Got down there Wed afternoon and fished for a couple of hours and caught 3 shorts, then met up with Riskkid at the cabin. I knew it was going to be tough when I called RiskK and he told me that the lake had been dropped almost 2 ft since they whacked em on Monday > thanks TVA!.

We went to the dinner last night. Glenn and the gang did a great job of planning the evening. Nice goodie bags and raffle prizes.

The speaker was great too. He's a fisheries biologist specializing in pond and lake design, construction, and management.

RK and I headed out at first light with high hopes this morning, and it just never happened. We went to a few of my favorite Spring time spots and several of the spots he and his guide had caught fish on, and I got skunked. RK had one around 2.5 lb LM, a nice 3 lb spot come unbuttoned by the boat and lost one that could have been a new PB for him. Fish was digging hard by the boat and SNAP :'( > :(.

All in all a tough week for most of the guys. It wasn't just the group that struggled. I talked to Doug Campbell, owner of Waterfront Grocery (awesome bait shop), and he said that since Monday the bite had been way off. the fish were trying to make their way to the beds, but the fronts late last week and the water falling really had them confused.

Oh well, that's fishing.

Later-

SC

Fishing slow but the camaraderie beyond belief  

That sucks, wish things could have been different for you guys. At least you got to meet with some of the people of BR.

Good to see you made it home safe, Rob.

Overall, the trip was great! Fishing wasn't bad, but it could have been better.

CJ

Good to see you made it home safe, Rob.

Overall, the trip was great! Fishing wasn't bad, but it could have been better.

CJ

Chris:

Good meeting you guys as well. Good luck at KY-Barkley this year. Maybe we can get together with Carl and whck em up there this year.

How did you do Thursday?

Later-

SC

I fished with Speedbead on Thursday. Almost duplicated you and Carl's day. Couple of dink LM and a nice spot. There was this one guy though....well I'll let him tell his own story when he gets back home to Mass!

We'll definantly get togather here whenever ya'll get ready!

CJ

Rob,

Sorry to hear that you had a tough time.  Dropping water is always a great way to screw up a good bite!  

Did you get a chance to fish any of the stuff I told you?  Probably wouldn't have done much better since it was pretty flat as well.

Sorry the fishing wasn't better for you.

I was planning to come over for dinner Wednesday to meet everyone, but I had two employees call in sick Tuesday and Wednesday so I had to work late to meet a deadline.

Maybe next year.

No, no, no Shandcranker.

You skunked in front of the guys?

Awful.  Just awful.

Oh well, maybe next year.

Glad you had a good time.

Maybe one day I can join you all and get skunked, too.

Rob,

Sorry to hear that you had a tough time. Dropping water is always a great way to screw up a good bite!

Did you get a chance to fish any of the stuff I told you? Probably wouldn't have done much better since it was pretty flat as well.

Yep; hammered Alreds area for two hours Wed late afternoon with the tube. Not a bite. I backed off, figuring the fish had just moved out a bit with the dropped H2O, and I found a bunch of fish on the deeper grass lines in 5-9 ft. They were still in the area, but the water had dropped over a foot Wed night alone, so I'm sure they were freaked out from leaving the bedding areas!

My timing as always was perfect!

Such is life. I still had a good time, and I appreciate your help on what was happening late last week. I'll definitely be back in there late pre-spawn and spawn in the future.

The silver lining: I did learn what kind of areas to look for around the spawn down there. Between the banks you suggested and where RK whacked the bigguns on Monday, I know what to look for down there now that time of year. All of my fishing there in the past has been early pre-spawn or post spawn through summer, so the shallow bite was new to me.

Just goes to show that even when the fishing is tough you can still learn a lot from time on the water.

Thanks again for the tips.