No, I haven't forgotten you

Been a little busy lately. Not so much at the newspaper, but catching up with my family, my fishing hole.

I'm a sucker for going out fishing on my day off. Rain or shine, you can bet I'll be out somewhere working for bass.

The cold front killed off a lot of the bite, but I have to admit, the bite hasn't been that great. Some days things seem to be picking up, other days, I wonder if I shouldn't be doing something different.

Fishing-wise that is. I still value my time on the water, and I better mention now, I value my wife for allowing me that time on the water.

See, she's the key to the entire thing; without her I wouldn't be able to fish as often as I do, and let me tell you, I fish often.

So I'll quickly break down what's been working the last couple of weeks of fishing. The Texas rig has picked up. I'm seeing a lot of good hits on the 7 inch, blue fleck PowerBait worm. I'm also seeing a lot of hits on a 7 inch, Gander Mountain ripple tail worm in the crawfish orange swirl color.

Stick worms have worked well. I don't fish the 5" Yamamoto Senkos, but that's mainly because of the price. I know the baits will last me a while, so the investment is good, but when I can pick up a few Strike King, 5" stick for cheap at Wal-Mart, it's a no-brainer. The money I save can go to hooks, or more worms, or sinkers, or a spinnerbait.

Or perhaps, to a treat for my son. The options are limitless.

Anyhow, back to lures. I've continued to have success on my white, triple-blade Strike King buzzbait. Chartreuse and white/chartreuse spinnerbaits have worked well. Where I'm fishing, the crankbaits are slow, but mostly because of the weeds and snags.

The fish are finicky right now. Some days, slow, slow, slow, finessing with jigs and Texas rigs. The next day, the bass want something active. Some days they want neither and aggravating them seems to be the only option.

All I know is I'm ready for the a change in the weather. I'm betting that'll do the trick.