11-13-09 JPP practice day...

Took a vacation day today to go practice for the Sat am tourney on Priest. My crankbait bite seems to be going the way of the topwater bite that died in October. After cranking three banks that have been good to me lately, i decided to go deep, slow down, and work a jig.

I caught the nice 15 1/2 inch smallie on the first deep spot. Then I moved to a down lake island with deep water near by. I threw the jig on a small rock pile point, and the jig took off to the shallow rocks. I normally don't like setting the hook the day before a tourney, but I needed to see what quality of fish were in some of these new areas. The fish came right to the boat, and in she came. It was the nice 6 lb Largemouth here. Two casts later, and wham, a 3 lbr. I got out of here as quick as I could.

I moved around on deep stuff the rest of the day and caught two keeper spots and about five short LM's. For the day, I had 4 keepers for around 11 1/2 lbs. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

RBK

Sat, 10-31 Sat am tourney...

Blasted off by myself at 8 am from Fate Sanders. It was cloudy and cool, with a West / SW wind blowing around 10 MPH. Headed to a bluff end point right near LHSP, where I had caught a 4 lb smallie last week. The wind was on the bank good, so I opted to chunk the 300 Bandit in TN Shad. First cast- wham- a 4 1/2 lb LM. That's what I'm talking about! In the box with her. Stayed on that bank, but no other takers, so I head down under the bridge to another bluff end with a small cove adjacent to it.

I had been pounding the fish here lately, so my confidence was farily high. Unfortunatley, the fish didn't read the playbook. Nothing doing here, so I eased over to a bluff just down lake, and I only had one bump on the jig, but I didn't connect.

I proceeded to run around down lake, alternating b/w the crankbait and jig, but it just never happened. I only caught around 8 more fish all day, with one of them being a keeper spot (12 1/4").

I guess the first cast jinx is for real.

I ended up with just over 5 lbs, and ended in around 5th place for the day. The good news was that my 4 + lb fish won the big fish pot, so I got my money back, plus a little.

I'll report back next time.

RBK

Sat 10-24-09 Sat am tourney Priest...

Blasted off at 8 am from Fate Sanders. Headed down lake to a point at a bluff end just under the bridge where I've been catching them well lately. We threw crankbaits for an hour or so in that area, and we caught 4-5 fish, but the biggest was a 14 1/2" LM. Moved down to an island near Suggs Cr, but only two small fish here on the crank.

The wind was HONKIN big time, so we went to fish a jig on a fairly protected mini-bluff in a major creek down lake. Two bumps on the jig, but they weren't eating it well. From here we headed to a western shore bank near the YMCA camp that was fairly protected from the wind. My partner caught a 12 1/2" spot here on the crank, so we had one in the box.

Next, we went to a main bluff bank near our starting place. Again,they were just nipping at the jig, and we only caught a couple here. We decided to head back to the bank where we started the day, and we proceeded to catch around 6 more fish, with one being a solid 15 1/4" keeper largehead.

We now had less than two hours til weigh in, so we needed to make a move and go for a big bite. The next and final stop would be a main lake point at the head of a cove near LHSP. When we got down to the point, I felt an ever so slight tap on the jig, set the hook, and I knew it was a good one of some kind. The fish kept digging, and when we got her in the net, it was an 18 1/2" 4 lb brownie (pictured here).

We headed in with our three keepers, and weighed in 6.75 lbs, which was good for 6th place (only paid 3). My smallie just missed the big smallmouth prize (winner's was 4.5).

Good day all in all. Around 15 fish, and 3 keepers.

Tight lines.

RBK

10-18-09: Cold this morning. Water temp had dipped to 60 deg (7 degree drop from last week). Caught 10 fish, and the one here is the best of the day.

Most fish on a jig in 10-15 ft near the channel. The nice un here was caught on a Bandit 300 in Shad Color at the end of a bluff down lake in around 8 ft.

Good day considering the brutal front and high skies.

Tight Lines.

RBK

Saturday. 10-10-09...

Headed out to JPP early to see what the topwater bite had to offer. The weather conditions were perfect for a big brown fish, so I decided to stay in the lower end of the lake and stick with topwater most of the day.

Started in a mainlake pocket down by Elm Hill, and caught two nice sized spots on the first two casts on the point heading in. Kept working my way in to the pocket, but the bait was not active back in the back, and I only caught 4 or so small spots off of the big rocks up shallow.

From here, I moved over to the mouth of Hamilton Creek to see if the NE wind had the food chain up on the points. I caught a nice 14" smallie on a crankbait right off the bat, but as I worked further back in the creek, I did not find anything moving or feeding.

Next, I moved back towards the Hobson Pike Bridge to a pocket between two bluffs where I have been hammering the fish lately. Seems they had all disappeared, b/c I only had three small fish nip at the bait. I idled out on the main lake, to the end of a bluff to where the main river channel worked away, and I caught another decent smallie on the point on the pop-r. I worked my way into the pocket, and again the bait was nowhere to be found, and no more fish.

Next, I headed back down lake to a major island near Suggs Cr, and I caught around 4 fish on the crankbait off of the big rock to gravel transitions (near the point). No keepers here, but they were biting fairly well.

From the island, I eased on into Suggs, and I decided to slow down, and fish a bit deeper with the jig. I hit a long mini-bluff on the right in the seven points area, and I caught four fish pretty quickly on a 5/16 oz Eakins finesse jig in around 10-14 ft. The biggest was a solid 16" keeper LM.

I then ran over to the YMCA Camp area to fish the big rocks, but no one was home.

The last stop of the day would be a flat behind a long point in the Four Corners area mid-lake. I started out on the point dragging a rig, looking for a big smallie. No takers here, but I did catch one largemouth inside the point on the flat in about 6 ft. I worked up shallow on the flat, and had a couple of more bumps on the jig and rig, but none in the boat.

By now it was 12:30, and it was time to head home.

Totals for the day- around 20 fish- 1 keeper largehead and three small keeper spots for around 6 lbs.

Looking back, I wasted too much time back in the pockets. Most of the topwater and CB fish were on the points. Should have just run and gunned with a TW and CB on points all day, and then slowed down with the jig more.

Next time out, I'm heading uplake to see what's happening up there.

Until then, tight lines.

RBK

Final F3 Club tourney...

Tough day:

Rain and storms all morning. The topwater bite I had been on basically disappeared. I did manage 4 club keepers (12+ ") and lost three others that were hooked up including a nice 2 lb smallie that was clearly my mistake. Coolest thing all day was when I caught my two largest keepers on one cast on a Zell Pop.

Weighed in 4.4 lbs. Good enough for around 4th place on the day. Most importantly, I was able to hold on and close out the year as points champion / angler of the year.

Good year all in all. I managed a limit in all but the last tourney.

Until next time.

RBK

Sat 9-19 JPP....

We headed out Saturday under cloudy skies, with rain in the forecast. Ran down lake to a new pocket near a marina that I suspected would be holding fish. We proceeded to catch around 9 fish on top water and cranks in shallow water in this particular spot. No bigguns here, but we did catch a couple of decent sized spots on top.

From there, we went back up lake to the cove where I had caught them the day before (and last couple of weeks). We snagged around 5 more in there with one of them being a chunky keeper spot. We eased up a bluff in the same area to where the river channel swings away, and I caught a solid 2 1/2 lb largehead on the top water bait on the point. We worked on up into the pocket, and my partner caught two short largemouths on a crankbait in around 5 ft of water. Shad were popping in the area, but we never got on a group of them here.

Next, we headed under the bridge to the mid-lake area, and went looking on the flats. We eased up on a shallow bank with big rocks, and on the third cast I caught another chunky 2 1/2 lb LM on top. We had a couple of other blow ups in that area but no hook-ups.

While we were there, we decided to probe a long gravel point where the smallies tend to feed. My partner was working a c-rigged lizard in around 7-10 ft, and he got a good bite. it was the smallie pictured here, which was around 17" and pushing 3 lbs.

We worked some different types of stuff for the next hour or so, but we never found a really good group of fish. Off the water by 12:30. Totals for the day:

22 fish with three good ones, and a handful of keeper spots.

I'll report back after our final club tourney on Saturday.

Tight lines,

RBK

Fall is showing up- topwater time...

Here's a nice 5 1/2 lb Largemouth caught on a topwater bait today on JPP. The water is high, and the fish have moved shallow. Sorry for the crappy photo, but I was solo when I caught her.

Labor Day 2009...

Caught around 4 in the lake early on topwater and crankbait; then headed up towards the Stones River. We caught 3 more on some ledges in the upper end of the lake. Around 9:30 we went into the river. Saw a good deal of schooling activity, but we didn't spend any time chasing them.

Went way up the West Fork, and I caught a nice 4 1/2 lb LM on a jig.

Nice day.

Later

RBK

P.S. fell overboard today! NICE

Guntersville 8-23-09

Hit Big G at 6 am today. Headed down lake to a grass flat and caught around 10 on a combination of senkos, pop-r, and a fluke, including a nice 3 1/2 pounder.

From there we headed down to a main lake ledge and landed two on a DD22 crankbait, which included a nice 5+ lb largehead.

Next, we went to an underwater island and proceeded to whack em on a Ribbit frog. We caught around 5 more solid keepers here, which put our total at around 14 fish with eight legal keepers for the day.

We bounced around for another hour or two and caught three or four more fish, but no bigguns.

All in all, it was a good day. 18 fish, with 8 keepers for around 16 lbs on our best five.

Later,

RBK

F3 8-8-09...

Blasted off at 5:30 am. Headed upriver to a hump adjacent to the main channel. Bait was active, but the current was dead slack. We chunked cranks for around 20 minutes, and I caught a 12' dink, and my co-angler nabbed a solid keeper right at 15". From there, we bolted down river to a major creek to fish around a marina. We caught around 8 more fish here, and I left with a small limit of club keepers (12+ inches, since we don't actually weigh them in).

We ran way down river to a main channel ledge to throw a rig. We landed around 10 more fish here, with 7 or so keepers. I was able to cull up to just over 8 lbs here, but we did not get a big bite. When the fish quit biting here around 9 am, we ran North to fish more ledges, but we would only catch two more small fish all day. The bite just died with the rising heat.

We turned in our weigh sheets at 12:30. I ended up 3rd, and my non-boater finished 2nd. The good news is that my lead in the AOY race remains at 12 lbs going into the last event.

Until next time.

RBK

Old Hickory 8-2...

Headed out to OHL this morning to do a little practicing for the second to last club tourney of the year next weekend. I was committed to finding some more ledges for the tourney, and I was able to add two to the arsenal.

I started on my marina slips, and it appears that deal is just about done. I caught four fish including two 14"+ keepers, and after thirty minutes, I was gone.

I headed down lake to a ledge that's been good the last few weeks just to check it. After four fish in about 15 minutes, including 3 solid keepers, I decided to start my search for new water. I moved about 2 miles upriver, and started on a main lake drop, but the first 100 yds or so just felt like silted in mud, and I couldn't find any wood or rock in the magic depth. I moved further up the ledge, and I started feeling a rough bottom. I don't know if it was a shell bed or an old roadbed, but it was a key deal. I caught six fish off of this stretch, and two of them were solid OHL keepers.

Next, I went further up and set up on a ledge at the mouth of a creek, and I found a good bit of scattered wood in 6-10 ft, but the only fish I caught here were small.

From here, I went to the creeks to try my flippin and crankin deals, and neither one worked. I did find two keeper fish on a secondary ledge in the creeks.

I hit two more main lake ledges before I left, but no luck.

It was a good practice day. I added two new spots to my milk run for Saturday, and my best five would have gone around 11 lbs. I'd take that on tourney day.

I'll report back next week.

RBK

F3 Tourney Saturday 7-25...

We had our July tourney on OHL Saturday. We blasted off at 5:10 am and headed to a main lake hump, but with no current running, the fish were not there. After 15 minutes of chunkin and windin, we headed down to a marina to catch some small ones to get on the scorebord. The marina appears to be losing fish every week. We only caught around 10 on the wacky worm, and I only managed two small keepers here.

Next we headed to a secondary drop inside of the same creek, and I grabbed three other small keepers here. I now had a small limit of around 5 lbs, so it was off to the ledges to upgrade. We ran down lake to a main river channel drop and fished it for an hour or so. The fish were not biting very well, but we managed three fish on the rig here, and my non-boater snagged the big fish of the day, which was a healthy 20", 4 1/2 lb largemouth.

I was stuck on 5 lbs, so we headed back up-lake to fish a major creek. We pulled up on a point, and I immediately caught a solid 2 lb fish on the rig. We stayed on this spot for about 45 minutes, and we caught around 8 fish. I was able to cull three more times here, but they were not much help.

We moved around some more, and I decided to go shallow and flip for a while. We caught 4-5 more flippin, but no help to my bag.

We headed in at 12:30. My bag weighed 7.6 lbs, which was good for 3rd place. My non-boater had three keepers including the big fish of the tourney, which won him a little cash.

I was able to maintain my lead in the points race, which currently stands at around 9 lbs with two events to go. Old Hickory again in two weeks, and then KY Lake in Sept.

Until next time.

RBK

Central Team Trail 7-18-09.....

Fished a tourney on OHL Saturday with a friend. We have both been on some fish, so we split up our areas and developed a milk run of holes between the take off at Flippers and Drake's Creek on the lower end.

We had one community hole in mind for our first spot, but, as usual, it was occupied when we drove down lake from the launch. We went on further to a major creek and a set of marina slips where I have been catching ton of smaller fish lately. The fish were there, but the quality was just not enough to matter. Dwayne caught one around 13 3/4" and I had a couple of 13 1/2" fish. After about 30 minutes, we decided to leave with an empty livewell.

The next spot was a ledge inside of the same creek. I had been catching a few decent keeper fish here on a crankbait and Carolina Rig in 5-10 ft of water. We pulled up, and there was little if any shad activity, so I was skeptical as to whether or not we could catch them here. We marked the ledge with buoy markers on each end and started down it with the rig and crankbait. We fished for 20 minutes or so without a bite, and just when I suggested that we leave, my partner had a bite out of a rough spot that felt like a small rock pile. We zeroed in on this small spot in about 8 ft of water, and proceeded to catch around 8 fish here, all on the rig. We ended up leaving this spot with two small keepers. The bite died here around 7:00, so we headed down lake.

The next spot was a main river channel ledge that Dwayne had been catching some good ones on. He started with a crankbait, and I went with the rig here. It didn't take long for us to connect, and over the next hour, we caught around 10 fish here. We rounded out our limit, and DD caught the biggest one of the day which was pushing 4 lbs. We figured we had 10-11 lbs, and to contend, we would need two more good fish to cull the smallest ones in the box.

We ran further down lake to Drakes Creek, where I had caught some decent fish last week flipping some shallow shoreline cover. We went to my flippin bank and caught two fish, but they were small. No help, so we're out of there. We ran back to the main lake ledge and caught 3-4 more fish, but we didn't upgrade our weight much.

Next, we ran back up lake to a major creek, and we flipped another shallow bank. Only one small fish here, so back to the drops we headed. We hit a secondary point in that same creek, and caught 4 more fish on a crankbait, but we only were able to cull one fish, and it was just adding ounces at that.

From there we headed out to the main river and hit the community hole we had wanted to fish at first light. We landed three here, but no upgrades were found. Time was running short, so we went to some deep wood along the main river and threw worms, but nothing was biting.

We checked in and took our best five to the scales that weighed 10.5 lbs. It took 12.33 to make the top 5 and get paid and 20 lbs won it (a heck of a sack on OHL).

All in all, we had a really good day. We caught around 35 fish, 11 keepers, and we were able to cull three times. We just needed two or three more good ones to contend for a check.

F3 Club tourney is this Saturday, on OHL. I'll report back.

Good fishing.

RBK

June F3 Tourney-Boat issues...

Headed out Friday evening for a couple of hours just to check a couple of last minute spots for Saturday's club event on the Hick. Everything was fine until the power trim failed to work right before I pulled out of the lake- ouch.

I was able to nurse the boat on to the trailer, and I called my friend Herschel to see if he would let me use his boat on Saturday. He said sure and even drove up to KY along with me to pick up his boat. We did not get back to Nashville until close to midnight, but I had a boat and could fish Saturday.

I met my partner at the ramp at 5 am, and we blasted off upriver to a major community hole. Much to my surprise, it was unoccupied. The current was ripping, and bait was everywhere. I knew we had a shot to smash them early. My non-boater caught three keepersfairly quickly on a crankbait, and I nabbed one 2 lb keeper, but I lost two solid weigh fish on the plug. The fish were just slapping at the bait. After about thirty minutes, the current went slack, and the fish quit biting.

Next, we headed down lake to a marina to catch a quick limit. We proceeded to catch around 25 fish in around 45 minutes on a wacky worm. No big ones, but the limit was secured for me by7:30 am. Now it was time to move out off the bank and try to upgrade my catch for the rest of the day. We still had five hours, and my confidence was extremely high.

Then, on the next spot, I noticed that the trolling motor was really slowing down. By 8:00, it was basically useless. The batteries were almost completely dead. My friend had not been on his boat in months, and since we did not get back to the house until midnight, I was not able to get a good charge on the deep cycles. Buzz kill! The bad news was made worse by the fact that the wind was less than a whisper, so drifting areas was not possible. We would pull up on a ledge, and the boat would just not budge.

We ended up catching around 6 more fish after 8:30 with no trolling motor, but it was nearly impossible to fish that way.

The good news is that I managed 9 1/2 pounds which is a decent OHL limit. I think I finished 3rd for the day, and I only gave up a handful of my points lead in the Angler of the Year race.

I'd love to know what we could have done with a full day of actual fishing, but such is life.

Until next time.

RBK

Moving on to The Mud Hole (OHL)....

Our Club's next three events will be on Old Hickory Lake this Summer, so my attention has turned to fishing that stump filled, shallow mud hole (you can tell it's not my favorite lake).

Anyway, I have spent the last two weekends checking some spots where I had success there last year. I've found several groups of fish in some of the same areas as 2008 and have found at least four new schools in the same general area of the lake.

This past Saturday I headed out there right at first light and went looking for a top water bite with virtually no success. I landed two babies in some bank grass on a buzz frog, but that was it. The grass that used to grow in the back of a major creek was not there this year. The good thing is that I eliminated that area totally, so I will not waste time on tourney day chasing a non-existent top water deal. Our club tourneys are over at 12:30, so you can't afford to waste any time.

On my way out of that creek I decided to stop and fish some marina slips and did was working for me last year around another marina, and I'm glad I stopped. I caught around 15 fish in 15 minutes doing that deal. They were mostly small fish, but I think I can catch an early limit of "club keepers" on that spot next week.

I then ran upriver to another major creek to try some cranking and Carolina rigging. On one spot I caught three on the rig and two on the crankbait. I also jumped off a toad in the five pound class that loaded up on the crank. It didn't hurt my feelings too badly, because I had the stock hooks on the bait, and it was just a practice day. I know what lives there now, and I'll be back on the day that counts fully prepared with replacement hooks, and I'll be ready to put em in the net.

Next, I headed across the lake to another marina, and by now the sun was up, creating a good deal of shade under the docks. There was no bait fish activity, but with the 90 degree heat, I figured it was worth a shot fishing in the shade. My marina pattern paid dividends here as well. I caught six fish in around 15 minutes, with two of them being legitimate 2 lb class keepers.

From there, I decided to go flippin the rest of the day. I was doubtful that it would work, because the lake was down compared to last year, and most of my flippin banks were just too shallow. So, I moved out a little further in the creek, and it was on. The shade was the key deal again, and I proceeded to whack em on a TX rigged creature bait in fairly skinny water. I had two fish in the 3 lb class and around 10 other fish in the next couple of hours.

The good news is that I had already identified eight to ten other areas to catch them cranking or riggin over the last couple of weeks. This practice day was successful because I added three new spots to the milk-run, and most importantly, I found something I can do first thing in the morning that could easily get me an early limit. Just as important as finding fish is eliminating unproductive water, and I did some of that too. The real bonus of the day was finding that flippin bite. I have a lot of confidence in the area that I found, and it should be a good way to upgrade my catch.

I could have culled to around 11 lbs on what came over the rail, and had I landed the big one, I would have had right at 15 lbs, which is a strong weight on OHL right now. 13 1/2 lbs won the ABA weekend series deal Saturday, and Flippers is taking 14-16 lbs per week to win.

Overall, I'm happy with what I've found. I have around a dozen spots to fish on tourney day, and we should be around fish all day. The best part is that all of my spots are in a small 5-6 mile radius of the ramp, so we won't waste a bunch of time running around. As always on OHL, the wild card will be the bigger fish.

The plan is to catch five early, and then hog hunt the rest of the day with the flippin stick, crankbait, and rig.

I'll report back after the tourney next weekend.

Tight lines.

RBK

Summer ledge fishing

Here are two of the better ones today on KY Lake. Good day. Caught around 25 with 7 keepers. Best five around 17 lbs.

F3 Club May tourney- some days it all comes together...

Fished our May tourney today on Priest. I had practiced on Friday and caught a bunch of fish but mostly dinks. The good thing is that I had several areas located that were holding fish and shad.

My goal for the day today was to catch a limit in the first two hours, and then go try to upgrade with some larger ones.

We blasted off at safe light (around 5:15), and we headed to a mid-lake flat where I had caught a few on Friday. We started with topwaters and crankbaits. The fish were fairly shallow, and I opted to throw the crankbait. Good call for sure. In the first 45 minutes I caught three keeper fish, and all of them were in the 3-4 lb class. I rounded out my limit on that spot around 6:30, well ahead of schedule.

From there we hit a couple of other flats in the area, but all of the fish were small. I upgraded ounces here.

By 7:30 we were heading downlake to a major creek where smallmouth live. We weeded through around 10 fish on a tube and jig, and then I had a bite that felt very different. The fish slammed the tube, and took off running, leaping, and cavorting. It was a nice 18 1/2 " smallie. That fish replaced a pound and a half largehead, which was a nice upgrade. By now I figured I had around 14 lbs on five fish, with one little one left to cull. We hit a couple of roadbeds downlake, but no takers. I was still confident that I could catch a good one on a roadbed, so we kept moving back downlake.

We pulled up on a roadbed near the bridge, and once my Carolina Rigged Lizard came over the road in the magic depth, WHAM. The fish took off for deep water, and I knew it was a good un. It turned out to be the smallie pictured here, which measure 20" on the button. This fish culled the last small one, so I now had 5 fish for 18.01 lbs.

My goal now became to hit the 20 lb mark, but it didn't happen. My non-boater only had two keepers by now, and I decided to go to our first spot again to see if we could get his limit. We ended up catching around 15 more fish, but no more big ones. Duke added one keeper to his bag, and that was the end of the day.

All in all, it was a great day.

Until next time, tight lines, and sore thumbs!

RBK

Here's a nice one caught last week on Old Hickory.

Here are two of the good ones in the High Water post below.

High water bassin.....

The unusual Spring of 2009 has brought high water to Middle TN, and the fishing has been excellent through the middle of May. Percy Priest has been anywhere from 3-7 ft high for the last three weeks, and the fish have been in the flooded trees, vines, bushes, and other stuff that usually lives well above the water line.

Two weeks ago, I caught a solid limit of around 16 lbs. on PP anchored by two four pounders. The fish were on the edges of the trees anywhere I could find green leafy trees submerged in 2-5 ft of water. It didn't seem to matter what you threw at them, as long as it was either a jig or soft plastic. The best baits were a Lake Fork tackle Tube Craw, GYBC Creature Bait, and a Tight Line 1/2 oz jig and plastic trailer. the creature fish came flipping and pitching directly in the brush, while the jig fish liked a swimming presentation. I'd swim the jig up to the target, kill it beside the bush, and then swim it back to the boat.

I was very confident that we could do well in the Inner City Ministries Big Fish / Black bag event held on Saturday, May 16th out of Fate Sanders. my only concern was that the lake level had been brought down two feet from the prior weekend, but it was still 3 1/2 ft above summer pool, which is plenty to keep the fish in the trees.

We started on a couple of spots that my partner wanted to hit with no bites, and then, about 7 am we went to my flipping spots from the weekend before. We pulled into the first cove, and whack! we caught around 8 fish in the same places I had caught them the week before. Out of the 8, four were solid keepers, but none of them were over 3 lbs, so no need to weigh them in. At this point, we felt good about the pattern, and the fish appeared to be in the same places as last weekend.

We moved on to my second cove and flipped up three or four more, but again, no bigguns. we kept flippin for another couple of hours, but the bite seemed to die as the day went on, so we decided to go looking for some fish out off the banks. We hit a flat mid-lake where I had been catching them good before the water came up, and we had 5 or six here on a c-rig, but they were all small. Then we went way down lake to a flat where the fish have been stacked, but again, we only caught dinks. I had one more cove to flip down lake, but the water had muddied up since the prior week, and we did not get a bite.

As time was running down, we went back to the first cove of the day, but the fish were nowhere to be found. We noticed that the water had dropped at least half a foot since the morning, and I'm sure that had a lot to do with the bite dying off during the day.

For the day we ended up with around 20 fish and 6 or seven keepers, for around 12 lbs. Fun day of fishing, but no pay back for all the hard work.

The lake is back to near summer pool now, so it's back to conventional post spawn tactics. Our club is fishing our second event of the year Saturday on Priest, and I'm fairly confident that I will do well. This is my favorite time of the year to fish, as the fish are off bed, hungry, and extremely willing to eat a c-rigged lizard, jig, and hopefully a top water plug or two. I'll report back after Saturday.

Tight lines,

RBK

F3 Club tourney 3-28- Priest

Today our club had our first tourney of the year on Percy Priest. The weather forecast was sketchy at best, but by the time we launched at 6:30 am, the rain had stopped, and it was pretty much perfect weather for fishing. The fish would definitely cooperate.

We ran down lake to a major creek and fished some shallow points with a mix of chunk rock and pea gravel with crankbaits. We caught about 15 fish in the first hour and a half with one of them being a 21" pig that had already spawned. We left the first spot and hit a flat in another major creek downlake. The fishing was a bit slower, and this hole seemed to attract half of our club. We did catch 6-7 fish in there on a mix of cranks and jigs.

By now it was around 10:30, and it was time to fire the Yammyhauler and head up lake. We hit on spot around an old roadbed and landed a couple, but we did not find the mother load here.

It was now pushing 11:00, and the clock was ticking fast toward our 12:30 check-in time. We went to a transition point and flat behind a major island, and it was on. We chunked the little crankbait, and the fish were smacking it. We sat in that area for about 45 minutes and caught around 13 more fish, including a fat pre-spawn 18" largemouth. By now I had culled to a limit of around 13 lbs, but I knew I needed to catch one more good one to win the deal. We had around 30 minutes left, and we would spend our last few casts chunking and winding a rattle bait on some major flats near Four Corners. No takers, so we headed in.

Turns out I was right. If I could have culled out one fish with another 4 lb class fish, I would have won it. I finished third with just over 13 lbs. First place was almost 15 lbs and second place was just over 14 lbs. I tied for the big fish award of the day.

All in all it was a really good day with over 30 over the rail and two solid big fish.

Next, it's off the Center Hill for a Team Trail event and club tournament. I'll report back.

Tight lines,

RBK

Preist pics from Sunday 3-22

Here are the two big fish from Sunday.

Spring 09 breaking wide open...(3-09)

Last week, I headed down to Guntersville with a freind in my club for some fun fishing at Guntersville. The water temps were in the mid 50's to around 60 in some areas, and the fish were moving up to make little bass.

Thursday we had a guide and ended up with 31 on the day with around 15 keepers. Our best 5 would have weighed around 24 lbs. I had the big fish of the day which was 7.5 to 8 lbs (no scales in the boat). The big fish cme on a main river island ledge in the afternoon on a chrome rattle trap in about 5 ft of water. Most of the fish were caught on clay banks with stumps and grass mixed in in 1-4 ft on rattle baits, craws, and 8" lizards.

After the guide trip ended, we went back to the cabin and grabbed my boat. We stayed around the State park and caught 7-10 more fish before dark with 5 being keepers for around 13 lbs. Total for the day was around 40 fish and 20 keepers.

Friday, a major front pused through bringing with it 25 MPH North winds. We only caught 2 fish all day, and the wind ran us off early.

Saturday was nicer weather wise. We ended up with around 12 fish and 4 keepers for around 13 lbs. with the big fish of 5lbs caught on a grass / clay flat in 4 ft on a trap.

It was a great trip, and if not for the front that slammed us it would have been exceptional.

Sunday, I got back and the wife and kids had plans out of the house all afternoon, so I went to Preist for around 4 hours to try my luck there. The fish were shallow and fairly active. I caught 2 big hybrids by accident and around 14 bass with 3 keepers. Big fish of the day was a healthy 5 lb pre-spawn largemouth caught in 5 ft of water on a crankbait. The key was fishing shallow staging points near deep water and also near shallow spawning flats. bait was a real key too, as if I found bait, the fish were there.

All in all, it was a great 4 days on the water, and it will only get better over the next two-three weeks.

Tight lines,

RBK