Better Weekend

[Bender]

The water is HOT HOT HOT even though I only saw 96 degrees compared to 98 last weekend. I started using towels to cover the weels I'm not using because they get too hot to pick up. Also the latches get so hot it burns when you open a compartment. I tried a couple of smaller lakes this weekend, Claude Bennett on Saturday and Tom Bailey Sunday.

I've been to Claude Bennett once before so I had some idea of what to try since the fish were not shallow and most of the lake is shallow. I started throwing jigs, shaky head, and the C-Rig but couldn't get bit on the bottom. Finally I started cranking a bit of a deep diver thanks to tips on here and also throwing a jerkbaits since it seemed the fish were suspended. Lost two fish (one big) on the crank and caught some on both with the biggest on the jerkbait:

same fish:

(board was kept cool in livewell, didn't want fried bass)

Today I went to Tom Bailey where I have never been before. What an amazing looking lake!



Unfortunately I couldn't get bit in any of the wood like this that was all around the lake! But there were baitfish busting out from the wood so I threw a chrome/blue trap (thanks again guys) and caught 4 bass right away, two on back to back casts. I went out deeper and started cranking again and found a creek channel that this 4 1/2# was in:





I got tired of cranking since that bait is really small but pulls hard so I was using a stiffer rod that is hard to cast. I moved over to some pads but couldn't get anything going. Overall it was a good weekend even though I could only fish right during the middle of the day.