I finally made a trip up to Banks Lake to check out the low water conditions. I wanted to see how much water was left in this big pond. There's plenty. I launched at Coulee Playland, and the ramp there is great.

There were a whole bunch of Bass boat there, too. There was a Bass tournament there recently and of the 21 boats that participated, all caught limits both days. I motored with caution down lake from Coulee Playland, through the channel past Jones Bay and out into the main lake at Northrup and around Steamboat. No problem.

I inched my way down very slowly, but was able to get back much faster, using my Lowrance and following the arrow that indicated my route south. The Bass boats were going by me full blast, as they had been running the channel all weekend and knew they had plenty of water along the route they charted earlier.

I did have time to make a few casts behind Steamboat and caught a nice largemouth, the first one ever for me on Banks. I talked to one of the other boats that was working the same shore and they were doing great, casting grubs. I got the largemouth on a Rapala perch pattern Shad Rap.