Blue Raider Bob

Bet your avatar picture changes!?

It was 250.00 for half day. I still think it is reasonable considering that professional guides have to earn a living as well as provide quality equipment for their clients. They also have to be licensed and insured. Also it must be a great stress hoping that their clients can have a great day on the water. They also have to deal with the whinny, hard to please crowd, so I totally respect their situation and I tip big, even if I'm skunked. You can lead a horse to water but.......... Since we were in his boat, the only pinging I could do was in my head, but I pinged away and took notes!

I'm right with ya Alex. Maybe this will be our year!

Fantastic! What was water clarity? I used to fish spinnerbaits back home where the water clarity was much less that where I am now. I have not had much success with spinnerbaits in the clear water of Middle Tennessee.

He really didn't have anything to say other that he was perplexed. He thought we would catch them. Water temps were 48 deg. I have fished Woods many times and have never been skunked before. The reason I went with a guide was to learn the areas of the lake that held bass in summer and winter. The guide is actually very good. He has three DD's from last year at Woods and has also caught a 7lb 1 oz Smallie from Woods. It is a big fish lake. He showed me great structure all over the lake but nothing held fish. I only lake fish when the waters on my rivers are too angry to have me along. Lake fishing takes patience and skill, while river fishing is more forgiving of incompetence. BTW, I'm sure you will catch lots like you always do and I'm looking forward to stories and pictures. I'm just sorry you and the rest of my northern friends have to wait so long. If I was stuck in the house all winter, my wife would have committed a homicide by now!

Still waiting on mine but Saturday, at the wingwall at Nickajack dam, I was using an old Cotton Cordell blade bait when I hooked this huge Smallmouth Buffalo. This is just after I hooked a river monster on another Blade bait but broke off. I was having to use my trolling motor to stay in slack water away from generators when the monster swam my line into trolling motor blades. There was nothing I could do about it. I never saw the fish. Couldn't get a weight on the Buffalo because it was so heavy, the lip grips wouldn't hold it. It must of been 15 to twenty pounds. An "Epic" battle on spinning gear! It crushed the cheap hooks on the Cordell bait and that was my last blade bait. Ned rig caught four bass but it was a slow, windy, cold, rainy, miserable day. Cain't wait to go again!

Jacob since you are only twenty, I'm sure there will be many more for you to share. I look forward to them! Your story about shimmying up the tree made me laugh so hard because way, way, back in the day, my good friend "Big John", climbed a tree, walked out on a limb holding other limbs for balance while holding a beer, went too far, (he was 250 lbs.), branch snapped, and went crashing down into the lake. He went under, beer did not!

Katy you always post things that remind me of being a kid. Thank you for that. When we walked the Cypress swamps fishing as a kid/teenager, we would walk to the spot we hung up, take a deep breath, and drop to the bottom to feel with our fingers. The Strike King spinner baits cost a buck or two back then and we could not afford to lose them. Of course the water we waded never went over neck deep, and around the Cypress trees, it was never too much more that belly-button deep. Hated tripping over those Cypress Knees though. Always busted a shin. I wouldn't get in that water now to save my.......!

I'm not laughing at your gashed hand, I am laughing because your story describes each and every one of us when we were younger! We've all busted our butts at one time or another over a 2.00 lure! Although you say this happened this past summer....that means you're either young, or still young at heart!

So glad ya'll keep those Pikes up North!

Katy a 19" Smallie is a big fish anywhere! I have two so far this year. Back home in the swamps, we used to call Bowfins, "Grinnell". Has anyone ever heard that usage? Don't know if it's regional or not. I've never seen one in the cleaner waters of middle Tennessee. They would crush spinnerbaits and bend the wire.

Skunked yesterday on Woods Res. Tennessee. First time I have been skunked in my memory. Paid a guide to teach me the lake. Cost me 250.00 to get skunked. At least I learned where not to fish!

I remember! I chased one down once long ago. Glad she quit running!

Thanks for this link. Now I'm skeptical and interested at the same time. How can an egg survive the stomach acid? I hope these researchers post their findings after studies on a wider scale. There is a small marshy, wooded area in a field across the road from me. It can't be six inches deep and 20 ft across, but every time the field floods, the overflow reaches a hole on my property that dries up every summer. Every summer I net gobs of mosquito fish. Fingerling LMB, greenies, and Bluegill, to release before the dryout. I have always been stumped about that one. Although this large hole , maybe 1/4 acre, is habited by ducks and herons when filled.

AlabamaSpotHunter is targeting fish in the exact scenarios you are describing, and he is teaching us all a lesson! He's even sent me to the bait monkey for another round! My Damiki's are due this week! The blade baits get down to the fish quickly and resemble the basses main target.....baitfish!

Warming trend has raised water temperature to 50 deg. Bass are seen moving in close to the bank. While walking the pond this morning, I saw a couple large swirls right on the bank which is confusing because they do not make their beds that shallow. Well, more questions than answers as usual. Got another hephalump! The score so far in 2023.....two racoons and three possums. Also looks like another heavy year for deer. After an absence of several years, the past three of four years have brought an increasing deer presence. We had three born behind the house last spring, (I guess they feel comfortable living with a goat herd). The downside is I had two hundred feet of snap beans destroyed. It broke my will to ever garden again, (That and Smallmouths)!

That is beautiful beyond words! Congrats on being able to enjoy that daily.

Lionel Ferguson I think his name was. Five pound seven oz. Private pond in East Tennessee That's bigger than all but one bass I've ever caught!

Duck River near Henry Horton State Park, middle Tennessee. The water is clearing up and soon it will be river time! I've got to shovel mud off the ramp before that can happen. Every time the river rises, it leaves a coating of mud. Nature makes me work for my leisure!

If you want to make the trip to the Tennessee River, we have hundreds of miles of open water. From east of Knoxville to the Ohio river in Kentucky. The fishing is usually very good. I have never been skunked there. We also have lots of really good lakes. Dale Hollow, Center Hill, ect.

Center Hill Lake Middle Tennessee. Fishing was slow, scenery was not! Caught three small spots and one slab crappie.

Would like to hear your opinion when you are able to use. thanks

Has anyone upgraded their LVS32 to the new LVS34 for Livescope? It runs about 1200.00 plus tax and I am wanting opinions on the product if possible. I have the 93SV and I'm wondering if the clarity improvement will be worth the cost. Thanks

I believe you also have to have the black box in addition to the LVS32 Transducer. The GPS store website can answer your questions much better than myself.

I have the touch screen and I find it works well for me. Very easy to go from page to page.