Reservation Number : 37364
Property Name : Salt Lick Lake
Reservation Date : 09/30/2023 PM -
Total Fish/Sizes : 53 LMB, Dink to 4.5lbs
Lures Used : Spook, Chatterbait, Swimsuit, T-Rig, Senko

Booked Saturday afternoon at Salt Lick a week ago hoping for some cooler temps.  Was greeted with 93 degrees when i arrived at 12:15pm, but that’s literally the only thing to complain about on this trip.  Once I got thru the cattle gate, I saw Eric and went over to chat with him.  Always love catching up with him as he’s constantly working to make the fishing experience on his ponds the best possible.  He said I was the only person booked that day on any of his lakes (Salt Likc, Blue Rock and Long Lake) and i could fish any or all of them should I wish.  I had only fished Salt Lick, so was excited to try them out.

Hit the water on Blue Rock at 12:30 with 10-12mph winds, with gusts up to 15 so had to back troll a lot to stay in place.  Started left of the hump where the boat was located next to the pads with the 6^th Sense Catwalk and it got blown up out of the water on the first cast.  It was on from there on out. There were schooling shad being crushed by bass right near the duck blind and pretty much every cast for 15 minutes would get hit.  Most were 15 inches or so with a few culls mixed in.  Multiple times i’d have a fish on and there would be 10-15 followers up to the boat.  Lost a 6-7lber that jumped three times and finally spit the bait; heartbreak city! Finally wanted to try something else so pulled out the new lure people are losing their minds over, the 6^th Sense Panorama.  Keel rigged it and caught a couple right away.  It’s interesting as when twitched or stopped it does a slow downward spiral.  Looks strange and I think it just simply confuses the heck out of the bass, so they hit.  Worked my way around the lake ending up with 39 bass in just over two hours.

Moved onto Long Lake for a quick stop.  It was windy, so the water was churned up but Eric said it’s normally so clear you can see 5-6 feet deep.  Caught 3 on T-Rig mag worm in the shade near the trees.  Didn’t spend much time there as I wanted to get to Salt Lick by 4pm.

Eric mentioned lately he’s seen the shad getting blown up around 445/5pm.  Hit the water at 4pm and only had a few culls on weightless Senko.  No bites on anything else.  Then, was in the west end cove (across from boat ramp) and luckily saw a flash next to the boat.  Looked at my watch, 5:03pm.  The bait ball swam by, I threw down my Senko rod and grabbed the Catwalk, casted past the bait and boom, 4.5lber.  Quickly unhooked, repeat for four straight casts/fish.  The last fish got my braid caught in the hook, so I had to retie.  Bait ball disappeared for about 20 minutes, resurfaced and I caught a couple more before I had to leave at 6pm.

Total was 39 at Blue Rock, 3 at Long and 11 at Salt Lick. Blue Rock and Long don’t see anywhere near the bookings their should.  I am convinced if someone fished all day on their own or had a partner, you could break 100 for the day on Blue Rock  There are that many fish that are super aggressive.  Hope everyone takes advantage of these great properties in the coming months when the fall bite is hot!

As always, thanks to Eric.  Awesome guy and someone that truly cares about making our club members have a wonderful experience!