Phew! A much more encouraging week this week than last (and no bad guys
trying to help themselves to our goods). We've seen good signs that our
crappie bite is warming up nicely. The bass bite has remained about the same
as it has been, but with a subtle change. And the catfish are doing their
thing in good numbers.

For bass, the folks working artificials are still struggling. Early morning
remains the most productive time of day for jerk baits, deep running cranks,
drop shots, and jigs. No magic here. Just work 'em hard, hit all the key
"zones" and go slow. Now we have seen a shift in the live bait bite. Minnows
are an annual fall favorite for bass as the water cools. That bite seems to
have kicked in well now - and just in time as our first load of JUMBO
minnows is due next week. We've had plenty of good healthy XL sized minnows,
but there's something about JUMBOS that smacks of that great fall bite on
Clear Lake. For the first time since early summer, we had customers running
out of minnows and coming back for more before the morning was over
yesterday. That's encouraging!

There's big news on the crappie front, too. We've got a couple of local guys
doing a bang-up job locating crappie in the Jones Bay/Jago Bay area. They're
getting from 8 to 20 crappie per outing using live medium minnows. They're
not having any luck on jigs or other offerings, but they are finding that
the crappie will eat minnows with regularity. So I'd like to put forth a
challenge - call it the Clear Lake Crappie Challenge. We need crappie
hunters to get out and do their thing and report back. Register at the shop
before you go out and bring your stringer in when you come back in - let us
get some pictures. Each week we'll judge the best stringer and award the
winner a prime place on our Wall of Fame as well as on our up-and-coming
Crappie Challenge page at 994Fish.com.

Catfish are STILL HUNGRY. Mackerel and minnows are tops (as usual). All the
other players are in the mix also - chicken livers, anchovies, night
crawlers, marshmallows, etc. The drift from Leubow Point to Indian Island
along the bass alley area was productive for Guide Dave Gilbert of Hook
Setter Fishing (707.350.3136) late yesterday afternoon and into the evening.
Dave and his crew were dragging mackerel.

Our expansion project continues - it sure is nice to have some room to
breathe and some room to move amongst the merchandise. We're just a few
weeks away from our new displays and some great new product - more of what
we love to love. Come on by for a hot cup of coffee see all the activity
going on here.