Reservation Number : 22894
Property Name : BlackJack Ranch
Reservation Date : 02/01/2020 PM -
Total Fish/Sizes : 77
Lures Used : See report

John Shepard and I fished BJR yesterday afternoon and were delighted to find the tank pretty much as reported by Andrew Schoonover’s Jan 29 report. Big difference from when we fished it last Feb, before it was closed in 2019. Pending weed treatment should really improve this great venue!

Water clarity up to 6’ & water level down about 18” and water temp 63 – 64F

Stiff westerly wind >10mph till 4pm diminishing down tom calm glassy water at sunset

Manageable weed growth on east bank and heavier on west bank, brush piles and dock essentially clear.

John and I caught 77 LMB with 30 culls (no crappies encountered). Most culls fell between 8-12”. Non culls mostly ranged in size from 17 to 19”. John (see pic’s) caught the big girl (25.5” weighing 9.1#) on the bottom in the middle of the tank on an blk/blue structure jig with a similar colored Zoom 4” Super Craw.

Fished from the dock with success for the first 90min then fished from the jon boat in the middle of the lake till sunset. Most of the bites came in the open water and the brush piles yielded nothing.

Three presentations that worked:

Big wind wacky or neko rigged green pumpkin or watermelon red flake 5-6” senkos/or similar sized power worms on the bottom.

Once the wind started to subside blk/blue structure or football jigs with blk/blue Zoom craws or 6-10” power worms on the bottom.

Sunset to dusk great topwater bite using poppers and yellow magic.

We both tried moving style baits throughout the day landing only one gullible 17” bass

Cull size bass tended to tap the senkos while the bass > 14” preferred to softly inhale the plastics and slowly start to move with the line.

Nice to have this fine property back in the fold!

Bob & John