalding afternoon comeback we finished with 27 bass. I looks like my specialty  was the little ones on Tuesday.

It has been a long time since I fished Wolf Lake. At one time it was outstanding bass fishing. Hal and I caught 132 one day, I caught 91 solo, and during that time 50 to 70 a day was common. Then they had a late flood that flooded all the green corn crops. The next time I went there I had to work to catch 2 fish.  So I have waited, three years I think, to try and let the lake recover. This morning it was high and up in the grass and weeds along the banks. Early the fish were chasing minnows along the edges. When I say fish I mean a few small bass and a lot of gars. The lake is like most I have visited lately, absolutely full of small shad. The small bass I caught were like footballs and just as full of shad as they could be. There were no fish on the usual “good” spots but were all shallow close to the bank. With the water high, the cypress limbs  and bushes limit your ability to fish against the bank.  I saw what was going to happen and was beginning to get hungry so I quit before noon with four fish. The lake may be beginning to make a comeback but it has a long way to go. A high point today was when a black bellied whistling duck lit in the tree right over my head. Also on the bird watching subject, I noticed the purple martin houses were full and they have a good crop of young. In and around Greenville I have noticed this year less martins even in the places that have long established nesting sites. In the past up on the river I have had as many as six pairs on my house but none came this year even with a new house that is the exact same as the old one. Also on the bird front, as I motored under the highway bridge, there were probably 30 cliff swallow mud jug nests on each side.  With my fishing results as of late perhaps I need to start bird watching full time.