Late Fall and early Winter means tackle cleaning and rod building time.  This year I took some old boat-rashed reels, tore them down to parts, repainted the bodies and then reassembled.  I'll be the first to say I'm no expert and they're not fancy but they look great - fresh and ready to go.  I've also rebuilt about 5 rods that were also pretty beaten up.  Fishing?  Not much yet...too much going on with holidays, family, concerts, travel and other things that get in the way of time on the water.  Been darn right frigid here in Middle TN too.  I have one more rod to wrap and epoxy then I'm done tinkering and ready to bundle up and fish. 

My daughter is giving one of her kidneys to my Grandson (her son) on Monday, Jan. 20th.  It will be tough with two having surgery but I think the support group is in place.  I have to be Dallas for a meeting that day but I'll hurry home and relieve some of the folks during aftercare.  I expect they will both be in the hospital a good week and they have to stay close to Vanderbilt Child Hospital for about 3 weeks after that.  A long journey but it will be good to see my G'son have a chance at a "real" life.

Sweetie's at Callaway Gardens for 7 days - she's big into needlepoint and has signed up for 3-classes during that time.  We have a deal...she doesn't tell me how much she spends on her stash and I don't tell her what I spend on mine.

Have a great late winter and spring!  Cheers!

Been awhile since a post but here are some fish from the last couple of months.  My bud Alan has a nice Smallie, my G'son a nice LM and some LM from me.  My son has the 29 pound Salmon caught yesterday (8-5-13) in British Columbia.

March 5-7, 2013 the BIG "O,"  Florida.

My son and I spent two days in Ft. Lauderdale fishing the Big O, the Glades and the canals.  He paid for the Guides, Air fare and food and I used my points for hotel and car rental.  We had a good time and of course I enjoyed being with my son doing something we both love.

A cold front came in to Florida 5-days before we got there and continued through our trip.  Florida fish are accustomed to waters well over 70 degrees and with water temps in the 60's and steady wind out of the North at 20-25 it wasn't the Florida dream trip people dream of but we enjoyed it and caught good fish on live golden shiners.  Artificial bait was ignored by all species.

We caught numerous 4# and 5# bass, four 6# and these nice fat 7# ladies.  We caught some Peacock on the Canals and a few bass in the Glades but no size to speak of.

Special thanks to our Guide, Brett Isaacson!  He's a great guy, great sense of humor and knows his fishing!  Thanks, Brett!

Floridians were freezing but we both enjoyed the warm afternoons and we both have burnt feet (sandals), faces and arms.  We had some great food while there and enjoyed the time together.  Thanks, son!

Of course, my son is always running his businesses!

 21' Skeeter with Yammy 250 4-stroke

The local Thug! 












Sharing the Load












Matt hangin' with Stephen

Center Hill Smallie December 31, 2012

Had a chance to fish today...finally!  Cold and overcast but the rain won't be coming in until this evening so spent about 5-hours on the water.  I only caught 2 fish - this SM and 1-spot.  I spent most of my time searching for schools then targeting them with blade baits, spoons and drop shot.  However, as usual, the two caught came on a football jig.  I saw some old timers on the lake and they were catching many small Smallies on the float and fly.
Water temp was still 49-50, ambient about 38 and at WOT about Zero (LOL).

Center Hill Lake - November 20, 2012

Well, an interesting day on the lake.  I got on the water about 10AM, drove over by the bridge and promptly caught 6-bass; 5-Small Mouth and 1-Large Mouth.  I moved spots and never caught another so I went back to the bridge to see if anymore had moved in.

When I got there, I saw two Army guys  (Trevor and Matt) crawling down the bank to the lake.  When they saw me they waved and we struck up a conversation.  Long story short I asked them to join me for a look at the lake.  One was from Georgia and the other from Ohio and both had visited the local High School for recruitment.  They were based out of Fort Cambell, KY.

We had a great couple of hours fishing (turns out they both had TN fishing license) and seeing the lake.  When they had to leave they wanted pictures of the 2-keepers in the live well.  So I took some of them and they took some for me.

The SM was about 2 to 2.5 pounds, 19" and the LM was between 5-6 pounds and I didn't measure him.  Ambient Temperature was 65 and surface water temperature 59.5.  A light breeze at 5mph and mixed sun and clouds.  Fish came from 12 feet of points with Zorro Hand tied Hair Jig, 1/2-ounce and Zoom trailer - Watermelon Green in color.

Great day!  Thanks to the military folks for allowing us to do all that we do!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Been-a-while

It's been a very busy fall and regretfully I haven't fished the best part of the season.  I traveled around the world from Sept 25 through October 20th visiting Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Singapore and Japan then had lots to catch up on after that.  Took a little weekend with Sweetie up in North Carolina last weekend.  The Fall colors where OK, but past their peak.

I got back my Humminbird today - it wasn't recognizing the transducer - they replaced some kind of chip.  Thankfully, it was under warranty; or at least they didn't charge me anything out of kindness.  Either way, I was glad of that.  Now I have to try it out and thankfully it's a beautiful day today in Middle Tennessee!

Have a great Thanksgiving and God Bless!

Old Hickory Lake - July 19th, 2012

Our Worship Pastor's Dad was in town from Maryland so we fished Old Hickory Lake in the AM for about 5-hours.  Weather was nice, slight wind up to about 10-mph, water clarity good and surface temperature 87.  We both caught fish including LM, SM and he even caught a Catfish on a T-rig.  Enjoyed the time on the water and the company.  He's actually thinking about moving to TN and would like to be near Tims Ford lake.