Day 2, BASS Tour; Clarks Hill Reservoir:

 

I wonder if kite flying is a big sport here at Clarks Hill??? MAN, 25-30mph winds and GUSTY....one or two times, seriously had to catch myself from falling in the water from the gusts.

 

I had my dog Astro out with me last 2 days and today, he was FREEZING...I had blankets and his big pillow out and he couldn't get warmed up. I bet with the wind chill it was in the teens most of the day. I stayed very warm and that is good!

 

Fishing was not as good for me today. Caught 3 early that were nice chunks in the 2 1/2lb. range. After that, nothing all day. Covered a lot of water, but staying in same basic area. I get caught up at times running all over the lake and this thing is like 73,000 acres. I don't have time to do that, so, just trying to learn the area I'm in.

 

Fish came off of Bandit 100 and 200 crank baits again.

 

Suppose to be in 20's in morning and WINDY again!!!! YIKES!

 

God bless and thanks for reading,

 

Art Ferguson

www.artoffishing.com

Day 3, BASS Tour; Clarks Hill, GA;

 

A better day, had 7 bites, landed 4 and could have landed 5. Went to an area I'm going to start on tomorrow (boat 10 out) and made one throw with a brown jig and had 2 bites. One let go and while swimming it away from that fish, another cracked it....awesome!

 

I feel good, at the end of the day, I was fishing and praying and pulled into this "nothing" bay. Very flat and not much cover, I was telling God how cool it would be for Him to show me an off beat area like this to find fish where no one else would. I got that out of my mouth and WHAM....a fish missed my crankbait. Threw in 4 more times and had 4 more bites....landed 2. I have no idea if these fish are stacked, but I have a hunch, thank you Lord!!!!

 

Feel good about tomorrow, as bad as the weather is, fish are wanting to stay shallow and eat. I am in the right areas to bring in a decent sack tomorrow, Lord willing, and feel I can catch a 10-12lb. bag. Rumors have it guys are on some big fish, so I'll have to up it a bit to finish well.

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Art Ferguson

www.artoffishing.com

Day 1, BASS Tour, Clarks Hill Reservoir

 

 Day 1: 5 fish 7-11 (81st place)

Man, they caught them up...I did too, but was only catching small keepers. I had 14 keepers today and probably missed 5-8 others.

 

Caught them on a variety of baits, this lake is really a Great fishery. Lots of cover and lots of bass. I need to find something different tomorrow. I feel I can get a limit fairly quick tomorrow and then will stay open to what I feel led to do.

 

One thing I'm thinking now and that could change later, is to get flipping in some back of pockets in some deeper brush. Also, out on some main lake points with deeper cover.

 

Most of my bites came in one area that I had found yesterday afternoon. Catching them on a Bandit 200 crankbait and a split shot Yamamoto 4" Senko. Must have had 8 bites in a row on one rise where the water went from 11' to 5'.

 

Amazing lake, wish I was on them like some of these guys.  Weather was stable today and should be warming tomorrow. I am excited with my long day, being in flight 1 today and flight 12 (last) tomorrow, this will give me MUCH time to go practice fish!

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Art Ferguson

www.artoffishing.com

 

Man....I couldn't get a big bite this tournament! Weather was cool this morning and got nice by mid day, up to 60's. Water temp rose about 3 degrees and thought the fish would bite better.

 

Many weights dropped, including mine. I caught about 8 or 9 keepers today, but all keeper size (12").

 

I caught them fishing pockets and points in major creeks, had 3 schooling areas and the one where most of the fish were caught yesterday NEVER had a bite there. I was very suprised, thought they were stacked.

 

Caught most of the fish this week on a split shotted 4" Yamamoto Senko with 3/0 Owner wide gap hook, Sunline 10lb. Sniper Flourocarbon line and a 7' Kistler LTA medium action spinning rod. Fish were in 4-8' of water for me.

 

Had other fish on Bandit 200 chartruese w/black back crankbait and today had a few on a 1/4 oz. spinnerbait, slow rolling.

 

Over 20 keepers in 2 days was fun, but frustrated on not figuring anything out on size. Didn't know what to expect to compare to with other anglers being it's our first time on lake in 20 years. I had a good time and thought the lake was beautiful and can see great potential. I'm sure we will be back.

 

Up at 5 and off to Monroe, LA for the FLW event. 600 mile drive after fishing hard for 5 straight days. God give me your strength!

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Art Ferguson

www.artoffishing.com