DECEMBER 2013

December of 2012 was the most awesome fishing I’d ever seen in this part of the world and between myself, clients and a few of my buddies, we caught numerous 7 to 8lb fish and high 20 to low 30lb stringers. Word got around about how good the fishing was in ‘12 and I had a list of people wanting trips last month once the umbrella rig bite heated up. I tested the waters in mid November and the surface temp was still in the high 50’s. I managed six bites that day on the rig that were all in the 3 to 5lb range. I knew then it wasn’t quite right just yet. By late November our first big cold snap hit and a friend informed me that the water temp had dropped 10 degrees.  I called a guy up that had been checking in with me periodically to see if the rig bite had turned on yet and told him it was time. He asked me if I had been catching them and I told him I hadn’t even been on the water in a couple weeks but I knew that big drop in water temp would get ‘em going. He met me at Paris Landing the next morning and just like clockwork, we smoked ‘em! We caught over 50 bass and a ton of giant white bass. Our best five weighed over 28lbs and included a couple of big smallmouth. That day brought back some fond memories and it looked like we were in for another stellar December. I packed as many trips as I could in over a two week span but we never had another day as good as that first one. I’m not real sure what the difference was this go round but the schools and the fish just weren’t as big as the year before. Don’t get me wrong, we were averaging 20 bass a day and about 25lbs a day but the year before I could catch that in an hour. I kept thinking the colder it got the better it would get but high muddy water moving through the system really slowed things down and next thing I knew it was time to go home for Christmas. I did jump in a little open tournament out of Paris Landing Dec. 12th and finished 2nd with 24.89lbs.