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 (350-3136) late Thursday 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.

Bob Rider owns Lakeshore Bait & Tackle in Clearlake. Visit his Web site at www.994fish.com or call him at 994-FISH (3474).

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