Blue Raider Bob

Went back home last fall for a visit with my sisters. Took some time for myself and visited the Mississippi River, and one of the old Oxbows I fished as a kid. The lake is called Dacus Lake and it is on the west side of the river near Memphis. The entire property was purchased by a duck hunting club many years ago and is now private property. I could only stand on the bank and wish I was out there once again. The entire lake was void of fishermen and has been for years. Quite an eerie site. When I was a kid, the banks were alive with the local folks sitting on buckets and worm fishing with cane poles. No telling how great the fishing would be now.

Please take more pictures, although you are able to describe with such intense details that I can see the walls of wild rice in front of me......no actually it's a computer screen in front of me....but when I close my eyes.....walls of wild rice! Yes, anyplace down stream from one of the TVA dams will be the place to bank fish. I go below Nickajack at least twice a month, sometimes more, although I boat fish. The banks get a good crowd of anglers and I see the bank anglers catching fish often. Right now it's White Bass time. Wish I was off Friday and I'd be happy to take ya'll along. You will be crossing the Wheeler Lake portion of the river on the way to Ardmore, so either go to Wheeler dam to your west, or Guntersville dam to your east. Good Luck!

5-1-20 on my PB LM. Picture is in livewell because I was shaking too hard to weigh. My livewell is 22" wide. Fish weighed 7-4 and was released. Smallie was 8-21-22 4lb 7 oz

Read his book "Can't Hurt Me", if you get a chance. Only person to ever become a Navy SEAL, graduate Ranger School, and Earn Navy/Marine Parachutist Badge. Set record 4,030 pullups in seventeen hours and competed in over 70 Ultra-Marathons. All because his brain-clicked one day and he realized that humans are capable of so much more than mediocrity.

Deep, clear, and highly pressured.

Otters eat bass. Sorry Mike, didn't mean to pile on. I posted before I read your response. I have otters that travel past my pond occasionally and wreak havoc!

Like David Goggins says, "Remove your governor"! Look him up. Unreal!

Totally love " To Build a Fire"! Also like lots of his short stories such as "The Oyster Pirates". He has lot's of interesting short stories, as well as Mark Twain. His Puddin'head Wilson is one I would recommend. Robert Ruark's "The Old Man and the Boy", is classic as well! All about fishin'!

Awesome Smallie! That is HUGE for a river fish! I got my first Rapala Rip Stop Saturday. There was some line hanging down from a tree and when I looked up, there it was. Took awhile to get it down but I'll put it to use this weekend.

The following two images are schools of Crappie near the bridge pilings at Lake Normandy Tennessee. Unfortunately, the pictures do not show the whole screen and depth but it will give you an idea of what is possible. Second picture is gobs of shad near surface and structure on the bottom.

When crappie fishing before my Smallmouth addiction, I used to lower a jig into the visible crappie and actually watch fish approach, then inhale my jig. I actually felt the tug the moment the fish and the jig on display merged! I have done the same with schoolie Spots. I've dropped a ned right into a school visible on Livescope and hooked Spots seen rising on screen to eat lure. It is rarely this easy but you can view fish realtime. In my opinion, Livescope helps the Crappie fisherman much more than the Bass fisherman. Also in prospective mode, you can actually see Bluegill beds on the bottom. They show up as a group of depressions. It is video game fishing in a way but most important, it allows you to bypass empty water that is bereft of bait to concentrate on more productive areas. With that said, personally I do not search for baitfish. I drift with the river and it's hit or miss because I don't have to catch fish for a living, or the table, and the Smallies don't seem to school anyway. They seem to be scattered up and down the river.

I enjoy the FFS to the point where I would sorely miss it if I didn't have it. Kind of like "Air conditioning"! Since I river fish, I do not utilize it's capabilities like I should. What I mean by that is, I am always facing upriver so my transducer is always facing upriver, so I'm only viewing what is in front of me most times. Where it excels for me is when I am drifting downriver, the structure is clearly visible under and in front of the boat as I pass over. I see stumps, rocks, laydowns, ect. that I didn't know existed until the drift. I also see schools of baitfish as well as schools, and individual other fish. Sometimes I am in awe of what I see under the boat. When I drift into eddy water that removes me from current, I can move trolling motor shaft to scan 360. Then I am able to target fish visible on the screen as well as follow the direction the schools move. Case in point was Saturday. The bass were really slow but I found a school on sonar in a eddy area and caught a White bass on a small A-rig. Put down the rod, picked up an ultra-light with a Mepps Aglia, and proceeded to catch thirteen White Bass from that school. So an answer to your question is definitely I have caught fish because of it.

Just saw your latest video. I'm NOT the guy that should be suggesting to you how to catch fish! Congrats! That was an awesome "EPIC" trip! I went Saturday an only caught four. Your bass could have eaten all mine!

Alex you do not need an expensive boat to utilize FFS. I have been using this rig for many years now even though I am able to fish out of anything I choose. I use it because I like it. My FFS cost way more than the rig did. I guess what I am saying is you can incorporate FFS into the rig you currently run. It doesn't matter if your trolling motor is bow or stern mount. You can even use a separate shaft dedicated to FFS if you want. So go out and grab you one and enjoy!

Making sure you're moderating instead of fishing Roadwarrior! Thank goodness for the edit option!

Thanks........but does that mean you do not let your wife use the higher price point gear? What happens if she reaches for the wrong one? Timeout?? But in all seriousness, thank you for the suggestions. Between these ideas and the ones I got from Bluebasser86, I can't go wrong! My Mitchells have been good for many years but now the handles are loose and I'm constantly thinking I need to tighten them. Do you like the 2000 or the 2500 reel size with the 7' ML? I finesse fish with light line and light lures in current. Thanks

Do you guys see Roadwarrior's post about the "Buy three get one sale" on Berkley Stunna and others. Dang might have to jump on this! Ends Feb. 1st

I'm about to graduate to a little better spinning combo's than I have used in the past. I have heard that Pflueger makes a good reel but no so much on the rod. I'd like to stay around the 100.00 to 150.00 range because I loose a couple overboard each year seems like. Any suggestions or personal favorites? thanks

No problem at all Dogface, the more questions we can put out there, the more answers we can use. I can't help with the 360 because I am using Garmin Livescope. I hope your question can be answered as well. Do you use a separate homemade shaft or did you get one made just for your application?

What are your opinions on a separate FFS pole mount? I currently use my trolling motor shaft for my FFS transducer but I wanted your opinions...pro's and con's. It seems that it would just be another thing in the way, but, it would create a dedicated shaft to allow viewing in different directions from the trolling motor direction. I mainly fish rivers where my trolling motor is nearly always facing upstream to slow drift. Any thoughts? Thanks

I think I know where the lake it too, but you got to get past St. Peter to fish there! He's guarding the pearly gates!

Dang! I'm saving this picture for tomorrow's PBJ at lunchtime. Please tell me there's some apple pie somewhere round there!

No Kidding! I want to see Alex catch a fish like that with the volume turned up! Although I'm not at all sure I could stand it! Don't want my boss to catch me rolling on the floor laughing!

Katy you already know what we are feeding on this farm, you've seen the pictures. I'm not signing for two more mouths! Heck I just got rid of this one! Just don't suggest the labs to my daughter 'else I'll be stuck with 'em. Lasers and all!