Big M area 7/10

[Quillback]

Got to the launch at 0530 today.  Noticed some activity not far off the shore, so took a rod off the deck and made a cast with a wobblehead/Megabug combination.  Drug it on the submerged blacktop, felt a fish pick it up, swung and missed, let it drop, started dragging some more and had a 14" spot grab it and hang on.  Uh-oh, first cast fish.  Made another few casts, had another one on, it came out of the water about 4 feet and tossed the bait.  I think it was a smallie.

Decided I better get the boat in the water before I wandered down the bank fishing and end up launching after fishing the bank for an hour.  Put the boat in the water, parked the truck, walked down to the boat, got in and decided to make a cast or two before leaving the dock.  Caught another bass, this one a meanie that went about 14", and had another one spit the hook.  Finally untied the boat and got out of there.

Motored down to a cove that has a dock near the entrance of the cove, one of my favorite early morning spots in the summer.  Dragged the wobbler around the rocks lining one side of the cove, caught a keeper LM, and a very nice 18" meanmouth (2nd of the day).  That was it for the cove.

Spent most of the morning fishing gravel points with the c-rig, dragging Zoom Finesse and Trick worms, caught a 3.5 LM on a Finesse worm which was my big fish of the day.  Bite never was "hot" but it was steady with a bite every 5 or 6 casts.  Ended the morning with 19 bass, 4 of them keepers.

About 10 AM the recreational traffic started getting bad, I hung in there until 1130, then split.

Surface temps were 84-85.

[cheesemaster]

Nice fish Quillback!! I love that color of blue you have on your wobblehead. I use it as a trailer all the time with a black jig. I think I have only caught 1 meanmouth my whole time and you landed two in one day - beautiful!!

[Jerry Rapp]

you left fish to find fish, and this this time it worked!

[176champion]

Thanks for the report Quill...nice fishes...

I was going to go this AM but got called last night and had to work today.....being retired is so much fun...lol

[m&m]

QB, thanks for the information. Some of the hardest decisions are to leave while the fish are biting. Sounds like you made the right choice. Great pictures too!!!

Mike

[Champ188]

Good job, my friend. That's a good morning on an Ozarks lake in July.

[kvo113]

Nice report. That's a conservative 3.5 I'd say!

[Quillback]

Something I forgot to mention - the coves are filled with baby shad right now, should bode well for the future.

[bferg]

Nice report!  Curious: How deep were you dragging the C-rig?  I am headed over there tonight after work.  

[Quillback]

Fish were in the 5-15 foot range, time of day may be a factor also, things may be different in the evening.