This is my favorite weekend of the year. Catfish Derby weekend! Tons of activity, lots of anglers, fine weather, and a good solid bite almost all the way around. It's hard to sit back here in my crowded office and type an intelligent report with the buzz that's in the air out in the front of the store. So here it is, coming right at you, in our no-nonsense report format:

Bass ??? The bass bite is on with fish in water as shallow as two feet. Minnows are killing ???em. Finesse presentations are doing really well, some folks are dabbling with crank baits and swim baits. Be patient, but move until you find the fish and you're going to have a ball. The water temperature at 5:30 this morning was high 60's and climbing in the low 70's during the heat of the day. (And we've got plenty of heat during the day right now with temps over 100 degrees.)

Crappie ??? I had three guys waiting for me to open the door at 5:45 this morning. "We're out of bait!" was the distress call of that hour. Apparently the crappie bite surged during the last hour of darkness before sunrise this morning over at Indian Beach Resort. Similar reports came out of the Clearlake Resort (formerly Fun Time, formerly Garner's). Minnows or white jigs are doing the deed.

Catfish ??? Holy mackerel, hold on to your hat. The cats have turned on and lots of folks are catching lots of fish. Countless fish in the 5 ??? 10 pound class have been caught with many in the 10's and teens, too. There have even been a few over the 20 pound mark. I've just checked in with Derby HQ and they haven't got any fish on the leader board yet. We're following the updates as they happen and will have the results on hand should you need to know. Mackerel, Shrimp, Anchovies, Shad, Jumbo Minnows ??? all working! Shallow water, not so shallow water, doesn't seem to matter. This is just a great time to soak bait for big cats.

Lastly, three things to NOT forget this weekend: Drink plenty of water, use plenty of sunscreen, and don't forget the bug spray!