Mickey and I went to Ferguson this afternoon with the gauge at 9+ feet. My last fishing trip was October 6th so we had no real idea on where to go or what bait exactly to use. We started in relatively shallow water with Yozuris and after no results switched to spinnerbaits after Mickey caught one .  I try not to be too hardheaded and swap baits when someone else has success with one I do not  have tied on. With the spinnerbaits we had some bumps and nips that happen when the  fish really don’t want the bait. We soon left that spot and went to the North end of the lake, where we caught  a couple in very shallow water. The bait had to hit a limb on the tree top to get the fish to bite. We came down the bank from there and could not get a bite shallow so out came the 5XD. After numerous hangups, it finally caught a fish in 12 feet of water. So far, from 2 feet to 12 feet of water.  The hangups were all saved by a piece of lead with a rope attached. On the end of the lead are some chains to catch the hooks and free the hung bait. The gizmo has a piece of metal shaped to enable you to run your line through it without having to unhook anything. If the hangup is too deep for my pole, the other gizmo gets the call.  I found most of it in a trash can at Lake Monticello and just had to add the rope and chains. I have no photo but will include one with the next post. We continued to try both shallow and deep and caught a few more but had more bumps than fish caught. We ended up with just 7 fish but talked to others that struggled too. The fish are still in the lake however because we talked to someone who fished last weekend just before the front and caught 21 pounds for the day. The next day they caught 5 pounds on the bluebird day after the front. The winner of the tourny caught an impressive 19 pounds a day for the two days.