And that rock bank in Jones is also called "four pound alley" for bass. The hanging trees are sometimes good for crappie. About 6 years ago, I caught the biggest crappie of my life in there. It was before I started bringing a camera. It might have actually been the record. I swear it was that big. It barely fit in my huge net - it was one of those get the head in there jobs. I didn't have my live well filled. I looked at the fish, it looked at me -- and I put it back. It was one of those nature moments I will never forget.

It was still cold. A minute later this bass comes flying out of the water right about where I hooked the crappie, and I thought to myself, since it was the first jumping fish I saw all year, that it was my crappie going back to its bed to scare off the scavengers.

That's something else I'd like to share, now that I think about it. When I was little, fishing in the creek by our house every day, and also by this little bridge, we'd watch the fish. We learned a lot. The bass were cool to watch. They hunted like a pack of wolves.

Anyway, when the big brim were bedding, when you catch them, all those other fish that the fish you catch has been guarding that nest against, well those fish swarm in fast - real fast. It only takes a matter of seconds for them to get in there and take the goodies, of course depending on what stage of the spawn the fish is in. If you release said fish, you can bet it hurries back to the scene. It's that way with all of them. It's a jungle under the surface there.