We have finally been blessed with some warm weather the past few days, and the fishing seems to be picking up around the lake. We had a very good month of January and a good start to February despite the cold weather and below average water temperatures. During that time, the lake was fishing "small", and most of my fish were coming from the same few areas. Most fishermen were either catching them well or they weren't catching them at all. With the warmer days, we are starting to see more fish in other areas. This is good.

This past Friday, or best five weighed 36 pounds. That is not unusual as the fish are at their heaviest this time of year. I'm really excited to see what the lake kicks out this spring. I've got my fingers crossed for some stable weather in March and April.

As is typical for this time of year, the best baits are a lipless crankbait, suspending jerkbait, vibrating jig, Santone spinnerbait, and a jig. The jig bite has been very disappointing so far this year, but I've got to believe that it will pick up any day now. It is definitely a bait that you need to have tied on this time of year. It's proven to get bigger bites.

For me, it's been tough to beat the lipless crankbait. We are throwing several different brands, but the Strike King Red Eye shad is a top producer. We are fishing grass flats out to about 6 feet of water, staying in contact with the grass as much as possible. Some days I think color matters more than others, but we are throwing different versions of red, chartreuse, and gold. There are some days when one color will out produce another.

The jerkbait, spinnerbait, and vibrating jigs can be fished in the same areas, and it's a good idea to fish these baits back through an area where you caught them on a lipless crankbait. Different baits will sometimes trigger a fish that didn't eat the lipless crankbait.

I will do my best to post an update after this weekend, and my reports will stay more current as the patterns change.

Here are few fish from the past few weeks. Please let me know if you have any questions or if you'd like to book at trip!