FEBRUARY 2010

Submitted 2/28/2010

It's hard to believe but the 2nd month of 2010 has come and gone already. One of the occurrences that comes with getting older is that time travels faster and faster.

This month has been really good with the exception of the those days that were really cold or really windy. Just as things were progressing nicely with pre-spawn activity, along came another blast of icy air and gusts of heavy wind from our northern neighbors to cause a hold on the entire process. Presently the wind is howling and the temperature before wind chill stands at 39 degrees. That's not so bad if your standing in Minnesota, but it's frigid here in the what is supposed to be the sunny south.

However even with the cold conditions and the wind we have still caught some decent fish.


This gal came on an exceptionally cold day when the catching was tough.

As the weather improved so did the catching. The bass were in a definite pattern of moving south for pre-spawn activity and numbers jumped from the 20's per trip to the 50+ per trip.

With predictability we were finding numbers and size in the south end of Farm 13 with steady catching with the placement of bait next to wood.


In the mix of a 53 fish day was some pretty decent sixe gals such as the one above and the one below.


Most of the fish came on Swimming Senkos in dark colors. The 53 bass came between the hours of 7:30 and 12:30 and then the wind came up pushing us out of the wood.

My last trip out there started at 7:00 and ended at 9:00 due to a big thunderstorm that rolled in. We don't stay out when lightening is in the area. We had already put 20 bass in the boat and were not happy campers to leave, but safety is first.

Overall, the biggest producing bait was Senkos and Swimming Senkos. Crankbaits were out because of the heavy wood. We did try topwater with no results and spinner baits didn't produce either.

March promises to be a very strong month if this lousy weather will get out of here. Although the fish have been pushed off the spawning areas by rapidly decreasing water temperatures they will move back in as quickly as temperatures rise.

I have had several e-mail inquiries about the lake. Water levels are high and the fishing is great if you look in the right places. Not much different that other lakes I would say.

See you out there. Say hi if you get a chance.

Submitted 2/10/2010

As it goes with the rest of the country, so it goes here in Florida. So far this month we have had cold temperatures, rain, and lots of wind. A couple of days ago we headed out to Farm 13 only to have the wind meet predictions and by 10:00 AM we were headed for the ramp. I got a tad wet that morning as the water went from calm to rough. I wasn't on my boat that morning, rather out with a friend on his Triton, and the low bow decided that the bottom side of the wave was a better place to be than on top. Needless to say, the wave came into the boat rather than stay under the boat. Although conditions weren't been the best the lake still produced a lunker for us that day which made Don a happy fisherman.

My previous 2 trips with returning clients returning clients Ed and Ken proved to be fun with big fish for the trip being caught and released for the next fisherman to catch. Although the wind blew from 15-35 each day we had a great time. Day one saw only 13 bass to the boat, but putting tactics into high gear on day two netted between 30 and 40 bass.

My first trip of the month again was very successful with over 40 bass making it to the boat. Our biggest for the day was a solid 7.5 pound gal that found the Swimming Senko to enticing to resist. The fish were hiding deep in the slop of heavy hydrilla that has a cover of filamentous algae, but accurate casting to small openings did the trick.

See you on the water.

Submitted 2/1/2010

Just about every trip is preceded with the question: What's the best time of the year to come to the Marsh/Farm for a chance at a big one. My answer is always: That's a tough question to answer because I have a difficult time excluding any month. The pictures below demonstrate why February can be that month.

As the fish move from their summer pattern into a pre-spawn condition the fishing results can be spectacular. Not only are the catches plentiful, but the big gals are out to play. The boats ready, I am ready! Are you ready?