clipper

After reading about the fishing up there I called the campground and reserved Monday night too. I will now be staying Monday afternoon thru Friday morning. Have space in the boat if you are willing to relieve me on the trolling motor occasionally, fish for smallmouth half the day, and smell my JJ's Magic in the dry box . Campsite 29.

Has anyone used the Hot Spots paper map for Kentucky Lake? That and a Hydrographics map that is quite pricey are the only two I have been able to locate on the net.

Welcome Home. Thank you for what you do for our country. Time to enjoy the good ole US of A now and do some fishin'. Look at the post about the road trip and put in for some leave so you can come fish with us ;D.

Does it have grassbeds and if so, what kind? Time to get a map and see if it's on my GPS system.

I've just been reading some fishing reports for the first week of April and they seem to be pretty consistent for good catches. One report was for high water fishing buck brush and willows and catching big largemouth. That is if the water is high. I want to at least catch a few smallmouth, as I've only caught one very small creek smallmouth. I also read that the main lake can be very rough on windy days and a lot of fishermen won't cross it in a heavy wind. After reading the reports I'm beginning to wish I had planned for the whole week instead of 3 days.

Since I will be camping at the roadtrip this year on Kentucky Lake I decided I had better check the predicted weather conditions. I did so and learned that the average highs for that time in April are in the mid-sixties, the average lows are in the mid-forties, and the record low was 21. I can take the mid-forties OK and maybe even the mid-thirties if need be. I will hope we don't approach the record low. Can anyone predict what temperature water we will be fishing and whether it will be clear, dingy, or muddy?

What cute kids . You must have a beautiful wife. Mrs. Clipper

Well, I got leave approved from work, checked with my wife, checked the calendar, reserved my campsite at the park, signed up and emailed the form to Alpster, and wrote a check for the registration. I even got the whole name on the "pay to" line of the check, which was quite an accomplishment . Now I can get my reels lubed and relined. I will be bringing my oldStratos. Looking forward to catching my first smallmouth. (Actually I caught an 8" smallmouth in a creek in NC, but I don't count it since it wasn't legal length.

Your boat brings back memories. We had an Aristocraft runabout my dad bought new in 1960 when I was 15. It had a 75 hp merc on it which we upgraded to a 100 hp to give us more speed and power after a couple of years. I burned $100.00 worth of gas one month skiing when gas was 37 cents a gallon. We could clean the bottom (it sat in the water all the time) and get 44 MPH out of it so we could ski barefoot. Man I had a lot fun in that boat. I guess it started my love affair with boats and lakes. You got some real good advice above about checking the bottom and transom before doing anything. Also, make sure you have good wheel bearings and go slow getting it home. If it has been kept under that shed the wood might not be rotten... Good luck. Before you put 500 - 1000 in it you might consider taking that money and buying a good johnboat that you can fish out of.

Congratulations. Now plan the wedding for the heat of summer or midwinter so you don't miss fishing time getting married .

34 so I guess I am officially OLD. I feel like it anyway. I wish it would get warm.

Ann-Marie is right, it wouldn't hurt. After they are clean coat with a battery terminal grease to keep them from corroding so fast again.

I do a lot of fishing with 4 lb test line and very seldom break off a fish. You do need to retie after each fish and you don't throw in a brushpile with it. You also have to learn how to execute a sweeping hook set vs a hard jerk. I use a rod designed and sold by Ray Scott especially for light tackle fishing and a spinning reel made by US reel. The lake I fish most has very little wood cover and is very clear so the light line gets me more bites and there isn't much for a fish to wrap my line around. Lunkers are also rare in this lake so the light tackle makes catching 12" spotted bass a lot more fun. The largest bass I have hooked or landed on 4 lb line was 4lb-10oz. My goal is to catch one over 5 lbs on 4 lb test line.

I decided to fish Allatoona today since the weather conditions were forecast to be good(cloudy, occasional rain, temps in high 40s, SE wind) and one of the weathermen said yesterday that our mild weather was over for the rest of January. Time to go. When I launched the boat at Gatewood I noticed two birds standing on the bank and said to myself, "that means baitfish". The water temp was 49.5 with 10-12" visibility. I didn't even crank to motor, I just started fishing. I caught a 2.25 lb, 18" largemouth on a spinnerbait (chartruese skirt and chartruese colorado blade with a brass willowleaf blade above. That felt awful good since I hadn't caught a bass since November. Then I caugth a 13" largemouth on a black back #5 Shad Rap(balsa). I fished out the cove, went to the back of McKaskey creek and found no birds, no baitfish, and very muddy water. I returned to the launch ramp cove and caught another 15" largemouth on the spinnerbait. I didn't even tie on a dropshot or a jigging spoon which are the baits most folks use on Allatoona this time of year. Fished from about 9:45 to 2:30. Very seldom do you catch a largemouth on Allatoona in warm weather becuase it is predominantly a spotted bass lake. A 2.25 lb fish is respectable for Allatoona as most fish average 11-13". All-in-all a very rewarding day and my new Cabelas MT50 Guidewear kept me dry. Sorry, but no pictures. It was raining and I left the camera in the drybox.

I had one wall in my basement dedicated to fishing stuff with my rods hung horizontally on pegs mounted to the wall. I ran out of room and Glenn made me some neat rod racks that are mounted from the floor joists overhead. To get a rod out, you release a catch and the rack swings down from one side on hinges to a vertical position. When you are done you swing it back up and latch it. It is then above your head and out of the way. I have two of them and each one holds 14 rods. I now have enough room to store all my rods and my son's rods without having any standing up in corners. I tried taking a picture but I have so much other "junk" in the basement it didn't show up good. I also came by some of the plastic drawer units that I use for misc. stuff and have a shelving unit for my other tackle. I don't use half the stuff I have and I suspect many of you are the same way. Tha bait monkey usually wins.

You guys are gonna create a weight control problem for the bait monkey and you are causing me to lust after something electronic :'(. Those are some of the best descriptions of SI benefits I have heard. Thanks.

Take time to turkey hunt and trout fish this year. Book a trip with Randall to Lake Varner in February. Clean up my yard and junk shed (it got neglected during deer season :-[). Sell my extra pickup and the parts from my junk outboard.

I agree. Thats what you need to name your boat.

I bought my Trojan wet cell batteries from Batteries Plus. They might have to order the AGM batteries as they are not as commonly used as wet cell.

If you work for UPS and survived the Christmas season you deserve to go Hawg Huntin'. Are you referring to the 4 legged variety of Hawgs or the green kind that swim? We have both in GA. Good luck either way.

No I do not but sometimes the battery being low in voltage causes depth finders to shut down. Check your battery before you send the df back. I have a Bottom Line unit that does the same thing when the battery gets low. It even happens if I turn the trolling motor on high speed. I have considered buying a small 12 volt battery to run the depth finder. This could be happening because my battery is getting old, but it still runs the trolling motor as long as I need to fish which usually isn't all day.

"The Other Woman". That way when her friends ask your wife where you are, she can say "he's out on the lake with the other woman".

Charles Lee - December 25, 1913 to March 26, 1976 My Dad started me fishing when I was young. I was going out with him on the St. Johns River in Florida before I started school. We also fished Lakes Seminole and Lanier together in later years. I will never forget the doubles on schooling bass in the St. Johns or the 8 lb lunker I caught under a hyacinth bank near a bridge. There is no greater thrill than seeing your hyacinth bulb cork disappear under a hyacinth bank and then having to wait until the fish stopped to set the hook. I didn't realize it at the time, but in addition to teaching me to fish, he was also imprinting his values on me. We would talk about things as we fished and most of the time those things were about being honest, trustworthy and frugal. I have tried to do the same for my son. Happy Birthday Dad.

A guy in our hunting club when I was a teenager had a pet 8 point buck in a pen (against the law now and maybe then). He went in to feed it during the rut one day and it put him in the hospital. It came close to killing him. He finally got away from it by grabbing its tongue and pulling and twisting it so he could control it enough to slide under the fence. He said his clothes were torn into strips by its hooves.

Considering the amount of deer flesh missing and the fact that the cats appear to be feeding, does it seem odd that there is no blood on the mouths of any of the 3 cats?