One picture is worth a thousand words!

June 27, 2008 Clients this week caught over 100 bass, mostly by drop shot and Senkos from mid lake to Lakeport. There are a lot of weeds in the upper end of the lake and the best bite has been off shore fishin' around the weeds and in the middle when there is a opening with either drop shot or Senkos.  The topwater bite seems to be off and on, however I have not been doing it that much of late other than this morning (Friday). It was good at first light then it just turned off. "Tight-Lines" Richard Click HERE for recent photos. June 20, 2008 Clients this week did very good catching bass to 6 plus pounds and a lot of 3 to 5 plus pounders. I have not fished down south this week, however will go there on Saturday with a client to check it out. The report this week is just the same as last weeks'. The bite continues to be good but you still have to keep moving as the fish are spread out in all the weeds in the north end. "Tight-Lines" Richard  June 13, 2008 Clients had a good week catching 90 bass to 5+ pounds. Most were on the old drop shot, with a few on frogs, spinner baits and Senkos. They also caught some bedding bass but most were small, around 3 to 4 pounds. All were caught from State Park around to the upper end of Lakeport. There is a top water bite but I haven't found it true for me with the exceptions of the frog. There are a lot of weeds! Your best bet is the drop shot with about a 18 inch leader and just drag it through the weeds and when it clears give it slack so it can go back to bottom.   Good luck out there... "Tight-Lines" Richard  June 6, 2008 Clients this week had a hard time finding places to fish with the very strong winds and cool mornings, however they did OK catching an average of 12 bass per trip with a lot of 3 to 4 plus lbers and a 7½ on a frog. Most came on drop shot and about 6 on frogs. Another thing that's got the bite soft is all the weeds which translates into too many places to hide.  Water temperature in most areas is about 65 degrees. The first part of the week there were bedding bass in the north end but we didn't see any over 4 pounds, clients were able to catch about 10 of them.  "Tight-Lines"    Richard  May 30, 2008 What a nice day today was. I had almost forgotten how nice the sun feels. Water temperature got up to 68  degrees this afternoon and I saw a lot of bass moving up shallow so the spawn is not over.  The fishin' this week was not that good, with the cold and wind making the bass move off the shallows and not in a mood to eat very much. Clients this week did catch more than 50 bass, mostly on drop shot and Senkos. Today my client had a fair day catching several nice bass on frogs and a few on drop shot and Senkos. This weekend is going to be very busy with a 150 boat carp shoot and two bass team tournaments plus the Wood & Glory classic boat & car show on Saturday in Lakeport..Look for the fishin' to improve as long as this weather stays but who knows if it will.  Have fun and be safe... "Tight-Lines" Richard May 23, 2008 What a strange year weather wise... Wind & more wind! Clients this week did good catching over 80 nice bass but the 5 pound bite has all but gone away. I thought this week with the full moon and warmer water, that it would get the big bass up shallow however that was not the case, at least where I was looking. Most bass are in their post spawn mode which is not my favorite time because they are very tired and weak from spawning. Once this weather gets warm again and the bass get into their summertime pattern, things will get back to normal and the fishin' will be very good with 30 to 50 fish days. For now the drop-shot and Senko is your best bet..  Good luck and "Tight-Lines"   Richard   May 16, 2008 It's hot at last,  maybe too hot! Water temps this afternoon got up to 72 degrees which should bring the big girls in for some more spawning and the full moon on the 19th. My client and I looked around for some spawning bass today and all we found were small males running around. Clients this week did fair to good by using Senkos and drop-shot, they did catch some on spinnerbaits and frogs but nothing over 4 pounds. Haven't heard much about the south end other than the bite was not so good. The bite in the Lakeport area is tough also but a little better than south.  Take a lot of water to drink in this heat..   "Tight-Lines"   Richard May 9, 2008 Spring and summer, where are they? Looks as though this weekend should get things started with temperatures getting into the high 70's. Clients this week did good on most days using drop-shot and Senkos with a few on swimbaits, all in the Lakeport area. With the higher temperatures forecast for the upcoming week, look for the spawn to kick in again. There is also the chance for big bass moving back into the shallows. "Tight-Lines" Richard  May 2, 2008 This week the fishin' was up & down but today it was very good and so was the weather! Once again the lure bite has been slow for most folks but the minnow bite is good. Drop shot, jigs & Senkos with some swimbait fish seem to be the best for now. The bass caught this week were about half pre spawn and half post spawn. Bass are everywhere to be seen but getting them to bite can be very tough. I have no reports from the southend other than it's been very windy down there. Look for fish around spawning grounds and with half of the bass in post spawn the earlier ones should be moving back out to deeper water. Have fun! "Tight-Lines" Richard    April 25. 2008 Clients had a very good week catching a lot of bass to 10.0 pounds, all on minnows with the execption of a few on drop shot. The lure bite went south this week with all the inclement weather, boy has it been cool and windy! The good news is, today was very warm and the forcast is more of the same, warming water temperature will get the bite back and the big girls will start moving in for the spawn. "Tight-Lines"   Richard  April 18, 2008 My report from last week is not holding up. My forcast for a red hot bite because of the full moon and warming water temperatures has not come true (It makes me feel like a weatherman:-). There is so much pressure from a 140 boats tourney last week and the start of the Stren FLW tourney this Wednesday (200 boats) it seems that the bass have backed off. The first part of the week was good to fair with a few 5 lbers, 6 & 7.3 for the big bass this week which were caught on a Senko and swimbait. The report around the lake is that its tough for most for the big girls and OK for the smaller bass. The forecast for this weekend is not good with wind and some rain. The water temperature is still hanging around 60 degrees, which is not good for this time of year.  Lets hope the forecast is as wrong as I was last week.    "Tight-Lines"   Richard     April 11, 2008 Clients this week caught some quality bass to 10.3 pounds with two over 7, 6 over 6 and 7 over 5 pounds plus a lot of 3 to 4+ pounders. All bass were caught in the upper end from State Park to Rodman Slough. Sorry, no pictures for two trips until my clients email them to me. ( I have a new camera now) Most fish came on minnows but 23 were on jigs & Senko's, including the 10.3 & 7¾ pounder. Overall the lure bite has been tough. Clients caught a few in the early morning on swimbaits but after that Senkos and jigs have been the top producers. At last the weather is changing for the better, with warmer mornings and nights the bass will be moving in for the spawn, although the moon is not in the right phase. The 20th of April is a full moon, so it should be gang-busters by then!  Have fun out there. "Tight-Lines" Richard April 4, 2008 This has been another very good week over-all for clients, although it was tough at times. Most fish this week came on minnows, with a few good bass on a variety of lures. The bass are still moving back and forth with this weather, however today a lot of bass moved in shallow because of a new moon and rising water temperature so come the next full moon the fishin' should be red-hot. Water temperature this morning was 56 degrees. Both the north & south ends have been producing.   PS: This morning was one of those rare days. My very good client Jerry Deal caught 18 quality bass and it went like this: 10.1, 9.3, 7.5, 7¾ and five from 5 to 5¾ pounds! We took pictures, did our high 5's and then the camera took a bath for about 5 min.  That says it all! I have a call into Kodak, hope they can retrieve the photos. "Tight-Lines" Richard   March 28, 2008 This week started off with a bang for my Monday clients (see photos) then it slowed down the next day, then back the next day. And so goes the bite, it's been up and down for minnows & lures. I think it's because of the cold fronts that have been moving back and forth plus the moon phase is not right for this time of year. As soon as the weather settles down and the water temperature gets up around 60 degrees plus a full moon comes in, the bite should be off the wall!  Water today got up only to 53 degrees. "Tight-Lines" Richard  March 21, 2008 It was a great week for some very big bass. (see photos) These cool nights and mornings have made the bass back off for the most part. Clients this week caught most of their fish on minnows. They did ok on jigs, spinner baits & swim baits. The winds have made it rough on folks trying to fish south, so I have no reports from that end of the lake. The north end has had a lot of pressure from tournaments, but the fishin' has been good for most.  Water temp. is still not where it should be, its staying around 50 to 54 degrees. If the weather gets hotter so will the fishin'. Hope you are here when that happens..  "Tight-Lines"   Richard Click HERE for the latest photos. March 14, 2008 Clients did very good this week catching 169 very nice bass. Most were caught on minnows with just a few on lures. The best producing artificials this week have been jigs, rip baits and swim baits. The water temperature is still low for this time of year by about 5 degrees, so the bass have not moved into the shallows in numbers but they are in and out. If you can locate where they are schooling you can do very well. All of the north end is producing fish in water depths fron 2 to 8 feet, as for the south end the reports have been good, I just haven't had time to go there. Water temp is still hanging  around 50 to 53 degrees. Hope to see you on the water!! "Tight-Lines" Richard  March 7, 2008 Boy what a week! Clients have been catching a lot of bass to 7.10 pounds. Most fish were caught on minnows, except on Monday when my clients wanted to try out swimbaits, and try they did, catching 14 quality bass to 5½ pounds and four on Persuader spinner baits.  The report from other fisherpersons are saying that jigs, swimbaits and spinner baits have been the top producers. Water is clear in most spots with tempertures from 49 in the am to 52 degrees in the pm.  Good luck out there... "Tight-Lines"   Richard February 29, 2008 Not a lot to report this week, as I had to re-schedule some trips, however I did get out today. It was slow and the bass were small except for one that went 5 1/2 pounds which was caught on a swimbait. Two other bass were on swimbaits and 5 more were on Persuader spinner baits. They all came from the State Park and Soda Bay area in water from 2 to 5 feet so they are moving up as the water temperature increases to around 50 degrees in the morning. If this weather holds for another week it should break wide open for pre spawn bass.    "Tight-Lines"  Richard February 22, 2008 Bright, sunny days and cool nights have not been the best conditions for a good bass bite however it's been ok. Last week during the above conditions, the bite was slow but on Tuesday we had a great day under cloudy skys with some light rain and the bass turned on! My client for the day from Oklahoma caught 40 bass with all but two of them over 3 pounds and most were in the four to five pound range. The big bass of the day went 9.7! Not too bad for a guy from Okahoma, ha ha. The next day (same guy) the sun came out and the bite slowed down to only 27 bass to 4 pounds, still a very good day.   Clients last week caught most of their bass on minnows with a few on spinnerbaits and jigs. All of the bass came out of the State Park area and around the west shoreline to Lakeport in water from 2' to 6'. Sorry I have no reports from the south end.  Check out the pictures from last week and you will see that the bright days were not as good as the colder days. "Tight-Lines"Richard. February 16, 2008   Now that the weather has improved so has the bite however it's still slow for this time of year. Now if the weather holds for another week or so it should start to move the larger bass up into their pre spawn pattern. As of now there are some bass up very shallow but not a lot. You may find a lot of bass in one location if you are very lucky as some fishermen have been but not a lot. Fishing with clients this week was ok with bass to 6 pounds on a Persuader spinner bait in very shallow water as low as 2 feet.  We only fished the upper end this week from State Park to Lakeport and around to Nice.   Jigs, drop-shot, shaky head, crank baits, spinner baits and of course minnows have been the top producers. A few swimbaits have been doing ok but its still very slow for now.  Water temp in the am 44 to 45 and close to 50+ in the PM.  Good Luck out there and hope to see you on the water.. "Tight-:Lines" Richard