waterpossum

Put in at 2 pm at Old State Park. There was a small storm cloud moving toward me out of the NW as my buddy launched me into the water. Before he could even get my truck parked I was being pelted by a driving rain with 40mph plus wind. Realizing I couldn't dock to pick him up he gallantly rode the storm out inside my dry truck. This has been a typical recurring theme for us over decades of fishing. After about 10 minutes I picked him up, but by that time the main lake was belching 4' rollers, so we made our nest throwing plastic worms down the bluff bank on the SE corner of the mile bridge. We both were able to catch a couple of small bass over the next hour down that bank while waiting for the wind to let up. At about 4pm we crossed to the west side south of Hawker and fished two big bays without success. I was dragging a carolina rig to maintain some kind of contact with the bait while my partner whined about the 4 ft bow in his line trying to fish a plastic worm. At 7 pm the wind laid a little bit and he caught a keeper 2lber at point 5. The fishing definitely got better after that, but the size was just not there. I caught my first and only small keeper on a jig about 9 pm. We caught a total of about 15 fish on worms and jigs in 12-15' of water. For the white bass fishermen, at about 7:30 on the flats just south of point 5 there was some surfacing activity by the white bass. We left that area at that time so there could have been additional activity later.

Your results showed some pretty impressive fish caught. I had other obligations, but will see you at the next tournament.

I have always been of the belief that Chicken Rock was close to point 10 out of Ruark Bluff.

Thanks for having us two old men. You are to be commended on putting on a good tournament. The weigh in was handled very well. A lot of lively fish were released. The night bite was very good.

Thanks for the info. I will be there tomorrow to donate. 19' Tracker 90Hp Mercury. Will try to look you up. We probably will be the oldest team. Maybe we will stay awake LOL

What time does it start and end? Where?

Well stated Powerdrive. My observation if someone is intentionally doing this is: (1)They must fish a lot. (2)Fish all areas of the lake.(3) Must have a pretty good sucess rate in catching bass

Like I said I have rarely seen this type of sereated jaw, but from 50 years of bass fishing, I have seen this type of jaw on occassion for many years and on several different lakes.

Could this be a seration problem caused by line (i.e.) braided line. Just a thought, but I have seen this in years past, but very rarely.

I think you are referring to an Osprey (i.e. fish hawk) I was there in the storm yesterday and I did see two Ospreys and an Eagle that was following them.

There was a lot of them that wintered over on Grand Lake this year. I guess they enjoyed the abundance of dying fluttering shad and saw no reason to head on down to Lousiana and Texas.

I have the Elite 4 and like it. My biggest complaint is the screen size and glare. I have to get off the trolling motor and bend down at times to read it. Take in mind I'm 70 and my eyesite is not as good as most people, but that said back off of a demo model 4-5' and see if you can read it properly.

Good report as always. The blade bite is a load of fun. Having the lake to yourself is about as good as it gets. The bass population is about as healthy as I can remember. Back in the 80's when I was fishing in a bass club there was some pretty pitiful fish in the lake, but along the way something changed, I guess the forage base must have really improved.

Speaking of hogs when I was combing the beach across from chicken rock last year there was definitely signs of ferral hogs. The ground was rooted up down close to the lake back in a mud flat. No doubt it was hogs cause I saw the tracks too.

Thanks Sac River there could be cause to believe that the fences were built by slaves as denjac surmized.

Thanks for all of you for the input. To denjac, no I didn't get bit up there and was very disappointed because all conditions seemed right. I guess the corp owns that piece of property, but if I can find out a little history on the ownershp over the years it might solve the mystery. On another note, winter before last when the lake was way down I went beachcombing and found a perfect 3"x2" spear point. My daughter who has done some archeology digs (most notably three years ago in Syria )identified it as about 7,000 years old in the mid to late Archaic period. It is called a San Patrice point. The Sac river below the dam a few years ago was the site of a real important dig called The Big Eddy Site. Maybe the oldest artifacts ever found in North America.

This may qualify as a non Hot Topic, but here is the question? I was fishing Sunday and for the first time decided to go about a half mile above the 39 bridge to check out the water. There were a few caves on the steep 45 degree bank on the North side, but on that steep incline there were several really old rock fences that started close to the bank and ascended way up the hill. What, when or why were they built? They are really old. I am sure they weren't property boundries. Someone long ago devoted countless man hours building those things. Any ideas?

You should be getting here at a prime time. I think most species are a litttle later turning on this year, but the bass fishing is very good right now. Keep watching this forum. there are a lot of good fisherman posting here

I fished a lot of water from Ruark to 39 bridge. Early morning water temp close to Ruark was 48 and as I made my way to 39 bridge by mid afternoon was 55. I only had three keeper crappie all in 20' water.

Thanks for the info. I come in from the west, but like to patronize people trying to get started. Is there a good turnaround when I pull the boat off?

I have been to Stockton on several occassions lately and have concentrated on throwing a jerkbait for bass with no accidental walleye hookups. I am still graphing schools of shad over deeper water, but for the most part have not been able to fish these schools because of the howling winds. I realize the creek arms are somewhat productive because of the warmer water and the shad migration, but are catching 90% of the fishing pressure. Anybody finding fish in the main lake?

If you go to CC you will have to park at the top of the hill. It's really getting pounded.

You may be hitting it at a good time with the weather warming, but I think the real key will be if we get a good rain to move some water.

It's funny how nearly all of us get consumed in trying the latest supposedly fish catching lures. A few years ago when I was fishing in a bass club tournament, one of the fellow members came in with a big sack of bass. He said he thought he would just try some old baits that were pretty much out of favor and to his surprise he caught all his fish on a jig and eel and a mudbug.

Your not much different than most ardent fisherman. I always said I lost more lures in my garage and boat storage compartments than I ever lost in the lake. Mainly due to my own negligence. I can't calculate how many jig hooks, crank bait hooks have rusted in my boxes over the years. I used to lose the skirts off jigs and spinnerbaits, but I started put a new tie on the skirts. Those flimsy rubber bands holding the skirts are good for about a year. If your out on the rare occasion when the fish seem to be biting really good, try one of those baits you seldom throw to reconfirm your opinion of said lure.