As most of you know I devoted over 20 years chasing Trophy LineSides in our Fisheries ... I got the Tee Shirt Tourney fishing for Bass in the 70's and 80's ... Took a little R&R (For non Military, Rest and Recuperation) And built and raced Dragsters for a short time Before I went back to fishing in search of another species away from the Jet Skies , houseboats and Bass Cowboys ... ... Walllaaa .. Striper on the Cumberland River Chain ...
Now I owned a cabin on the Caney Fork so Trout was my Vent from Guiding for Stripers for my R&R Then. Here is where I am now ... Sold my Guide boat (I Still have 5 boats) Got interested in Antique and vintage Outboards and racing ... But still needed a fishing rig for everyday fishing ...And the wife likes to troll ... So Minnesota bound I went to pick up a salvage Alumacraft ... Still personalizing it to fit me ... GPS/FF combo Next major purchase ...
This leads up to the wife's and I 3rd fishing trip in the Boat ... And What a Day ...
Lawana and I got a late start this morning on JPP ... Didn't start fishing until about 8:00 AM ... Watching the reports ... I was fishing all Bandits 200 and 300's ... Colors were (FT) Fire Tiger, Baby Bass, and Mad Cow ... It wasn't until about 8:45 the first fish was caught ... The wife caught a 16.5 inch Smallie on a 300 (FT) ... Fished water depth from 16 to 21 ft ...
Now I have an old Raytheon Fish Finder with a paddle wheel Speed ... So I took the Garmin Out of my truck to (GPS the Speed) ... The GPS. was more accurate ... The paddlewheel was .7 MPH slower at Trolling speeds and 5 MPH faster at top in cruising speeds .... Most of the fish today was caught at 1.7 MPH ...
We fished until 2:00 PM .. Switched to all Bandits 300's dropped the FT No more hits ... The duration of the day we caught 12 Crappie 8 were keepers and a couple of 14 + inch keepers ... 4 stripe, ...
The High Life of the day ... Excuse me That should be High Light Was around 1:30 PM ... Fish on ... The wife reeled in a nice 12 inch crappie ... Before She could get it off the hook one of my 12 ft. soft tip Crappie poles bowed to the water ... No action just stayed there ... I figured I was hung but at the same time I was running through my mind ...Can't be hung at this depth ... And about time the fish leaped ... I didn't see it ...I was concentrating on the rod and the drag ... (8 pound Line on a 12 crappie pole !!!) Lawana said this is a monster ... I figured a big Drum or Fouled hooked carp ...
I caught the next leap ... A Big Large Mouth Bass !!! ... Well with a long crappie pole and you have 3 other lines out (Remember The Wife just reeled in a 12 inch Crappie that is flopping in the bottom of the boat ... Old Big Girl says ... What the heck .. Since He can't control where I go I think I will just Have some Fun ... And Fun She did ... She managed to wrap the other three lines into knots ... We had to start punching reel releases so she would not break the other rods, etc. ... Who Knows ...
So To make a good story come to a great ending ... We landed a 5 pound 15 oz LM ... And by the length and size of Her Head ... this fish would go 7 pounds plus in the Spring ....
Just want to say the Wife and I really enjoyed our day together (49th anniversary coming up) ... And next year After the second Store Bought Knee is installed in October this Year we are going to really have some fun ...
Now If it wasn't (for the "Agelessssssone) Merv none of this would have happened .... His unselfish act to pass on information to an old fisherman is priceless ... And Folks Be thankful he is a member of FTI ... He has a lot of knowledge to spread ... Just read His Post !! Thanks Merv!! <'TK><
Some darn nice fish TK! Man the tail on that bass is sure tore up!
I am glad you and the wife had such a fabulous day!
I am taking my wife out to the caney tomorrow after work. I hope we have just as good of a day!
That tail is tore up. Was thinking of hitting the Caney at 11:00 AM tomorrow but after today don't know if I will have the energy. I hope they can get it to where there is some non generating time through the week.
Nice looking fish TK. Glad you had a good day. I could have used that top over me today....it was hot.
Regards
Randy, After shake down cruise #2 and a exploration trip on CH ... .. I think it the first day early Summer it actually did not Rain and the temp was over 80 ... The wife said ... 'It sure would be nice to have a top over us " ...
Some darn nice fish TK! Man the tail on that bass is sure tore up!
I am glad you and the wife had such a fabulous day!
I am taking my wife out to the caney tomorrow after work. I hope we have just as good of a day!
Yea, that was the first thing I saw ... At first I thought it was a Redneck ID for the live well during a Friday Night Tourney in the fish's early days ... ...
But after looking at it the tail had developed beyond the cut ... I suspect prop cut ? ... <'TK><
Congrats on the big day TK, this is what it's all about.
I saw you posted some pic's on facebook of the new addition .... I don't do face book (I don't text either!! Call Me !!) ... So when you get a chance post the pic's on the board !!! <'TK><
Thanks TK! Reading your story of your outing made my day! And it's nice to know I had a hand in making it happen.
I hope that bass now swims happily in your lake.
And that is one fine lookin boat. Love the way you've got it set up with all the rod holders. NICE!
Merv, to be honest I originally set the boat up for Walleyes ... But I have not mastered the eyes as well as you have mastered the Crappies ... Oh, Did I tell you We had fresh Crappie for supper with Hush puppies and garden fresh Green beans with Potatoes and Tomatoes ... Ummmm! ..
Now the Big Girl Bass ... Even though My live well is set up for Pike, walleye and Musky... We noticed some fatality rate among the Crappie ... Now this is with auto recirculation and aeration ... So Big Girl may not live to make the trip home ... (I did not bring my 40 gal travel tank) .....
Decided that the bass may eat up about $100 worth of my new stocking .... So we decided to stock more crappie into the pond to elevate the monthly spawn of Gill's as per Walt the Pond Manager ... ... ... Need smaller bass .. I think Crappie will do as well ... What do you think Walt ??
Merv, your info Made our day !! One of the most successful fish catching days we have had ...as long as we are catching something .... LOL !! <'TK>< ... Take Care my friend !!!
Now If it wasn't (for the "Agelessssssone) Merv none of this would have happened .... His unselfish act to pass on information to an old fisherman is priceless ... And Folks Be thankful he is a member of FTI ... He has a lot of knowledge to spread ... Just read His Post !! Thanks Merv!! <'TK><
I agree with you there....he has helped me out too. Merv is a knowledgable fisherman and an all around good guy.
Nice fish by the way! Hope I can recreate some of your success this afternoon.
Great report TK. it looks like you and Lawana had a great time. I'm sure there will be many more in the future. Congrats on the 49 years also, that's quite a feat.
Most Fantastic Fishing in years <'TK><
Was around 1:30 PM ... Fish on ... The wife reeled in a nice 12 inch crappie ... Before She could get it off the hook one of my 12 ft. soft tip Crappie poles bowed to the water ... No action just stayed there ... I figured I was hung but at the same time I was running through my mind ...Can't be hung at this depth ... And about time the fish leaped ... I didn't see it ...I was concentrating on the rod and the drag ... (8 pound Line on a 12 crappie pole !!!) Lawana said this is a monster ... I figured a big Drum or Fouled hooked carp ... 
Bass Tail <'TK><
