Blue Raider Bob

That's easy!

I was having a blast but other boats started crowding me. Also, I was pressured to get home with my Shad but I will try to leave work early Wednesday and see if i can catch any with spoons and other bottom bumpers. The bass would get their gill covers stuck in the net and it was difficult freeing them. Also, I had to dump the net contents into a barrel to separate the Shad from the gamefish. Then I had to dip net the barrels until I got all the gamefish. Just another reminder that I have NOT seen it all yet!

Biggest Spotted Bass I've ever seen but I didn't catch him....Well actually I did, but not with hook and line. Caught him in my CAST NET! That's right! Caught this lunker, as well as about twenty more tossing my net for Shad! Strange ending to a fun trip. As many of you know, I carry one or two 55 Gallon plastic barrels with me to try to catch Shad at the end of my fishing adventures. Saturday was no different. I floated the Tennessee, and caught about a dozen including a 2-11 Spot and a 2-9 Smallie. Well, Sunday before last, I found the mother of the motherload of Shad along a section of wall below Nickajack dam. My livescope screen goes from scattered fish to total coverage in this certain section, and as inept as I am tossing a cast net, I still manage to load the barrels for the trip home. The water is 14' deep at this point, but a little farther along, it rises to 9' and my first toss over the 9' shelf resulted in the following.......One slab Crappie, Two monster White Bass, and four Spots between 2 and 3 lbs. I kid you not! 2nd, third, fourth tosses, similar results. Loaded with game fish. I would toss the net, and watch it travel to the bottom on livescope through the clouds of Shad, give her a tug, feel the weight and pull up a load of fish. I caught over twenty smallies and spots between two and three, and the monster Spot which weighed 3-15 on my scale. ( I thought closer to five, but scales don't lie....do they?) Anyway, unfortunately this activity did not go unnoticed as there were several boats nearby with exclamations such as (DAD GUM!!! Didge you see what that ol'e boy just threw back!). As much as I wanted to actually fish for them in this incredible spot, I had to skedaddle back to Christiana before the Shad began their mass suicide. BUT......I will be revisiting soon with my Damiki Vault, and Silver Buddy! As you can see in the picture, these fish are very well fed. One fella was telling me that they were full of eggs. I told him that spots and smallies were spawned out this time of year. These bellies were full of Shad! The gamefish concentrations are beyond belief because I rarely have a good toss and even with half open nets, I was pulling them in every cast. Now I know what lots of fish do after spawn. They go to the Motherload!

Those don't look like any Smallies I've ever seen! 🤣

I've got room!

Funny story about the dog. her name is Lucy but she passed a couple years back. The pond is named after her....Lake Lucy! My wife and daughter found her cold and shivering under a shed at church when she was a tiny discarded puppy and brought her home. This was many, many years ago when my daughter was just a little thing. The Olympics were happening at the time and my daughter just loved a gymnast named Alicia, so she named her new puppy (Alicia, short for Lucy). Yeah, don't try to figure it out....it just is what it is! My daughter still catches flack over that one, (she turned 24 yesterday).

I actually had a couple land on my pond a few years back. The resident Mallards ran them off. The resident Canadian Geese ran the Mallards off. They do not share.

You didn't fail Katie, you just didn't catch anything. Failure comes from not trying. Glad you got to launch and nature surely paid some dividends.

Couple interesting observations yesterday. Water temp reached 68 deg. and I saw the first swarm of Bass fry. A plucky little guy, no more than a pound was herding his brood and chasing away threats. Wind was blowing the water so no good pictures were taken. They were grouped around a big barrel, water lily pot with lots of vegetation. 4-13-2025 so the spawn should be reaching into the midwest now. Hang on a little longer my northern friends! Second is the mortality rate between Gizzard vs. Threadfin. I often try to net some shad when I am leaving my fishing spots and depending on the drive, there are varying mortality losses. Threadfin loss from 1 hr-15Min Nickajack can reach over 70%, more so when crowded. I, therefore just try to net Threadfin from lakes much closer. However, yesterday, below Nickajack Dam, clouds of baitfish showed on sonar and a couple of tosses brought pounds of Gizzard Shad to the boat. My half full 55 gallon barrel was seriously overcrowded, and I worried about a terrible mortality % as I sped home. Much to my surprise, the Shad were still alive and well, with less than 10% mortality when I pulled up to the pond. I must have released 10 lbs. or better and the survivors began schooling right away. Best shad release ever. Also, the Gizzards were much larger than the Threadfins and that might play a part. The LM noticed the Shad release as well.

Finally got to go after two weeks battling Covid again and building my wife an addition to the house. Went to Nickajack Lake but the floating eel grass made life miserable, so I loaded up and put back in below the dam, which is the headwaters of Guntersville. I forgot how much I enjoyed drifting down the river as I spent all last year pursuing large bass to put in my pond. Drifted using a Big TRD and bouncing bait from the bank to the boat while we drifted at 1MPH or less. Caught a Spot on first cast, this Smallie on about the fifth cast, and about a dozen nice Spots and LM for the next hour. I was having too much fun because my giggling attracted the North Wind and what was a breezy day became a gale. Fishing became impossible so I went to the dam, caught a load of shad, and went home. The pond bass fed well last night.

Yep, I've gazed (Stared), at your pond many, many times but I'm not jealous , actually I stare at Cross Pond and long for the time when I can head that way! My bucket list includes Kenora Ontario, and Belfast Maine! Why is it Minnesota gets to be called the land of 10,000 Lakes when Maine only gets to call their lakes ponds? No matter. They are dang sure lakes to me!

bp, It is a lake. It's over 150 acres. She just calls it a pond 'cause she doesn't want to brag and hurt Bob's feelings. She calls mine a pond as well to make me feel good, even though mine is just a puddle in reality. You can throw a rock across mine. You can't fire a Skud across hers!

Looks like a male BG in his courting livery.

Double WOW! I'd frame that. Actually if you don't mind, I will.

Yep! She's either full of eggs, or full of Shad, or maybe like the angler....full of something!

Finally caught something worth showing. My first spot of the year and while she may not be the biggest, she sho is healthy! Just right for Tim's Muskie Bait!

Paradise! That's got to be one of the most beautiful places in the world!

Lake Normandy in middle Tennessee. Normandy is a hill land Corp of engineer lake of about 3300 acres. This lake in this picture is shown winter pool. Beautiful lake during the week, not so much weekend.

Thanks Goodness you got back. 👀

Katie, when I started reading this, the first thing I thought of was, "Your fishing partner on this trip has got to be a guy"! Even before you described him, I just knew. This is sooo guy stuff. We always jump before we look, step before we depth check, talk before we listen, and act before we plan. That's why girls outlive guys. Girls plan the next move. Guys plan how to fix what they just broke! That makes you, me, and AJ so far. I had just bought a new rope for mine. Tied it on the anchor and slung it overboard, only to watch the end of the new rope follow! Real rocket science moment that! I'll need to start a new thread for this one!

This one may be the "WINNER"!

My theory is we need to swap jobs!

Just a small update concerning the lack of appetite the last shad release........went by Stones river yesterday and caught a couple dozen. Wind was terrible and there was little boat control so I didn't catch gobs of them. Pulled up to the pond and as soon as the net was emptied, the LM moved in to attack. What a difference three days make. Sunday they wouldn't sniff a Shad, and yesterday, the Shad stood no chance. Why? Why is this possible? This forum contains anglers that enjoy catching Bass, enjoy learning about Bass, and enjoy understanding the different moods, reactions, and complexities of Bass. Will we ever understand them to the point where we can predict ahead of time? For me, not likely, but for others on this forum.....I think you are already there. Nevertheless, the constant hunger for behavioral education drives the bulk of us. Hope some of these observations help you as much as it helps me. This is where we are at the pond, last week of February in middle Tennessee. Smaller Bass and BG schooling together in north coves. South coves and banks fishless. The Bass and BG are at the top of water column and scatter when I move. The larger Bass in my pond, (up to 3lb.) do not school with the smaller bass, but school together offshore in deeper water. They certainly make their presence know when Shad are released, but do not normally come close to the bank. Air temps were in the low 70's yesterday and falling but water temps rising. More later.

Being in Lascassas, your best and closest area lake would be Center Hill. It is a deep, hill land lake that is difficult for me to fish but it has loads of bass. Percy Priest is also within a reasonable driving distance and is also full of Bass. Both lakes get crowded in the warm seasons. To escape the crowds, try Cordell Hull. It will be a pretty good drive but at least you can fish without the crowd.

Thanks TnRiver, you put him on some great spots. I'll add Cumberland river at Nashville, Tennessee River at Nickajack. PM me John, if you'd like more details.