Until the 2011 flood, Wolf Lake was one of my favorite spots to fish. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries had released thousands of bass and they had prospered due to a high shad population. It was not uncommon to catch 50 or more fish, with some nice ones included. The flood changed all that because afterward it was hard to catch any at all. I heard that things were looking up there so I paid a visit today. I started on the spots that were good in the past and the fish were there today. Most of the fish were very small but would bite my DT-6 and if they got close it got them. Little bass are the most dangerous to get off of the hook as you can see from the photo.

Thank goodness it went through the skin and just grazed the meat. It hurt, especially when the fish was still on and wiggling, but not as much as if it had gone straight through a bunch of flesh. After that I had the pliers on my belt. I was catching a lot of little ones and tried a bigger bait, a DT-10 in hopes it might attract a larger size fish. On the first cast I could tell that it was more weight on than it had been . When it got to the boat it had two fish but the same sizes as I had been catching. No help. The lake was full of shad. Plenty for the little fish to eat and grow. As I fished around the spots where I used to catch fish, every now and then I would catch one that was larger. The major period was around noon and I could tell because I started catching a few larger fish. By larger I mean just over 2 pounds. I understand some were caught the other day that were 3 1/2 or better but I’d bet they were caught on jigs. It was action that I was after. I got it too. Caught 81. They all would pass the Rexford Wooley criteria for being counted. My DT-6 has almost had it as it’s down to the balsa .

When I pulled up on the levee this morning all the cows were laying down, not a good sign that the fish were biting. I didn’t turn around and go back home however. By the time I got in the water it was obvious that the cows were telling the truth. In a spot where the fish usually cooperate my DT-6 could get no takers. As I was leaving, in desperation, I tried the DT-10 that was tied on and caught a 3 3/4 which turned out to be the FOD. Next spot, nothing. Next one was a little shallower so on the extra rod I put on a 200 Bandit I found in a rock dike up close to Tunica when I was fishing with Hal a good while ago. The Bandit caught 3 or 4 and was doing well. I had put new hooks on it , the red ones that are really sharp. Most of the fish were of decent size except one, when I threw under an ironwood bush (a bass’s best friend), a bream came out to investigate the bait. As I pulled it down there was a bite and I thought it was the bream. I set the hook but in fact it was a bass. It was small, 8″, and it jumped right at the boat. When it jumped it threw a small, 2 1/2″, bass that it had swallowed out of its mouth. The 2 1/2″ then swam away. The bass had eaten one of its nieces or nephews. After that a long drought ensued. Trying a worm was maddening with all the bream and small bass pecking on the bait. I finally did catch a couple on the worm but the bream were frustrating. Maybe they won’t fool with a big creature bait. I’ll try that next time. I did try the dumbbell sinker a few feet in front of the Bandit and trolled around the hole a couple of times with no results. I may not have let out enough line to let it get deep enough. Next time. I ended up with 10 bass a catfish, a bream on a DT-6, and a stripe on an XD-5. Three of the fish were ~ 3 pound size and the rest stair stepped down from there.

Arrival at the lake was 30 minutes behind the planned time of 6:45. Fishing began around 7:30. Only one other boat was at the ramp and they were just fishing along North when I arrived. After launching, I went South mainly to get some baits tied on and to get the kinks out. There were some shad dimpling the water and thinking there were some bass nearby I threw a DT-6 into their midst. After a few casts I connected with a small one. There were more bites and fish to be had and pretty soon I had caught 6, lost 2 and missed two strikes. This got my expectations for the day up pretty high. When that activity slowed down I moved and only caught 1 in that spot so I moved again and caught only another. The bite had slowed, and how. In one place, Jackson’s favorite spot there were schools and schools of shad passing through but no fish. The 72 spot was barren as was all the other places I tried. Looking at the “Best Times” website I saw why. I had thought there was a minor feeding period just before daylight and a major one about noon but I was confused. The major was just before daylight and the minor was just after noon. I had caught the last of the major and then a drought. Left shortly after figuring that out ( noon ) but it was time to go. Caught 8, all small.

Harley IV and I went to the Garhole again. This time arriving at dark and having to await the sun to make things bright enough so we could fish. As we sat in the truck, at first there were just one or two mosquitoes bumping up against the closed window of the truck. As the light increased, more and more arrived looking for a snack. Finally it was light enough to start to load the boat and start to fish. The mosquitoes were not as bad as I thought they would be. I don’t know how, but the mosquitoes seem to know just when you are distracted and trying to concentrate on something like tying a knot in your fishing line. That’s when they attack, totally messing up your knot or whatever else you are doing.

He caught these two before I was able to put my DT-6 on. He was using an XD-3. Things started popping right off the bat. The big fish was the FOD at 4 1/2 pounds. When I finally got a bait in the water I came up with a 3 1/2. Then Harley hooked something that pulled drag and went down and sulked. The 8 pound line on the relatively light spinning reel was no match for whatever he had on. He did a good job of fighting the fish but its size was winning the battle. We got a glimpse of the fish twice and could not definitively tell what it was. It appeared to be hooked in the mouth. It was not a catfish because it didn’t roll. It was not a bass because it never tried to jump. It went under the boat for the fourth or fifth time and the hook pulled out. I wish we could have at least been able to tell exactly what it was.

As you can see, it had him bowed up and he was tired after the fight. We then crossed the hole and caught a few more bass. When that spot gave out we went to a place that I just have to check each time I go to the Garhole because it has been so good in the past. I have not caught a fish there this year until today. They were there in spades and we caught several more getting the total up to 14 bass. We also caught three big bream on the crankbaits.

The three were good sized and we were glad to see them as we had brought an ice chest and planned to fly fish later for a mess for supper. One of them was a “government bream” which I think is a red eared sunfish. I believe it was the first one I have ever caught around here. When it got to be 9:15 we put the bass rods and picked up the popping bug. Again the small bream gave us fits but we managed to catch enough for supper. Since I was going to do the fish cleaning we were selective on the fish we kept. I really did not want to have to fillet a bunch of really small fish. We caught enough before it got hot and quit at 10:30.

It was a a beautiful morning at a little after 6 when Harley IV and I left the waterfront on Lake Ferguson. We noticed a few dead Asian carp floating on the lake as we plied North. Quickly the dead carp became much more plentiful to the point of making you pay attention to driving the boat to keep from hitting one. The farther North we went the numbers rose to the thousands. The dead ones were lined up on the bank where the falling water had left them. When the water heats the carp become susceptible to a virus and have a die off. Most we saw were in the 15 to 18 inch range. I wish all the carp would die but I wonder what bad things that many dead fish would do to the water quality, not to mention the smell. Seeing that many dead fish put us out of the mood for fishing but we pressed on.

There were so many dead fish in the main lake we thought perhaps there would be a better spot in the upper lake. It was somewhat better as far as the dead fish were concerned but the fish were not just jumping in the boat. We were able to fish in the shade there because the sun had not come up enough to shine over the trees. We finally caught one on a DT-6 and HMIV was Johnny on the spot with the camera and caught it in the act.

You can see it was a giant. A little while later the sun came over the trees and it began to heat up so we put on the sun protection.

You can see how calm the lake was at this point. Shortly after this photo we beat it for the waterfront and were driving home at 10.

This is a photo supplied by Tom by way of Jackson of the West ramp at Lake Monticello. The lake is being DRAINED because of problems with the dam that were unable to be fixed when they lowered the lake about a year ago. It’s sad because it was such a great spot to catch a big fish. In 2006 I caught 3 over 8, a 9 1/2 and no telling how many in the 7’s there. That was before I began to keep records. I recorded in my memory the 8’s and 9’s but there were too many 7’s. Caught the 9 on a 1/4 oz. Booyah with 8 pound line on a spinning reel. All of the others were caught on a Ribbit frog. What fun. I hate to see it go.

R. I. P. Monticello