I spent a really strange Monday at Timber Lake yesterday. I got a late start and didn't start fishing until 7:30. The morning brought nothing but dinks to the boat, and even they were few and far between. The eclipse was no big deal, except for causing about 60 buzzards to roost. The day was dimmer for a few minutes, and the temperature cooled off a bit, which was a good thing. It wasn’t until after the sun brightened back up that the bite really picked up. I ended up putting about 17 bass in the boat, but only 4 of them weighed more than 2 lbs; two of those were just under 3 lbs.  Most of the fish hit within a 20-minute window just after the eclipse. I caught them schooled up in the middle of the open water by counting down a Rattletrap for about 5 seconds; when I started reeling, they were already hooked. I caught a couple of dinks on Senkos and one on a buzzbait, missed one about 10 feet deep on a 12”, green pumpkin Ol’ Monster worm and one less than 3 feet deep on a weightless, green pumpkin/chartreuse tailed, 8” lizard. I did feel one tick on a sinking tailspinner, but missed it, too. There was no other action on topwater or anything else that I threw. The water temp stayed very close to 89^° all day, and the water was as clear as I’ve ever seen it on Timber Lake. It did get hot again, and I stopped fishing at 3:30 because I just couldn't take the heat out on the water.

What worked:  ½ oz. Rattletrap (Color 266, “Oxbow”); Black/blue flake Senko, unweighted and wacky-rigged; ¼ oz purple buzz bait.

What didn’t:  Plastic worms, tailspinner, single-spin, shad-pattern deep square lip crankbait, bladed jig, swim baits, HB frog, Top Toad, punching rig, Yellow Magic, Whopper Plopper.

Posted By: Tom Dillon