Number of Fish: 6
Fish Sizes: 1 ½ to about 4 lbs
Lures that produced: Red shad Texas rigged Culprit worm, White & Chartreuse jackhammer chatter bait with small light paddle tail trailer
Lake Condition: Very low, normal stain
Weather: Beautiful, about 84 degrees high, light winds, bluebird skies

We set out for a half day of fishing today, arriving at the lake a little after noon, and had the privilege to connect with the owner Claude, who was quite friendly. He had cleared the area around the launch ramp which simplified the launching process. The difficult part was getting out to water deep enough to drop in the trolling motor after launching. The lake is way down, like around 4 to 5 feet down. We started at the first brush pile close to the launch ramp. It was only about 18 inches deep there. We then proceeded towards the dam, finding a couple of submerged trees that are normally difficult to spot at normal pool. A nice fish hit the culprit worm but wrapped in a tree limb and broke off. Dang! We picked up a couple on chatterbaits towards the South side of the lake. Then a monster nailed the chatterbait fairly close to a southeast brush pile close to the bank, pulling drag almost instantly. We got a brief look at it as it surfaced – you could almost fit a football in it’s mouth. Then it dove, wrapped under a plant root and sawed off. Bye bye fish. Bye bye chatterbait. Dang!! We threw up around the dam a couple of times – nothing. We tried to navigate to the east side but it was just too shallow. The bite all but completely disappeared in the mid-afternoon hours but we did pick up a couple others. The last fish was caught by the brush pile by the dock on the south side of the lake. Again, it was right in the brush pile, very close to the marker rod. If there was any “pattern” today, it was that they were holding really tight in the brush piles. We feel that more water will certainly help make Tara easier to navigate and better to fish but we always enjoy it there and we know that any cast might trigger a bite from a really big bass. We’ll be back once the lake fills back up again, maybe use steal leaders next time(?) Come on rain!