Hal and I went to Pickwick on the same schedule that Mickey and I had two weeks ago.

Monday afternoon:

After we launched, we headed straight for a cove where Mickey and I saw people fishing but did not go in. Hal and I went in and it turned out to be a large cove with a shallow sloping back to it. Additionally the wind was blowing into it which attracted the shad which in turn attracted the bass. It was full of schooling bass chasing the shad and refusing to bite anything we threw. Maximum frustration for an hour until we left in disgust without a single bite. As we were leaving, another fisherman came in and as we exchanged pleasantries he mentioned he had been able to catch a few on a dropshot the day before. Later at the landing he said he caught 8. Being sick of those fish we left anyway for an island where the fish had schooled two weeks ago. Nothing doing there either. Out came a map and right across the river was a cove that was large enough to have fish in it. When we rode in, we could see the fish chasing shad in the back of the cove. 1/4 ounce Red Eye Shads were very effective because they were about the same size as the shad. A few hit a topwater. We ended up with 20 and this 8 pound goo that I caught on 8 pound line. It had been in there eating shad too.

Tuesday:

We left early when the lake was smooth and headed to the island spot, where again, we caught only one or two. Boosted  by our success  in finding a new spot the previous day, we pulled out the map and went cove hopping. While in one particularly deep cove we noticed the wind was picking up so we made a break for the spot we found the day before. After a rough ride we found the fish in residence again, and again, we started to catch some. Hal caught the FOD that was 3 1/4. As we fished we kept an eye out on the waves on the river. Unbelievably the wind and waves started to subside and allowed us a smooth ride to the J.P. Coleman state park. We went to the back of Indian Creek which is the large cove right by the park. In the back of that cove, we found the gulls circling and going down to get shad while the fish were hitting them from below. There was one boat chasing the bass when they surfaced, another sitting in one place all afternoon, and then us. We went to the grass in the back of the cove and pulled out our Ribbits. A few bit the Ribbits but it was obvious the schoolers were the game to play. We fished until dark and ended up with 33 for the day.

Wednesday:

We put in at Yellow Creek because the boat needed gas and there was a station close to the landing. It was also close to the cove where Mickey and I caught  fish two weeks ago. First we went to our spot we found Monday. The fish were there but after us fishing there two days straight they were rather tired of us. Not to worry, we just went to the other spot that was good two weeks ago. We caught only three in there. Now what?  We put the boat on the trailer and headed back to Indian Creek. There were 5 boats there when we arrived. The place where the boat sat all day was empty and we pounced on it. It was a place where a small creek came out and there was some grass. Ribbit time once again. As we patrolled the edge two boats tried to come in on us. We went up and down two or three times to establish our area. All this time we caught a few on a Ribbit but also the fish were schooling in the open water. I used a topwater when the fish were chasing shad and a Red Eye Shad when they were down. After a stint with the schooling fish, we would make another pass down the grass with the Ribbit. It seemed that the fish would repopulate after a short period of time. It was on one of those passes that Hal caught the FOD a 4 1/4 and had lost one a little larger shortly before that. Again we fished until dark and this time we caught 27, for a total of 80 fish for the 2 1/2 days of fishing.