I don’t fish in public lakes on the weekend because of the tournaments and crowds so I went to the Garhole this morning. Got up early so I could start early but when I came downstairs the wafting odor of dog poop hit my nostrils. It took an hour to clean up the mess. I still reached Catfish at a reasonable hour except there was a slight drip of water under the house. It was the A/C drain stopped up. I got it cleaned out and some bleach poured down to keep it from happening again. THEN I headed for the Garhole and made the first cast at 8:30. Must not have missed anything because nothing was really going on. It took an hour to catch the first 2 pound fish on a DT-6. A DT-10, a Carolina rig with a Net Bait paca craw on the hook and a rugby head jig with a chigger craw were also in the arsenal. There was a bait rotation going on. The second fish was on the chigger craw and was about a pound. some good places had been covered where I would usually expect to have 7 or 8 fish. At a favorite place suitable for a worm or a DT-10, I used both and with extra time each with no results, so out came the ball and chain (Carolina rig). The stiffest rod I had in reserve had a spinning reel on it with some of that hi vis chartreuse line and a leader. This was one of the few places where a C rig could be used efficiently so it also got extra time. Finally after trying deep and shallow I got a bite and caught a 4 3/4 and not much later came a 3 3/4. I fished there a long time afterward but nothing and had to move. I was getting a lot of practice because I’m new to the C rig and I like the results it gets. Headed to another spot where I could use it and caught a 3 1/2. Just going around the hole and using the chigger craw there were no bites until right in the edge of a large tree that is submerged I got a slight tap. When I set the hook I thought the fish was in the tree but not so just a big fish. It was a 5-1 FOD and when I lipped it and pulled it in the boat the hook just fell out on the floor.

I usually like to hold the fish out toward the camera to make it look larger but today it ended up the opposite. Hard to hold the fish and work the camera too. Only one small bass today. Usually they are a large portion of your catch in the Garhole. There was just nothing going on. It was hot and time to quit. Total of 6 fish but good ones. Top 5 weighed 19 pounds. I really like the C rig and plan to use it more.