Lake Murray, OK

Howdy,

I fished a small boat tourney on Lake Murray today. The weather could have been more cooperative. The wind was out of the south varying from about 15 to 25 MPH. It was cloudy with a little drizzle/sprinkle activity in the morning, but turned partly cloudy and warmer about mid morning and early afternoon.

I put in at the north boat ramp and mainly fished the area north of the ramp and the large cove on the opposite bank from the ramp. I only got 5 fish (total 8.13lb) all day, and missed several others. The best fish I hooked up on got off after about 20 seconds. It was just off the grass on the west bank, north of the boat ramp, in about 1 or 2 feet of water. I got a glimpse of it and suspect it was maybe 5 or 6 pounds, though it fought harder than that (it changed my extra wide gap hook into an extra extra wide gap hook). It was my first time fishing Murray, so I'm not sure if my experience is typical for that part of the lake.

Most of the fish I caught were on Rage Craws (summer craw) dipped in JJ's Magic, except for one on a Tube Craw (green pumpkin), and most were in less than 2 feet of water.

I'm not sure what most were using, but I do know my brother-in-law caught some on both a black worm and with a spinner bait (probably white or white/chart).

Again, catching wasn't as hard and catching quality. Most folks seemed to be able to get a limit of fish, but getting quality fish was a different matter. There were 32 people fishing, and big bass was under 5 pounds. Winning weight was only a little over 12 pounds. My 8.13 was 4th place, which just doesn't seem right on a lake that size.

I'll be fishing Prague next Saturday, and will post my observations when I get back. I've never fished Prague before either, so if anyone has any info/tips, I'd appreciate it.