Jackson and I met at the lake at 7:00 this morning and hiked it right up to the 70 bank. On a long stretch of bank where the fish were active Friday we caught only a few stripes with our deep diving crankbaits. Since that didn’t work we eased into the trees with shallower baits to see if the fish had retreated there. We caught only two there and a hoop net with several catfish. We left the net unharmed and we saw another and managed to avoid it. Before we left we tried deep again but still nothing. Another spot in the upper lake was calling me because it is relatively small and there is usually a fish around. When we arrived I pushed the “go to” button on the trolling motor to put us in just right spot. A DT-10 caught one pretty quickly but only one. Jackson broke out a 10 inch worm and managed to catch a few more but there was a long time between bites.

One was hooked deep and after repeated tries to revive the fish we scooped it up and gave it to some people nearby. We had a total of 8 fish with a 3 1/2 FOD.

We were not the only ones hooking a fish deep. Butler sent me this photo of one’s mouth that broke his line and then bit again 15 minutes later. The fish was hungry as it swallowed the bait both times. That one went to the skillet too. Great photo.

Since starting late worked so well Wednesday, starting was late this morning too. Fishing started around 9:30 on the 70 bank back in the trees a little. There was a guy in there bream fishing and he was catching some big ones regularly. The bass were not exactly eating it up as I only caught a small one on a red eye shad and two more on a worm, all by the same tree. Since that was not working, I went out to 10 feet and started throwing a DT-10 parallel to the bank. Right away one of those 3 3/4 lake Ferguson feisty bass loaded on. Since I had tried to save my Shimano Caenan by putting JB Weld in the holes that were stripped, it was “clucking” a little. A second bass a mirror image of the first bit and came to the boat. When I cast in the other direction another one, just like the other ones, came to the scales. I was sorry I had wasted time up in the trees. Casting in the same direction, another bit but when I set the hook the reel locked up because the side plate was trying to come off. Had to hand line that one in. That caused a change of reels for that rod because it is excellent for pulling crankbaits. I would have dropped the Caenan overboard except the line on it is new and I want to put it on the replacement that is coming next week. After the changeover, there were no bites to be had so I left for the spot that was so good Wednesday. The trolling motor will let you save an exact spot and when you get close and push the button, it will take you there and stop. The spot was saved Wednesday, so I pushed the button when I got close and it motored me right to it and stopped. Technology is wonderful when it is working. 3 3/4 on the first cast with the River 2 sea Tactical DD. Another fish was trying to take the bait out of its mouth. I was pretty much stuck on that number but I like it. No more with the crank but a 4 3/4 on a worm, and again, the second fish was trying to take the bait out of its mouth. Was using a 3/8 oz. shaky head today because of the deep water. It worked well. Caught a few more with a 2-13 showing up among some even 3 pounders. After catching one more small fish in another place, I beat it back to the first spot. Casting parallel to the bank again, I managed to catch another one before I lost a DT-10, even after employing the “gitter”. After fishing a long way down the bank, another 3-9 showed up, way out in the open. By then the rain that was close had departed and I could make it to the ramp without getting wet. There were 14 bass with a FOD of 4 3/4 and 8 others from 3 even to 3 3/4. A great day on Ferguson.

Mickey had a knee replacement yesterday and is doing well. He called this morning when I first started fishing. His daughter is an operating room nurse where he had it done. She was on another case but was present when Mickey came out of the anesthesia. The first thing he told her was ” Call Harley and tell him to come pick me up, we need to go fishing in Ross Barnett”.

This morning I was a little tardy, getting to the lake around 9:00. The lake is getting down closer to where I like it, so the first spot on my agenda was the 70 bank. I had a DT-6 tied on but decided to start out with a red eye shad because of the great luck with it last year. The red eye didn’t take long to catch one which made for great optimism but catching another took a little time. I was kind of like a dog siphoing, can smell it but just can’t find it. First one way and then another didn’t help, even though I caught another. The spot where the fish were the last time on Ferguson seemed like the next spot that needed checking out. I tried it with a DT-6 and 10 but nothing. When I threw the DT-10 the first time I noticed a little movement in the reel. Yesterday I found a small screw in the bottom of the boat and not knowing where it came from put it away so it could be found again. One of the screws from the reel was missing. It was one whose threads in the side plate of the reel was almost stripped. I hoped it would hold together until I could get home and hopefully make repairs. It is an old Shimano Caenan 100, a relatively cheap reel that I bought for cranking knowing that it would wear out. It will cast a mile and I have caught many fish on it. The JB Weld is drying in the holes as I write. I’ll drill it out a little and the screws will cut new threads. I hope. That’s the plan. Just for grins, I tried a River 2 Sea tactical DD crankbait that is supposed to go very deep without making you strain to get it there. Had to throw it out toward the middle of the lake where the water was deep enough. Four pounder on the first cast ! Once again optimism came bubbling up, but could not catch another. The water was 19 feet deep there. I pulled out the worm and another four pounder. I sat there with the spot lock on and every now and then one would bite. The worm bites were very subtle. Had to keep your mind on your business. Several times I told myself I was going to move after a few more casts only to catch another fish and decide to stay. Finally I left and went to a place Mickey and I caught 27 straight a couple of years ago. Caught one on the first cast and one on the second but no more, but they were relatively shallow. Went back to the deep spot and got one more bite but the fish pulled off quickly. It was time to quit after a good day. 16 bass. The FOD was 5 even, there were 4 in the four pound range, mostly close to 4, there were 4 in the three pound range and all but 2 of the rest were decent. Very good day on Ferguson.

Thursday afternoon I went to Ferguson for the first time this year. Arrived at the city front around 4:00. I pulled the boat over a gravel road a couple of days ago and evidently the dust/ sand accumulated in one of my ratchet straps and for a while it looked like I might not be able to get the boat off of the trailer short of a pocket knife. Between some 409 spray cleaner and some John Deere solvent/lubricant (some good stuff) I was able to get the strap to release enough to unfasten the hook. That minor problem solved, I headed South to try some places that in the past have been productive at this water level but nobody was home. Caught only one small bass and snagged a carp. Luckily the DT-6 was saved by the boat hook. After seeing there was not too much going on in those type of spots I headed North and stopped at the number one spot where again nothing was going on. I was in the reconnaissance mode and went to look for a way to get back into the cowpen, not for now, but for next spring. I saw it studying Google Maps and wanted to see exactly where it was so I could find it again. That found, I went into the upper lake by cutting through what used to be a stand of willows. There were a tremendous number of willows that were all the way dead everywhere in the lake, no green leaves on them at all. The high water that has persisted for the last several years has taken its toll on the willows. There is a good side to it however, the bass fishing has been great because of the same high water. In the upper lake, I managed to find a few small bass and caught 9 with a N/A FOD and another carp where again the DT-6 was saved by the boat hook. The thought came to mind that a frog grab on the end of a pole would be a quicker way to deal with a snagged carp. If the frequency of snagged carp continues, I may look into a grab.

I went this morning but late because the tables said the bite was going to be in the afternoon. First cast was at 10:30 and I could have waited a couple of hours more. It was a bluebird sky with a slight North wind that I was thankful for because of the heat. Nothing was going on to start, could not even get the tight eyes to bite. Finally things started to happen when I caught one on a DT-6 and another one was trying to take the bait out of its mouth. You could really see it happening in the clear water. I could stick a 6 1/2 foot rod down to the first guide from the reel and could still see the bait on the end of the rod, 4 1/2 feet I guessed. I couldn’t get anything else going after trying all my good spots. Then I went deep with worms and even a River 2 See Tactical DD that is supposed to be able to pull the drain plug out. It casted pretty well and went deep but it did not pull out the plug nor did it catch a fish. It did provide a little anxiety when the $15 bait got hung up. I take my gitter with me everywhere and thought I was going to have to break it out but when I got on the back side and pulled gently, the DD came out. I threw the DT-6 by a top and did not realize there were some sunken vines there. The bait got hung up but a bass scarfed it and was hung. I went over to try to sort out the situation and there were 3 other 2 1/2 pounders trying to get the bait. Alas the line had been pulled back and forth too many times and the DT-6 was gone. I had seen it sinking a few minutes before so I knew there was no use to hope it would float up. A few more places along that same bank were good and had multiple fish hanging around made the day a little better. A 5-11 that was under an overhanging limb made it a lot better. I threw back under the same limb and got a bite from another big fish but it turned out to be a catfish that I guessed was around 7 pounds. I had also caught a sliver carp and a grinner on that DT-6. The grinner broke off one of the hooks but not before I gaffed it with the boat hook. My net completely rotted in the high water so until I get a new one I have started to gaff unwanted species. After the 5-11 the bite was slowing but I managed to catch a few more. I ended up with 13 bass and caught a grinner, a silver carp, a catfish and even a bream on a versatile DT-6.

Jackson and I put in the lake this morning at Daylight with thunder storms all around the area. I had put on the rain suit before I even got in the boat. The lake was slick and perfect for fishing top water. We fished down a bank where Jackson had caught some a few days ago. I was using a cripple killer and Jackson was using a small popper of some sort. We caught a few small ones and I let about a 2 pounder throw the hook. Thunder was all around but not too much rain. We went back in the trees at one place and Jackson caught a 5.30 on a buzz bait. He had reamed out the hole in the blades to change the sound a little. The bass seemed to like it. The fish were active but some just were missing the bait. The buzz was good running it over the partially submerged cypress limbs and aggravating the fish into striking. When we got out of the trees we could see waves down the lake a good ways and went down to investigate. A school of shad was frolicking in the middle of the lake with nothing chasing them. They ran right under a big green cypress limb and nothing happened. It was time to leave that spot. We moved toward the ramp because the thunder was picking up. We found a few small fish sort of schooled up and biting just about anything you wanted to throw. We caught a few more there but the thunder was getting closer. It was time to go. Usually I want to make “just a few more casts”, but not today . Surprisingly, we used better judgement and headed in. Probably 16 fish came into the boat. “Probably” was because we didn’t keep an exact count. Enterprise is full of scattered fish. On the way home I ran into a wall of rain at Bayou Grain and it lasted all the way to the River bridge.