Super User 00 mod Posted April 29, 2012 Super User Posted April 29, 2012 As luck would have it, my generous wife allows me to leave a day early for THE ROADTRIP. I was supposed to leave around midnight Saturday morning and get to fish with Fishing Rhino(Tom) on the first Saturday. I saw a post made by Rhino about someone needing his transom saver more than he did at the boat ramp the day before I was scheduled to leave. He was at the lake breaking in the motor on his new Nitro Z8, which is a BEAUTIFUL rig. I quickly ran up to Bass Pro when I got off of work on Friday and then hit the road! I arrived at the Hampton Inn in Guntersville right after sundown, in time to meet Rhino, who graciously let me stay with him the first night before my room was ready. He had already eaten and was tired from the previous days driving and fishing, so I went down to Wintzell's Oyster Bar which was a very close walk from the hotel. I had a nice meal and was ready to turn it in, as I knew a long day of fishing was ahead of me. Saturday was my first day of fishing. Tom and I woke early, grabbed a quick bite from the co,complimentary breakfast at the hotel and off to the boat ramp we went. Tom had scouted out some spots with WMD the previous days so we headed to the first one. We pull up on a hump that had a flat near by, some grass, and had fish coming to the surface. I threw top water while Tom threw a flick shake wacky senko. No hookups on the top water, and I quickly picked up my trusty Jig. First cast out I did not know what depth water I was throwing in(on the hump, or off the side of it), and soon realized my jig never hit bottom. I reeled down slack and set the hook, bringing what should have been my first Guntersville bass to the surface, and a brief moment later and it was off. Saw the little guy which appeared to be 8'' or so, but my fault on that one. We fish a little more before moving to a grass flat with depths from 4-10' and grass halfway up the water column. This is when the clinic happened. I will preface this with Tom is a very good stick, and I realized quickly never underestimate a "drum master". Tom starts slaying the fish, before I reluctantly switch to the senko rod. After knocking the skunk off the boat, Tom continues to embarrass me with numbers, which continued the rest of the day. I did pick up a nice keeper on a spinner bait right in front of some tournament anglers, who glared at me as I released her as fast as I unhooked her. I don't know Toms exact numbers but I caught 7 and I would bet he caught 17. Tom, I had a great time and look forward to doing it again! BTW- Tom hooked and landed a 8.5lb drum which he thought would win the big bass competition......... and several more the rest of the trip. If Glenn could change his handle to drum master/major it would be fitting! COLD FRONT MOVES IN Sunday I fished with Gman/Siebert Outdoors and Julie. I had been looking forward to this as I buy my jig heads from him and had developed a bit of an interest of nothing but throwing jigs ALL DAY LONG!!! With the cold front and the winds gusting 20-30+ for the better part of the day, we struggled to find places out of the wind. On my very first cast, I hooked a nice 3.5ish bass on a red eye shad, had her coming to the boat, jumped twice before she quick released herself pre picture. It is starting to become a theme here that I did not want, so I made a mental note to not do this the rest of the week. Be prepared first cast to last! Julie also hooks a nice 3-4lb bass on a shallow crank which quick releases itself as well. We struggled to find cooperative bass for the next 6 hours, as well as a place to get out of the white-capping winds. By mid afternoon, we hadn't gotten another bite, and just as we were about ready to give it up, Mike gets a short on a lipless crank. On the same stretch I land a dink after picking up a lipped crank. We fish the rest of the rock wall and start to round the corner when my crank gets slammed. Mike and Julie both think I am hung up, but quickly realize my line is moving sideways. At first I thought I had a monster, and commented "this is the fish we were looking for". Then realized as drag started peeling and no head shakes, this is a junk fish. I had a lucky craft crankbait so I did not want to lose it. I fought the fish for probably 10 minuets running completely around the boat at least 5 times as Mike is prepared to net the beast. We then realized it was bigger than his net. I got it coming to the boat about 3 times as Mike was gonna grab it before my crank came flying out of his top fin. It was about a 30lb carp. We didn't get another bite all day and called it a good time anyways! Mike and Julie, it was a blast and we need to get together and fish lake of Ozarks or go diving soon! Monday I get the opportunity to fish with Traveler2586. Eric is a very neat guy who even let me drive his Ranger. We struggled with the same cold front conditions and high wind, but had been told about a place to get out of it, so we headed there first thing. I started with topwater again, as I did everyday. Never did land a dang topwater fish, but back to the important stuff. I struck first with a 3lb 7 oz largie on Tom's flick shake/senko rig. We put her in the live well to get a good multiple fish picture, but after fishing several hours without another bite, we ran into Ick. He asked how we had done, and I showed him my fish, and went ahead and took pictures and released her. We looked at the map and found several other promising places and nothing was turning out, so we decided to run and gun places until we found fish. We ended up finding a rock levy next to a bridge piling that I threw my same lucky craft crank to stick another keeper. We fished rock levies the rest of the day to the tune of another 3-4 fish. Eric is a diehard, traveling all the way from Maryland. Hope you made it back home safe buddy, and I am going to take you up on that Potomac trip if I ever get up that way!! Tuesday I fished with WMD. Mike is about the ugliest, most foul mouthed,smelliest, nicest, funniest, friendliest smart OLD guy I've met in a while. We had an absolute blast. We ran over to a different boat ramp and put in with Scrutch and Scorcher before heading back to a shallow flat with weeds and stump where he had done well in the past couple days. Scorcher caught 2 back there on a spinnerbait while the rest of us struck out. The water turned to chocolate milk before we decided to head to the ramp, retrailer and head to the north side of the lake. We took both boats to the same ramp up North before heading separate ways. We found the water with the grass and on my 5th or so cast hooked up with Tom's trusty flick shake/senko rig again. Anyone else noticing a pattern? We fished for a while longer while also trying to stay out of the wind. I caught 3 more, all on the senko rig, while WMD caught a short on a jig. We ended up finding a hump that WMD had a way point on and found fish on it right before sundown but it also had 30+ MPH wind. I hooked one and lost it, and on the next cast got broken off on a nice fish, after we saw it jump. I was using 6lb line in the rock, and hadn't checked my line in a while. Mike told me he was going to let me come to Florida and show him where the monsters live, and don't think for one minuet I ain't taking him up on it. Wednesday the quality of fish went up this day, and the numbers weren't to bad either. We punched a 18 fish day out of all keepers, and lost another 5-6 on lipless cranks in the wind. Turns out it got so bad we cracked some welds on the boat. We fished so hard, the trolling motor batter wanted to give out on us, but he had me on fish all day! Thursday was my last day to be there, and I only got to fish a half day. I got the draw from ZIP POW's guide service, and what a way to end a great trip. We threw topwater in the lilly pads first thing in the morning until Brandon started whipping my but. He got his 3rd fish before I switched out to my hand tied swim jigs and started whacking em with him. The highlight was a 3 1/4 spot. All my fish came on my swim jig that day, and the last one was hungry. I hooked it in the wind, and it spit my jig before I got her to the boat. I dropped my rod in disappointment before I saw my line twitch and reeled down and set again. She came back for another visit, this time ending up in my hands. EVERY fish we caught was a keeper, and we had a great time. I believe if I could have fished the whole day, we would have found them again, but I needed to get back to Memphis and take care of some things. Brandon, if you ever get to Memphis, look me up and I owe you a guide trip this time buddy! OTHER Saturday nights wine and cheese soiree was a big hit. Glenn and Keri joined us that night and it was nice meeting them. Gary(Ghoti) is a class act no matter what anyone else had told me. Monday RW and Long Mike cooked out awesome burgers, beans and fixens. It got cold and ran us indoors, but we had a great time and a big thank you. Wednesday meeting Chris Lane and raising some money for a good cause was great! A HUGE THANKS GOES OUT TO LONG MIKE!!!!!! He knows why. Sorry I didn't get to stay for Alplster's Jambalaya. I'm sure it was awesome. Congrats are also to be held for RW, the BIG BASS CHAMPION 2012 for a monster 7lb 7 oz largie!! I hope everyone made it home safe and sound and had as good a time as I had. There were many others on this trip that I met and shared common bonds and great times with. I am getting cramps in my fingers or I could go on all night. My wife is already wondering what is taking me soo long. I told her there is no way to put into a thread how good of a time I had and how many new friends I have made for a lifetime! A couple pictures to rub it in for the non-attendees and I a, off to bed! I am still worn out! Jeff Notice the wind/rain suit almost the whole time! Roadtrip weather at its finest!!!! Quote
Michael DiNardo Posted April 29, 2012 Posted April 29, 2012 Great recap. Sonds like an awesome time. As I was strolling down the pictures I thought OMG where is that Bulldog hat and then voila' there it was. Mike Quote
Super User 00 mod Posted April 29, 2012 Author Super User Posted April 29, 2012 Had a ball and we will for sure do it again! Also somehting else I left off in my original post but wanted to make sure to mention! A BIG THANK YOU GOES OUT TO : BIG O FOR ALL OF THE RAGE TAIL BAITS AND HATS TO EVERYONE ATTENDING SNAGPROOF FOR ALL OF THE FROGS FOR EVERYONE AS WELL WATER GREMLIN FOR ALL OF THE WEIGHTS FOR EVERYONE AS WELL SIEBERT OUTDOORS AND BITE IT BAITS FOR DONATING RAFFLE PRIZES TO BE WON GLENN AND KERI FOR PUTTING SUCH A GREAT COMMUNITY TOGETHER AND HAVING SUCH A FUN TRIP!!! Jeff Quote
Super User Chris at Tech Posted April 29, 2012 Super User Posted April 29, 2012 Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets can get along for one day a year! Quote
tate Posted April 29, 2012 Posted April 29, 2012 Great report ....thanks for taking the time to post. Sounds like everyone had a great time. Tate Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted April 29, 2012 Super User Posted April 29, 2012 Let's add BITE IT! to the mix. Once you fish the baits, please post your thoughts and maybe a pic of a big bass! Quote
North Ga Hillbilly Posted April 29, 2012 Posted April 29, 2012 Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets can get along for one day a year! I was sitting chuckling at that myself. Looks like everyone had a great time. I've enjoyed reading about it from behind the keyboard. NGaHB Quote
Super User 00 mod Posted April 29, 2012 Author Super User Posted April 29, 2012 Let's add BITE IT! to the mix. Once you fish the baits, please post your thoughts and maybe a pic of a big bass! Read my second post Kent. I added a thank you to them and Siebert outdoors for their donations to Tackle the Storm. Also I have a couple packs i am about to catch a fatty on. Stay tuned. Jeff Quote
Siebert Outdoors Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 Jeff, it was a blast fishing with you. I just wish we could have caught more. That was an extremely rough day! Great report. Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted April 30, 2012 Super User Posted April 30, 2012 Great write-up! Sounds like a great time. Quote
Sfritr Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 So Jealous!! I have been reading for 3 years about the sacred "Roadtrips" Hopefully, I will get to one soon. Great Post!! Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted April 30, 2012 Super User Posted April 30, 2012 Very nice re-cap post Jeff. Classic photo's as well. A-Jay Quote
Dinky Posted May 1, 2012 Posted May 1, 2012 Had a great time fishing with you, Mod. We could have caught more fish if it had not been so windy and so muddy. WMD PS: I'm not OLD! Quote
Super User 00 mod Posted May 1, 2012 Author Super User Posted May 1, 2012 So you are not denying the ugliest, smelliest ,most foul mouthed part.....just the OLD?? Jeff Quote
Dinky Posted May 3, 2012 Posted May 3, 2012 So you are not denying the ugliest, smelliest ,most foul mouthed part.....just the OLD?? Jeff Not denying the 'nicest, funniest, frendliest' part either. Quote
Super User 00 mod Posted May 3, 2012 Author Super User Posted May 3, 2012 Not denying the 'nicest, funniest, frendliest' part either. From you, nothing else is expected!!!!!!! Jeff Quote
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