Today I did a preliminary add up of the results of fishing for 2011.  Since there were only 54 entries in the book there will be room for another year of data in that same book. I caught 979 bass in those 54 trips for an average of 18.13 fish per trip vs 14 per trip last year. Last year I went 80 times and caught 1146 fish. This year I caught 25 fish that weighed over 4 pounds for 2.16 trips per 4 pound fish slightly more trips than the 1.9 last year.  The largest fish was 6 – 6, a fish from the private hole, vs  a 6 – 2 or 4  from Enid last year and way behind the 4 over 8 and 1 over 9 in 2006, my first year of retirement. That year I did not keep records but there is no telling how many fish I caught over 7 that I have no count of.  All of the big ones were caught on a Ribbit frog on top. I didn’t realize what a  spectacular year I was having then. My summertime flood project had a dampening effect on my fishing by cutting down the number of trips. It has cut down on my hunting too, reducing the trips to 9 in 2011 from 29 by the same date in 2010. The main part of the project is over and I plan to press the fishing until turkey season.  The low water on Lake Monticello and lack of lily pads contributed to lack of large bass numbers. I’m going to try to master several new fishing techniques in the coming year. Among those are 1. Drop shot rig  2. Suspending jerk bait 3. Carolina rig and 4. Alabama rig.