Blue Raider Bob

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.

I would sooo love to make that trip. My magical week would be with my dad fishing anywhere. I wouldn't care if it was in the back yard. Just to have more time with him would be all the magic I could stand. We would head for the old river oxbows in eastern Arkansas and drop crickets on a snelled hook under a quill bobber by a willow tree. The cicadas would be calling, the Bullfrogs would be pleading, the breeze would be moving the Willow leaves ever so slightly. The beavers would be busy. Turtles, snakes, and muskrats would be disturbing the still water. We would be hot and sweaty, but dad would have brought along Dr. Pepper in the old 10-2-4 bottles and we would have a treat. The bottles would reek of fish as they were in the same ice as the Bluegills but we would wipe off the film and enjoy.. It would be getting dark and I would beg to stay. The mosquitos would be deafening along with the swamp creatures of the night. We would drag the boat up the bank to the old trailer and head for home, already dreaming of next trip.

This brings tears to my eyes! How true and how much sought after!

Amazing!

This info is not in the chronological order that I have been using to relay pond observations, but its interesting to me just the same. My immediate neighbor, to the east, has a small pond that dries up every summer. The pond fills during the rainy season via a ditch that extends a few thousand yards across a hay field to a copse of trees that hide a very tiny, marshy, pondlet. In the summer, the pondlet has maybe a couple inches of water. Nevertheless, the neighbors pond quickly becomes saturated with zooplankton when the water warms in the spring. I harvest the zooplankton with a fine mesh net with a collection bottle at the end. I transfer the thick, soupy, zooplankton solution to my pond just for the fun of it. I also bring a tiny amount into the house to observe in mason jars just to observe and learn. There are always a myriad of swimming creatures of different sorts. The beginnings of the food chain are fascinating to me. The question it poses is how do the zooplankton get there? Or perhaps, what are the vehicles that introduce the zooplankton. Obviously, the first is transfer by field overflow from the pondlet. Second, is the question.....do the zooplankton have a mechanism to survive drought in the pond bottom soil? I am not talking a few here and there, I am describing zooplankton so thick, you can see with unaided eye from the pond bank. We know that mosquito eggs can stay viable for long stretches of time in dry soil, only to be activated by moisture. Do various species of zooplankton have the same survivability, or do they just have the ability to reproduce at an amazing rate? I have solar powered dock lights on my floating dock that shine green lights into the pond water from a few inches above water line. During warm water seasons, the zooplankton become visible soon after dark. Tiny BG will soon appear below the lights and feed on the ZP. If I move the lights, the ZP will follow. If I use a bright white light, the ZP will follow, but the BG will scatter. Just something to ponder while I avoid work.

We've been fortunate to see the monsters that Clayton, Alex, Toxic, and Dwight have shown us so far this year, so I wanted to pass on some info from a local lake. J.Percy Priest is a Corp of Engineers reservoir in close proximity to Nashville, which makes it extremely heavily pressured. It is an impoundment of the Stones River in middle Tn. I avoid Percy Priest because of the pressure, and the rude boaters. With that said, a local tournament was won yesterday by over thirty pounds. Two biggest fish came from the winning boat with a 7 and a 9. These fish were caught in 25 FOW fishing with Livescope. This is encouraging because it tells me the big girls are still deep and time is getting shorter to when I might get a bite. March is right around the corner and hopefully our northern brethren will see some softer water soon. I went to Nickajack yesterday. Nickajack is the smallest of the TVA chain but is loaded with fish. I hooked a monster but did not land it. Had it on for at least 20 seconds. Went to hunting my net, I was so sure. Glad I wasn't being filmed but if I were, Alex would be so proud!!!! Please stay hooked! Please don't come off! Let's GO!! Lets GO!!!!!! Dangit!!!!! 😕

You're making my chest swell up again Katie. I can't get my shirt buttoned....no wait......that's my belly. 😕

The pond has proven that it isn't large enough to sustain a Shad population. They are always gone in a day or two. This time was so different. None of the Bass showed any interest. Maybe with todays warmup they will. I'll know when I get home this afternoon. We should have temps in the high 50's!!! Otter update. I surprised one of the varmits Friday and got off four shots. Two landed very close and that rascal hit the creek bank running wide open. He swan under the culverts, headed for Arkansas. Hopefully I scared the life out of him and he won't return. No but four quick rounds from a Remington straddled the rascal Friday and sent him flying. Fingers crossed. NC ain't that different from Tennessee friend! 🙂 Ya'll just as packed as we are!

Huge mystery. Went to Nickajack Sunday. Only fished a couple hours because floating eel grass covered the surface. Lost a really good one but that was my only bite. Found a baitball and tossed the cast net. I carry two 55 gallon plastic barrels with me most days. I fill them two thirds full of lake water with a bilge pump in my livewell, and also run an air bubble pump from a battery. Only took two perfect tosses and I had at least a couple hundred threadfins to bring back to the pond. Here is where the frustrating mystery begins. Began moving nets full of shad to the pond expecting the usual reaction but nothing.....I mean nothing. I could not even spot a bass. Got to wondering if the otters ate them all until finally a few started to show. The pond was crawling with shad but the bass showed no interest. How could this be? Weak shad were swimming right by the bass with no reactions. Air temp was 50 with sunny skies. The pond had just recovered from a freeze a few days before so the pond water was very cold, but that had never stopped feeding before. Stumped in Tennessee.

I think Alex meant for the Bass to be the interest in his posting. He must have forgotten his audience. 🙂 Let that be a lesson for all of us! BTW, where is the fashion police citation? gim?

When I quit laughing at this, I'll explain to my co-workers why I just spilled my coffee and spit up on the computer screen! That's funny! 😂

What a LIFE!!!! Tell me you don't have your jammies on under the robe! Just too good to be true!

Just getting a little concerned. Also JMurph, Roadwarrior, and DOMinator. "Is there anyone out there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone at home?"

Amazing......that more people enjoy the winter ice fishing than the rest of the year. I don't get it but there must be something really special about it. I'm sure not knocking it. I've just got to be moving.

The BR crew has ordained by Priestly authority the S.S. Minnow.... UN-sinkable!

Glad you got to fish with your grade school buddy. Friends from back-in-the-day are the best kind!

Don't ever let anyone tell you Bass don't eat much in the winter. I came home from high and muddy Normandy Lake yesterday noon with no Bass, a tub full of Shad, wet jeans, and frozen fingers. Just had to get out of the house. Pulled up to my pond and started dropping in Shad. The LM had no issue with cold water and appetite. The hapless Shad stood no chance. I had no idea of the incredible Shad populations in area lakes before acquiring FFS. Of course we could all see the surfaced schools in the warm water periods, but I mean the absolute clouds of Shad in the deeper open waters that are now viewable with FFS. It is almost one continuous school from one side to the other. Makes me wonder how we ever catch Bass with that constant, easy to catch, food supply.

Oldman, that is an oxymoron. Warm days are much higher on the thermostat. I went yesterday morning and froze my fingertips. I hope the fishing on the plateau is better than the mid-state. I totally get the crazy wife thing. I've driven mine to justifiable homicide. If she doesn't get me out of the house soon, I'm going to hide her ammo.

Got the new Evinrude started Saturday, idled for a few minutes, then quit and would not restart. Noticed oil leaking from gearcase propeller shaft. Yikes! Now I re-seal gearcase and figure out my fuel delivery issue. Always something. Wish I were not such a tightwad and would by something new!