Anyone up for some winter time Bassin'

[Skipper]

Hey Guys,

Just wondering if anyone had any Florida or Texas trips planned in the next few weeks or possibly some float and fly up in the highlands.  Remember, Bassin' is a year round sport.  Around here, we fish 52 weeks a year.

Skipper

[Graybeard]

Welcome Skipper. Been a long time.

Not much action on this forum as I just opened it up a few days ago. Pulled a post off of the general fishing forum to start it off and have let it sit since.

Reckon it takes a while for folks to show up on a new forum like this. The more posts the more folks open to read and when they open and read some are gonna post.

GB

[1911crazy]

We fish all year up here in Ct. too the only difference is we have to drill holes first this time of year. I'm going fishing this weekend its going to be "0" degrees no ice in the cooler needed!!!!!!  I like it because nobody else is out there(most of the time)                   BigBill

The real fisherman never let the cold stop them, just like the real bikers I even ride in ice storms with studded tires on my dirtbike(street legal) its awesome I just laugh when I passby the local law inforcement and the harley riders(wanabe's) I love the cold weather what else of a choice do we have?? If i move I'm going to VT?

[ButlerFord45]

Right now we have three inches of snow on the roads and I can't get to the boat!  An escuse, I'm afraid the older I get the less tolerant of the cold I become.  I can deal with 40's and 50's, but right now I'm gonna hafta be content with sharpening my hooks and tying up a fly or two!

[Skipper]

Don't know what part of Kentucky you are from, but we have a little more than 3 inches in Corbin. :wink:

The first year the Corps came up with the ramp pass deal on Laurel it went into effect Jan 1st.  Well New Year's Day it was cold, icy, and generally a good day to be cleaning your reels.  Joel got the first ticket for launching without a pass.  He didn't figure they would be out checking the first day in 20 degree weather.  Wrong.  The Long arm of Smokey the Bear was on the job.

Skipper

[ButlerFord45]

  I'm in Columbia, this weather system followed our normal summer pattern.  It split at the west end of Green county and went around us!

[Skipper]

I guess that would make your home court Barren River Lake.  Been there.  It used to be a great fishery.  The last time I was there, it was a different story though.  Seems like something was wrong with the dam, and they had drained it to almost a puddle.  The fish sure wern't biting for us.  Seems like every Barren trip is an adventure.

One year we had a company trip to the state park lodge on the lake.  Of course most of them were golfing, but a few others and I didn't own a set of high priced turf diggers, so we went fishing.  We left out at 6 am.  At the time, I had a tin rig with a 40hp on it.  One of the locals out there said follow me, and I will put you on some holes (first trip to the lake).  Well, he planed that 20' Astro with the 200 on it out, and I just decided I would have to figure it out on my own.  By 8, i got on fish.  By 8:30, I had 5 fish in the well over 18".  That's when I remembered we were supposed to be back by 9 for a meeting.  So I went back to the meeting.  Afterwards, my buddy in the 20' Astro lost his partner to golf and asked me to get in with him.  I did.  I spent all day fishless begging him to go back to my pattern.   :x   We did tour most of the lake though.  I went back that night to night fish what I found that morning.  On the way across the lake, the lower unit fell off my outboard.  It seems that the mechanic who rebuilt my power head forgot to put all the bolts back in.  By the time I had figured out what happened, the wind had carried me into another fork of the lake.  I saw a dock, but not the state park.  I ended up on the other side of the lake with a long walk home.

We normally fish a tournament each year on Barren, although since that draw down it has been replaced on the schedule with an extra Norris tournament.

Skipper

[ButlerFord45]

 Howdy Skipper!  I'm smack in the middle of Barren, Green, Cumberland, Dale Hollow!  A bit closer to Green, infact shortly after the river was impounded, from the time I decided to go fishing till I was "boat-on-the-water" was less than 20 minutes.

I'm not a turny fisherman, far too lazy, but I do appreciate what you folks have done for fishing in the last two decades.  The new equipment, techniques, sciences, and even attitudes, but doggone you all look like your working yourbutt's off from the moment you hit the water!!  :-D

I knew J.U. pretty well, he and my mother grew up and went to school together.  If we're talking the same Bobby, he has an auto repair shop near Green River Res., I don't know him, just who he is.




John  21:3
"I am going fishing"

[Skipper]

The Bobby I was refering to was a DSM for Farm Bureau.  He would be about 60.  Had a big bus motorhome.  He was the one with the 200 on the Astro.

That's nice to hear.  Sometimes tourney fishermen get a lot of flack from non-tourney fishermen.  There seems to be animosity on the non-tournament guys towards us.  Most often cited is crowding.  I try my best not to do that, and will really go out of my way not to most of the time.  Sometimes thought its just tough.  I remember getting a good yelling at on Douglas one time for getting too close to someone, and really I was trying to ease around them, but my batteries had gotten weak from fighting heavy wind, and I wasn't making fast progress.  We did move though after he said what he did though.  Funny thing was, we caught a 4 pounder 2nd cast after we moved.  I think the major problem occurs when tournament fishermen have a set of holes scouted out and find someone in one of them on tournament day.  I know a lot of times I make it a point to write out a schedule of what I intend to fish and for how long.  When you find one of those places occupied, it creates problems if you haven't planned alternates or there aren't alternates close by.  I have found over the years that I do much better when I stick to my game plan than when I "wing it".  

Skipper

[rockbilly]

Skipper,
     I would truly love to get back on the lake and flip a jig, problem is the lakes here in West Texas are all about dry.  Most of the better bass lakes are so low you can't launch a boat.  Been like that for three years now.  I have a Sketter 175 Starfire with a new 150 Evenrude setting out by the house.  It has not been in the water for four years.  Maybe, just maybe, I can get to east Texas and do a little fishing next month.
     Up until I had bypass surgey, I fished at least four days every week.  I also fished a tournament somewhere every week-end, but that was back when we had water.......
     Things are so dry here now, part of the catch and release program is dusting the fish for ticks and fleas before putting them back.
     Anyway, for those of you lucky enough to have water....hope you get your line stretched soon.

Bill

[Skipper]

Were kinda lucky in that respect in East Tennessee and Kentucky.  Most of our lakes are well over 100 feet deep.  They do get drawn down every year though.  The last few, we have been somewhat dry, and they haven't came up like normal.  This year has been different though.  All of them came up last April, and most stayed that way for a while.  It got a little dry this summer, and a couple like Dale Hollow hit the bottoms of the gates at the dams which is about 35 feet below full pool.  It started raining again in September, and hasn't let up much.  Laurel, our local lake, is only 2 feet shy of full pool in the winter.  Now that's unusual.  Normally its 30+ feet below where it is this time of year.

Skipper