I was 20 minutes late to Lake X this morning as first cast was made at 6:05. At 6:10 I had this one on a Berkley 9 inch worm.

7 pounds even. I have not mastered the art of taking my own photo with a fish yet. Since I had been exposed to the Wuhan, I was going solo this morning. By 6:30 I had a 6 1/4 caught on a 3/4 ounce redeye shad. With this auspicious start I was ready to wear them out. The major period was early and just ending because I caught no more for a good while. One of the best spots in the lake did not produce so I resorted to fishing the treetops and woodpiles. If your bait was in the wood and coming over a stick and you detected a bite you had best prepare yourself for a whipping. The fish would go down into the top and there is no way you could set the hook or expect to land the fish. Frustrating ! This 7-1 was on the outside of the top.

I was able to land it and felt better about my day. A new bait was being interviewed also, a 3XD deep from Strike King. It is supposed to go 10 to 12 feet deep but I don’t think it did, probably 8 or 9 . It casts pretty good, not as good as a DT-6 however. It did catch some fish, a 5 3/4 being the most notable with a couple more in the 4’s. Jury is still out. I meant to fish until noon but later the bite picked up as did the heat. Ended up with 16 fish, 8 of which were under 16 inches so those came home with me for supper. The wind blew after about 9:00, which made the heat bearable. A fun day of fishing despite the heat.