Date: 6-25-25
Conditions: Lake is very full, about 1 ft visibility, 90 degrees high temperature, sunny to partly cloudy, occasional wind gusts
# of Fish: About 20 total. Largest 5.8lbs, about 5 in the 3 to 3.5 lb range, the rest in the 1 to 2.5lb range
Primary Baits: Hotcraw chatterbait with green pumpkin craw trailer, Culprit Red Shad Worm Texas Rigged

The first cast at the brush pile marker closest to the boat launch area produced a bite, but a missed fish – a theme that would manifest at different times throughout the day. The 2nd cast produced a nice 2 ½ lb. bass on the chatterbait. Then, we caught a couple of others in the central lake area between the brush pile poles. We had launched at about 7:00 am. From there, we headed towards the dam, trying to find a pattern, which was hit and miss. The bite was subtle most of the time today. There would be a brief flurry of activity, then nothing. We had to work for what we caught, but the fish we did catch were typical Tara quality. We know there are very large fish in this lake, but we don’t always “crack the code” of the pattern that consistently produces good catches throughout the day. Today was a typical summer pattern with more activity around the brush markers than we’ve experienced at Tara in a while. I don’t know how many fish I missed, maybe 10 or more. Sometimes, a subtle bite followed by the fish moving towards you makes hooksets problematic. Then, I blew up a reel with a classic birdsnest, followed by having my line break from what I think was a good bite on a wacky rig worm. Bye bye fish. Bye bye bait. We typically do pretty well with Texas-rigged brush hogs. Not today. It seemed they only really wanted something in the color red today. I stuck with a pumpkin green bug after lunch and landed one while Trav nailed another six or so on the red shad culprit worm. Tara is a great lake. And of course, we’ll be back. But first, I have a couple of reels that need some new line, so it would seem. And I think next time I’ll do better at avoiding blowing up my reel, so when the fish hit, maybe I won’t miss.