Dam Yankee

I was fishing a hump in Mill creek yesterday after catching a couple on a frog in Toro. I think I saw you Express. You came out to the mouth of Mill Creek and went down the grass line on the long point at the mouth that goes down by the docks. I waited about n hour and then went over there to go behind you. Then I saw you come back and turn into the grass line to go down it again. I was going to come by and say hello but, then I saw you put your trolling motor down and I didn't wanna come up to you and spook any fish you may catch. I am in a white Triton TR-20. So I went further north. I settled in a spot in Hickory ridge next to the main lake. And it was a good spot. I got tired of catching Kentucky bass with a c-rig and positioned myself between two points and started with a jigging spoon. I lost count and my arms are tired. For about 3 hours all I did was catch fish. Largest in that spot was 4.5 lbs. in about 30 ft. of water. I left catching fish so it was a good day.

Strangely enough I did well when I went Saturday. Had one 7 and a couple 4's. It seemed like a spinnerbait would be on but, it wasn't. I tried almost everything until I thought of Catt always talking about Tx. rig. I very rarely use it cause we all get caught up in our habits. I am sold on the tx. rig. Thanks for the tip Catt! I noticed a lot of fish and bait balls on points but, couldn't get em to hit anything. Eveything I caught was in grass or on the edge of the grass line. look for areas near the edge of the grass line that are different.

I always have a bone colored trap tied on at least one rod.

Haven't had time to get back on here but, I did do pretty well when I went out this past Monday. Grass line is where it is at! Lost a really good one on the second cast of the morning though. Too big to flip. I went to lip him and he gave a powerful shake and broke my line. Grass line...grass line...grass line!

Only been out a couple times this year. headed out this morning. I don't know what I am doing half the time but, I enjoy it. Maybe I will get lucky.

Very strange. Oh well. No biggie. Keep posting Catt and company! I am soaking all of this up like a sponge.

Why is there a line through my entire previous post?

It has been a few months since I have been on the lake. I usually fish the Toro area and know it pretty well but, I still have a few favorite spots in the Housen area and six mile. Gotta figure out what is going on so when my 82 year old dad gets here at the end of next month I can put him on some fish. Could be his last trip to see me.

I never met Jack but, he sure had no problem helping me out. We were supposed to meet but, God had different plans. RIP Jack.

Try a flutter spoon.

I saw that boat. He was on the south end late in the day. That boat was running where there was not a lane in an area that I know to be stump infested. I stopped fishing to see what a boat hitting a stump would look like but, he never hit one. Don't know how though.

Had a good morning and good afternoon bite. For me topwater produced along the edge of submerged grass with a heavy fog it lasted for quite a while and was fun topped off by a better than average spinnerbait bite along the same grasslines. My afternoon bite with no wind was from points with a few submerged logs and timber. That produced the best catch of the day at 6lb. 8oz in 25-30 ft. Had one of my better days on the Bend and caught and released more than a limit which is not a common occurance with me! Still trying to figure things out.

I went yesterday. Caught 1 on frog. 4 on spinnerbait and one on C-rig. Grass is the common denominator looks like.

I have ben having more success offshore in depths of 20 to 30 feet. keying on humps/points where there is timber in that depth seems to be working out for me. That has it's down sides though. Hooked what I felt to be the largest bass i have ever felt this morning. Noticed i said hooked. Lesson.....check your line often when fishing in timber. Still mad at myself over that stupid mistake.

Sounds like one of my reports there Wesley! I am headed out this weekend for at least two trips. Chompin at the bit since i didn't go last weekend.

I saw that too. Never seen one this big before though. When I saw him hook it to the keeper by the reel and lay it down on the deck before the launch it really caught my eye. I would say it was about 6 to 7 inches long.

That's screwed up. I went to the launch on day 3 and stayed there most of the day. Went fishing on Sunday and they came to where I was at in Housen for about an hour or so. then when I went to toro there was one of em on the point I usually fish there. I fished the next point and watched. I didn't see him catch anything. Chapman (same name as mine) had a spoon from what I saw that was about the length of my hand. It looked huge. I walked right out on the dock before the launch and looked. They were giving autographs and stuff but I was mostly seeing what was tied on and that really jumped out at me. I haven't seen a spoon that big since I fished up north in the finger lakes. Locate the school and make em bite seemed to be the key.

If you really want to go and watch i would take you out in my boat Saturday and Sunday. I wanna fish but, I also wanna watch but, have never done it before. I see it on TV sometimes but, I have also heard the anglers complain a little bit about them. Are there some guidelines to follow besides the obvious?

Wow! Didn't he catch one last time too? I saw a few of their boats Monday but, I strictly fished Housen area. A few of them in my immediate area. I seen em catch a couple really small ones but that was it and I couldn't tell what they were doing or throwing except for the very noticeable jigging. I have heard that at times they will pre-fish with no hooks. Not sure if that is true. I was hoping to learn something and I watched them close as I stayed in one spot for a few hours Carolina rigging. the point i was fishing would re-load about every 40 minutes on this one stump so I saw no reason to move but, when I did they started graphing the area and fishing it. Those guys will take a little while to break down the lake and it makes me sick but, that is why they are pros! I would like to go out there on the water and watch but, don't wanna be in the way. I will just make it a regular fishing day.

Thanks for the info Don. Now that i think about it only one end was actually attached to the roof of the mouth. I didn't see any on Monday. Never knew a leech could be that small.

No pics. It was a tiny dark green worm attached to the roof of the inside of their mouth. Maybe a quarter inch long. I noticed it in about five of the fish I caught. I am going out this morning. If I see it again I will take a pic.

Yesterday I caught a few that had this small worm in the top of their mouth. Never seen that before. Anyone else ever seen this before?

Thanks Don. I am not that good of an angler but, I learn some more every time I go. This is probably the 5th tournament I have fished on the bend since I started in late 07 after I retired from the Army. I'll figure this stuff out one of these days!! What makes me feel better is a lot of good anglers I know didn't get a check either. I figured this one was a better chance for me cause I only got to catch one and not catch five keeprs which is rare for me without a partner. I have also learned a lot from this thread.

Well....for me it was a repeat of my first day. Caught fish. Just couldn't catch anything to weigh. Sat and Sunday was the biggest turn out from what I could tell when looking at all the boats on the water. You had to have a backup plan to the backup plan to the backup plan because chances are where you wanna fish is already taken. I didn't worry about the money and just went and fished where I could fish and tried to enjoy my time on the lake. I think all the results are posted on the sealy site.

Yes it does. I may not have worked it as good as I should have but I didn't get a bite on my usual points which to my surprise, were unoccupied when the sun got up. i then woked three different humps off shore 20 -25 ft. I haven't fished these humps since the lake was down and it was shallower. That's when I stared to get a bite other than topwater. Odd thing is only thing I got bit on was a C-rig senko. Them darn kentuck's had me fooled for a while thinkin I had somethin good! I still enjoyed my day though. Caught a pretty big crappie too. I figured with all that I was bound to get a good bite sometime but, not today. And....maybe I did get a big bite and didn't know it as the bite seemed very suttle. I finally remembered hooksets were still free!