Blue Raider Bob

Not only can your daughter fish....but by the look of her hat, she can do whatever the heck she chooses! I aint say'in nothing!

That is an excellent pose! This is what I would look like if I caught that fish!

Sounds, and looks like the day we dream of! Way to go! Love me some wading.

Well, we've all had our adventures. I've had my share, that's for sure. One thing's for certain, the adventures soften with age. My adventures in my sixties are a lot less painful than the ones in my teens! 😁 I keep the glued up KVD crank over my work table just to remind me that I can do stupid with a capital (S), if I'm not careful. I think there's a forum page where we can share our mishaps....seems like I've shared one or too. There's some funny stuff on that page.

I only meant that in my case, everytime I find a prize, (Like your Gerber tool), I seem to lose something in return. Glad you got the tool, they are handy as heck! Certainly not glad you lost your crankbait. 🙂

That's why we NEVER laugh out loud and pat ourselves on the back when we find a prize on the water. What goes around, comes around! True story......I slung a crank bait into a tree up a rock cliff bank along the Tennessee river. Looked up and right next to my crankbait was a new Kevin Van Dam crank that cost three times what mine did. Well, Heck! I climbed up the rock bluff, couldn't reach the limb, so I cut the limb off with my multi tool blade, fetched both crankbaits, laughed out loud, slapped myself on the back, tossed the cranks into the bottom of boat, and climbed down from bluff, jumped in boat, staggered, and stepped on BOTH crankbaits and broke them BOTH!!! Yep...it came back AROUND!

Good on ya mate!

Got the skunk out the boat anyway. Went to the river and the weatherman was correct for a change. Sunny skies and breezy conditions. Well.......it was breezy in between gale force winds and white capping water. Don't know where the bass went but i only caught one dink. Gave up on bass and targeted BG beds but couldn't hit a good lick there either. Went to the marina to escape the winds and saw a school of something on livescope so I tied up boat, walked over to spot and tossed cast net. Caught five nice Crappie. Dropped those back in the lake and went below dam to try something different. Due to recent rains, all spillways were spilling and between gale force winds and high water and currents, all I did was spin down river. Drove home wondering why we do this? At least I had the river to myself. All the other nuts were home!

Brian, that's a trip to remember! Remember never to wear that hat! Glad all's well. I dunked myself last week but in only three feet of water. Hope you find your keys! Let us know!

Tim, those are monsters! You use my fish for bait! What is your PB lengthwise? I'm not that knowledgeable but 46" Is a dang big fish! That must feel like setting the hook on a locomotive!

Actually there was a boat close enough to see me fall over the side, but I acted like it was part of the plan! I'm at the age where I couldn't care less if they laughed or not! 😁 I had a blast walking through the semi-clear water tossing to individual shellcracker beds. Would have stayed all day but I only wanted a half dozen for the pond. Unfortunately they were all males and I didn't achieve my goal of a mix . Great excuse to go again!

Dwight, I couldn't wrap my whole neighborhood around your smallies!

Caught my largest even Red-Eared Sunfish at Nickajack yesterday It was 11" and 1lb 1 oz. I've caught bigger Shellcracker fishing for crappie but this was my PB for a targeted species. Thought I hooked a Tarpon! Here's what happened. I trolled over the Shellcracker beds and marked them. Anchored, opened lunch pail and had lunch to give them time to relax, decided to wade to them so no worries about boat control, stepped over side only to stumble and give myself a "Baptist Baptism", complete emersion! I was soaked but had enough sense to put wallet and truck keys in lunch pail beforehand. (Been there-done that)! Fortunately, the water was spawning temps so all is good 🙂. Took off shirt to dry and got an old-fashioned sunburn to go along with my hand-size thigh bruise. Meant to catch a half dozen for the pond but just couldn't quit. They were that much fun! Took home a dozen to release. Later that evening, during pond time, I saw four of them swim by in a tight school. I did not know Shellcrackers schooled but for a moment they did.

Congrats on the twins! Hope mom and the little'uns are doing well. Couple more contributors to BR in a few years. Also, congrats on the "Tower of Power"! You're speaking my language now. My Merc's a 1977. Did you also replace the main wiring harness from engine to battery? Makes a world of difference in the old Mercs.

True!

I actually have a floating dock but no hammock. Thanks for the kind words. The pond is so much more work than I imagined and it has constant leaks. I have a well pump that runs 24/7 that keeps the water level fairly stable. Another issue is algae. It covers the pond bottom (Chara) and it covers the surface at times (Filamentous), but even with the headaches, it still is my heaven on earth. I took the last set of pictures wading around the plants. They are planted in half barrels. I have a total of 44 planters setting on blocks to achieve optimum height depending on plant species requirements. The included picture is the dock in younger years. It is (we are) more weather-beaten now but still functions as my go-to at the end of almost every day. I really enjoy the BG coming to the floating feed. I'm getting to recognize several, and they seem to have different personalities. Some are aggressive, some not. Some will inhale and exhale the pellets over and over again before finally consuming, some gobble one after another. I got to enjoy the blooming plants this weekend because I worked on the farm. The lilies close in the evening so I miss them through the week. Try not to notice the otter in the picture.....(I do)......because that's the reason I haven't any large bass! Katy, you are much too kind! A compliment on prose from you is beyond appreciated. I don't deserve the love but I'LL TAKE IT! And, thanks again for the inspiration to plant the Pickerel Rush. I LOVE them!

Mid May and the pond is alive! Bass have spawned and the fry are free-swimming. The Bluegills are fat and going on bed. Also, the flora aquatic wonderland is putting on a performance. The vegetation creates the perfect nurseries for the young of the year, as well as the young of previous years. When I knock the bugs off the insect zapper, the little BG's come swimming towards the dock and leave the protection of the vegetation. They will disappear the instant a roving Bass is sighted, only to return shortly. I was pleasantly surprised to see a large school of Gizzard Shad remaining three weeks after the big release. There must have been a hundred swim by the dock yesterday. So glad they survived. Hopefully they will reach spawning age before the inevitable. The Bass follow the school and there are occasional surface explosions. Molly, the red-eared slider, has returned for the sixth year and is once again eating out of my hand. Life is good! 🙂 Now if I could just catch a bass over 15", my summer would be set!

You'd be waiting in line! I've got first dibs! 😁

Right on !!!! So glad you got that pond property. It takes nerves of steel to make an offer on land. You're always wondering if it's the correct decision. Sounds like it was!

Glad you're back Murph!

Thanks, I just hope to see something that looks like eggs. I may have to get on my belly with stacked reading glasses. Just hope junior doesn't take to much offence and nip me on the head. True story, last year we had a Mallard Hen swim near a known nest and the bass swam up and bit her on the a...., butt!

After Saturdays experience cast-netting gobs of Spots and Smallies against the dam wall at Nickajack, i just couldn't wait to get out there with jigging spoons, so I risked employment and left work early yesterday. Rained the entire drive down, slacked up long enough for me to launch and set up umbrella, then came down hard for four hours. The day started off wet because I lost my balance and stepped in the lake to soak one foot. Didn't matter because the fabric sunbrella just leaked like a storm drain and I was soaked to the skin in a short while. There were two other nuts out in this weather as well. Anyway, I went to the mother-load wall and they were GONE! All the jillions of shad were gone! It was a bare wall! There were scattered shad everywhere but the spot I have been dreaming about was empty! I started with my Damiki Vault and right away caught a Channel cat, then a ten pound drum, then nothing. After an hour of nothing, I switched to a Silver Buddy and jigged off the end of the wall, in the turbine current and hooked a twenty pound drum. Thought maybe I would catch a few Shad to take home but my net got hung on rocks and destroyed. Got out my spare and got it hung on crank bait treble hooks. Had the cut them out, ruining the spare net. Wow, I have really ticked off the creator! Got tired of this and started tossing a micro-umbrella rig with three swim-baits and two teasers, and right away started catching really nice White Bass. One was 2 lb. 3 oz. Well, just kept that up and caught a couple dozen before the rain stopped. Hallelujah! The sun came out so I went a couple miles down river to drift fish and my trolling motor quit! Motor would not hit a lick. Tester showed no current at plug but current at battery. The issue was under my floor!!!!! DURN IT!! I took my snake-bit, saturated self on home and plan on re-attending Church for awhile!

4-23-25 Water temp. 74 deg. It's been a couple of weeks since I was able to confirm LM fry free swimming in the pond. The past few days I have observed this guy watching over his scrapped place along the bank. Yesterday he had a visitor but by the time I got my camera, she had moved on. They were gently swimming side by side in circles around his bed boundary. What this shows me is the staggered spawning season that we have read about in regards to Largemouth. I have not observed eggs on this bed but I will get closer in the next day or two to confirm yea or nay. I also, don't want to discourage this process so not sure how I will accomplish this. Algae is beginning to become a very serious problem as the Chara is covering the bottom and reaching the surface even in the deepest, 8' part of the pond, and filamentous algae is all over the place. This is by far my biggest disappointment. It's either use copper based chemicals to control (which kill invertebrates), or live with it. I'm living with it. You can see the Chara in the background past where the bass has cleared his place.

Amazing rock you have. Those are some pigs!

TnRiver46 nailed it. I have a pond at the house with a floating dock and an automatic fish-feeder. The BG love the commercial feed but the Bass do not. I bring home Shad and release into the pond. Hopefully I will have a sustainable population one day.