straw hat

Got to the lake right after dawn today. Stiff north wind so I found a small bluff a few miles from CC that was protected and stuck it out there. The bite was still very light and slow but managed to come up with 9 keepers. They were 13 to 18' deep. Caught all of them right off the bottom. There was some big honking white bass surfacing in the middle of the lake today chasing those shad. It looks like the weatherman is right about the weather change. I saw a batch of about 100 white pelicans, 1 big flock of geese and a dozen flocks of ducks. They must be moving down before this next cold front hits. Those white pelicans are sure graceful in the air, especially for being such ugly birds. People who know me well describe me the same way except they leave out the part about being graceful. lol Should be a nice weekend and there are a lot of those big whites around the CC areaa so some of you guys need to go get a boatful this weekend. See you out on the lake.

Thanks Kwall. I would really like to figure out how to catch those flatheads more frequently. I kow they are very nocturnal but still if I can get a bait in front of there nose they will take it. I can usually hang 2 or 3 in a summer (the easiest time to catch them) but the fall pattern eludes me. Info like this helps. Thanks again

Now that makes me jealous. A 10lb flathead!! I sure would appreciate knowing what type of habitat you caught him in. My thanks for any info you can give.

Always good to hear from you walleyedmike! Sorry to hear about your poor trip, although Saturday was pretty good the last two trips before that were terrible. There should be alot of good fishing during the next 6 weeks or so, keep that camper down here and do some serious slaying of the walleye. As good as you are you can come up with several more limits with no problems. See you on the lake.

The last couple trips I had fished CC with very little luck so today I decided to take the wife north from CC a couple miles. The water was stained but not dingy like the bridge area was. We found the crappie on steep rocky banks. They started out around 5 ft deep in the morning and by noon were around 14'. Around 3 pm they started slowly moving back toward the bank. By the time we left at 5:30 they were back to 5' deep again. We wound up with 21 keeper crappie and one just legal walleye. The bite was slow and steady today but it was VERY light. Sometimes they would play with minnow for a couple minutes before they would take the slip bobber down. Had to be real patient. The bank we fished was really windy and with the light bite it was difficult to tell when you had a hit. Not complaining though it was better than we had done in a long time. I hope you all had a great weekend on the lake as well..

Good job hammertime!! Sounds like a good day to me.

In a word....bad! Couldn't muster a bite along the bank by the boat launch at CC. Saw a lot of fish being caught on the pea gravel side across the lake. It turned out that they were loading up on white bass. A lot of them wer over 12" long. Saw a lot of shad n the surface but didn;t see anything busting htem. Like fishbait3 said the other day, the water there is very dingy with maybe a foot visibility. See you all on the lake this weekend. Good luck to you all.

Great trip Tom!! Thanks for the report.

I can't answer all your questions but I cn tell you this. The shad were stacked all over the surface at CC last Wed. There were also a fair number of bass busting them at that time.

Thanks for the report Rusty. Not a bad trip at all. With as bright sunny as it has been that is a fair number of keepers for shallower water. It shouldn't be long now before they start collecting deeper. See you on the lake.

Went back to CC where the wife and I got into the catfish last Saturday. Worked that water to death and only caught 1 small cat. I don't know where they went but I know where they weren't. lol Switched to crappie and caught 5 or 6 with only one keeper. The crappie bite was very light. Tons of shad on the surface and did manage to catch one 15" white bass. I was really bumbed out. i thought I could get into a mess of cats but I guess thats fishing for you. Maybe the next trip will be better.

Thanks for the info fishbait3. What a wild set-up. Those politicians make everything complicated.

Boy I am really confused now! (Not that that is unusual. lol) I bought a part for my road holders at Bass Pro on Sunday afternoon. The tax I was charged was 8.35%. Just out of curiosity I went back in the store and asked the young man at customer service what BPcharged for sales tax. He said 8.6%. I went back out to the truck and told my wife. I asked her to go back in the store and ask the young lady at customer service. My wife came out and said she stated 8.2%. Like I say; I am REALLY confused and it seems like I am not the only one!!

You bet! Laid up in bed is no fun! I am still a little stiff and sore but a little fishing will cure that! lol

The wife and I took a simple little bank fishing trip today. We started off on a steep rocky bank about a mile or 2 from the State Park Marina. It is one of those areas that looks great but we never really seem to catch much there. Water was clear, visibility 4 feet, and not a breeze. We fished for 3 hours and caught 2sublegal smallies and 2 sublegal largemouths. We were a little suprised but they were all from 23 to 27 feet deep. Water temp was 72. We left there and swung by CC, After 30 minutes we only had 2 small crappie so I switched over to cats to see if they were starting down from out of the river with the dropping temps. In 1 hour I caught 5 channels from 1 to 2 lbs. Not real big but I am not complaining, it was fun. Had to head on home but planning a cat/crappie trip during the week. Water was 69 at CC and it had 1 foot visibility and heavily stained. A LOT of boats out today. Hartley was full all the way to the highway and CC was full at the bottom parking with a few parked up the side of the road. I hope all of you got to go today it was beautiful out. Hit the lake soon and I hope you catch a boatload!!!

The last thing I picked up at BP was a reel about 2 years ago. I usually find what I need at another store for a more reasonable price. I normally only buy items at BP if I can't find it anywhere else. I never noticed the rate had changed (shame on me, I usually watch things like that). I fully agree with your comment about the sign. I never new about the tax increase you mentioned. I remember when the tax rate use to be 7.6% there and I never heard it had been raised. I really appreciate the information. Another reason I usually shop other places is that I have found their employees to usually be sort of rude and cocky, even unwilling to help. Thanks again for the info, sorry I made a mistake earlier. (not my first one either! lol)

Sad to see people act like that isn't it? They are just thinking about themselves and not others. Their poor attitude usually gets those kind of employees in trouble eventually. The problem is they just go to work for someone else and we still have to put up with them! lol

Sorry jovosh but I bought a bluegill trap there thismorning and the tax was 8.6%! Oh well, I guess the government needs the money right now, they just don't relize so do I. lol

I decided to stop by Academy Sport this morning and check them out. I was sort of disappointed. They didn't have as much atckle as I expected. BUT, they did have a bluegill trap. I have been wanting one for some time and was very suprised to see they carried them. It is something to think about for you guys that trotline or jug fish. they are $40 each with a smaller version for $30.

There are a few good ones here. various1.doc

Great report and a really nice bass Congratulations.

Thanks for the report Bubfisher. It should stay good down there for a while now so take every opportunity to catch those critters. Have fun on thee water.

Here is some pretty good info on shortnose gar if anyone is interested. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Lepisosteus_platostomus.html

I am interested in everyones thoughts on the crawfish study.. Smallmouth.doc

Gar are very efficient predators which can really compete with other sport fish. There eggs are toxic to other fish, man, mammals and most birds. While the meat is very boney is is very delicious. A lot of folks down south pressure cook pieces of gar (which destroys all but the biggest bones). The competition with sport fish is the biggest thing. The shortnose gar is the least offense of the gar. They are primarily creek and river fish but will spred into the back of coves in lakes. While they still feed primarily on fish they do eat more crawfish, insects and other invertabrates than other gar. If I can dig up any info on there life history I will post it.