Float 'n Fly, Dale Hollow, Jan. 2011

Well, in my last post I said I would come back to Dale Hollow in January and so I did.

My friend, Doyal from Memphis, arrived in Franklin on Wednesday evening. We went out for Cajun Food at the Cajun Steamer on Carruthers. Up the next morning around 6 am defrosting 3 vehicles covered with snow or frost. I have to take all out of the driveway to remove my boat. Hooked up and headed for a local Waffle House for breakfast. (No, Jo Anne does not fix breakfast on fishing mornings or any other morning for that matter). After a great breakfast we ready to get on the road. However, when I cranked up and began to swing around to go out, the truck would not go, forward or backwards. A little message came up on the display, "Reduced Engine Power" an understatement if I ever heard one. After shutting down, I restarted and behold, we could move BUT the "check engine light" stayed on. That will put a damper in your trip plans. Walker Chevrolet was less than a mile away so we pulled in there and pulled into the service center, boat and all. Asked one of the service managers if they worked on outboard engines. Funny, he didn't even smile. I was on a first name basis with one of the service manager because of 2 recent visits with "check engine light" none like this recent but about $800 worth. Chris hooked up a computer and wisely said he couldn't pinpoint the problem but said it probably wouldn't happen again. Hah!! Nevertheless, we set out for Celina, Tn and Dale Hollow. BTW no additional trouble with the Suburban.

There was still a lot of snow on the ground Thursday. The further east we went on I40 the deeper the snow. We exited at Baxter, Hwy 56 going North. Still lots of snow until we came down the mountain to Gainsborough and there was no snow, not no remnants but no snow nor any in Celina. Even on the steep hills at Dale Hollow there was no snow which ruined any chance for a great backdrop picture to show how tough we were.

After arriving in Celina, we went to Dale Hollow One Stop, home of Punisher lures owned by Steven Headrick. We geared up with the proper floats and flies (actually beautifully tied tiny jigs). We discovered how one could take a .35 float, cut it in half and add a weight and turn it into a $2.50 float. Amazing. Steven was really very helpful and showed us some spots on the map to try and some tips on casting a F'nF.

We checked in at Horse Creek resort and talked to the manager Thomas. He as also very helpful and showed some spots on the map but told us very frankly how tough the fishing had been the last few days. We put our stuff in the room and headed to the launch around 12.

Fished very hard but it really takes an act of faith for a couple of Memphis boys (I use to live there) who are used to fishing in water with trolling motor kicking up mud to set in 30-40 of water chunking a rig with a fixed float and 10 feet of leader several yards out. But we were determined. Steven had told us to backcast until the jig hit the water behind us so it would load up the road on the forward cast. Tricky but we picked it up. After an hour or two Doyal made a cast when the jig or float or a passing woodpecker hit the tip of his rod and broke about 2 inches off. Now we are both used to having 10-12 rods in the boat so that usually isn't a huge problem until Doyal discovered I did not have a tip repair kit with glue stick and lighter. He only had one 10ft F'nF rod so he picked up traditional spinning rods and jig fished. Lot of noise about not having a tip kit.

Came in around 4 and headed to town to get a tip kit at One Stop. We then found a nice local cafe and had dinner. Ribeyes were tasty but chewy. We then discovered that AT&T cell phones have zero service in the area. Since I hadn't told my wife where we were staying that was in incovenience. I found a pay phone so I could call collect knowing that my wife would not answer a phone with a number she doesn't recognize and she didn't.  So back to the cabin at Horse Creek. By this time it is about 7pm, dark as pitch and we were the only ones staying here. .....and the key didn't work. We could not get in the room. There were other rooms unlocked but our stuff was in that one. Went across the street to a house that had lights on and asked for Thomas ?. Mitch answered the door and said just use a credit card and it will open. Duh! And it did. Thomas came by a few minutes later with a key and also allowed me to call home on his cell. It was an eventful day, fishless but eventful.

Friday, back to the cafe for breakfast and then to the lake. Again fished really hard (Doyal had repaired his rod) in some different places than Thursday but alas no bites. Did I mention we saw 0 boats on the lake Thursday and only 3 on Friday. The water temp was 42 on the main lake and we found a few places at 43-43.5 and one spot with 44 but no fish.

We were fortunate that the wind was light but it was still pretty cold on the water. Since both of us are over 70 we survived the cold pretty good although Doyal did say his face was cool at 4000RPM. I didn't notice with my balaclava and mask. Did have a little hitch in my engine when we were coming in. Have to check that out.

It was disappointing not to catch fish but we had a great time as we usually do when we fish together. And we will return and book a guide next year. We had a non-eventful trip home Friday afternoon.

We visited both fishing shows in Nashville Saturday. More on those later.