Date: 12-26-21

After celebrating Christmas in shorts and a t-shirt we thought we’d try and take advantage of the unseasonal warmth (up to about 80 degrees) and try for a bite at the Backside of the Moon Lake. This was our maiden voyage to this larger tank and it yielded some interesting discoveries. First, getting there is an adventure in itself. I think perhaps the directions should be updated as we didn’t see any of the “posts with orange paint” mentioned in the instructions. However, just taking the primary path all the way back through two more gates eventually got us there. You really do need a full-sized truck to navigate the rocky, serpentine path, but it’s doable. The water bears a heavy, sandy stain, quite a different condition from the typical North Texas tank, with no vegetation to be seen. Water temperature was probably in the mid to low 50’s which was likely a detriment to our efforts as were the gusty winds that prevailed in the late morning and early afternoon. We worked the parameter and basically threw everything in the box. When it was all said and done we boated 3 fish, including a giant crappie, two bass (about 1 ½ lbs each), and missed a couple more. They just weren't into it but what got our attention was how white the fish were. Seems there must be a correlation with the color of the water somehow(?) The fish hit a white and chartreuse chatter bait and a white spinnerbait with gold & silver tandem willow leaf blades. They were reaction strikes caught close to the banks in around 2-4 feet of water. We couldn’t get any bite on slower moving baits with the exception of one fish on a ned rig that didn’t quite get to the boat and one that bit the end off of a texas rigged red shad worm. Finding and fishing structure on the bottom was problematic today with the howling gusts. There’s an area up close to the dam that looks like a fishing paradise. Rocks, some timber, a cut that has quick access to deep water… Best of all, it was protected from the wind. The only thing missing today was biting fish. Well, the scenery was still a treat.