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ii;li4 ;1.,:-:.:, The sky has cleared asMorgenthaler fishes a jig around a sub.

,r':a:l ii..ilr. Morgenthaler'ssecond keeper bass of theday,a4ll2-poundmalelargemouth, hit his flippingjig in shallow wood cover.

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BASSMASTER'S "DAY ON the Lake" series puts BassmasterElite Series pros on small lakes thev'r,e ,.rr.ir."r, before, thengives them seven hours to formulate a successful bass-catchingpattern. This month, Chad Morgenthaler takes our challenge,The 49-year-old Coulterville, IIl., pro, a six-time BassmasterClassic qualifier, has fished B.A.S.S. er.ents for 16 years and u,ontheJanuary 20I5 Southern Open at Lake Toho (Florida). Here'srvhat happened April 2, 2015,'rvhen rve put Morgenthaler onLake J, a small, remote reservr:ir. What follor,l,s may help youmore effectively handle unstable weather conditions durinsyour spring bass outings.r) S;li-i a.*r. I meet Morgenthaler at a campground near the lake.He's ton'ing a Phoenix 92IXP bass boat equipped u,ith a 250-horsepower Mercury outboard, Minn Kota trolling motor andHumminbird eiectronics. It's partly cloudy and 65 degrees, with ahigh around 72 and scattered thunderstorms forecast for the day.l! di;$.1 s.-m, It's misting rain when rve arrive at the launch rampon Lake J. Morgenthaler pulls several Denali rods equipped withShimano reels from storage and preps his boat for launching.

3 F4ffi&iffiS LHF'Y!> 7rI * *.nu" We launch the Phoenix and Morgenthaler checksthe Iake's surface temperature: 60 degrees. "They evidently hada big rain here recently because the lake looks high and a little

(Continued)

,::l i:li.! :r " ;i.:, Morgenthaler

fights a good bass that hit hisfinesse jig by a boat dock.

merged tree.

64 SA$$ffi&$?*6,\p,'ii?{}16

66 8e$$m&ffiIff Apr:it 2t)16

Dav,.r,-^, nir^**^e[;tre, {Lrrrdu rvruruut lthalel}Lake'

murky, which, coupled with this cloudcover, may make it tough to sPot bass

beds if there are any fish up spawning.But on the plus side, I'm a die-hard jigfisherman, and the water color looks per-fect for jigs."ll ?:18 a.nr. Morgenthaler runs to a tribu-tary arm on the opposite side ofthe lake."There are several boat docks in thiscreek, and I want to check them out firstthing to see ifI can spot any fish beddingaround them. It's really cloudy, but thewater's calm in here, so I should be able

to spot beds if they're shallow enough."He puts his trolling motor on mediumspeed and progresses up the creek armwhile casting a black 1/4-ounce LunkerLure Hawg Callerbuzzbaitto the docks.'A buzzbait is an awesome lure for trig-gering reaction strikes from big bass thathave just moved up shallow and arecruising around prior to spawning."* 7r?2 a.m" The water temPeraturedrops to 57 degrees once Morgenthalermoves deeper into the tributary arm."That's heading in the wrong direction!There must be some cold runoff dumpinginto the lake from all that rain."i| ?:fiS &.{n. Morgenthaler ties on a

3/8-ounce Lunker Lure Limit Series fi-nesse jig, brown and green with a green

pumpkin Zoom Super ChunkJr. trailer."This is a compact ball-head jig; I've hadreal good luck with it around docks. It'sgot a fairly slow fall and looks like a livecrawfish."|! ?r*6 a,m, Morgenthaler pitches the fi-nesse jig to a dock, gets a tap and snaps

back his rod but misses the fish. He

sprays some chartreuse dye on the legs ofthe trailer "so they can see it a little eas-

ier. It's not an ideal day for dock fishingwith this cloud cover; they'll stick tighterto docks when the sun's shining."$ ?;3$ a.ur" Morgenthaler pitches the fi-nesse jig to another dock, gives lt a gentlehop, and a good bass loads on. His firstfish ofthe day is a stout 3-pound, l-ouncelargemouth. "This fish was sitting rightnext to a post on the front of that dock,close to deeper water. Notice that ithasn't got a mark on it, which tells me it'seither a prespawn bass or [it] just re-cently moved onto a nest. They're usuallypretty beat up by the time they're done

spawning."D ?:3? a,me. Morgenthaler makes his nextpitch to the post that held his 3-1. "You aI-ways want to repeat the cast where youcaught a bass this time of year. If the fishyou caught was on a bed, you can usuallyget its mate to bite, too."

Il ?:3:t a"ru. The pro spots what appearsto be a bass bed between two docks. "I

don't see a fish on it right now, but I'Ilcome back and check it out later." He en-

ters the waypoint on his graph and con-tinues down the bank.* ?:1*$ *.rn" Morgenthaler pitches the jigto another dock, swings and misses."That was either a bluegill or a bass thatjust nipped the tail of the trailer."* ?;3* a"*r" He switches to a 4 ll2-inchMissile Baits Shock Wave soft plasticswimbait in the shrapnel color patternrigged on all4-otnce Hooker head. He

casts it in front of a dock and reels itsteadily back to the boat.rl i':'&E m"rrr" Opting io try a much largerswimbait, Morgenthaler ties on a 6thSense Flow Glider 140 Live Bluegill. "This

is a big, slow-sinking, jointed swimbaitwith an erratic gliding action. You can ei-

ther fish it with short twitches of the rodto make it glide or reel it straight in so itthrows a surface wake. I fish it onS0-pound braided line because I don'twant to risk breaking it off; these lurescost s /5 aprece:l} ?:,{3 a,lrl. Morgenthaler lobs the FlowGIider to the back end ofthe tributaryarm and wakes it just beneath the sur-face. "Casting this bait is like throwing acement block! It'll wear you out, but it'llcatch a giant fish."l-v ?r4S a,v*r. The upper end of the creekdoesn't pan out, so Morgenthaler beginsfishing his wayback out toward the mainIake via the opposite shoreline. He's alter-nating between the finesse jig and a3/8-ounce chartreuse and white LunkerLure Hawg Caller spinnerbait, using theformer to hit the docks and the latter be-

tween the structures,}} ?:54 a"*r" Morgenthaler returns to thebass bed he spotted earlier and pitches thefinesse jig at the nest. "I can't see much ofanything now; the wind's starting to blowin here and it's getting darker."}} ?rS{* a.xm. Morgenthaler casts the finessejig to a submerged brushpile he spotted us-

ing his graph's side-imaging function."There are some crappie suspendingaround it, but I don't see anybass."D $:$li a"nn, He slow rolls the spinnerbaitparallel to a sloping bank. "I'm not seeing

any beds in this cove. I think the water'sstill too cold; it's only 56 degrees here."rl S:$E a.rn, Morgenthaler exits thecreek arm and begins spinnerbaiting asea waIl on the main lake. He immedi-ately gets a short strike on the lure."They'll spawn on these walls. I don'tIike how the wind is pushing waves

1Dfr{ t c nro Morgenthaier}

down into the cover. It's bulkier thanthe finesse jig, so it tends to attractbigger bites, and it's got a rattle, so theycan locate it easily in murky water. I'mfishing it on braid, so ifanything somuch as breathes on it, I can feel it."D 9:03 a.m. Morgenthaler pitches theflipping jig into a submerged tree. Hefeels a solid thump and hammers thefish, but it tangles around a limb and

gets offl "Oh, nol That fish was 6 or 7pounds! She wrapped me around thatlimb and I couldn't do anythingwithher. But at least that tells me somegood fish may be moving into thiswood cover. See what I mean about thebigjig getting the big bite?"}} 9:06 a.m. He moves into a shelteredpocket and pitches the black and bluejig to some stickups.

}} 9:09 a.m. Morgenthaler pitches theflipping jig to a submerged woodpileand whacks his second keeper oftheday, a beautiful 4 I I 2-p o:und lar ge-mouth. "This looks like a big male! Thewind s not hitting this bank too hardand the sun's out, so they should moveinto this wood. Notice that I'm workingthis heavierjig pretty fast. I'm pitchingit to the wood, letting it crash down,hopping it once or twice, then reeling itin quickly and making another pitch.This approach allows me to coverwa-ter with the jig almost as quickly as Icould with a spinnerbait."

5 HOURS LEFT}} 9:20 a.m. Morgenthaler has movedinto another nearbypocket and isworking over submerged wood withthe flippingjig.ll 9t26 a.m.He hops the finesse jigacross a shallow mud point.}} 9:29 a.rn. Morgenthaler spots a3-pound bass beneath an overhangingtree. He pitches the flipping jig to thefish and it vanishes.D 9:35 *.m. Clouds are moving inagain as Morgenthaler pounds shore-line wood cover with the flipping jig.* 9:41 a.m. He pitches the jig into asubmerged logjam, slams back his rodand reels in a 4-foot section of tree limb.>l 9:49 a.m. The shallowwood coveris petering out along this bank.Morgenthaler makes a high-speed runfarther uplake to a shallow pocket,where he tries the flipping jig. "It's 59degrees here, but it's so shallow, mytrolling motor is kicking up mud."}} 9:58 a.m. Morgenthaler makes ablistering run uplake to alribrttaryarm with scattered lilypads. "The wa-ter's 61 degrees up here, but it's kind ofmuddy." He runs the spinnerbait pasta pad stem, and a small bass smacks itbut gets off.!> lO:09 a.m. A culvert on the bank isdumping murky runoff into the lake,Morgenthaler pitches the flipping jigin front ofthe pipe and catches a shortfish. "fhere's a little ditch runningstraight out from that culvert." severalmore pitches to the ditch fail to pro-duce another bite.

4 HOURS LEFT> 10:15 a.m. Morgenthaler runs far-ther uplake to a tributary arm. Hemoves to the bank and hits scatteredwood cover with the spinnerbait andflipping jig.

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agalnst this one, however; the n'ater'sgetting pretty muddy here, and it'sOnlV r / degrees.

6 HOT.IffiS LHFT>> 3;12 ;r.n-c, The wind is blowing 15

mph out of the south as Morgenthalerdrifts down a mainlake bank, alter-nating between the spinnerbait andfinesse jig.}} SilS :r,ml, He enters a cove contain-ing several moored pontoon boats."Pontoons can be awesome overheadbass coverl They're like a dock; Youcan pitch a lure way up under them."B 8i:$ *.ffi, Morgenthaler catches a

short fish offa pontoon on the finesse jig.

}} 8;*5;4"m, The wind is gusting to 20

mph and the skies are starting toclear. Morgenthaler ties on a char-treuse Strike King KVD 1.5 square billcrankbait and cranks the Merc' "The

water's only 56 degrees in this cove.

I'm going to hit a spot farther uplaketo see if it's any warmer there."!y &:3.{ ir,ffi, Morgenthaler has locatedan offshore rockpile rising from 20

feet to 3 feet beneath the surface. He

tries the square bill and the finesse jigon the structure without success.r! S:116 lt,rsr. He slow rolls the spinner-bait across the top ofthe rockpile.Still nothing. "This spot looks awe-

some, but the water's onlY 55 degrees

here."l) .{ir*fi e"fit. Morgenthaler moves to aconcrete sea wall and attacks it withthe finesse jig.!.r Sr44 *,ur. Morgenthaler cranks thesquare bill around a boat dock in asheltered cove. No takers.|I 8i41) a,irt, He hits another dock withthe finesse jig. "They aren't exactlyjumping all over my lures. Hopefully,the sun will warm up the water andget'em going."FI $;6,$ a."T!r" Morgenthaler moves a

quarter-mile uplake to a bank linedwith wood cover. He pitches the fi-nesse jig to a serni-submerged tree."I'm already loving this bank. Thatsunshine should put them tight to thiswood cover."* $;0I ;r..ilr, Morgenthaler switches toa 3/4-ounce black and blue LunkerLure Rattleback flipping jig with a

matching Zoom Salty Chunk trailer."This is my favorite jig for fishingscattered wood cover; its extra weightallows me to rnake extremely accu-rate pitches, so the lure drops straight

(Continued)

rr lilr lli ;t,tlt, Ho bags ktreper No. ll, Ipouncl,ll ounces, olf a surbntergedbrushtop on the Ilippinujig. "'l'his u,a-tcr's 6ll clegrees up her'o and it's ltot asrtrrrrkv as it u,as arouncl thal culvert.What's sot nrc kincl of trullirlocrl is vouLrsually don'l fincl sr.rch ii rvicle varianccirr \\'ater tentperaturc in a lake thissrrrall. I l.oncleL il thcre are sontc ult-dgrgrountl springs in thc krw,er entltlrat are keeping thc u,a.ter therc cool.":> ;{}:.1;J ;r.rn. Nlorgcnthaler tit,s or-r ablack 3itl ourLce blaclecl jlg, brand un-knou.n. rrnd dresses it n itl'r a sapphircblue Zoorn LlltraVibe Speed Crar,r,tlailer. "l've alrvays had n'ry best luckon blnded jigs in plc.sparvrr. Thevscenr lo lose their char.nt oncc the rva-lcrrt,arrls up." IIe casls the hard-throbbing lure lo the bank and re-lrieves it quickly.,'r i(!:ilti;i"iu. H(, sn,irns the bladecl jiglhrouqh sourc scattcretl lilv pads andspooks a biu Iish. "'l'hat r,rras either aI li-pound bass or a carpl":' l():ttti;r.ir. A light rain is Ialling rLs

Nlorgenthalcr pil chcs the black anrlblue jig to a subrnerqed tree.,lh lilx:iti;r.fir, Thc, rainlets up asNlorccnthaler exits t.he creck arm atrdlourrcis a point to fislr a tnain-lakebank. \\rlrat's his take on the dav so firr-?"l'r'e coveretl ;r krl ol shrrllon wirler IrutI'r,e oniy seen onc or. two bass beds, so Ickur'l t['rink they ve ntor.erd up shallou.\'('t,-Jigs are the onlv lules I'r,e been able1o calch fish on so lirr; I'r,e had zcroIuck on anv Itorizonttl prescntatiorr,rvlrich tel ls nrc the l ish are ncitherct ttisirrq irlrrtrrrd I)riort() sltrrrr ttirrg trorprou,linc alorrncl looking for tbod.'l'hetrppcr end has u'amrer watcr, but I'r,ecaught two soocl flsh and lost a real bigone in thc lorver encl lr,hcre Lhe watcr'scooler, so go figtrre. I l.as hopinq thcsun l,ould slal.or.rt itnd narnt uir thewater don n therc, but it doesn't looklike t.hat's going to happen. I'r,e still gotplentl'of tinrc lel't, so I'11 probably hitsomc rnore \\/ood cover in the upperend before mor.ing back dou,nlake."rr i{}; $,1 u"elr. Nlorgcnthaler fishes urt,lairrirrg nrrll rvitlr t he finr,ssc jig.;, l{}: Ii";r.nl. Nlorgenthalerbags kecperNo.:1, I pouncl, ] ounce, of'f tlre rctain-irrqlvnll on thc l)nessc' jig.""['hcrtr arc abunch ol rocl<s dowrr thcre - [J(x)dplace to fish t jig thtit loolts like acrarv fi sh.")) t{t: l$ ;r.ml. Nlorqenthaler catcheshis fitth keeper, l-4, ofl the retaininsn all. "They'rc lol ing this finessc jigl

Hopefullv, I cun stitrt culline nowthatI'vc got nry linrit.",i ltt:.;l ;r"r;r. r\ short lislr falls victinrto the Iincsst jie. "Thcvi-c stacked rrpalonq t his rvall!'loo bad l l'rev art'n'tverv lri{."/,! I li(,t:l rr"nr" Nlorgenthaler nrovcs firr.-thcr uplake to fish sorne scatter.edl,ood covcl alonq a sloping bank u.iththe black and bluc jie.

ffi fi-fi*&J$AS f;_ffiFTtt i x:t.i;;"mr" Still pitching tlrc flip-ping jig to \\'oo(l cor.er. "The \\'atcr'snruddier up hcre I'ronr *'ave irction.I'm qoinq to nrlke a couplc ntorepitches tltcn hcad back clrrvnlahc. iwanl to hit sonte of those docks it-r thecoves I Iishcd earlier, then I u.ant to golrrrck antl hil lhc rrootl corcrlrqairr

((lon tinutl)

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n,here I had my trvo biqgest bites. I'r,r.pretty much ru lecl out finding ar-rv fislior-r bcds in tl-re lor,vc.r c:nd, and I havc:n'tscen any in thc uppcr e nd whe re t.hc wit-l.cr's warmer, cit.hcr. I'll mainlv stick to

u.ood cot,cr and docks adjacc,nt tcr

sparvning arcas be,cause thcse are likc,lt,plact,s rr Irt,rc prespatrn fish rr'ill stilr{(,.")| [ ];? I il"lll, Morqenthaler makcs a rapidrun downlakc t.o a pocket he fishcd ear-

Iier ancl pilches the jig to a lavclown.!> i l:?(r ;r.rrr. IIe spots a sntall lrass cruis_ing thc bank near a gnarll,ovr:rhangingtree. "'l'hat buck has lovin'on his nrind,but I don't sce his girlfrierrrl tnywhere."!r [ tr:lil il.ull, He moves to a clay pointancl drtrqs tho finesse jig ovcrr I hc end ofthe structure. The r,r,incl is reallv l-rowlingout here. "!\ie're goine to gct rvet beforethe clay's rx,er."!r I l;ll,l ir.nr. He retrietves the chartreuseand white spinnerbait parallel to tr roilymucl ba.nk.>! { l;il9 *.rtr. l,{orgenthalcr spots a3-por.r nder parked bcneath an overhang-inq trec. \\'hen he raiscs his rod to pitchhis jiu t.o the fish, it bolts lor cle eper n ater.i! I l;.ll) *.rm. He sees tltc l}-pounder againand t.ries to get it to bitc thc: I'inesse jig,but it's not interestcd. "'['hery can really bespooky rvhen thev first nlovc r.lp.">r tr I:liO:r.rrr. Nlorqcnthalcr pitches thef lippinu jig to a r"iprap bank. " I'his rockbank looks a\{resomc; loo bacl it's onlv 4irtt lrt's <lccpl"It t flr5.1 u.*rr" He hits a couple of boatcloclis with the jig. "l ncccl Io getbusyanclcull those trvo sniall kcepers." What's thebiesest bass ofNlorgenthaler's career? "llpounds, 7 ounces - I caucht it on a sur-face frog at the 2014 Elit.c Series tourna-rnent at Toledo Bend. You'd think a fisht hat big hitting a surlirce lure would makea splash like a car Iiilling ofl'a bridge, but iljust quietlv slulpcd it. under.">) l2:{).ir p.rn, Nloreenthaler rnoves a shortclistance to a big tril)utarv arln \\,ith multiplcIroal ckrcks. He fishes l.he fincsse jigaroLrr-rclsoruc scattered lily puds. "Now the sun is

FEELTHE DIFFERENnE

70 M}l$SMilfiffiTfrffi

trying to come out again! We re on theleading edge ofabig frontalpassage, andthe weather is real unstable. Ifwe heartornado sirens go off, I m heading in!"

g e{skiffis LffiFT!r i*rl* $;"*i!. A bass hitsMorgenthaler's finesse jig along a con-crele sea wall but drops it.>r .l?:tl} p.m. Another short strike onthe retaining wall.>! lt:l{i trl,nr" Morgenthaler idles tothe extreme upper end ofthe creekarm and pitches the black and blue jigto a submerged log. It comes back cov-ered in snot grass. "They sure won'tbed around that stuffl They want a

hard bottom for spawning."}} n2ritl ;r.m. Morgenthaler pitchesthe finesse jig around a dock in thetributary arm. "I caught that3-pounder offa dock early in the daybut nothing else." He stows his troll-ing motor. "I'm heading back to thatIong stretch of bank with all the woodon it where I caught that 4 1/2 and lostthat bigger fish."* $"lh*fl p.nrr" We re back on thewooded bank. Morgenthaler pitchesthe flipping jig to a stickup. The lurehangs up in the brush; Morgenthalerretrieves it and bends the hook inwardslightlywith pliers. "If you start hang-ingyourjig up in cover, often the hookand not the weedguard is the culprit.The hook on thisjig had opened up atinybit from catching fish and bangingaround in cover all day, so I bent it backdorvn slightly to its original angle."}} i?r4l trl-Bl" Morgenthaier has pa-tiently pitched either the flipping orfinesse iig to virtualll, every piece ofwood he's come across on a longstretch ofbank. He's now in a pockethe fished earlier. "It would be nice if a10-pounder would move in here nowthat the sun's come back out."B X.*:4S p.mt, Still picking apart woodcover with the jig. "They sure aren'twanting to move shallou,er anytimesoon! Notice that the leaves haven'teven starting budding on most of thetrees around here, either. They had areally bad winter in this area, and it'sprobably going to take several consec-utive days of warm, sunny weather toget this lake in gear. The water temp'sstill only 56 degrees here."F> l*;S$ p"m, Morgenthaler runs fartherdownlake to a rocky bank, where hetries the square bill crankbait. It dredgesup slimy grass on his first cast. "It's su-

per shallowup close to those rocks."$ X2:$5 p"rn, He moves to a small cove,

where he strikes out on the square bill.>r l2:57 p.:sr. Morgenthaler switchescrankbaits to a Rapala DT6 mediumdiver. "This one runs down to 6 feet."He retrieves the plug parallel to a con-crete sea wall.}l X $r.irt" Morgenthaler bags a squealeroff the wall on the iinesse jig.

* trr{i$ p.:il. He pitches the finesse jigto a dock and catches another smallhass.

S ffi*{Jffi LffiffiY> 1:tr*;,-i?r" Morgenthaler hooks akeeper on the finesse jig; it jumps andshakes free. "That n as a 2-pounder. Ithit halfway back to the boat."

(Continued)

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.,'i:i lrJ ir. ! ?;. [ast-minutelunker! Morgenthaler'sbiggest bass of the day,

a 5-2 largemouth,

smacked his finesse jigon an offshore rockpile.

L, :rl6 :;.r*. Morgenthaler pitchesthe finesse jig between a dock anda pontoon boat and catches hissixth keeper of the day, 1 pound, 3

ounces. It culls the l-t he caughtearlier., !: i h {}.in. The sky is turning

black as a thunderstorm movescloser.!l {::*5 p,**}, Morgenthaler ex-

changes the bluegill-imitating FlowGlider swimbait for a Bull Shad, a

big, four-section, gizzard shadmimic. "This swimbail has an in-credibly lifelike swimming action. Iwant to sn im it in front of a coupleofthese docks to see ifthere aren'tany big fish holding under them."il I ::lli E;"r{i" The wind is nowblow-ing 30 mph out of the u,est as

Morgenthaler swims the Bull Shadpast several docks.,) B: : [ il.irr. lt's spitting rain as

Morgenthaler fishes a boathouse'rvith the finesse jig.ri 3 r3? Fi,ril. Morganthaler catcheskeeper No. Z 2 pounds even, on thefinesse iig. "This fish was in B feet of

water out in front of that boat-house." It culls one ofhis l-3s.)i l:li{i i}"ln" The skies open up as

the thunderstorm roars acrossLake J. Morgenthaler casts the fi-nesse jig to a sloping bank at theentrance to the tributary arm.>, fi ;.t [ ]r.r.*e. A good fish hits his jigbut comes unbuttoned.* i:49 p.r*. The thunderstorm hasmercifully ceased andMorgenthaler has moved to a flatbank near the creek entrance withthe finesse jig.

'I l:,i7 I"l.r?r" Morgenthaler's time isrunning out. He races across thelake to the rockpile he fished earlierand tries the DT6.lt :lrfil} !].sr1, The crankbait isdredging grass offthe rockpile onevery cast, so Morgenthalerswltches to the finesse jig.$ 3:{l? p.E!. Morgenthaler pauses

to retie. "I'd sure hate to lose a goodfish because my line broke.">| *;{}* p"*al" "Big fish,"Morgenthaler says as he sticks a

lunker bass on the finesse jig. He

72 fi&$Sf*S$T$ffi ,lprii2{iJ6

works it around the bow ofhis boat and swings aboard hiseighth and biggest keeper ofthe day, a 5-2 largemouth!l,! ?r:t ;i.,ii" Backto the boat ramp. Morgenthaler has hadan interesting and productive day on LakeJ. He's boatedeigl.rt keeper bass; the five biggest weigh 15 pounds, 15

ounces.

EF*ffi #&Y iTd FffiffiSFffi#EEHH"Catching that big fish'n as a cool u,ay to end the da1,!"

Nlorgenthaler told Bassmaster. "The fish definitely had notmoved up to spawn yet, and they didn't seem to be cruisingaround, either. Every fish I caught came on a jig. I spent a lotof time looking for a real shallow bite'r,r,hen my biggest fishofthe day'n as probably 7 feet deep on offshore structure.Gir.en the unstable u,eather conditions, I probably made theright decision to stick rvith a jig around r,r,ood cover anddocks much of the da1,, although the dock bite fizzled outright after I caught that 3-pounder early in the da1,. Ifwere

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to fish this lake tomorrorv, I'd spend less time in the covesand more time on the main lake targeting rockpiles, pointsand other structures in hopes ofcatching bigger bass ffithat aren't el,en thinking of mor.ing .nu11o11, yet." tgj

As on angler, your fishing license and purchaseof fishing equipment helps ensure access to

abundant fish and healthy waters.

Soortsmen and women areAmei ri co's tr ue conse rv ati oni sts.

The CongressionalSpcrtsmen's Foundaiion is a

501(cXl) organizaiion.P ro te c ti ng and adv afl cing hunting, qngling,

recreational shooting and traPping in the halls oJgoternment

I:S.i,:#,K/

Stay informed at wr.w.sportsmenslink.orgOr foliow us @HunterandAngler

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