Wll this is the 4th weekend that I have canceled all my guide trips. Luckily most of them re-booked. I was to guide a huge party today. Take out two different people every three hours all day long. A huge undertaking for me but it was a big family reunion staying at Eagle Creek. I first called them a week ago and said there is no way the lake is just too high. They called and said if I could just catch a dozen fish or so on each trip that would be good enough. Reluctantly I gave in and wouldn't you know it we got dumped on again on Thursday and Friday and the lake turned back into a huge mud hole. We were tearing up the white bass at the Wilborn high boat ramp and I expected it to be the same but no. I picked up first client at Eagle and headed toward Wilborn. We got to RR bridge and I met a half mile stretch of debri in the water and I knew we were in trouble. The water was pure mud. We canceled after the first party as all we caught were ten crappie and only three were over ten inches and I caught nine of them. I told them gas money would be suffecient and headed home. They told me they were happy with my effort and understood. Believe me at forty bucks I lost money and it doesn't look good for next week as we are to have more rain on Monday and Tuesday. Then you throw in that they are dropping the lake three- inches a day and you just don't have a chance.

Yesterday I went to a lake I have never been to. I saw some pictures of some huge crappie claiming to be 18 inches long that this angler said to have caught just a couple of weeks ago. Never saw a tape measure on these fish just a woman holding them and by the looks of them they were bigger than anything I have ever caught just kind of skinny so if they weighed much over three I would have been surprised. Anyway the angler and eye set up a date to go yesterday and wouldn't you know it his wife went in to early labor and he couldn't go. I understood as you can't miss the birth of your children just to go fishing. So I rolled the wife out of bed at two AM and together we went on this journey to this new lake armed with the knowledge of at least the cove in which these big fish were caught. We found the brush in 13-18 feet of water and proceeded to catch crappie. Not bad since I have never been there. Me, armed with a jig and minnow and the wife with her trusty drop-shot rig. Well she put it on me fishing that plain minnow rig and we saw no 18 inch fish but the biggest just shy of 13 and two or three others over ten and all the rest about nine and a half, caught about forty though and I liked the lake and will surely give it another try once the water cools down. Oh yeah guys the lake is Olney's East Fork Lake anyone ever been there.

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It ain,t braggin if you can do it
Frank

You can't give up, I would just become LakeClintonGuide and fish for those big stripers you have told me about.

I fish a drop shot rig most of the time and have great luck with it. I have been trolling crankbaits with some success also. I found a color pattern that produces crappie instead of catfish.

I haven't considered going to Shelbyville. but, as soon as I finish this message, I am going to load the boat and try a local lake. Note the time of the message.

I have passed the Olney lake a lot of times but never stopped to fish. I have some buddies in the area that do well there.

I am glad the day we fished, the conditions were great.

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"To catch a big fish you need to use good bait"
Dave Haugh

You had to purchase a day permit from the bait shop to launch don't you? How early do they open? Talked with a man in our camp site Sunday he had been there on Saturday with his uncle and they had caught a nice mess of crappie also. May make the trip on Thursday if I get enough things done to open up some free time..

The bait shop at the RV Park opens at 6:00 every day but Monday. They have permits and they are 12 dollars. They also have bait

I have fished a few bass tournaments there, and it has some nice bass also.

if memory serves me right, I think you also have to show proof of insurance.

yeah steve come on up north, i havent been out but a few freinds have and there having a blast on eyes and stripers

I don't know about Shelbyville but the lake I live on went up a foot today. Shelbyville is west of me, I am sure it got some more flooding last night. It is bad news for crappie fishing on my lake, great news for catfishing. I prefer to crappie fish but if the crappie aren't biting, I am not against fishing for some kitties.
Steve, if you want to do a walleye and/or striper video, just give me a day or 2's notice.

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"To catch a big fish you need to use good bait"
Dave Haugh

Made the trip to Olney. They were still bitting nothing to brag about size wise but I did manage to get my limit enought to feet the guys at the fire house tommorow. Found them along the edge if the weed line on the drop off. a tri color jig and a crappie nibble got a few on minnows but the jig was the hot ticket today. The map from the bait shop with the brush piles helped to locate the area to work. Will put that lake on my list to vist again this fall.