What's up with the Bass?

[betursweetbass]

It's just an observation on my part, but it seems like this year has been pretty slow for bass fishin here around Southern Texas, (the general Houston area") I'm thinking that the lack of significant amount of rainfall and the warmer weather have contributed to this decline in the numbers of fish we've (bassintxlady & I) put in the boat this year. We've seen water temps up as high as 99 degrees on Fayette.
I have also given some thought to the amount of fishing pressure being put on the lakes we go too, and have wondered if there is any merit in the comment a fellow fishing buddy shared with me. He said he only fishes during the week, like on tuesdays or thursdays, and he says he catch's 15 to 25 fish per outting. He feels the bite is much better during the week due to the decreased boat traffic on the water at this time. He tells me he sometimes can fish for hours without seeing another boat anywhere in his immediate area. Another factor that may be the changes we have made in our gear and tackle, I.E. going to larger diameter lines.
It seems to me that the overall popularity of bass fishing has increased, and that the amount of fishing pressure has something to do with the bite getting tougher out there? I'm not bragging, but last year, bassintxlady and myself caught and released in the neighborhood, of around something like 200 bass, this year the number of bass we have caught and released is probably close to half of that. Looking on the bright side, there are over 70 days left in the year to add to this years count.
Maybe it's just me, but I thought I would post a comment to see if anyone else has had a slow year so far?