Sunny Days and Clear Water

Not a good combination. The water at Lake Cavalier would be basically considered "Clear".
At times it has gotten very clear.

When you have clear water and a bright sunny day the light easily penetrates deeper into the water.

Fish, especially bass, don't like this. They will go deeper or hunt shade.

There have been many days out on the lake where I have seen people throwing big, flashy spinner baits toward the bank on sunny days. Although you might get lucky, you could probably go in and cut the grass because you are just wasting time.

Here are some tips from the bass pros at the "Got Fish" seminar held recently at the Natural Science Museum..........

1) Use Fluorocarbon line. Click the link to learn more about this "invisible" line. (always wet your knot before cinching it with fluorocarbon, this is very important)

2) Use baits that mimic the natural bait colors that are in the Lake. We have crawfish, bream, thread fin shad, and also frogs, snakes, lizards and eels. (yes eels, I pulled an old tire out of the water from beside our pier that had an eel in it.) So go with those colors.... light browns and oranges, pumpkin seed, watermelon, junebug, blues, greens, slivers and blacks. In the crankbaits go with the "sexy shad" color. For more on picking colors, click here for an overview.

3) Look for overhanging trees that provide shade extending out into the water. Use jigs and soft plastics here.

4) Get deeper. Look for structure or sudden bottom changes in water depths of 8-12 feet. We have lots of natural contours on our Lake's bottom. Also stumps, underwater grass and mussel shell beds. Spend time with your depth finder to find these spots. Look for any sudden changes, that's where you want to be. Crankbaits and jigs fished in a variety of ways is the best best at these spots. It's gonna take good old trial and error.

5) Finesse. Fish are spooked easier on days like this. Try the drop shot method. Also use longer casts, putting some distance between you and the spot you are trying to fish. Fish slower and use smaller baits.

These days are tough even on the pros, but trying these tips could be the difference between catching a few and getting shut out.

Hope this helps you put a few more in the boat.

Snow Pictures at the Lake

Thanks to Mrs. Debbie Saik for sending these in.

In my almost 40 years of going, I've never been there to see snow at the Lake. Wish I had been able to this time.

Fishing Report

Although the temps only hit the low 60's, Friday and Saturday seemed down right balmy. As usual, I wasn't able to make it down to the Lake, but my brother in law Craig made it Friday and Jimmy Pickle and his nephew Jason Moore made it Saturday.

Although the temp was up and there was low wind, they did have to contend with very clear skies. Craig still managed to catch 6 in an afternoon of trolling around, including a 5 pounder.

Jimmy and Jason got 13 in about a six hour run, including this nice one............................



While Jimmy and Jason used a few different patterns, they had the most luck with blue-black jigs in shallow water close to deep water. Craig used this same pattern to catch his.

For the next post on the blog I'm going to give some tips I learned from some bass pros at the "Got Fish" meeting about fishing clear water lakes such as ours. Especially on bright sunny days.

On a side note, Bobby Arnold has started a private Facebook page for Lake Cavalier members. If you are a member you can request to join here...............

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=310080248228

Also we tried the Cavalier Fish Lafitte recipe (found in the post below) last night. Turned out very good.

A Great Recipe for Fried Fish

I'm going to call this recipe Cavalier Fish Lafitte. It calls for catfish but bass, bream, and crappie are good this way also. This is one of my favorite ways to prepare catfish. Even those who dislike catfish love it fixed this way. Try it with a salad, mashed potatoes, turnip greens or cheese grits as sides.

Try it and let me know how it turns out.


Cavalier Fish Lafitte

2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons ground red pepper, divided
(may need 2 1/2 teaspoons)
4 farm-raised catfish fillets, about 1 1/2 pounds
Vegetable oil
12 large fresh shrimp, unpeeled
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 cup sweet vermouth (if you don't have vermouth you can sub balsamic vinegar)
2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 very thin cooked ham slices, cut into strips
Garnish: lemon wedges

Combine eggs and milk, stirring until well blended.

Combine flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper in a shallow dish. Dredge fish in flour mixture; dip in milk mixture. Dredge again in flour mixture.

Pour oil to a depth of 3 inches into a Dutch oven; heat to 360 degrees F. Fry fish 5 to 6 minutes or until golden; drain on paper towels. Keep warm.

Peel shrimp; devein, if desired. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add shrimp and garlic, and cook until shrimp turn pink, stirring often. Remove shrimp, reserving drippings.

Stir vermouth into reserved drippings; bring to a boil, and cook 1 minute. Add whipping cream, 2 tablespoons green onions, lemon juice, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1 to 2 teaspoons red pepper; cook 12 to 15 minutes or until sauce is thickened, stirring often.

Place catfish on a serving plate, and drizzle with sauce. Top with shrimp and ham; sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons green onions. Garnish, if desired.

Servings: 4

NOTE: I make the sauce first and keep it warm. I then fry the fish and finish the dish.

Fishing Report

Jimmy Pickle went for a while one afternoon early this week. He had a so-so day, catching 6 on blue black jigs.

I wish I could be at the Lake to take some pictures today of the snow.

If anybody has any they would like to share, email them to me and I'll get them up.

My dad and I attended the "Got Fish" seminar at the Natural Science museum last Saturday. If you ever get a chance to go, I think you would enjoy it if your are interested in fishing. 6 Bass pros on the panel had some good tips, from beginner to advanced. The salt water section was interesting also.

Spring seems a long way off today as the snow falls.

Fishing Report

Jimmy and Glen took advantage of the warmer weather and hit the Lake yesterday after some bass.

They caught 18 on deep running crankbaits, red eye spinnerbaits, and jigs in the shallows.

Anybody else been out fishing any? If so, I would love to hear some reports.

Too Cold For Me

I was at the Lake last weekend for a night. We attended a New Year's eve party in Madison and decided to spend the night at the Lake afterward.

The next morning was way to cold for me to try to fish. I love it, but not that much.

A few days before that, Jimmy Pickle and Glen Robinson did go out on a 65 degree day and caught 14 nice ones. They were using Red Eye Shads. Most were caught on the west side of the Lake near the end of piers.

That may have been their slowest day of the year.

They also snapped this photo.


Kinda hard to tell, but that is a dead deer floating in the Lake. (click on the photo for a larger view.)

Crappie Report

Cold weather fishing isn't much fun unless they are biting. One good bet in the cold is crappie fishing.

My dad has been in the last few weeks, and while not catching great numbers, he did great some very good size fish. Quality over quantity, I guess.

He's new to it though. Most are out at Cavalier. But you can always learn. Get those depth finders going and find some structure in mid depth water. I've put some links over on the right side of the page to give you some crappie tips. Get out and see if you can get some slabs.

Let me know if you do.

17 Caught Friday

Jimmy Pickle and Glen Robinson went out Friday for a while and caught 17 including this 6 pounder.............

Crappie Fishing

Ron is asking for some tips on the crappie.

I've been doing a little crappie fishing. What we catch are BIG fish, but I don't catch many. I am too used to visible structure fishing with jigs. Any ideas - anybody?

Ron

Well Ron, I haven't been down enough lately to help you, but maybe somebody who reads here can.

Anybody doing any crappie fishing? If so, send me some feed back at the email listed to the right of the page and I'll share it with everyone.

We lost a tough one in the playoffs last night 28-21.

The only consolation is that maybe now I will have some free time to spend at the Lake.

Fishin Report and Something New

Jimmy Pickle and his brother Greg Moore went out on the Lake yesterday for a bout 3 hours and caught 20 bass. They were using the Grizzard shad color Series 5 crankbaits in the deeper water off points and shell beds.

Also I've started a Fan page for the Lake on Facebook. Click the links over on the right side of the page to check it out.

Here are some pictures of Jimmy and Greg's catch yesterday.

Fishing is Still Good

For everybody but me. I haven't been to the Lake except to cut grass in the last couple of months.

But Jimmy Pickle has been a few times and is planning on being there today. I'll try to give a report tomorrow.

Jimmy and partner Glen Robinson went last week and caught 21 nice ones in a afternoon trip.

They had the most luck with Red Eye Shads in the Sexy Shad color.

As the weather has cooled the bass are really moving. They are in the pre winter feeding now. They should be looking to hit anything.

My football team is still in the playoffs. So until that sorts itself out I won't get much Lake time in. When it's over, things should pick up on here with more updates.

Please send me any fishing news or pictures you may have.

Here is a cell phone picture of Glen with a 7 pounder.............. not real long but fat as a pig.

Sorry For the Lack of Updates

I can't seem to make it down. Between work and coaching football, I just don't have the time. You may have also noticed the reports from Jimmy Pickle have also been lacking.

Well, there is a good reason for that. Jimmy is a new, first time daddy.

He and his wife Stephanie had a baby girl last week. Her name is Maggie Elaine.

So if anybody has any reports, send them to me.

Fishing Report

I haven't been able to get down to the Lake in awhile, but Jimmy Pickle and my brother-in-law Craig have been down 4 or 5 times lately, including Fri and Sat afternoon.

They had been continuing the deep water pattern in the mid day hours with good results. The buzz baits on the edges very early and late day have also been good.

After the rains of the last week the fresh water is dominating the Lake. It has also cooled the water temp. off. The fish can move shallower with the cooler water. They had more luck with the buzzbaits than with the deep water pattern.

I hope to be down this weekend. We are holding my little boy's 2nd birthday party at the Lake.

Maybe I can sneak out and go fishing a little.

Be sure and send me anything at all that pertains to the Lake that might be of interest. I would love to get some other fishing reports and any photos of the Lake anyone would like to share.

Not From The Lake.... But

My daddy, Sonny, and I went out with another Sonny in the La. marsh this past Monday. We left out of Bay St. Louis with Shore Thing Charters. While we didn't catch much table fare, we did catch the two pictured below. We also caught a bunch of stingrays, hard heads and croakers.

But hey, at least we caught something.


My Bull Red (wearing my Lake Cavalier Fishing Assc. Cap, although you may not can see it)


Daddy's Black Drum

Lunker Pics

Here are a couple of Lunkers caught last week at the Lake.

Coach Mack Robinson with his 7 pounder caught on a series 5 crankbait


Jimmy Pickle with his 8.2 pounder caught on a football head jig

A Belated Fishing Report

I was lucky enough to be able to get down to the Lake last weekend and spend a few days. However, between the kids and entertaining family and friends, I wasn't able to go fishing.

Except for a few minutes one morning. Those few minutes produced a 15 pounder.

Let me explain.

My little boy wanted to go "pishing" so I took him down to the pier with a little ultra lite rod with a Zebco 11 ultra lite reel rigged up with 4 pound line to try and catch a bream or two for him to reel in. On the second cast I thought I got hung up on something. The "something" then took off and started burning up the drag. My little girl came up about that time and asked what it was. I told her it was a fish, a big fish, and that I doubted I would ever get it reeled in.

Now, I've caught tuna and amberjacks before and this was the same kinda fight in duration.

Amazingly the line, knot and lure held. 30 minutes later , we netted him. A 15 pound grass crap that hit a Road Runner lure and some how got himself foul hooked.

After that ordeal we had had enough "pishing".

Allen Kaye and George Bryant with the "Big Pish"


Jimmy Pickle went out Tuesday with a retired high school coach from here. They had a slow morning, although Coach caught a 7 pounder ( I'm trying to get a pic of it up on here) on one of his first few casts.

Jimmy's pattern of late was not working well that morning, so that afternoon they started changing up regularly until they had caught 27 by the end of the day. Jimmy reported that that were scattered more than they have been, although late that afternoon they did find a school off of a point. The one thing in common, no matter the bait, was work it slow.

The daylight bite was decent this past weekend using buzzbaits on the edges, according to my brother-in-law. He caught 6 one morning and 9 the next. He was back at the house by 9 am though. Once the sun is above the trees, you are gonna have to work to find them.

Got a report that the crappie are biting, if you are lucky enough to find them.

Jimmy was going to go back out today, so I'll get another report sometime tonight or tomorrow morning.

Need Some Reports

As you can tell by the lack of posts here, I haven't been to the Lake much lately. Between work and a trip to the beach, I've not been out fishing in a few weeks.

So if anybody has any reports, send them to me, please.

I hope to be down for the 4th.

Does anybody know if we are going to do a Boat Parade this year?

Drop Offs

As it gets hotter the bass will get more stationary. They will be most active very early and late, when it's cooler.

Just like you and I don't care for moving around a lot in the summer heat, the bass find a cool spot to hang out. They don't chase a lot of bait at that time. They like to have it come to them. So they find a cool spot to ambush bait out of.

Drop offs are a good place. Try to find flat shallow water that deepens quickly. Think of it like a swimming pool that goes from 3 feet to 8 feet very quickly.

Mr. Bigmouth will hang out there and let the smaller bait fish looking for cover to come to him.

Jigs and plastic worms are a good way to cover this type terrain, as they bump along ,staying in contact with the bottom.

Jimmy Pickle has been jigging drop offs the last two days and has caught not only good numbers of bass but an unbelievable average of about 4-5 pounds.

Also, another theory we have is mussel shell beds. Jimmy thinks there are big shell beds in certain places. He had been feeling something on the bottom and believes now that it is shell beds. He catches fish over these spots that are not where most people would try to fish. It is seemingly open water. So our theory is for some reason bass like those shell beds. I have always heard of speckled trout fishermen in the marshes looking for oyster beds to fish over. Same theory, I guess.

So, lay down the rod awhile and cruise around with your depth finder and electronics. Get to know the bottom of the lake as well as the surface.

It should help you catch more fish.

The Bream Were On, The Bass? Not So Much

Although I wasn't able to get in much fishing over the weekend, my In-Laws decreased the cricket population by about 900. 9 tubes used over 3 days. Thank God they didn't keep what they caught. We'd still be cleaning fish.

The bass bite is settling into the post spawn - summer pattern. With the high pressure and heat, the best bet is before 8am and from about 6:30 pm until dark. Between those times, look deep. My brother-in-law went Fri. Sat, and Sun. morning. He caught a few, but he had to work for them.

I wrote about fly fishing last week. I get to the Lake Fri. afternoon and, lo and behold, 2 guys were fly fishing off our pier.





I'm still practicing with the fly rod. I still have a long way to go.

Sat. morning was kind of cool, around 62 degrees. It made a nice fog on the Lake.