Made it down on the 1st to find the lake way up and littered with debris from some heavy winds the previous night. I didn’t fish for long as I wanted to get to the cabin to watch the UK bowl game. I caught 2 fish and hour apart from two separate areas.

I fished until 2pm on the 2nd and moved around quite a bit to catch 6 fish. 3 from 1 spot, 3 from a different spot each. I can’t say I really had a pattern going. And, having the lake at summer pool for a guy who only fishes Dale in the winter and doesn’t have the experience of being on the lake in the summer, threw me off a little. I threw a 14 ft leader and backed off normal spots. It seemed to work in some of my spots but not so much in others.

Several text messages with a certain man who is Certifiable Float and Flyable and I had a game plan for the next day. I caught my largest fish of the trip on my second cast of day 3 in a very specific area he suggested. Another fish from this area then I brought the hammer down so hard on a bluegill that I catapulted him to Celina proper. Headed to my second spot of day 3 and finally really got into them. Seven fish from one stretch, a back to back to back rally, and I felt dialed in. Up until that point it had been one fish here, one fish there. Maybe 2 fish at the most from one spot. I don’t know if this means the fish were scattered and not schooling or if they were holding deeper than the bobber rig reaches. So, it was nice to get into a mess of them in one area. Then it turned off and I moved around a bunch and caught a few more each from a different spot/area. Total for the day was 11 and I have to give a huge shout out to Woody for the tips and suggestions. I’ve said it here before but I go fish Dale each year at this time because of him. Not only because he’s showed me so much, but I feel it’s a way that he can be there without physically being able to be there. It’s an homage to him and his love for the FnF. From a hospital bed in Nashville, he put me on fish. Amazing.

Friday it rained a bunch then cleared up pretty nicely and the sun came out. I was soggy and tired and still fighting a raging cold so I didn’t stay out too long on Friday. The water was still on the rise and while it wasn’t as productive as the previous day I managed a four fish early from, again, four different spots.

Yesterday under blue skies and lots of sun I chased shade and caught 9 fish early then the FnF bite shut down for me by 11:00.

The water had risen consistently for the last few days and was up a bit more this morning when I pulled my boat out. Water temp was 49-50 everywhere I went mid-lake all week. There are some big widow makers floating around or partially submerged out there so please be safe.

Ps. Pics are on my GoPro which was jacking up on me all week. Once I get a chance to hook it up to the computer I’ll try to post some shots.