well, it sure has been a long winter for me. The ice in the backwaters on the river just went out a few weeks ago. Last year we experienced ice out in Late march, and that extra couple of weeks it took this year was a real killer!!

I had a tournament last Sunday and at that time we had water temps ranging from 46-53 degrees and a very tough bite due to fluctuating water levels. My partner and I fished as hard as we could and salvaged 4 keepers from wood and grass banks for 7.93 lbs. We ended up taking 3rd place, which is truly rare this time of year on the river, where weights should be up around the 27-28 lb mark (7 fish limit)

This week we had some really beautiful weather that helped the water temps a lot, and it really made a big difference in the fishing. The water temp is now 57-59 with a couple areas over 60 degrees. The warmest I've found was 66, but no fish in that area. The best pattern working for me is flipping banks with isolated wood and rock in 3-6 ft of water. The fish are constantly replenishing so you can make multiple passes on the same wood and continue to catch fish. Its really a lot of fun. No 5's yet this year but a few 3 lbers and a couple near 4 to keep things fun. My best 5 last night were a little over 13 lbs, so things are starting to look up.

here are some pics:

7.93

my friend Justin with a good one!

Another

Here's me with a 2-1/4 lber..average fish

a near 4 lber from last night.

Thanks,

Cade

Those are some nice bass bud

Way to go, awesome fish guys. Congrats!  ;D

Looks like a nice day.

Great pics, too!

8-)

really chunky lookin' fish there.  congrats.

Chunky indeed, they're better than what I'm catching this year by far!

Nice chunks, congrats! 8-)

beauties!

my buddy and I went out again today, and had a real good day on the water. We caught a lot of good fish. We were a little surprised/bummed when we found out we could have landed a top 3 spot in the 50+ boat tournament that took place today. Our 8 fish limit was in the 24-25 lb range with the winning weight being 26. I caught a few good ones but my friend really cracked them today behind me, he had 15-1/2 lbs while I only raked in 11-3/4 lbs. All in all, still a great time. First 2 pics are me, 2nd two pics are my friend.

Cade, looks like some really nice fish there!  I see the first pic was taken at Clinton St landing, have you been doing most of your fishing in pool 8?  I was out on sunday for the first time this year and the water temps I was finding were 48-51, but I only had about 3 hours to fish so I didn't get around to very many spots.  My fishing was pretty poor, actually it was bad.

Hey Scott. yeah the pic is at Clinton St. and I've done almost all of my bass fishing on pool 8 this year. I did go down to pool 9 a couple times when there was still ice but no results. Sorry to hear you didn't do so well, but You'll get on 'em!