Jackson and I went to Bussey Brake again and got a lickin’ but we are still tickin’. We arrived early and everything was looking good . We went to the spot where we had the most success on our last trip. We fished with frogs, swim jigs, top waters of several descriptions, vibrating jig, worm, both Texas and wacky, paddle tail swimbait and something I’m sure I left out. Caught a grinner on the swim jig to start. Had a baby bass to come up and kiss the leg of my Ribbit and one to wake behind it. Jackson had a bite on the swimbait. I had a bite on the wacky close to the boat and the leader was not tied correctly and separated on hookset. You are supposed to make 20 turns on the Albright knot but after getting hung and breaking off, I thought only 14 would do. It didn’t. You may have noticed a lot of topwater baits that’s because there is a lot of random coontail moss and its almost impossible to fish anything under the water. That was our day. We took a licking.

The big orange moon was setting just under the clouds this morning as I was driving to the Garhole. I would have tried for a photo but the camera on my phone is severely lacking. The depthfinder had quit working after a while the last time I fished in the Garhole boat. The depthfinder is powered by the same wire as the trolling motor and I thought that may be the problem so I ran a new wire this morning before I started fishing. It took about an hour. Fishing started at 7:00 and two fish were caught pretty quickly even though there was no activity visible. I have one Cripple Killer top water left and do not know where to get another. On a cast close to the bank a gar hit the bait and cut it off. After a concerned moment the bait floated up. By 9:00 I had 4 fish, not exactly a stellar start. The major period was supposed to be from 12:30 to 2:30 but I always think it happens two hours early. The fish were caught on a top water, a jig, and 2 on a DT-6. By 10:00 the number had risen to 6 fish, still at the 2 fish per hour rate. At 10:30 I hit one spot with a DT-6 and was catching them, not every cast, but at a much better rate than I had been. The size was good too. The FOD was 3 1/2 and a good many were not too far under that. When that spot ran out I went looking for another. You could tell that the feeding time had arrived because the fish were biting in a lot of different spots, not all schooled up like that one spot. The bite wound down but I kept trying to catch a few more. My goal was 20 and I probably spent 45 minutes trying to catch the last one. Finally caught number 20 and stopped for the day. Six were between 3 and 3 1/2 pounds. A fun day of fishing.

Bussey Brake is a 2,200 acre lake near Bastrop, Louisiana that was given to the Louisiana Game and Fish by a paper company. It has been renovated and improved and closed for a few years. Two weeks ago it was opened with good success. For instance, one group fished there for two days and caught 25 bass, two of which were over 10 and one over 9 pounds. Jackson and I were there this morning at daylight. We really had no idea where to go but there are acres and acres of lily pads with bushes and willow trees. Lots of open water with some stumps and coontail moss which was very prevalent. The most common depth was 8 feet. Just looking at the boat dock the lake is about 4 feet below being full. We started off with hollow bodied frogs and then after no interest we progressed to try out the tackle box. By 9:30 we had on a Ribbit and a spook and the Ribbit chased off the skunk with a skinny sunken belly 1 1/2 pound fish. We tried to fish in several places to explore the new spot but were not having much luck until about noon. At noon it was obvious the switch had been turned on. We had some bites caught one and finally caught the FOD at 4-12. At that same time, two guys I was watching caught 5 small fish in a short period. I believe they were fishing with worms but I don’t know how they were rigged. The moss was everywhere making it hard to fish a Texas rigged worm. I will go back.

This afternoon I went to Log Loader at Rosedale and started fishing at 3:30. I started catching fish right off the bat on a DT-6. It was not every cast but it was obvious the fish were active. Minnows flinched every time the bait hit the water near the bank which had a steep drop off to it. The fish were small but accommodating. I was paying attention to the weather because the clouds were plentiful. After a while I could see a rain to the Southeast but it looked as if it might “go around” as Curlee used to say. It did and now I was using a DT-10 hoping something a little deeper would catch more. It caught about as many as the 6. The secret seemed to be throw it close to the bank. They were still biting but “up jumped the devil” in the form of another shower. This one appeared to be following the same track as the first one. There was no lightning so I fished and watched. Soon it became obvious that it was indeed going to get me so it was time to leave. When a rain comes, especially on Sunday afternoon, everybody heads for the landing at the same time. That was the case today. I was the last one out but made it up the ramp and was securing the boat when the rain hit. I put my tackle bag in the truck and I hopped in too to ride it out. Usually I wait too late to leave and get wet but not today. I was proud of the good decision. Quit at 5:30 with 19 fish and a FOD of 3-13. A fun two hour trip.

Richard sent me a photo of the top of the cypress tree that was hit by lightning at Beaverdam. For some reason the one Hal sent would not work. I guess it was over my technology pay grade. The tree had been hit the night before, and as you can see, was still on fire while in the water. That is a big treetop. Can you imagine the force it took to knock that top off of the tree? I’m glad I was nowhere close.

At about 6:20 this morning Mickey and I were casting topwaters on Wolf Lake. We were catching them too because in less than an hour we had caught 15, the largest around 2 pounds. After that we went to the spots that would be deeper fishing and the ones I really had a lot of confidence in. We barely got a bite in those places. As we worked our way down the lake it became obvious that it was just not going on. We caught some but it was slow going. As we neared the place where I caught them every cast the last time I was in Wolf Lake I became more optimistic. As we were fishing down the bank a person that was working on their dock told us there was a big log straight out from the next dock where you could cast out and catch 3 or 4 fish. We continued to the spot we had in mind but we found it to be just as stingy as the rest we had tried . Then came the low scold of the day. We saw the guy walk out on the dock he told us about, make one cast, and catch one about three pounds. He then took the fish back under his house where he filleted it and came back out and threw the carcass in the lake. We fished until around 2 or so and then started back to the ramp. The first place we tried again and caught a good many on a swim jig. That place is very different from the rest of the lake and the fish there were hungry. We ended up with 56 bass and a FOD of a little over two pounds.

I got an email from Hal and he and Richard caught 32 at Beaverdam with a FOD of 4 +. Included was a photo of the top of a large cypress tree that had been struck by lightning the night before that was in the water and still smoking. I could not get the photo on here unfortunately.

Today while fishing Mickey talked to a friend who had a friend who went to a new lake near Bastrop Louisiana . He and his son fished two days and caught 25 bass, two of which were over 10 pounds and one was over 9. Pretty strong .

Mickey and I had a hanging up day on the Garhole Saturday. We were fishing with topwaters to start and were trying to cast too close to our target. Only and inch or two too far and it’s ” go get it”. The ” fish protectors” hanging vines get focused out when you are concentrating on your target, much to your chagrin. We started early and even with the hangups we caught a few on top. When that bite ran out the worms came out but it was here and there. It had started to warm up and the shade seemed to concentrate a few fish, some in relatively shallow water. The topwaters came back out and we enjoyed some success catching a few more on top. It’s always fun to see one come up and hit your bait even if they were not blasting it. The bream were hungry too as we caught 4 on the topwaters, most snagged in the back due to sharp hooks. We went back to the worm when we ran out of shady spots . The fish had become very lethargic and would only hit the worm when you “shook” it , and then very lightly. It was too hot to put up with that foolishness so we quit. We caught 23 bass with a FOD of 2 3/4.

Went this morning and started fishing around 6:10. Started in the trees with a Gilmore Jumper around the fuzzy willow trees. The water was around 6 feet deep and the fish were active but the ones I saw hit were all small. There were a lot of misses too so I downsized from the jumper to a cripple killer. That helped some but due to neglecting to retie a tighteye got away with the cripple killer, getting me down to only one of those left. The lake is full of those small bass. I had told myself that I was going to rest the spots where I caught the fish Wednesday so I moved farther up the lake and started fishing the outside trees and logs with a swim jig. Caught one on the first cast with the jig and thought I had things figured out, but did not catch another until the last log where I said I was going to quit. Both fish were small so I did quit. The deep bank was next with a DT-10 that came up with a small fish maybe 1 1/4 pounds. As I lifted it into the boat the fish shook as I was reaching for the line. The hook came loose, the fish fell into the bottom of the boat and one of the DT-10 hooks slingshotted into the tip of my left index finger. It hit so hard it did not hurt anything except my feelings. I looked to see if it was past the barb of the hook and could not really tell. It just came right out much to my surprise and delight. Put a band aid on and kept fishing but not many bites. Picked up a worm and on a rocky point caught some from 12 to 15 feet deep. There were a lot of boats on the lake that appeared to be preparing for a tournament on Saturday. This caused me to revisit my decision the let the good spots rest so I took off for the best one. Now fishing with a XD-5 with larger hooks, I hooked one about 3 3/4 and thought there was going to be a repeat but that was the only one that bit. The other place was empty too but there was another spot across the lake where some have been caught before so I went there. I used a XD3F which is a small flatsided crankbait that goes about the same depth as a DT-6 and looks good. Does not cast as well as a DT-6, not as aerodynamic On about the third cast one hit it but I had neglected to set my drag and I couldn’t reel it in until it was tightened. That done, I reeled that one in and two more in that same spot, none big. After that I tried 4 other spots with no luck so I headed for the waterfront. Total of 12 with a 3 3/4 FOD. Water temp was 89 degrees. The fish must be down in the cool water.

I pulled out of the drive this afternoon at 4:45 to go for a quick trip to Ferguson. The 70 bank was the first stop. the water is about 5 to 6 feet deep in the trees. I caught two small ones there on a DT-6 and left to go to the Watzek bank where I caught one on a DT-16. There were some fish on the depth finder at 18 feet that I believe were bass as I floated over a point but time was limited so I kept on throwing the 16. Soon I left for another spot where I hung one on the second cast but it came unpinned. Same thing on the next cast and I discovered the drag needed tightening. That done the next one came to the boat about, 1 1/2 pounds. There was one place where the little ones were but move over a few yards and the fish increased in size markedly. In that small spot, one about 3 1/2 made a spectacular jump and sent the bait back to me. That happened again later and I made a note to do some hook work before I go again. I’m going to put some of those turned in #2 hooks in the place of the #4’s that are on there now. By now I was using an XD5 and as I brought it up it hooked a silver carp that ran off with my bait. That spot yielded 10 fish, including 3 about 4 pounds. The action was too fast so I skipped the scales. Another place nearby had a few fish in it but the bite seemed to be tapering off and the sun was going down. I stopped back by the other place on the way back to the waterfront by but nothing was doing. Ended with 15 bass and the FOD was an eyeballed 4 pounds.

The heat and humidity was forecast to be oppressive for Saturday and that came to pass. Mickey and I started fishing at 6:45 slick calm water, what you would think to be perfect top water conditions. The major feeding period was just over before daylight and there was no activity. When we could only catch one by the tree with green leaves, it was a portent of things to come. I had a new top water bait, a Small Gilmore Jumper, that I wanted to fish with but there was nothing going on so it was put back on the deck and a jig was called into action. I had put a large paca craw trailer on my jig because of the great action it has. After three bites with no fish in the boat I figured it was too big and took it off and resorted to a worm. Mickey had already put a couple in the boat but the bites were tentative and soon were nonexistent . The worm proved to be better since the fish were lethargic. Some would only bite when you shook the worm, and then not hold on. We were not setting the world on fire at this point and things were looking grim. To add to our concerns it was getting hot and still no wind. The shade seemed to be a factor for the fish and felt good to us when we were able to get in it. As we made it around the hole, the top waters came back out. When we got to the 5 pound log, Mickey threw the crazy shad over the top of it and got a nice strike that was 6 inches behind the bait. He was insulted and threw right back and the fish hit again and was caught. We continued on top to a large tree that fell into the hole and is completely submerged in 20 feet of water. Some of the limbs come almost to the top of the water. You could see how bass could be lurking down in there and come up and blast a top water worked slowly across the top but nothing. As we continued around the bream were plentiful. It was almost impossible to fish with a worm and they constantly hit at the top water baits. I believe you could go there with a pole and crickets and catch enough bream for every Chinaman in China. Finally in the back of a pocket a bass blasted the Jumper. The new Gamakatsu round bend hooks that I had put on worked perfectly and brought the fish to the boat. As we arrived to a known good spot there were some surface activity right against the bank . We were able to catch a few there on worms. When that played out we traveled a good way to another connected hole that has a shallow flat that sometimes has some fish on it. This called for a DT-6 . There were some there but after we caught a few that played out too. By now it was really getting hot. We returned to the first place we caught more than one fish in hopes that a school was in session. They were at recess so we plotted our course for the last few stops until we would go home. On the way to our shallow flat the wind, or rather breeze, had started to blow and started moving the water which in the Garhole positions the fish. As we neared our destination, a bass started chasing a bream and almost caused it to climb the bank. Like the friend of Jackson who said a bass “tried to make a shad climb a cypress tree”. This called for a DT-6 which started to catch fish. This was the minor feeding period. I swapped over to a DT-10 thinking the fish may have move out a little deeper. I got hung up and was not able to save the bait even with my lure retriever on the rope. I put on another and continued. In this spot there was a long piece of fishing line hanging out of a tree all the way down to the water. On the end of that line, far up into the tree was a bait. I grabbed the line and pulled and the vine that it was attached to and surprisingly it gave and came further down before the line broke. It was low enough now for my pole with the hook on it to reach. I hooked the bait and pulled and a nice new DT-6 plopped down on the deck. From there we headed back after catching 28 bass with a FOD of 3.83. Riding down the levee in the Jeep with the windshield down felt almost like A/C.