Pickwick 3-24-26-2011

Sometimes I hate to blog. Was looking forward to meeting my brother-in-law, John, and fishing Pickwick. All reports were that it was ready to break wide open. But, of course, a front whistled through on Wednesday. Thursday was cold but with a really high wind. When we put in I noticed that one of my runners had come loose.

We fished in Yellow Creek anywhere that wind would allow which was mostly nowhere. We decided to go out of Yellow Creek across the lake. Hah! The mouth of the Creek was rolling, and I mean big rollers. Looked like a caravan of cruisers had just gone through but none in sight. The wind was building monster rollers. Not really wanting to get drenched, (we didn't have our storm clothes on) we turned back and fished in the Creek. I caught 1 dink and 1 2 lb on a lizard and gave up about 3 pm.

Friday morning was 34 and fairly calm. We zipped over to Dry Creek and got Zero bites. We fished sand and gravel points from just above the islands to Panther Creek. Couple of nibbles, no fish. Fished in Panther. No bites. Wind has now picked up to just under gale force. Crossed the lake and fished a couple of coves on the opposite bank. A phenomenon that I have never figured out. No matter what direction the wind is coming from, it will follow you into any protected cove or cut. We finally gave it up again about 3 pm. We did have a great steak at the Country Squire in Iuka while we licked our wounds from the day.

The rain started about 1 am. When we got up at 5:30 am our decision as to whether fish in the lake or go to the river was made. With a hard downpour and cold we said,"Nawwww". Had our coffee and tenderloin biscuits and drove to State line ramp and then to State Park ramp to see if the big tournaments had put in. Only 3 trailers at one ramp and none at the other. Apparently the tournaments had canceled. There had been a lot of lightning earlier. We were vindicated and decided we were not TOO wimpy.

Several boat issues came up. The runner was tied up with rope for a temporary fix. Noted I still have a leak in the bilge probably from a pump or line. The auto bilge float is stuck again. Requires the manual bilge to pump out a couple of gallons of water. A slight leak of oil from somewhere. Idle set too high makes shifting hard. The joys of boat ownership.

Very disappointing fishing but a very satisfying visit with John.

Bill

Percy Priest 3-17-2011

Well after Toledo Bend, it is back to reality. In other words, back to Percy Priest. As usual I found it very tough. Only caught 1 dink. Lost 3 others that were hooked up and miraculously escaped. I fished Shad Raps, Red Eye Shad, Jerk bait, Speed Worm, Carolina Rigged Fluke, Square-Billed 1.5 crank bait and a jig. With all the hype I thought the Square-Bill was automatic. Also thought the Shad Rap was king on Priest. Water temp ranged from 52 to 57. Wind ranged from 10-15 to 20-25. I fished bluffs, rock flats, mud flats, points, coves, islands, ditches and anything else I could find. Got checked by a Wild Life Resource fish census taker. Embarrassed with a big zero at the time. I think I need a refresher course from Rob.
At least there were no alligators.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Toledo Bend March 2011

It was classic "you should'a been here the last two weeks; we killed 'em". We spoke to several locals on the water and this was the consistent story.

Eight of us left Memphis on Sunday, March 7 for Toledo Bend Lake on the border of Louisiana and Texas. We arrived around 2:30 pm and were on the lake by 3. My partner, Doyal Brown, and I fished in an area called Clear Creek after idling through a dense stump field for about 1/2 a mile. Doyal had 3 and I had 2.  Before I continue, let me say that Doyal smoked me this week and it was not voluntary on my part.

Monday was cold (28*) and dreary after a front. Doyal had 6 mostly on lizards and I had 2, on a fluke and Excalibur One Knocker. Doyal had a 3lb, I had a 2 1/2.

Phil with 6.15

Doyal with a 3 lb

Alligator in Hogpen Branch

Tuesday dawned a rainy morning. We donned our storm clothes and slogged on. Today looked grim but turned out to be our best day of the trip. Doyal wound up with 23 while I scratched out 10, D on lizards and flukes and I with flukes.

The strong front came in that night leaving Wednesday cold with high blue skies. D continued with the lizard, still C rigged and had 8. I think he had a couple on a spinner bait. I had 2 on a fluke with a 3 1/4 which turned out to be our big fish. Thursday, same cold morning and blue bird sky. Same song, second verse. D had 8 and I had 3.

Friday morning, 29 degrees on the way to the launch. We have fished every day in an area called Indian Mounds. It is an usual area with humps, flats, ditches with a few creeks coming in. We have fished mostly in a creek called Hogpen Branch, a stump filled slough 4 to 7 feet deep with the creek channel a few feet deeper winding side to side with some humps with a few inches of water on them. We went to the very back every day and caught a few fish in very shallow water, 6" to 3 feet.

Did I mention the alligators? We saw 3 in this creek, one huge 10-12 feet, one about 6 feet and one about 3 feet. I as estimating because I couldn't get Doyal to measure them up close. We also had at least 3 bald eagles soaring and fishing in our area every day. Of course we saw the usual great blue herons, white herons, king fishers, buzzards and other birds. Also, there were large numbers of Nutrias all over this area. I suppose the alligators appreciate their presence. Anyway, Friday morning we explored a different area in Houchens Creek with little luck. Half a day later we went back to Hogpen. Did I mention the wind blew 20 mph with gusts to 30. I spanked Doyal this day 5 to 3. I switched to a SpeedWorm for this impressive performance.

Four of our crew returned to Memphis on Saturday, while four remained for more abuse from the wind. Instead of gusts of 30 mph it just came steady that way. Doyal returned to his unrelenting dominance reeling in 5 to my 4. Doyal had approximately 5-6 3 pounders for the week but I did have the 3 1/4 and these were weighed fish. Of course we lost, or broke off several fish most of them 6-9 pounds. One of our cabin mates did have a 6#15. he said he bounced the scale vigorously but it just would not register 7. One other of our crew caught a 5#14 and there were several other 4s caught. The 8 of us caught 317 fish in 5 1/2 days all returned to grow larger for next year.

We did have a great trip, good fellowship, good food and fair fishing considering the 2 fronts, cold nights and very high winds. Doyal, Phil, Maurice, Calvin, Mike, Jim, Roger and Bill enjoyed our trip.