What a difference a slight rise makes.  I went to Lake Ferguson this morning early and was joined by Jackson at 7:30. The lake had risen a few tenths of a foot since I went last.  Before Jackson arrived, I went to try out the spot and found a few fish there but they were not just “eating it up”.  Quickly I went to some other prospective spots but none were productive.  To make matters worse, the wind was howling.  We first went to some spots on the South end but the water was still too deep for them to be good. Then we tried “the spot” with little success. Wind still was howling so we retreated around the corner to more placid water but still no luck. We tried the steep bank, out in the willows and finally the upper lake. Nothing but small bass and stripes. In one place there were what appeared to be stripes schooling in open water but when Jackson threw into their midst out came a small black bass.  We picked up one here and there and they were all small. The count ended up at 11 black bass and a lot of stripes too. Today, just a small rise made a big negative difference when you compare it with the last trip when HM IV and I caught 48.