This morning I broke one of my rules by going to Lake Ferguson on a weekend. Public lakes are full of people on the weekend but about 8:00 I drove down to the wharf to see if there was much of a crowd. Only a few hydroblaster trailers so I rode home and hooked up the boat. By the time I arrived back to the wharf the population had increased but not too much. After launching, I headed up the lake to see if I could find the “secret school”. Someone was sitting right where it had been a few days ago but not catching anything. I started nearby going down the bank with a DT-10. The boat left the school spot but quickly two more drove up. Looks like the secret school is not so secret anymore. Continuing down the bank to the 70 spot where a 4 1/2 loaded on the DT-10. A few casts later another small one bit. Before leaving I picked up the Carolina to give it a few tries before leaving. The next one didn’t just tap the bait, it just grabbed it and hauled tail. I really thought it may have been a large gar but it turned out to be the FOD 6 1/4.

Again moving down the 70 bank with the DT-10. I came upon a 4 3/4. Not a lot of bites but they were good ones. Left for another spot where there have been some good fish. All this time, there was a steady stream of boats visiting the “secret school”. I don’t think they were catching much because they left pretty quickly. The next place was pretty barren, only one small bass that something had cut a gash down its side. After leaving there with no boats in sight, I crossed the lake to an old favorite spot where I have been catching some fish. As I pulled into the spot, I looked down the bank and there was a boat that I had missed 150 yards away. I staked my claim but did not want to catch anything to give the spot away. I threw out a chigger craw impaled on a rugby head to a spot that I didn’t think there would be a fish. Tap tap, the electrifying tap. I could have pulled it out of the fish’s mouth but that’s just not me. I caught the fish, a 2-13. The cat was out of the bag. The guy didn’t look like a very good fisherman and had been using a spinnerbait fishing very close to the bank. He very quickly put on a worm, and camped about 50 yards away. He wasn’t going anywhere so I pulled out the DT-10 and caught 2 more small ones relatively quickly. No more bit but I was not about to move and kept trying different things, DT-6 and Carolina. Finally the guy left after catching nothing but I’m sure the next time he goes fishing he’ll be right there. After he left, I caught a 5 1/2 on the chigger craw. Boats were still visiting the school, I’d bet 10 today. It was time to quit, started at 9:00 and it was 4;00. I ended up catching only 9 fish but they were quality, largest 5 weighed 23 3/4 pounds. Everybody that drove by today was watching. You could tell because when they were coming they were just cruising along, but after they passed a little ways, they put the hammer down. By not following my rules today I probably ruined one of my best spots.