Today when  counting up the fish for 2010, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of trips and also the number of fish. The review is meant as a learning process and not a reason to brag, for as my daddy used to say  “Mr. Brag always loses his tail”.  Fishing trips in 2010 hit a personal high of 80, just over ’08 and ’07’s  78. The number of bass was the highest for me too with 1146 fish, a 14.3 fish per trip average which is lower than 2009’s 14.4.  In 2010 42 bass over 4 pounds were put in the boat, with 25 included in the 415 bass that came from Lake Ferguson. The Garhole was second in fish production with 234 on 14 trips. Wolf Lake was best per trip with 169 fish in 5 trips. I should have gone there more often.  On the downside, Lake Monticello did the worst. I think the only 2 zeros I had came from there and some trips only with one or two fish caught. Hardheadedness came into play . After catching my largest bass there in 2006, and 4 over 7 there last year, I just could not resist the temptation to try for a big fish or two. Not being one to accept defeat, and actually losing two good ones there this fall, I kept returning for another whipping. The largest of the year a 6 – 2 came from Enid on a trip with Hal.  The lesson from this exercise for me is to go to Ferguson even more, as well as the Garhole, the Catfish Chute, and Wolf Lake. Leave Monticello alone except for a few times in the spring and when they are in the pads and will hit a Ribbit frog. The bait of the year for me is a tossup between the Ribbit and the DT – 6. The Ribbit caught fish for most of the year with the excitement a vicious topwater strike brings but the DT- 6 really caught the numbers of fish especially in the late summer and fall.  I’m looking forward to next year with great optimism and anticipation.