Fishing Report for Year
2000
for Lake Alan Henry by
Captain Mike
contact me at e-mail Cap't Mike gobler@caprock-spur.com
05/10/00 This past weekend was a little hot with 100 degree days and the water surface temperature was between 72 degrees in deeper parts and 76 in the shallows. The bass fishing has been good with both the Sweetwater bass tournament and the Carlsbad bass tournament being held. Both tournaments had a great deal of success. We had reports of some 9 lb. bass being caught by a boat not in the tournament, that's my kind of luck.. Crappie were slow, with most being caught at night. Rodney Hill of Floydada said the he had caught 4 keepers that day, but the tournament was for only biggest bass. Here are some pictures of the weekend and one of the lake record caught in March by Dee Campbell. Some of us may never see a 14lb black bass except in a picture. Captain Mike
05/18/00 The crappie have been biting out on the lake, bass have been good and some good reports on catfish being caught on goldfish. The lake is about 2ft low and clear.
05/22/00 Good weekend at the lake. We caught several nice bass and looks like the crappie are biting. One of the tournaments had a 7.19 bass caught to win big bass of the tournament. Surface temperature was 71.2 in the morning and 72.5 by afternoon on Sunday, taken in front of dam. captain mike
05/31/00 I know you think I am just promoting the lake but the fish are biting. The bass and crappie have been great. About 16 ft. deep on crappie, morning, evening and night, good reports on bass up to 9lb. and I saw a couple of 6s caught the other day. good fishing captain mike
06/07/00 The past weekend the lake caught about 2ft. of water and that seemed to slow fishing down a lot. As of last night the crappie and bass were beginning to bite again. We only caught a few catfish on the rise and that was real odd, usually it is much better on a rise. captain mike
06/13/00 Well fishing has slowed since the rain, but I am still getting reports of some nice bass as well as crappie, it has been kind of hit and miss. The lake is clear, but stained and is about 78 degrees. captain mike
06/16/00 One that didn't get away, caught by Charles Chandler of Post, Texas, about 30lbs. of yellow catfish. When is the fish fry, "Charles". captain mike
06/20/00 Lake Alan Henry has caught about 3ft. of water since the first of June and the lake is beautiful. Fishing for the last week has not been that beautiful. Everything has slowed down except the catfish up in the headwaters. Maybe I'll ski this week. captain mike
06/26/00 Well, not much to say about fishing, since the rain and the rise it has slowed down. Bass have been slow, with crappie and catfish biting at night. The lake has been crowded on weekends but on the weekdays it is great. captain mike
07/06/00 I have been on vacation, and the fishing picked up when I left darn it. The lake caught about 3ft. of water in the past 10 days and is a new lake with new coves and new places to discover. The bass have been slow, crappie fair at night, and the catfish have been great, especially at night. captain mike
07/12/00 The bass are hard to find, but I have had a few reports of nice fish but no keepers, remember on this lake the 18 inch limit is in effect {which is great} for making a future trophy lake. The crappie fishermen are happy with good reports of nice slab crappie around the cliffs just to the right of the boat ramp. Catfish are moderate fished for at night. Try baiting the catfish with sour grain, it will pay off for you. captain mike
07/25/00 Well just when I think the bass are through biting for the summer, we have a week like this. The area caught a little rain Saturday morning, and had a front move thru. I had several good reports of nice bass being caught, as well as catfish and crappie. It's to bad Mr. Cook of Tahoka did not register his catch with the TPWD. It would have been a lake record bass. Since he did not, I will have to print it in our fishtales report. capt'n mike
08/05/00 Here's 2 that did not get away, caught by Carlton Godbold and Brad Cox, the biggest is a little over 5# and gave one hell of a fight. capt'n mike
08/07/00 The bass have been biting, but they have been small. I had one report of a five pound black caught on Saturday. The catfish have been biting at night on stink bait and perch, crappie have been moderate at night on minnows. capt'n mike
09/05/00 Well despite the hot weather, the bass are active in the morning and evening, especially on minnows. Lots of fun but nothing to report size wise. The crappie and catfish have been good at night, but I am talking about, staying up all night. It looks like we are going to have a great fall though. The lake is just about 4ft. low from an all time high, with the dry weather and the shape of the other lakes in Texas, Lake Alan Henry is truly a gem, for fall fishing. capt'n mike
09/11/00 The small black bass are biting. A friend of mine who fishes the boat dock and crappie house every morning said he was catching 40-50 bass every morning, small but black bass. Crappie are extremely good right now and so are catfish at night. The crappie are in 20ft. water or deeper. capt'n mike
09/28/00 The fish are biting with the cooler weather and it's sure more comfortable than the 100 degree days we had in August and early September. I have not had any reports of big bass but the activity is picking up. Early morning and evening with top water and spinners has been good. The crappie are picking up but they are still in 20-30 ft. water.
10/02/00 Well it was sure windy this past weekend, even by Lake Alan Henry standards. The brave soles that got out and tried were disappointed by only catching small blacks and small crappie, it's got to get better. It may take a weather change to really kick off the fall and a rain to put some oxygen in the water. Keep your fingers crossed. capt'n mike
10/10/00 Fishing should be good this coming weekend. If we get a thunderstorm as predicted, ha ha. It sure would be nice to get some oxygen in the water that would help. This past weekend there were 3 bass tournaments and the biggest bass was a little over 5# but it was in a private tourney. The biggest in the Big Spring Open tourney was 3.71# a little disappointing but the weather was terrible and the wind blew all weekend. There was a 8# boated Friday, that's the best I heard of for the week. capt'n mike
10/16/00 Well the fish are biting. I have had good reports all week, the bass are starting to come around {water temp is 67 to 69 degrees}. The crappie are biting at about 20ft during the day and responding to lights at night at about 10ft. or less. The crappie house has been good but not many keepers. Catfish are responding to chummed holes. It is a good time to go fishing. capt'n mike
10/27/00 Well here we are, what promised to be a great fall fishing season is down the drain so to speak. With the on going fight between Lubbock and the owner of the mineral rights in question and the resent flood that has caused and 11-1/2 ft. rise in the lake it may be time to go hunting. Now we are in jeopardy of polluting a great lake and still nothing has been solved. I wrote and editorial about it in May and no one seemed to care, and probably there was nothing anybody could do. What a shame, now that it has happened maybe something will be resolved. That is the way the game is played in our system. For myself and all you fishermen who love Lake Alan Henry, lets hope that the thing now gets resolved before next year. We may still have a chance this year but as of today fishing is terrible. Remember Capt'n Mike told you so!~ Capt'n Mike
11/06/00 The lake is still at record levels but it sure seems like the fish are trying to bite. I've had good reports on catfish and crappie. The bass are biting on plastic worms from dark to motor oil color. All the bass fishermen I talked to seem to be having pretty good luck. The biggest one reported was a little over 6 lb.. The catfish were biting on stink bait and perch. capt'n mike
11/13/00 Saturday they were biting, as the front was moving through but they slowed to a crawl on Sunday. As the temp rises this week we should see some better fishing. There were good reports Saturday on both bass and crappie, although the bass being reported were on the small size. There is a good article in today's Lubbock Avalanche Journal on the editorial page. I think the AJ has a good grasp of the situation concerning the lake. I as well as all Lake Alan Henry Supporters should get behind the AJ's stance that a slight chance of contamination is too great a risk and get this matter solved immediately. Thank you Avalanche Journal. capt'n mike
11/16/00 Well last evening there were no fishermen on the lake, I guess that says it all. Slow, slow, slow. capt'n mike
11/20/00 Sunday at 5pm there were 6 boats on the lake and 8 people fishing from the crappie house. One bass fisherman said he had landed a 19 inch Black Bass, on a plastic worm. The crappie house was active but all I saw being caught were small crappie. capt'n mike
11/27/00 A few good reports on bass refer to Fish Tales. I did not get to go to lake this week. capt'n mike
12/03/00 Sunday afternoon at 5pm there were not cars in the parking lot. I guess that says it. capt'n mike
12/20/00 Not much activity, few reports of good crappie but no bass reports. capt'n mike
12/27/00 Too cold for me and for everyone else. No one at the lake, the area just got a good snow, that should be the makings for a beautiful spring. Grubbs Bait is closed till spring, so get your supplies before you get to the lake. capt'n mike
Please practice catch and release!
Send me your lake stories and we will pass them on. Captain Mike at Cap't Mike gobler@caprock-spur.com
e-mail to Cap't Mike gobler@caprock-spur.com
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