Percy Priest 4-19-16

Percy Priest - 4-19-2015

Couldn't stand it any longer. Headed to the lake today for the first time to launch my boat since early October. My knee from surgery in November is still giving me fits. I have also been tending to Jo Anne who had knee replacement 3 weeks ago. So yeah I was ready for the lake. As I suspected the ramp parking lot was full at Stewart Creek. The lake is lower than I have seen It but I got the boat launched. The question was would it start after sitting up over 6 months. Cranked on the first turn of the key. Thank you for noethanol gas.

Fished the exposed boulders in ski boat cove off Stewart Creek with no hits. Moved back in to Stewarts. I have been throwing a chartreuse and white Chatter bait, a 1.5 Squarebill and a Speed worm. No hits. Cranked up and headed up lake to the convergence of Fall Creek, Spring Creek and the Stones River. Fished a bluff bank and caught a goggle eye on a baby D Bomb. Motored into Fall Creek and fished some exposed boulders. Finally caught my first and only bass, about 1.5 pounds. Caught on a Chatter Bait and had a couple of more hits but no hookups.  

Headed back to the ramp with all the boats putting in and taking out took a while to get loaded. With my bad knee found myself in a couple of awkward positions when I couldn't move but finally loaded up and headed for home.

Kentucky Lake May 30, 201

Kentucky Lake - may 30, 2015

Tournament day. Early, early start. Left Franklin at 3:50 am heading for New Johnsonville. Stopped in Buffalo for gas in the boat then on to Waverly. Stopped at the One Stop for a sausage biscuit then onto the N J ramp. Met Carl, my co fisherman at the ramp, loaded up and launched the boat. Only 3 boats for the club today. After prayer by Noah, we left at first light.

I went directly to Racetrack Hollow where Doyal and I caught several last week. Back in the pocket to the left Carl caught 3 and I lost one. Fished on around the creek but I still whiffed, not completely since I had a couple of non-keepers. Next moved to Little Dry Creek and again fished the left side where Carl caught another keeper and I lost a nice one or at least he felt nice. We moved out on a ledge, marked some fish, dropped a marker buoy and started fishing. Nada. With current and wind lost track of the buoy (and the fish). Finally gave up on the ledge and headed back to Racetrack. My old club from Memphis was also fishing a tournament here today. I kept thinking I would see Doyal in this creek but did not. I wound up catching 4 keepers on this trip around all on a Zoom Speed Worm. Headed back toward the ramp. Fished a while in the bay around the ramp. Carl picked up a keeper but I couldn't finish my limit. Duke won the tourney with over 10 lbs. He also had a 3 lb 15 oz big fish. Duke and Corey found a hump that produced several nice fish. Spoke with Doyal and they did not do well either.

May 22, 2015 Kentucky Lake

This is my first trip to Kentucky Lake this year. Met my friend Doyal Brown from Memphis at 6:30 am at the New Johnsonville ramp. The beginning of this trip was challenging as we were fogged in still at this late hour. We motored out the canal to the river channel where it was obvious we could not run the river. We couldn't even see the bridge through the dense fog so turned to the bank on the left and fished several hundred yards without a bite. The fog finally lifted and we motored down to the old abandoned factory. Fished that corner and down the bank both close in as well as out near the channel ledge but again no bites. Just downriver was a creek I think is called Racetrack Hollow. We fished the cove on the north side and began to pick up a few fish on plastic, zoom Speed worm. Moving deeper into the main creek we ran out of bites. On the way back out the creek picked up a nice 2.75 bass on a jig. Next stop was Little Dry Creek. Picked up one or two here but the bite was slow.

Starting back toward the ramp we stopped over in Trace Creek. I think we caught one or two here. From there we headed back to put the boat on the trailer. All In all this was a slow day, perhaps because the cold front that morning. Saw temps as low as 38 degrees on the way. Our final total was 7 for me and 6 for Doyal or 13. Several were in the 2# range with only a couple of dinks. We had a nice buffet dinner at the Summer Oasis a couple miles on 70 toward Waverly. Still a satisfying day.

May 2-7

May 2-7

Saturday, May 2, Cumberland Bassmasters tournament launched at 5:40 out of Long Hunter ramp on Percy Priest. My partner for the day was Carl Appelt. We started out near Hong Kong Island with top water baits and buzzbaits. Got  2-3 blowups on the buzzbait but no hookups. Fished Mousetail, Raccoon and Bear Islands. Carl spanked me good with a T-rig lizard. I stubbornly stayed with a Centipede. We both had club limits but he caught several more than me. Stubbornness is not an attribute.

Left the next morning with Jack Neal for Guntersville. Fished the afternoon in an area called Murphy Hill in grass patches. Jack caught 4 and I had 2, a portent for what was coming. Monday, after a great tenderloin biscuit at Waterfront store, we started where we left off but found the fishing slow. Motored over to the area called Mountain Islands. As we moved into the back of a pocket we discovered a pattern that worked well for next few days. We fished emerging, small lily pads in shallow 1-3 feet deep water. Jack was using a T-rig Missile Baits D Bomb while used the Centipede. The D Bomb worked better. We then went back to the Murphy Hill area that had 5 different pockets each with pads fields. Jack caught 14 while I had 5. Most of the fish were 2-3.5 with at least a couple at 4 pounds. On Tuesday I finally woke up to a better bait for the pattern we found and switched to a Zoom Speed Worm and improved my catch. I caught 7 and Jack had 6 until 2:00 pm. That's when I hit a stump with my engine. We could idle only. Took one solid hour to idle to the ramp. I am certain we would have caught at least 10 more. However the boat has us grounded. 

There were 4 other guys with us on the trip (2 boats). They invited us fish with them 3 in a boat. Otherwise Jack and I would have had to leave. I fished with Roger and Mike while Jack fished with Doyal and Bill. I shared the pattern Jack and I discovered the days before. We totaled 40 bass 2-4 lbs with the best one caught by Roger at 5.5. Jack and I headed back to Franklin on Thursday having enjoyed an excellent fishing trip (other than the engine problem, a bent prop shaft).

Percy Priest 4-21-2015

Percy Priest 4-21-2015

My fishing partner, Clay Sistrunk and I got to the lake at the Long Hunter ramp about 8:00 am. We headed down lake to Smith Springs to a favorite bank. It was quite cool this morning with a high blue sky. The water had come up rapidly to near summer pool. I as surprised with how few trailers were in the parking lot. Made me wonder if the bite had slowed down. It has. We didn't get a bite on this bank. Next headed over to raccoon island. Fished the channel side around the stumps but again no results. Moved over to the next island Bear Island. By now the wind had come up pretty strong. We moved into a nice size pocket on the island. Clay quickly got a nice bite but didn't connect. Moved all the way around the pocket with a dink or two. Finally caught a keeper size bass on a centipede on a light Carolina rig. We reversed our trail to work back through the pocket (mainly to stay out of the wind). I felt a hard tug on the rod when a nice Smallie catapulted into the air. After a spirited fight Clay netted an 18" smallmouth. About 10 minutes later I caught another 16" Smallie. Finished our round on the pocket and motored across the lake into Suggs Creek. Fished a cove on the right side then the point of the next cove. From here we fished the YMCA cove. Next stop was first cove if coming out of Four Corners. We now moved to the bank leading up to the LaVergne pump house. Clay hooked into the Loch Ness monster. We never saw it before it came unhooked but it was very powerful, diving under the boat several times. We are pretty sure it was a big catfish or drum. Still wishing we could have just seen it. Fished on around the pump house and the cove just beyond it and finally pulled the plug and headed for the dock. I had a total of 7 bass with 3 keepers all on the centipede. The biggest surprise was not getting a single bite on a Squarebill or a jerk bait. Clay had 1 bass on a paddle tail worm but had several bites. The bass just didn't seem to commit. Had an enjoyable trip on a very nice but windy day.

Percy Priest April 8, 2015

Percy Priest April 8, 2015

Wednesday looked to be a nice day so I couldn't resist heading to the lake. The water is warming rapidly and fish are up shallow. Rains this week may have muddied things up.

Got to the lake at 8:30 am. I know, I know. I just didn't feel like getting up early, especially going alone. I have probably launched my boat a few hundred times. I have a long rope with spring hooks on each end. Hook one end to the bow hook and the other to the trailer. Back the trailer, float the boat, pull it in, tie it to the dock. One problem, the hook on the trailer wasn't secure. You got it. My boat drifted out in the middle of the cove about 100 yards away. No other boats putting in or taking out while I stand there red faced. Not crazy about swimming. Noticed a couple of old codgers (like me) fishing about 50 yards down from the ramp. I walked down and asked if they could help me to my boat. After they got through laughing they said sure. They picked me up and dropped me on my boat so I went fishing after thanking the guys profusely.

I went straight to Sister Cove after noting the water was up a couple of feet since last week. No bites here. Also no baitfish were evident. Next stop was Jones Mill where I caught a couple last week. Didn't see near as much baitfish but I was optimistic. Finally had 2-3 good bites but the fish didn't seem to be committing. Finally caught a nice keeper on guess what...a Squarebill. Time for a confession. Last week I said was using an Oyster color Squarebill. I was wrong. It was one of the many varieties of Sexy Shad.  Sorry if you went out looking for an Oyster. Not positive it comes in a Squarebill. I couldn't find one. I do use that color in a Red Eye Shad. Caught a couple of shorts (small bass) and a couple of small white bass. 

Decided to head for the rivers. Stopped in a flat that is often productive but it was pretty off color. When I got to the confluence of the 3 rivers it was like chocolate milk. Went into Spring Creek and discovered pretty clear water maybe a quarter of a mile up. Went into the first of two coves on the right. Again I had several bites without hookups until I finally caught another keeper and then a second. Worked my way into the second larger cove. As I worked my way toward the rocky point where I caught the six pounder, anther boat came into the cove and made a beeline for the rocky point in front of me. Rude but I don't think they knew any better. Fished out that cove with no more bites. Moved on up Spring Creek fishing likely looking spots. Finally picked one more keeper in the creek. The water in the previous coves was 65-67. All these fish were in 2-3 feet around rocks.

Decided it was time to head in. Fished one more quick spot in Stewart's Creek but no more bites. Loaded the boat uneventfully and headed home by 3:00. The water for the most part was dingy, muddy in the river, clear up in Spring. Did not go into Fall Creek. The Stone was muddy. 

Percy Priest April 1, 2015

Percy Priest April 1, 2015

Jack Neal launched the boat around 7:30. This our first time to be out since last November so we are looking forward to enjoying a beautiful day. We put in at Stewart's Creek ramp with only few parking places left. Crappie season is going strong now.

We started in the back of Stewart's near the old boat ramp. Fished topwaters and Squarebills in the rocks and stumps but no action here. Next stop was in Sister Cove. No idea about the origin of the name. We sighted a group of gulls diving the water in a pocket on the north side. We fished our way to the spot and I caught a nice 14-15"  bass on an "Oyster" color 1.5 Squarebill. It proved to be the only bait I caught fish on today.

Next stop was Jones Mill. Don't know about that name either but a guy named Jones must have had a mill of some kind.  Saw lots of baitfish flipping all over. I picked up a couple of keepers here and lost another. Also caught a couple of nits and a drum around 2 lbs.

Motored up to the 3 rivers, turned left into Spring Creek. Ducked into the first big flat/bay on the right. Fished rocks and stumps before coming to real rocky point when my crankbait stopped. Uh oh hung on a rock. But then a beautiful egg laden bass catapulted into the air. Three more jumps and a couple of runs and Jack deftly netted her. She weighed 6 lbs 5 oz, my best in several years.

Caught a couple more keepers and some small white bass in Fall Creek and Stones River. The strangest was a rather small sunfish that attacked the Squarebill and hooked himself. We headed back toward the ramp with a stop in Lamar Hill area. Caught one in here.

Endured a traffic jam at the ramp but soon we were trailered and headed for Franklin.

Boat issues and Toledo Bend

Feb 28-Mar 7

I know... It's been a long time between blog posts. Lots of reasons not the least of which is pure laziness. But I shall attempt to resume these sometimes painful, sometimes joyous discourses. 

Last fall I had a series of events that kept me off the water. My trailer bunks or runners had to be replaced. That accounted for some of the downtime. That trip to my dealer resulted in his advice to have work done on my trailer brakes. Next stop a trailer repair shop not far from my home. I guess the parts needed for my repair took a while to arrive. My boat stayed in their yard for 3 weeks. Finally got it back and I went to the lake for a short trip. Must not to have caught much because I don't even remember it. By then we are deep into November. I took several days off volunteering for Operation Christmas Child as I have for the last several years.

Now the episode occurs. I finally came across a deal for a GPS/sonar unit at Academy. It is a Humminbird 998 hd si for $899. Regular price (and anywhere on the net) was $1299. This does 2d sonar, down imaging and side imaging with an 8 inch screen.  Bought a side arm mount and a Navionics chip. The transducer is a rather long 4-5 inches and must be mounted on the transom so I decided to have my boat dealer, Riverside Marine, install it. Back on the water with my new unit but curses...no sonar. Tried all the menus but no sonar. Humminbird service said it may be the transducer, send it in. I uninstalled it, sent it in but was soon notified the transducer was tested and found to be OK. Service suggested I send the head unit in. After paying exorbitant rates to UPS to pack send to Service. They shortly responded that there was no problem with the unit. They returned it for some unknown reason with another transducer. I went back to Riverside to maybe moving the location of the transducer. Before remounting we decided to connect the transducer that was sent back with the unit and surprise it worked as it should. They exchanged the bad transducer for the good one. Problem solved. Only got on water once in January for a couple of hours but the 998 worked. 

Now you know what kind of weather we have had in February and March so I haven't been fishing until...March 2. 

February 28 found me traveling to Memphis to meet up with my fishing partner Doyal Brown. Spent the night and met our friends, Phil and Maurice at 6 the next morning to begin our annual trip to Toledo Bend, a huge lake on the Texas/Louisiana border. After a 7-8 hour drive we checked into the Bridge Bay cabins resort on the LA side. Monday, the 2nd was quite chilly with a high in the 40s. The wind was not too bad. The water was 48-49*. Doyal caught 5 bass 1.5 to 4 lbs on Carolina rig with a Rattlesnake plastic bait. I was blanked. Not a very auspicious start.

Tuesday brought a little change to the weather. Although cool to start the temp rose to 74. Doyal continued to school me with the rattlesnake. He caught 8 while I had 2. One of mine was a near 4lb. As that Wendy girl says "now that's better". Doyal also caught a 6-8 lb catfish method and lure to remain private. Wednesday looked much better with temp coming up to 77 with mild winds. Doyal couldn't make magic with his rattlesnake today but I hit pay dirt with my favorite plastic bait the Zoom SpeedWorm. Didn't take Doyal long to make the switch (unlike me not changing to the rattlesnake) to the SpeedWorm. We each caught 9 for a total of 18. We each lost at least one and we each had a break off. Mine was surely an 8 pounder. If you don't see it, it can be as big as you want. Might have been 9. 

Thursday was forecast to be 27 with a high of 34 with winds 20-30. We wisely decided to have a leisurely breakfast and spend the day at the cabin. After seeing the 4 foot waves on the lake we knew we made the right decision. Friday was cold about 30 but expected to go up to 51. The front really put the bass down but we did catch 2 each. 

You may wonder why we didn't throw crankbaits, lipless and square bills and jerk baits as well as spinnerbaits. The grass was very thick but coots had been so active in pulling up grass that strands of grass were floating everywhere. Most fish were caught in 2-4 feet of water with a few in 4-8 feet. We had a total of 37. Not great but last year we only had 14. We are reserved for a week later next year hoping for better weather. 

Percy Priest June 20, 2014

Percy Priest June 20, 2014

Four AM came rather early this day before Summer begins, never mind it's been in the 90's all week. Pulled my cover off the boat and spread it out in my garage to dry the dew off. My next door neighbor's son, Austin Sistrunk was right on time at 4:30. Austin is a rising Junior on baseball scholarship at Lipscomb University. He has always fished but in the past few months he has fallen in love with bass fishing. I feel sorry for him. 

We headed out for Percy Priest after making that well known stop at Hardee's. Have to get Austin started right. We were on the lake at 5:30 and head down lake for Smith Springs. As we arrived the bay was alive with feeding fish blowing up. I picked up a topwater popper and got a strike on the first cast. Missed the fish and then did not get another topwater strike the rest of the day. Austin and I began to try a number of lures and presentations. The fish which we determined were white bass seemed to be feeding on a very small bait fish. We finally picked up a couple of white bass each on tiny grubs. It is really frustrating to have fish blowing up all around us and not have them easy to catch.

I had read a report from the day before that bass were schooling every morning from 7-8 am in Hamilton Creek. Now that is a big creek and they didn't say exactly where. Suffice it to say we didn't find any bass schooling. We did see a few white bass but couldn't entice them to bite. From there we fished Raccoon Island but no bass. Back to Smith Springs around the sailboat marina. Austin and I picked up 2 or 3 bream but no bass. Moved into  YMCA cove. Austin got a sunfish, no bass. Evidently the bass are on strike. Next stop was the cove to the left after the Hobson bridge. Moved back into a pocket where I have had some consistent success. Caught a nice 1.5 pound smallmouth on a baby brush hog.  Few minutes later caught another one but smaller. Next stop was the island in Savage Creek. I seldom fail to catch one or more bass here. This was one of the seldoms. We then moved to Bryant's Grove. No bass here either at least that we could persuade to bite. Loaded out about12:30 and headed for home. I really enjoyed fishing with Austin. I am disappointed I couldn't put him on some bass but they have moved deeper and I just don't have any good deep spots. He is going to be an excellent fisherman. 

Percy Priest/Stones River 6-4-2014

Percy Priest/Stones River June 3, 2014

I had an argument with myself this morning, in bed, between 5:45 and 6:15, go fishing or roll over. I did decide to hitch up and headed to Jefferson Pike ramp on the Stones river. Began at the flat near the confluence of the Spring, Fall and Stones with topwater baits. Caught 12" bass on a popper (Yellow Magic). After a while I caught 15" on a pencil popper on a great blow up. If I had not hooked up I would have sworn it was a 6 pounder. Went back over the area with a buzz bait. Got a couple of good blow ups but the bass threw the hook. I put a trailer hook on but no more strikes. I began to work a Squarebill on the main point when I saw a strange sight. A great blue heron was floating on the water when it flew up and then down in a splash on a cluster of shad. I began to cast in the area and got a terrific strike on my crank bait. Turned out to be a White bass about 1.25 pounds. They are so much fun to catch so I was in pursue mode. Caught another freight train about the same size and I was prepared to stay with the school. But apparently there was only two in the school....or they moved. I caught no more. 

Fished on up Spring Creek with a Carolina rig with a Baby Brush Hog. Picked up a few bass. Reversed and headed back up the Stones and caught a couple of more. Next stop was the inevitable East/West Fork. Caught 4 around the island last week. Didn't get a bite today. Fished my way back to the ramp by 1:00. Total catch 7 bass and 2 White bass. Not terrible but still disappointing. 

Percy Priest 5-30-2014

Percy Priest 5-30-2014

Got a late start today, on the lake at 7:45 at Jefferson Springs ramp on the Stones river. First stop was at the chute near the pumping station. On my third or forth cast with a popper called Yellow Magic, I had a nice blow up. Not a big fish but a nice start. Moved on up the lake making various stops. Missed a couple of more top water strikes but caught a couple of more bass on a square bill and a lizard. Broke out the C-rig with a baby brush hog and caught a couple more. Continued up the river fishing a point and flat still catching some on the C-rig. Finally retraced my route and went up the Stones to the East/West fork. Caught 4 bass on lizards and brush hogs around the island at the fork. Wound up the day here with a total of 10 bass for the day. Not a great day but nice to get my line stretched a little. The best of the day was about 1.75 with several over one pound. Off the lake at 2:30.

West Point Lake 5-20-2014

West Point Lake, Georgia 5-20-2014

My wife and I visited friends of nearly 70 years in Fayetteville, Georgia about 25 miles south of Atlanta. It has been many years since Carlyle and I have fished together so we were determined to go fishing. We headed out Tuesday morning for West Point Lake near La Grange, Ga. The lake was quite high and very murky. Neither of us knew anything about the lake. We even went Google Earth to find a ramp.  Caught a couple of small bass and that is the story of West Point. I think it would be fun to fish if the lake were in better shape

Chickamauga Lake

Chickamauga Lake May 4-8

Four friends from Memphis met Jack Neal and I at my house on Sunday about noon. Doyal Brown, Ron Taylor, Bill Caldwell and his son Todd Caldwell, Jack and I had lunch before heading to the Chick. We arrived in about three hours and examined our accommodations at Island Cove Marina and Resort near Harrison Bay on the lake. We had hoped to fish Sunday afternoon but it didn't work out after we examined the ramp and the parking situation wasn't great. We decided to launch at a public ramp a couple of miles away in Wolftever Creek. 

We launched at 6 am Monday without having a clue where to fish. Jack and I decided to fish the Creek. Fished some banks but looked for some flats hoping there were some spawners. We finally caught a few bass and Jack even picked up a couple of crappie on a crank bait. We then checked out a dockside restaurant named appropriately the Dockside Restaurant and had lunch. After lunch we found a creek or cove that looked promising. Jack immediately lost a nice bass on a modified umbrella rig. We caught a couple of bass in here then went into an adjacent cove. Found Doyal and Ron had had a little more success than us. Doyal had landed a 4.5 bass. We decided to meet at Dockside at 5 for dinner. Doyal called Bill and Todd to tell them. For the day we only caught 6 bass and the two crappie. The other guys had similar catches. Todd even had a nice smallmouth.

The next day was similar but we only had 5 bass. What we had learned from a local and a TWRA officer was that most of the bass had just come off the spawning beds and were recuperating (read, not feeding). The other guys did pretty much the same. On Wednesday Jack caught a bass on a topwater and I picked up a fish on a lizard both before the lights were off on the boat. Looked to be a great day. Not! Jack caught one more later in the day. I finally caught a 3.2 on a lizard and concluded our catches for the trip. Doyal and Ron had a better day but Bill and Todd had a slow day also. We had breakfast on Thursday and headed for our respective homes.

In summary, Chickamauga is a beautiful lake and have no doubt it is a great bass lake. We had no knowledge of the lake and we hit the early post spawn so it was disappointing in the catch but we truly had a great time together. 

Percy Priest 4-19-2014

Percy Priest 4-19-2014 Cumberland Tournament

Met John Ariazi at the ramp and prepared to launch at 6:15 am. We had 4 boats today and eagerly looked forward to a beautiful day to fish even with the high winds. John is a rising Junior at the University of Chattanooga. I headed for the spot in Smith Springs where Clay and I had caught several bass on a particular stretch of bank a week ago. John caught a 11 1/2 inch bass on his second cast and I thought, great, they are still here. Alas that was false hope and we didn’t get another bite there.  Looped around to sailboat cove but again there were 3 boats in that spot protected from the wind.  Motored around to Raccoon Island to fish the stump field but again no cooperation from the fish. Next stop was YMCA cove. Worked our way back toward the docks when John picked up our first keeper. I believe it was on a T-rig Brushhog. A few minutes later in front of the dock I caught a nice keeper on the Centipede. Moved from there to the marina area of Smith Springs and we each caught a couple of more keepers. Fishing our way down the bank toward Chigger Point I caught another nice keeper. From there we went to Party Cove (picturesque names, huh) but could not raise a bite here. Next stop was the long cove to left after going under the Hobson bridge going toward the dam. I think the name is ski boat cove for the slalom buoys located here. In the back of a tiny pocket, I caught a 19” bass here weighing 3lb 11 oz on the chart.Good enough for big fish of the tourney. We made another stop at the island in Savage Cove again where Clay and I had caught several the week before but not today. One more stop in the pocket right before going into Hurricane Creek but no bass bites. With about 7-8 minutes before weigh in and 5 minutes from the ramp, I hooked something really big. I could not turn it nor raise it but I could feel the throb of his tail. It did not make a blazing run but made a slow semicircle. As I tried to raise it, I felt it hang in a brush pile, then, yes, it was gone so I broke off and sped toward the ramp. Pretty sure it was a big catfish. 

I missed my limit but I finished second in the boater category with 9.88. And I did win big fish of the tournament. Good day. 

Percy Priest 4-10-2014

Percy Priest 4-10-2014

Sorry it has taken so long to get this report out. Next door neighbor, Clay, and I got to Percy Priest around 9 am, launched and headed up lake to Raccoon Island. Fished square bills, chatter baits and plastic in the stump fields. No bites. Checked out sailboat cove but a couple of boats beat us to it. The wind was really high and gusting. We moved to Smith Springs and a spot that held several fish. I was catching fish on a mojo rigged Centipede while Clay was picking up bass on a Spot Remover jig with a Smoke colored grub. We then went to a spot outside Suggs Creek that Clay knew from Crappie fishing. Caught a few more here. Next was the island in Savage Creek. We finished here with a few more, all caught on the same baits. We wound up with 18 bass caught and a goodly number of bites missed because of the wind. We really enjoyed the day. 

Percy Priest March 20 & 22

March 20 and March 22

Well, this will be a two for one report. I launched at Percy Priest at 9 am on Thursday to check out my boat and do some pre fishing before our club tournament on Saturday. I fished square bill crankbaits, DT 6, lipless cranks and a chatterbait with no bites. I hit several spots fishing shallow to mid depths. I also fished a finesse jig with a smoke colored grub on the bluffs. The water temp was 48-53. Finally around 1:30 pm I figured out a little deal, catching a keeper on a mojo rig with a centipede. Quickly caught another and then lost one. Mmmmm. Pulled out about 3:00 pm. 

Saturday...tournament time for the Cumberland Bassmasters. My boatmate for our tourney is Omar De Jesus, an excellent fisherman. We expected a crowded lake and got one. A BFL tournament out of Fate Sanders sent out 70+ boats. There were at least 30-40 boats out of our ramp, Long Hunter but Priest is a big lake and we found places to fish. We hit a small island down lake with cranks and spinnerbaits. Omar finally picked up a nice 16 1/4" bass on a spinnerbait. Headed over to a pocket near sailboat cove where Omar picked up a couple of more keepers on a Shad Rap. I am feeling a bit neglected by now and can't buy a bite. Went to couple of more spots near Smith Springs but no dice. We then headed for my ace in the hole, the cove to the left just past the Hobson Bridge going north. I finally caught a 16 1/2" keeper on the mojo rig with a centipede. Lost a couple of more. Next spot was an island near Four Corners Marina where we found a small group of fish. I caught 3 more and Omar got another. He kept the Shad Rap working while I continued with the Centipede. We migrated to a bank of shallow rocks again near Four Corners. With only 6 minutes left and a 4 minute ride to the ramp I made one last cast and hooked my final fish to make a limit.

Tyler had asked that each of us bring in a fish or two for a group picture to cheer his grandmother who is quite ill. Tyler was in first place with 13+ pounds and also had the big fish with a 4 1/2+ bass. I finished second with 8+ pounds and Omar was first in the non-boater category. It was really a nice day on the lake.

Toledo Bend March 4-9

Toledo Bend March 4-9

Not sure I want to write this one up. We were delayed starting for a couple of days. Instead of leaving for Memphis on Saturday, I left on Monday. And yes there was snow and ice on Monday. I waited until about 11:00 am to leave. Dodged a few icy spots but made it to Memphis OK and spent the night at my partner's home, Doyal Brown. As we prepared to leave Tuesday morning, there were reports of cars and trucks being stranded for 12 hours on I40 between West Memphis and Forest City, Arkansas. Since that was our route we had to change plans and go South down I55 to Jackson, MS the turn West. That worked great until a few miles East of Monroe, LA when we hit a two hour delay. Never knew why. Finally made it to Bridge Bay Cabins on Toledo Bend lake just in time for another cold front to arrive.

Phil and Maurice

Our cabin mates, Phil Robinson and Maurice Ladd, had arrived 2 days earlier. On Sunday afternoon they caught 9 bass in only 2 1/2 hours. Monday they caught 6 in about 2 hours when the cold drove them in. Doyal and and I laid on many layers of clothing on Wednesday and fished hard and caught 1 bass. Thursday more of the same, cold but at least the wind was not too bad. Doubled our catch, 2 bass. Friday's weather was a little bit better with some sunshine warming the water. We caught 7 and lost a few more. All were in the 2 1/2 - 3 lb range. Saturday's weather reverted back to heavy cloud cover and dozens of boats fishing in our area. We caught 4 bass today. Phil and Maurice had similar results to us if not worse, one day getting skunked. This was our worst week of fishing in years on this trip. We marked lots of fish but suspended and mostly unwilling to bite.

Doyal with a funky spinnerbait

But the disappointment was not over. One of the highlights of this trip is having boiled crawfish one night but the cold has limited supply so we missed. It will take Doyal weeks to recover. But we thought at least we could get some great Texas brisket at a BBQ joint that we like. Yep, it was temporarily closed for repairs. 

Headed back home on Saturday but at least no drama other than riding nearly 700 miles.

Me with one of the few

Tim's Ford February 6, 2014

Tim's Ford February 6, 2014

Words cannot describe how cold it was on Tim's on Thursday. The temp never got above 28 degrees. I had been watching forecasts for Winchester for several days and most had the temp 37-41. The forecasts lied.

This trip had been planned for several months. My friend, Doyal Brown, drove up from Memphis to fish and then go to the Nashville Fishing and Boating Show. The last three years we have gone to Dale Hollow so this year we decided to fish Tim's Ford, one day with a guide and the next in my boat. So I booked a cabin at Tim's Ford Marina and Mid-South Bass Guides, Jake Davis on Thursday. Jake has an excellent reputation at Guntersville and Tim's Ford. We got to Tim's Wednesday afternoon, checked in and drove to Winchester to the Oasis Steak House for dinner. 

Thursday morning, 28 degrees, we layered up for the cold. We figured Jake would get a laugh at our outfits, me in my Santa suit, Doyal in a green frog suit. We were so layered we looked pregnant.  The water temp on the main lake was 38 so Jake moved back in one of the small creeks to find warmer water, 43-44 degrees. His side imaging electronic unit showed several big clouds of shad. He had us using a small smoke colored grub on a Spot Remover shaky head jig. Jake used a T-rig D-Bomb. 7 hours later none had a single bite. The problem...shad dying all over lake, thousands of gulls feasting while the bass had easy, natural bait drifting down. We were very pleased with our guide. It was simply circumstances, the shad kill, that hurt our day and of course the cold. We had planned to fish on Friday but with 24 degrees forecast and the lack of bites we decided...nawwww! We made our way back to Franklin. 

Saturday we picked up Jack Neal and went to Hardee's for breakfast. What, you expected someplace else? On to the Fishing show. It was great, many tackle vendors offering great deals, every body excited about the coming fishing season. I bought a spool of Vicious Pro Elite marked $15.99. They charged me $15 then told me to go pick up another spool free! Picked up a few more items, met a few friends and counted the day a success. Jack, Doyal and I chose the Cajun Steamer for a Cajun lunch. What a way to end this weekend. Doyal headed back to Memphis and I headed for the sofa. 

It was really disappointing not to catch some of those Tim's smallmouth but it was still a great trip. I can certainly recommend Jack Davis as a guide. He did a lot of the little things that make you appreciate him. He said the next two weeks will be tough at Tim's but then watch out. I hope to be on the lake then.

Percy Priest February 1, 2014

Percy Priest February 1, 2014

It's been a long time since I wrote one these reports. This isn't so much a fishing report as a boat report. My boat has not been in the water since late September when I hit the rock pile in Priest. I had over $4,500 worth of repairs. Since I have trip planned later this week to Tim's Ford, I wanted to be sure my boat was prepared. When I got to the ramp at Long Hunter, I saw that the water was very low but the ramp was OK and clear. However about 40 yards out was a band of ice. It was all shattered and sounded really strange when you got close to it, crinkling and cracking. The band was maybe 50 to 75 yards wide. After you idled through it the water was open to the channel. So, I decided to launch. 

The MOTOR STARTED and the BOAT FLOATED. Relief. 

After I let the motor warm up and put it on plane I headed down the lake looking for an optimum spot to fish. I noticed as I got out of the channel, many of the bays and flats were still iced over. Out on the main lake the wind was very hard to deal with. Finally ventured into party cove. It was partially iced over but I could fish here. I threw a jerk bait toward the shore and then at the edge of the ice out toward deeper water. About this time I noticed the water temp was 38.8 degrees. That is when I knew my chance of catching a fish was slim and none. I visited a few other spots observing the stumps, rocks and other cover exposed by the extremely low water. Tried a few more bays only to be turned back by ice. I should mention the air temp was in the 50s with sunshine but still very cold wind blowing. I was dressed warmly and could fish without gloves. After about 3 hours I had determined that the boat was in good shape so I decided to put it on the trailer.

Later this week my friend Doyal is coming up from Memphis. We will fish Tims Ford with a guide on Thursday, Feb. 6 hoping for big smallmouth. We will fish Friday in my boat. Saturday we will attend the Nashville Fishing and Boat show. 

Hopefully this will be great fishing year. 

Kentucky Lake 12-3-2013

Kentucky Lake 12-3-2013

Haven't been on the water since October so when Doyal called Sunday evening and said let's go fishing I was ready. We planned to meet at 7:30 am at the New Johnsonville ramp. We made our first stop at the factory cove where we found a school of short fish. We caught several on a DT 6 and a blade bait but couldn't find even a 12 incher. We moved on to the next creek (never can remember the name) where we continued to pickup a fish here and there. We caught them on red eye shad, 6xd, speed worm, Wiggle Wart, square bill, so you can tell we found the pattern. We did pick up several in the 2 to 2.5 lb range. Same results in the next creek Dry Creek. We finished the day with 20 bass with a few that jumped off as they always do. The water temp was 49-53 with a light wind. Not a terrible day for December the 3rd. We enjoyed a catfish dinner before we headed for our respective homes.

Now a word about my boat. As you will remember if you have followed my exploits in this space, I hit rocks in Percy Priest back in September. I damaged the prop, prop shaft, the skeg and a number of gouges in the fiberglass hull. It was out of commission for about 6 weeks. This expensive lesson cost almost $4500. On top of that, my 3 bank charger quit working. I don't think it came in contact with the rocks but when it rains it pours almost $500 worth. So I suppose the maiden voyage of the newly repaired BassCat will likely not take place until 2014.  

Thanks to all the ones I have shared a boat with. I have enjoyed fishing with you all even when the fish didn't always cooperate. Next year will be great.

I wish everyone the happiest of holidays including a blessed Christmas season.