Jim

Date :9/20/05 Sunny and hot, Water temp 82*
I have been off the water for the last 2 months with a few exceptions due to the water being too hot for the fish to be active enough to entertain my clients. When the water temp is above 85* the dissolved oxygen in the lake is extremely poor consequently the blood oxygen in the striper is so bad that it makes the striper sick [like us being nauseated]. I have clients tomorrow so I am looking for fish today for them to catch tomorrow. Once the fish feel better and want to eat they want to spent as little energy as they can and eat as large a meal as they can so I looked for some big gizzard shad to run on planner boards. Ran boards over 10 to 15 foot flats and caught a few 6 pounders. Decided to find another pattern and went to the back of a creek that was loaded with bait, put out boards and spanked them. I came off the water at 1 o'clock , had 16 hits, caught 10 stripers, 4 fish over 30 inches, my first 4 keepers are in the picture. I'm excited about tomorrow and I guess I will call my clients who have been patient [ wanting to fish for the last month] and start booking trips for the rest of the year.