The first cast this morning was at 8:00 due to a late night (for me) last night. The lake was at 17.6 feet and falling. Where I caught the fish on the last trip was dry ground. The starting place was the same as the last few times but nothing was there until a straggler bit the DT-6. There was not another, as I had hoped, so I moved down the bank where I had another good fish on but as it made that dive under the boat it came unpinned. Then still moving a 4-0 came to the boat and ended up being the FOD. Ran out of real estate at that spot and moved across the way coming down a tapering bank with a DT-6 and catching a small one now and then. Then a bigger one showed up, and then another but I could make a few casts without getting a bite. The DT-10 was called on to see if the fish were a little deeper. They were and in good size too. One deserved weighing, and when the fish was on the scaled it registered 1.53. That was not right I thought, what’s going on? I finally figured out it was in kilograms and I couldn’t figure out how to change the units of weight. Kilograms just was going to have to do, 2.2 kilograms to a pound, 3 pounds = 1.36 kilograms. The fish were biting and that was no time to be wasting any time. The size on these fish was good too, a good many in the 3 pound range. Finally that spot wore out and it was search mode again but I was never able to locate the fish again. I did locate an old gill net. I knew it was around there somewhere and was hoping that somehow it had gone away during the high water. The DT-10 found it and I saved it with the lure retriever, twice. Since no fish were found, I returned to the starting place where the fish were scattered. Scattered was better than nothing so I went back and forth down that stretch of bank and even found a small school in one spot and was able to catch 4 or 5 out of that one place. The gar became bad for some reason in that spot. I thought I had a nice bass but it was a nice sized longnose gar. The line was wrapped completely around the fish and the hook was embedded it its head. I was scared for my DT-6 but I finally got my pliers on the bait, and the fish went crazy and since the hooks were through the gar hide one of the hooks broke and also pulled the split ring completely off of the bait. Got most of it back anyway. My cutoff time was looming so I went back to the net spot and thought I knew where it was but I hooked it again and again rescued the bait but this time I took a gatoraide bottle and stuck some of the net strands in the bottle and screwed on the top making a float as a marker. I finished there with 31 Bass, a 4-0 FOD and 6 fish between 3 and 4. I did some arithmetic when I got home and figured that the best 5 weighed 18-5.

Got off to a late start this morning and the first cast was made around 7:45. The water has come up some since the last trip. The starting place was the same however. The results were not the same. Nothing was doing on the DT-6 or on the Redeye Shad that was substituting for the Yo-Zuri. I went down the whole bank before I caught one and then another. Visions of wearing them out came but soon went when no others showed up. The trip down the bank continued catching one here and there. I had the feeling that they were close but I just couldn’t get up in the middle of them. A 5-9 bit but no others so I back tracked and in the process saw one hit in a place close by but I had not fished. They started biting, not every cast, but rapidly enough to make me happy. The Redeye had some new hooks on it, and they were doing a good job, but some managed to escape. I was having to work the bait so fast some of the fish didn’t make a good hit in their haste. I then tried a vibrating jig and a 1 minus, catching a few fish on both. When that spot cooled, I went down the bank farther to see if I could make contact, but nothing doing so I turned back around heading to the hotspot. A hydroblaster evidently practicing for a tournament tomorrow pulled in just in front of me about 100 yards with his big motor running almost into the good spot. Needless to say I was a little perturbed . Finally he left, catching nothing, and continued out into the lake. I caught a couple more but the bite was pretty much over. Still mad, a plan was concocted to crank up and head for another spot and passing his boat about 20 yards off. Talked myself out of it, for if I had done it I would have reduced myself to his level. I quit at 11:00 because of dog duty and it was over anyway. The total was 18 bass with the aforementioned 5-9 FOD and another non weighed over 3. I really hate it when they are practicing for a tournament. They are really spying. You will see them idling down the lake supposedly looking at their depth finder but shame in you if you catch one in a good spot. I guarantee it will be noted. When one of those spies comes by I just cast out into the middle of the lake where I know I will not catch one.

Mickey and I met at the waterfront at 1:00 today to a 15 to 20 Mile per hour wind from the East Northeast. The lake was at 20.3 up .4 feet and forecast to rise a little more. We proceeded to the 70 bank where we started catching a few fish right off the bat. Not on the first cast however. The first ones were hooked pretty well but the later ones started jumping and throwing the hook or just being hung on the back hook indicating to me that the bite was slowing down. We would have liked to switch from the DT-6’s to worms but it would have been impossible to fish a worm with a 15 Mile per hour crosswind. The new Minn Kota with the spot lock had its test today in that wind and it passed with flying colors. We caught 11 I think before we ran out of bites in the first place. Trying to get out of the wind some, we left there for calmer waters. There were several places we tried where we have had luck in the past but only tight eyes bit. I have warned about the split rings on a DT-6 coming loose and for good reason. I had another one separate today. You had best change them. We ended up with 20 fish and a 3 pound non weighed FOD

This morning the start of fishing was late again and again there was a Northeast wind, a little cooler than it has been. I had decided today was going to be for looking. The first hour or so was taken up with running the side finder. In particular interest was a log last seen when the water was low in the shallow end of the lake a few years ago and an old sunken barge in deep water. The barge was found but the log was not. I’m pretty sure I ran all over where the log was and it was big enough that it wouldn’t be missed. The number of fish of all kinds in Lake Ferguson is amazing. You can tell the large gar and see the schools of shad that are monstrous. The bass and etc are a different matter as far as determining the variety of fish. There were some that I could determine were bass when they were off by themselves and not in a mass of other fish. Looking was an educational endeavor. My stopping time was 11:00 for I had to be home for a Zoom call with my children. I intended to concentrate on fishing new places and I pretty much did but with no luck. The first old place I fished was the new place I fished on the last trip with good luck. No luck today there however. The baits fished were DT-6 and 10, Yozuri and a worm. Four small bass in three different spots were the only bass caught. A smallish silver carp was snagged in the tail by a DT-6 and the bait was saved. A buffalo was hung in the mouth with a DT-10. It was probably 10 pounds but the problem was how to get it in the boat. The small mouth made the grabber impractical and the net was under the deck. I finally got out the long pole with the hook on the end and used it like a gaff . On the second try it worked and the DT-10 was saved, the buffalo was not however. A few licks with the cut off hoe handle had him floating. When it bit I thought I had a really nice bass and I took out my disappointment on that fish. I’ve always heard bad fishing luck comes with a North wind but Tuesday and Wednesday it was from the same direction and they were great fishing days. Today’s breeze did have a chill to it however. Who knows?

I started a little late this morning, probably first cast was at 7:30. Not surprisingly the spot where I caught the fish yesterday had nothing going on. The place had been hammered and the water was falling at a pretty good clip, a recipe for moving fish. I went down the length of the bank and did not get a bite so I extended my search and pretty soon I began to find a few. The DT-6 replaced the Yozuri and that seemed to help. For some reason I don’t have as much confidence in the gold colored Yozuri that replaced the silver one that was lost yesterday. Got a bait back today when I snagged some fishing line that had a good redeye shad on the end. Hooks were still sharp. Retracing back down the bank I started catching a few on either the Yozuri or the DT-6 but it still was not really going on. I noticed a couple of small fish with a big gash down the side. It appears like a big gar got hold of them. Ouch !

It became obvious that another spot was in order. I set out searching for a place close by that I had caught some at about this same level. It was a small sand ridge in very shallow water. It was not to be found. It actually may have washed down when the wind blew and the water was at just the right level. On with the search. At another place nearby where I have caught some but the water was at a lower stage but it was worth a try. The Yozuri got the call and it came up with one shallow tight eye. Most of the fish have been relatively shallow lately but I threw out into the deep water with the DT-6 and came up with a nice 3 pound bass. A few more throws and more fish. Then they stopped biting but I was throwing into 12 feet with a 6 foot bait. After drawing a bead on where I thought the fish were I moved the boat to where it would be in the same depth water as the fish and put on a DT-10. That did the trick. There was a stump that lined up with a tree and you go out into the lake until it gets 10 feet and then cast parallel to the depth change. The fish were better than I had been catching, between 2 and 3 pounds. When that place quit, I went searching again nearby in another place that was good at lower water but only 2 or 3 tight eyes there. It was 1:00 and time to head home. I had caught 41 with a FOD of 3 3/4 and 4 others over 3. In the last 7 trips to Ferguson I have caught 268 fish, hence the title of this post.

Got up the lake this morning a little later than intended. The wind was out of the Northeast at a pretty good clip, pushing me toward the place I expected to catch the fish. Not to worry, the trusty spot lock was on the job. I was worried about jinxing myself by catching one on the first cast and that was after I had already made the throw. Nothing, but on the second one one hit but didn’t get hooked. I still took that as a good omen. Soon they were biting and I was catching them. When I got hung up with the Yozuri, the bait I started with, going to get it I was shaking it gently trying to let it get itself loose, when all of a sudden a fish took it off for me and I released it quickly in thanks. They were scattered and traveling back and forth was necessary to keep in the fish. I lost two baits today, the Yozuri and a 3/4 oz ( yes that’s right ) redeye shad. The Yozuri to not retying and the redeye to tying a bad knot. It lasted for four fish and snapped on the fifth. When I started to get some hits and misses I put on a small 3 inch chigger craw on a shaky head with a big hook. It worked and I caught several until the school moved and I had to go back to the search mode. Speaking of the search mode, When I go to this spot I am always looking for the grabber that I lost when the fish flopped and got away with it. There was an orange spot back it the trees just about the right size and I thought that just might be it. The water was falling fast enough that you could tell it was going down. Wading and walking in the mud did not appeal to me so when I got as close as I could, I put the spy glasses on it. It was a willow leaf that fell from a tree that the beavers had girdled and was dying. Many of the leaves had turned orange. I’m still looking. At 1:00 it was time to quit and I did. The total was 52 bass with a FOD of 3 1/4. There were some more in that weight range and a lot of 2-13’s because they fooled me all day.

Hal had an interesting trip the other day. He fished the Tallahatchie River below the Sardis dam. He said the fish were mostly related to logs that were attached to the bank. Fishing in the current is a different deal. When you caught a fish, by the time you got the hooks out you were down the river. He did not have his boat with the spot lock but he will next time. He caught the fish on a DT-4, a whopper plopper and plastic. Every fish he caught was a spotted bass. They almost look like a smallmouth somewhat.

I met Hal at the gate at 6:30 this morning to fish at the Garhole for the first time since the middle of July. The leaf blower came along because I knew the boat would need a good cleaning. It was also a good way from the water because the water had fallen about a foot and a half. We finally got started after the depth finder would not work, and after taking a few minutes trying to fix it, finally saying to heck with it. If we had to waste time, early was the time to do it , because not much was going on. A DT-6, a worm, a swim jig and a shallow running crank bait were what we started with. We went into the Eastern hole, that is shallow, and caught a few small ones around the edges but nothing of note. When we came out into the large deep part it was still one here one there with the above mentioned baits. Finally we came to one of my favorite spots where I have caught not a fish this year, because I surmised the water has been too high. Even though it has fallen still nothing. At another good spot where I have not caught a fish this year we were able to catch some on a worm. The bites were very soft. By this time, beside the few bass we caught Hal was loading up on other species. A 10 1/2 pound catfish, another large catfish, a large carp of some kind, a goo, and a goggle eye or Warmouth bass. Here is the big cat.

As time passed the fish appeared to become more active especially at one spot with our DT-6’s. We caught several there, not one on every cast, but enough to get us excited. After that ran out we went to a nearby spot, fishing the bank all the way there and catching a few. When we arrived the fish were biting on the worms and DT-6’s. We had quite a flurry there. The fish were hiding under some bushes in the shade. When the DT-6 would make a “plop” near the bush they would come out and get it. Sometimes more than one.

One of the most fun fish of the day followed my DT-6 out to the boat. I saw it and stopped the bait allowing it to stay in the water. I twitched it and the fish bit the back hook and I caught the fish with about a foot or so of line out. I had to laugh. That spot eventually ran out so we visited all the good spots again picking up a few each time with bonus fish coming from the bank on the way to each. Finally all spots ran out and we also were running out of gas so we decided to quit. It was 3:30. We had caught 54 with a 3 3/4 FOD and another @ 3. I tried to get in on the other species with a catfish and another small carp of some type but I couldn’t keep up with Hal on that note.

Have not been fishing in a little over a week mostly because the river was rising and my luck is not as good on a rise. The first cast was around 7:00 with a Yozuri and shortly thereafter I used a DT-6 both with no takers. The place was where I ended up on the last trip with them biting almost every cast. Moving along the bank, I went back to the Yozuri and shortly I got a bite. The fish was not acting like a bass, and surely it was not, a Goo, but it had a bass with it trying to take the bait away. Goo or not it was a great sign. Soon it was a bass with the bait in its mouth and three others trying to take it away. By 8:00 I had 10 bass and the spot sort of ran out so I moved up the bank casting planning on coming back later. Another of those good spots showed up but the fish were scattered, not all balled up in one little place. About the time that place started to slow, the fish started striking shad in the first place again. I went back and caught a few more along with two on the way back. The fish now were all over the place, one here one there. To start the day the fish had the whole lure in their mouth when they came to the boat. It was hard to get the hooks out without hurting the fish. Later on they were just hooked on the back hook and every now and then there was just a bite. Things were slowing down. The warning light on my truck for a low tire was on this morning when I left. I hooked up the portable pump until it went out so I knew I had a trip to the tire store coming. When the fish slowed down I left at 11:00. Caught 22 with a FOD of 3-10 and another 3-6.

Lake Ferguson was at 20.0 feet this morning when the first cast was made at 7:00. This was the first trip with a new trolling motor, a Minn Kota Terrova and I was eager to see if I liked it. I did the installation and went to the lake late Sunday afternoon taking no fishing rods, to calibrate the heading sensor and to set the heading offset. It worked fine but it was different than in a fishing situation. The starting place was the West end of the 70 bank and since it was early a Yozuri was the first bait because it can operate in the shallow water. From West end to East end only one fish bit and I was beginning to be concerned. At the 70 spot itself was where it started to happen on every cast. That was where there was still some water over the land and a relatively brisk South wind was causing some wash over which probably attracted some shad and that attracted the bass. The wind was right in my face. When I hung the first fish I hit the spot lock on the trolling motor. Rather than the wind blowing me to the middle of the lake while I dealt with the fish, the trolling motor and the GPS were communicating and keeping the boat in just the right place. I sat there and “every casted ” them for quite some time. The bite slowed to a stop and I moved out a little deeper to see if they had retreated to the deep but a DT-6 could not raise one. I tried a worm but only a timid pick up and that was only if you shook it but there was also a put down after the pick up. Figuring the fish had to be somewhere close I headed back to the starting point. There was a log there not deep enough for the fish to be around but it must have herded the shad and the bass were out from it a little dining on the shad. It was one on every cast again and spot lock again. That spot lock is the bomb. I was using my new grabber most of the time especially when the fish was in the boat to hold it while I extracted the hooks. One fish while I was holding the line did that just right shake, the line broke, it fell on the front deck, and flopped into the water toting my DT-6. After that I started holding them over the open part of the back of the boat. Just like the other spot they quit just like someone turned off the switch. Probably the school just moved and I couldn’t figure out where. There was one more spot I wanted to try on the East side of the chute and I caught one there. I was almost relieved that there was not a school there because I was tired. That last fish made 61, all released in good shape. The FOD was 4-8 and there was also a 4-2, 3-13, 3-13, 3-8 , two 3’s and lots of 2-13’s. Outstanding day !