Monday - February 2, 2009 - Day 33

Bartletts Ferry Feb 2, 2009 - cloudy rainy day, cold, water clear and
49 to 51 degrees

Met Nick at the ramp at 7:30 - pretty cool and cloudy but no rain.
We put his boat in and idled up to a point he likes and started
there. I was wearing a snowmobile suit, he had on Under Armour and
said he was comfortable in it, jeans and jacket.

We fished around the point and into a cove. I got a hit near a dock on
a jighead and landed a keeper spot. On around the next cove to another
point where I got back to back fish - one spot and one largemouth. He
got a keeper largemouth on it while I was putting my first fish in the
livewell. A short distance from there near another dock I got my
fourth keeper on the jig head.

Nick picked up a Boy Howdy topwater and asked if I thought he was
crazy to throw it in 30 degree water. I said "show me" and he did,
catching a small largemouth on it pretty quick. He threw is some more
during the day but that was his only hit - but who thinks of topwater
in early Feb here?

We hit several spots for the March article but the fish were not
really on them. Then on a bank in the back of a creek Nick got a nice
spot and I got a largemouth off the same dock. A few minutes later on
a steep bank I got my sixth keeper on the jig head. Pretty good before
11 AM.

We hit several more places and looked as some spots for the article
but no more hits. At about 2 PM we were riding up the river to look
at a spawning spot. There had been some misty rain but nothing hard
enough to get out the rainsuits. All of a sudden the bottom fell out
and we were soaked before we could stop and get in the rain gear. We
marked the last two holes then ran back near the ramp.

I told Nick we should fish some more and hope the shower would stop so
I could get pictures. The second dock we hit he got two and I got my
seventh. It was the biggest of the day, felt real heavy when I set the
hook on the jighead and the flash in the water looked good, but it was
sickly looking. Probaby weighed 2.5 pounds but should have been well
over 3. He caught two or three more going around that cove.

As we worked out of the cove around the point Nick got a nice fish
near 3 pounds. We stopped and took pictures even tho it was still
raining. I got two more going down that bank toward the ramp and he
got a couple. On the ramp we both caught small bass, giving me ten for
the day and he had about the same number. Not a bad day for early
February. Our best five would have weighed about 11 - 12 pounds.

Glad to get out of the wet clothes and get the heater running on
high in the van.