Summer is about over! The fishing was good for the first couple of months, but I'm glad to have August behind us. It was very slow for the most part and very unpredictable. Check out the size of the catfish that a client caught on a plastic worm and see the teeth on this gar I caught on a yellow magic .
Now that September is here, things have been back to normal. There's one thing I like about September more than any other month of the year - the topwater bite! Every year, just about the entire month of September, we have a good early morning topwater bite. It's very short (usually less than an hour), but often you can get more fish in that hour on topwaters than you can the entire rest of the day. This topwater bite can mean $$ during the McDonald's tournament as many of the fish I'm catching are in the 2 pound range.
If you're interested in a good pattern for the tournament next weekend, I'm offering a topwater special due to the slow economy - $125 for one person or $150 for 2. We go out in my boat and fish from daybreak until the topwater bite shuts down. Then, I can inspect your gear, show you some spots on your map, help you with your electronics, or whatever I can do to help you do better in the tournament. I will also explain to you how (totally outside the box) I would fish the tournament if guides were allowed to. I only have next Monday (Sep 14) and Tuesday (Sep 15) available for that deal, so you should book ASAP if you want it. I've put the new price into my calendar for those 2 days.

The Fall pattern is just around the corner. Starting in October, I'm back to fishing daytime exclusively. There's lots of reasons you should go on a guide trip during the Fall:
It's the best time for numbers. There's more action in October-November than any other season.
It's the best time of the year to learn how to use a graph and to fish deep. I can get by without a graph most of the year. But in the Fall, I constantly monitor my graph to find schooling fish. When I find em, we usually catch em.
It's the best time to take kids. Because of all the action, kids have more fun during the Fall. I don't charge for a 3rd person if a dad wants to bring 2 small children.
It's the best time to keep fish to eat. Not only do we catch lots of small bass (which are legal to eat), we catch lots of yellow bass (barfish) which I believe are as good as crappie. I will clean them with no additional charge.
It's the best time to learn how to use a baitcaster. Most of the fish I locate are schooling near the bottom in deep water. So, we use heavy lures to get to the bottom. Since heavy lures are easier to throw and you don't have to hit a particular target, Fall fishing makes the best time for learning the baitcaster.

If you're interested, you can see my available dates and book online at http://fishingguidenow.com/bookonline.cfm?guideID=2
Try to schedule a date before Thanksgiving. That's about the time the water temp cools down and the Fall bite slows down significantly.

I have also been fishing Cooper for white bass and hybrid. We got these last trip. They may not look very big, but that's a 5 gallon bucket. That fish on top fed our family for a meal. Let me know if your interested in a white bass/hybrid trip.

See our most recent pictures at http://www.bassfishing.org/pictures/recent.htm

I have been doing a blog for Bassmaster for the past several months. I'm doing a series of articles on moon phases for them. I have an agreement with ESPN that they get the exclusive for the first month of publication, but I have permission to put it on my site after that. To get my most recent blog, go to www.bassmaster.com and click on the basslog link. You can read the old articles without a subscription at www.bassfishing.org/basslogblog.htm

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Good fishing and good luck. You can't catch them if you don't go.