I'm hearing that the rain is gone for awhile but what a blessing it was as we watched our lake rise from 32' down to 19' from the top. When a lake fills quickly it is inevitable that it will become somewhat stirred up. Catfishing is especially good in the few days after a good rain. When the water is gushing in it's also bringing with it lots of bugs which is fresh food for the fish. If you are fishing Collins Lake from a boat you definitely want to go to all the inlets where the water is coming in. These are places where a lot of fish are hanging out looking for a free meal. The Bass are feeding and gorging right now and getting ready to spawn.

Dan Raub has been on a mission this week. He started out the week with a 4 lb. Largemouth and ended the week with a 4 Pound Spotted Bass. His Largemouth took a worm while the Spot bit onto a firetiger jerkbait in 30 ft. of water. Gary Musick has been trying to follow Dan and catch a big bass with not as much luck. He did however hook onto an awesome 4 lb. 4 oz. German Brown by Goose Island while jigging for bass in 30 feet of water. Those are the kinds of surprises I like!! Eli & Jeff Kirn took home a LIMIT of TROUT they caught from the beach on Kastmasters. John English fished the shore also but used sherbert colored Powerbait to entice his 2 trout.

Our second Fish & Game just arrived today 2/5.

Our 1st Trophy Plant arrived 2/14

WE WILL RECEIVE WEEKLY TROPHY TROUT PLANTS STARTING THIS WEEK

WE WILL RECIEVE A BASS & BLUEGILL PLANT THE END OF THIS MONTH

The Bass are entering their prespawn phase as they maneuver from deeper to shallower water several times a day in search of food. Their main forage food in our lake is crawdads. Eating crawdads will beef them up so they can get ready to nest during the spawning period. They also move much slower this time of year and refuse to "chase the bait" more than a few feet. Drop shotting works best in the prespawn in 20 to 30 feet of water using plastic jigs or worms. Dan Raub's personal favorite is a 4" Roboworm (the color of a crawdad). Yamamoto also makes a great drop shot worm. You don't need anything over 4 inches and the colors should resemble a crawdad (brown with orange). Look up drop shotting or drop shot rigging on internet search engine to get more info on the technique. It's so simple even I can do it and I generally catch a lot more than fish, including trees, brush, kids, etc. I predict a great year for bass at Collins Lake which already got a great jump start this year.