Thursday afternoon I went to Ferguson for the first time this year. Arrived at the city front around 4:00. I pulled the boat over a gravel road a couple of days ago and evidently the dust/ sand accumulated in one of my ratchet straps and for a while it looked like I might not be able to get the boat off of the trailer short of a pocket knife. Between some 409 spray cleaner and some John Deere solvent/lubricant (some good stuff) I was able to get the strap to release enough to unfasten the hook. That minor problem solved, I headed South to try some places that in the past have been productive at this water level but nobody was home. Caught only one small bass and snagged a carp. Luckily the DT-6 was saved by the boat hook. After seeing there was not too much going on in those type of spots I headed North and stopped at the number one spot where again nothing was going on. I was in the reconnaissance mode and went to look for a way to get back into the cowpen, not for now, but for next spring. I saw it studying Google Maps and wanted to see exactly where it was so I could find it again. That found, I went into the upper lake by cutting through what used to be a stand of willows. There were a tremendous number of willows that were all the way dead everywhere in the lake, no green leaves on them at all. The high water that has persisted for the last several years has taken its toll on the willows. There is a good side to it however, the bass fishing has been great because of the same high water. In the upper lake, I managed to find a few small bass and caught 9 with a N/A FOD and another carp where again the DT-6 was saved by the boat hook. The thought came to mind that a frog grab on the end of a pole would be a quicker way to deal with a snagged carp. If the frequency of snagged carp continues, I may look into a grab.