Cedar Creek Lake Monday morning November 5, 2012 with Mike Anderson, Eric Emerick and Wayne Kilgo.

Caught fish in 3 places this morning:
1) Tennis Court - Few nice sand bass but lots of small ones in 13 to 16 feet of water
2) Enchanted Island � Big sand bass in 16 to 18 feet of water.
3) Game Warden � Big sand bass in 14 to 16 feet of water.
All fish caught on Rainbow Silver Shad Slab or Rainbow Chartreuse Minnow Slab. A few caught vertical jigging but majority by casting out over marked fish and working the slab back to the boat.

Only 1 other boat on the water and it was George (fast guy) headed south.

Now I know why Enchanted was mostly dinks.....

It got a little breezy later.

Doyle: Eighty-six white bass - nice. Do you keep keeper sized yellow bass and catfish? Do you ever keep hybrids for your fish fry? We like all those,and keep them too if we're keeping fish to eat.

I see that, like me, you post the locations, depths and lures you used where you caught fish. I think that is a big help to those who don't get to fish here as regular as we do. In the 4 years I've been doing this, I have not noticed any problems with crowding on these fishing spots we share. I believe it's because Cedar Creek has so many good spots/structures. I must admit that at some lakes, like Eagle Mountain, which have much fewer good structures, I would probably not tell the specific spots where I'm catching fish. General area - OK. But on the larger lakes loaded with structures, why not help out the fellow sportsmen.

I usually find that the hybrids, and I target hybrids most of the time are not located on every bit of structure on the lake. Consquently I avoid mentioning exact locations that I have been catching these fish. I will post depths, and lures but not exact locations.

Part of this sport is learning to use all of the tools available to you to find and catch fish, if some one just wants to go out and catch fish with out "paying their dues" they should just hire a guide and reel the fish in.

Most serious fishermen and women have GPS units and can purchase mapping information that will allow them to locate, mark and return to choice locations on this or any other lake.

I agree with everything you said, and agree that a great part of fishing satisfaction is the challenge of going out and finding fish on my own. Searching for and finding new productive structures using a topo map and sonar is equally satisfying. Having said that, how many of us out on the lake would not respond to a friend who called with the location where he was on fish.

More to the point, I remember my working days when at most I could get out a couple of Saturdays a month. Back then I was looking for all the "intelligence" I could find re where I was most likely to find fish. I subscribed to Curt Carpenter's Lake Livingston Sportsman and listened to the early morning fishing reports from Bob Stevenson. It would have been wonderful to have had an internet fishing forum, but of course there was no internet back then. You, Doyle, Karry and the other regulars and I don't need any help, except perhaps in mid August to mid September when it's really hard to find them. I think the occasional weekend fisherman, like I used to be, appreciates the tips.

I am on the fence... I agree with both of you. I grew up on Cedar Creek with my dad and my uncle fishing all the time. Our favorite spot was the Staubach hump, Damn Ridge and Damn drop off because they were close to the lake house. We would make it up by the red boat house from time to time, but mostly stayed on the hump. We didn't have any fancy maps or fancy sonar. My dad used his paper sonar and spent many hours maping the lake and then would lay the paper out at the lake house and review it. It has been years since I have been out there and the last couple of times were hard to say the least. Dennis sent me his map and I was able to put some kids on fish the next time I went out (thank you dennis!) I would usually just spend the time and find spots to fish, but now that I have kids its harder to get out to my favorite lake.

A lot of the spots on this and any other lake were "found" by the old time fishermen/women. To locate these spots again they learned to triangulate with various spots on the shore, that is why a lot of the spots that I fish are known by names different from those Dennis uses. The three armed tower south of the dam is the key to a lot of main lake spots.

Jimmy Smith just bought his first GPS and he knows more spots on Tawakoni than anyone, if he adds a good map to it he will find a lot more spots.

I agree with both of you. I am a weekend fisherman, that is every other Saturday I am off. If I am targeting Sandies it can become a lake party but, if it is Hybrids the less boats the better.

All hybrids go back unless it is a heavy bleeder but occasionally one of my fishing buddies will keep a big thick hybrid to grill as it is one of his wife�s favorite fish. We keep big yellow bass as some of my fishing buddies think they are almost as good as crappie when fried. We don�t catch a lot of catfish but do keep them if they are in the 3 to 6 pound range.

Yep - Just keep what you need and release the rest.

With today�s Electronics � Maps and Side Image � they are sitting Ducks. But as opposed to hunting � you have an option � You can let them go (and in hunting � shoot the camera instead of the gun) � it�s just as good . And yes � don�t give up the fishing spots � learning those spots on your own. That�s what makes it fun - It�s all about the hunt. 99 percent of the battle is finding them - and that's what makes it fun and rewarding.

Teach Fishing - What to look for � Structure to look for � how to catch em, presentation - but always my Best Days Fishing are Catch & Release.

Just keep what you need and release the rest � That�s good rule of thumb.