Sorry for taking so long to put out a report. I have been prefishing for the Berkley tournament and really didn't see the benefit of sharing that information with potential competitors. Well, the tournament was yesterday and it was great. There was almost 6 hundred competitors - a good number but not a circus like the Mc Donald's tournament. I didn't win a boat, but did fare very well. I weighed in 3 hourly fish (2.60# for 2nd place, 2.12# for 8th place, and 2.20# for 11th place) for a 3 check total of $622. Not bad, especially considering I missed almost 3 hours because the tournament was on Sunday and I wasn't going to skip church to fish a tournament.
Before I mention patterns, I would like to announce that the basslog (formerly Bassercise.com) now belongs to Bassmaster/ESPN. With the support of Bassmaster, I expect the basslog to become the grand database that I have been hoping for.
If you go to www.bassmaster.com you will find the "Fisherman's log" under the "community" link. You can register for a free trial and you will get not only the basslog, but lot's of bass fishing information with your Bass Insider subscription. I am still maintaining the basslog, so if you made posts and would like to keep them, here's what you need to do: Register for the Bass Insider by going to the fishing log (above). After you make at least one post, send me an email and I will link your old posts to your new username.
The cooler temps have got the night fishing picking up quite a bit. We are catching almost all of our night fish on big worms. The crawworm bite slowed down so much I haven't been throwing them much. I guess the low water has done something to the crawdads so the fish aren't looking for them. The early bite has been best for me. In fact, all the fish that I weighed in for the tournament were caught before 7:30 AM. I was culling around 7:00 AM. I caught fish on both large and small black power worms, chart/white spinnerbaits with power worm trailers, and Frenzy poppers. All fish are shallow with grass nearby. I expect this remain the case until about the end of September. See our pictures at http://www.bassfishing.org/pictures/recent.htm The lake is still about 4ft low despite the rainfall we got recently. The water temps are now in the upper 80's to low 90's. Grass is good in lots of places with plenty of matted grass and lily pads.
I am now offering night trips as well as day trips for those who want to prefish for the McDonalds tournament. Night trips from 7:00PM to 7:00AM and I would recommend it even for those who wish to prefish for the McDonald's tournament. We will most likely catch more and bigger fish on a night trip and end the day with a good morning bite. On a day trip, we will likely start out with a good morning bite and eliminate a bunch of unproductive spots and baits the rest of the trip. Depending on conditions, I may or may not get on a good day pattern. See my article on night fishing at http://www.bassfishing.org/LakeFork-Night-Fishing.htm See http://www.bassfishing.org/dbaccess/calendar.cfm to see what nights are available and book online.
I will be back to days exclusively starting in October. October and early November are consistently the best time for action on Lake Fork. 25 bass days are normal and 50+ bass days are not uncommon during those times. In addition, the yellow bass usually bite good and is not uncommon to catch 100 of those in a day. They are very good eating and you can keep every one you want. You can also keep up to 5 black bass per person under 16 inches (under 14 inches in my boat). October and early November are about the only time you can expect to bring home some eating fish. I will clean fish if you desire. Book today at http://www.bassfishing.org/dbaccess/calendar.cfm to reserve your Fall trip. This is a great time to take children. I will wave the 3rd person charge for an adult with 2 small children.
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Good fishing and good luck. You can't catch them if you don't go.