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.