I was melting under my umbrella yesterday on Cheatham Lake when a boat pulls up and the driver shouts "Blue Raider Bob"!  It was fellow BR member Chris Catignani. He said he recognized me from across the lake because of my umbrella! We had gone fishing together several years previous on the Cumberland River, below the Old Hickory dam, and happened to have had a great day catching smallies and spots. Chris is a lure, jig, and rod maker who takes this lifestyle seriously. He said the only reason he went with me is because he needed a "Net Man"! Ha!  Actually he did and I performed terribly, loosing his biggest smallie! In spite of that, he was kind enough to gift me a bag of jig heads and soft lures that I have put to good use.

     At the time of our meeting, I was not a bit surprised that he was outfishing me. He had caught several, while I still had the skunk in the boat. He gave me a tip which produced one fish for the day. Another hot, disappointing day, but it was good to met up with a fishing friend! 

     Have you every come across a BR member?

I haven't yet but I look for you every time I'm on Cheatham.  😊

Yep. 10 years ago some of us Florida guys contacted each other through this website and started fishing together across Florida. We formed our own little Florida BR club that is still in contact and still actively fishing together to this day- and bringing in new members to join us.

 

Bass resource is a great bass resource!

32 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I haven't yet but I look for you every time I'm on Cheatham.  😊

That was my first time. I have to drive through Nashville to get there so It may be my last. I have read in a couple articles about how good the fishing was but I stunk it up. Do you do well there?

I haven't met an BR members yet, though a friend did join, but hasn't said much.

14 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

That was my first time. I have to drive through Nashville to get there so It may be my last. I have read in a couple articles about how good the fishing was but I stunk it up. Do you do well there?

I haven't fished the lower end of Cheatham in 30 years.   I thought you were talking about the upper end of Cheatham below Old Hickory.  

Yea, but it wasn’t my fault. He was looking at his phone and reading the BR forum when he ran the stop sign. 😁😁

I’ve been fortunate to meet a number of members and fish with them for fun and in tournaments. I’ve had guys come up to me at the ramp and say, “Hey - you’re Koz, right?”

 

And this season I updated the graphics on my kayak so if you see me, you’ll know it’s me 😀

Few years ago, @FryDog62 organized a get-together. It was him, me and one other (forget his BR name). He even had custom hats made up.

 

Then @gim and I met - we were doing an exchange of items and he popped over to my place.

 

That's been it so far.

Had a member pm and eventually call to give valuable information about bass fishing the upper Potomac.

Haven't seen him post in quite a while.

Yes. @Fishing Rhino taught me a lot when I got back into fishing in 2013. 

 

I try to fish with @Saltysmalljaws and @Mr. Aquarium at least once or twice a year.

 

I bumped into @Don51 once in Plymouth.  I believe I bumped into @BigEyedF11sh once at a Plymouth pond that has ZERO fish in it.

12 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Few years ago, @FryDog62 organized a get-together. It was him, me and one other (forget his BR name). He even had custom hats made up.

 

Then @gim and I met - we were doing an exchange of items and he popped over to my place.

 

That's been it so far.

Nice to see some of the hats still in circulation.  We are a hearty bunch! 

Probably gonna run into @LrgmouthShad and @FishTax a few times this week over the holidays and then in September I think we are gonna try to help @IcatchDinks catch some not dinks *hopefully*!

 

Bass fishing is definitely a great activity for friends!  I love learning new stuff and I truly love helping someone catch a fish that makes them smile!

 

I know some folks like to fish alone and I do too - so I get that - but I also enjoy sharing adventures with good company and look forward to opportunities to do so!

Yep. Went down to NC last summer and fished a lot with @Pat Brown, Jake, @FishTax, and @LrgmouthShad. 

 

Like Pat says, we're hoping to do more this September. 

 

I'm really loving the stories of BR member meetups. It's great when your virtual community can coalesce into present reality. It's a great community, and only gets better in person. 

At one of the first BR road trip’s at Wilson Lake in 2014, I was fortunate to meet and fish with many members. 

@Glenn

@road warrior

@papajoe222

@BassnChris

@Long Mike

@BIG O

 

And others

 

 

 

Mike

36 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

Probably gonna run into @LrgmouthShad and @FishTax a few times this week

 

Still feeling sick as a dog, though 

Met this guy on Hartwell. Yes that is Glenn, our supreme leader. 😁

Only when buying or selling something in the flea market. Haven’t fished with any fellow BR members but I’d love to. Any BR member in the Capital or Adirondack region of NY, I usually have an open seat in my boat! 

As previously mentioned I’ve fished with @FishTax @Pat Brown and @IcatchDinks. I also semi-regularly fish with @thediscochef on Ray Roberts or Stillhouse. I met @Kayak Koz at a Native Watercraft Kayak Tournament on Lake Fork last year. 

I met one a few years ago. Turns out he lives one town over from me. We've become really good friends.

13 hours ago, DogBone_384 said:

pond that has ZERO fish in it.

I've fished that pond!    😐

7 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

Nice to see some of the hats still in circulation.  We are a hearty bunch! 

Wore it today out shore fishing, in fact. 😁

6 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

 I met @Kayak Koz at a Native Watercraft Kayak Tournament on Lake Fork last year. 

And you won $1,000 for big bass of the hour during the event!

 

There's another Native event at Fork on October 4th. Are you going?

 

I can't - I'm opening two new hotels in mid September at the GA National Fairgrounds and Agricultural Center and the annual fair starts October 3rd and runs for two weeks. But I'm going to try to do the Kissimmee event in December.

I've invited some of the BR guys to Maine to fish, but since I live halfway to the North Pole, no one has come yet. I've received a few invitations too, but since I live halfway to the North Pole, I haven't gone yet. I would like to fish @Bluebasser86's power plant lake to catch one of those bass shaped like Hulk bluegills, but he's about a bluhgillion miles away.

I’ve met and fished with several members, mostly local guys, but I did get to host the great @roadwarrior in my boat once. I’ve met @Glenn in person a couple times. I met some very generous members from Florida that provided me with gear and one even took my wife and I on his boat in the Everglades for a few hours and caught some fish. I took another member from South Carolina I believe out in my boat for a few hours when he was in town for work.