Friday the 19th @ Deer Trail - beautiful morning, break in the heat, and some scattered bass

Aug 20 2022

Mark Daugherty

Keeper

Member Since :
2015
Number of Posts :
316

Reservation Number : 33456
Property Name : Deer Trail Ranch
Reservation Date : 08/19/2022 AM - 08/19/2022 AM
Total Fish/Sizes : 17 up to 2.75 lbs
Lures Used : Most effective were paddletail w/ and w/o underspin, squarebill, and ned rig

My son and I fished Deer Trail Friday morning until noon. Fellow member, David Felton and my brother also joined us on the reservation – we set out as twosomes in the club boats. 
 

Weather was great with slightly cooler temps and no wind. Made for a dramatic foggy start to the morning. As far as “catching” – my son and I managed 17 in the boat and I think the other boat managed about the same. Between the 4 of us, we harvested 4. The remainder were scrappy 1.5 to 2.75 lbers. The only pattern was no pattern really. Just junk fishing around the perimeter of the weed and pad line. I'd say pretty much all of the fish were caught in 4 to 8 FOW. Mostly on plastics and a few on a bluegill patterned squarebill. I believe the other guys landed some on weightless Senkos, a hollow bodied frog, and a swim jig. 
 

The lake is still low but very manageable with plenty of productive water. It was 82 to 84F with 12-15IN of viz.

Awesome time with my son as he wanted a quick break before starting grad school. Speaking of a break, he figured out how to nap across the bow of the Jon boat. Good times!

Aug 21 2022

David Felton

Slot Fish

Member Since :
2021
Number of Posts :
115

Update from “the other boat”:  I think we counted 19 fish between the two of us.  The perfect early morning topwater conditions (calm, cloudy, foggy) produced ZERO topwater bites, and our first fish came after probably an hour of hard fishing.  I still can’t figure that out considering that a couple of weeks ago I had really good results on the frog in the pads at the South end of the lake in the early morning.  Mark was right that junk fishing was the name of the game.  My partner caught all 7 of his fish on a weightless Tx rigged senko or Strike King ocho in green pumpkin black flake color around the edge of the pads.  My 12 came on a Tx rigged brushhog (1), wacky rigged stick bait (1), a bluegill colored chatterbait (1), a Spro popping frog in the late morning (4), and a shad colored 6th Sense swim jig (5).  Thanks for not mentioning how I confirmed the water temperature through personal experience…