A Fishing Report, And One That Should Have Been

Jimmy Pickle celebrated his birthday yesterday by doing a little fishing out at the Lake. My bass boat being in the shop, Jimmy had to rough it in our jon-boat, but still had a decent day.

He caught 8 bass up shallow on jigs where he could find wind protected areas.

Here are two nice ones he caught and took pictures of with his cell phone. Notice the length of them in relation to the cooler size.




The wind was a little hard to deal with in the jon-boat, but I think he had a fun day.

Speaking of wind, except for late Friday afternoon, it was very strong from the time I got there Thursday until I left late Saturday afternoon.

But that's not why I can't give you a fishing report of my own.

As some of you know I live in Carthage, about 55 miles from the Lake. Christie, the kids and I loaded up and headed down Thursday afternoon. We brought everything we would need except one thing.

A key to the boathouse.

Since all my tackle was in there, no fishing for me. Had the wind not been up so much I would have gone in and bought a rod and reel. I was very tempted late Friday afternoon to do that.

I felt pretty foolish, I can tell you that.

We were able to take the kids out on the pontoon. I saw a couple of brave souls fighting the wind but the ones I talked to weren't having much luck.

Hopefully soon we will get the boat back from the shop, the wind will subside, and I can get back down soon.

And remember to bring a key.

Jimmy Pickle's Fishing Journal

As many of you know, Jimmy Pickle has done a lot of fishing out at the Lake the last couple of years. He has kept a journal of his trips, and he shared it with me.

These are his results from the last three years......................

2007

Jimmy caught 259 bass for an average of 14.6 bass per trip.

Almost all were caught on just three baits, a diving crankbait, spinnerbait, and a Zell Pop topwater plug.

2008

Jimmy caught 538 bass for an average of 19 bass per trip.

358 of these were on diving crankbaits. The rest were mainly on, lipless crankbaits, Swimming Horny Toads, Zell Pop, swim baits, and spinner baits.

This was the year we had all the grass in the Lake, and the fish held close to the grass.

Ole Jimmy misses the grass.

2009

Jimmy caught 496 bass for an average of 14.5 bass per trip.

Changing tactics because of the grass being gone, he caught 225 on jigs(swimming and regular)
He caught 150 on lipless crankbaits(Such as the Red Eye Shad) 84 on diving crankbaits, and the rest on spinner baits.

All that adds up to a total of 1,293 bass caught in a three year period by just Jimmy alone. An average of 431 bass per year. That's an average of roughly 16.5 fish per trip.

Those are a heck of a group of numbers.

If you counted his fishing partners the avg. per trip would be well over 25 per trip caught.

Another great example of how lucky we are to have the fishery that we have.

It is also a reflection of what a great job Albert and the folks in the Fishing Association have done the last few years in bettering the Lake. Be sure and tell them thanks and, if you haven't already, join the Fishing Association.

I hope to be down later today and tomorrow and try to get a few myself.

Fish Shocking Re-Cap

We had a great turnout for the fish shocking. It was good to visit with everyone. We took out around 500 pounds of bass and a few BIG catfish. Some of the guys from the Fishing Assoc. cleaned all of them yesterday afternoon. They will be used for the fish fry.

We saw some great looking, healthy fish and were told by the SPM folks that we had a great fishery, and that we are very fortunate to have one like it. The slot limit remains 17 inches on the bass. Please keep all bass 17 inches and under.

I will get up the full report from SPM as soon as I can when we get it back.

Here are some photos from yesterday's fish shocking..................................

2 Pound Crappie

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Fish Shocking in Progress

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Lake Shocking Tomorrow

Southeastern pond will shock the lake on Thursday March 11. Everyone interested should meet at the clubhouse at 8:30. If you can help clean fish, bring your filet knife and a cooler. We need all the help we can get.

I'll be out of town Friday but hope to get some pictures of the shocking up Saturday.