I made a dash to Ferguson early this morning and fished with a buzz bait.  I could and should have been even earlier because the few bites I had came early. There were no crushing strikes. Most were tepid.  I saw a bass hit in a treetop and on the fifth or sixth cast it finally came out and mouthed the bait. Missed when I tried to set the hook.  When I came home I saw why they were not enthusiastic .  On rivergages.com I saw the river had risen .56 feet in the last 24 hours.  According to the forecast it was to start to rise today.