Intrepid Posted February 23, 2011 Posted February 23, 2011 congrats Goose, thats one beautiful fish. i have an affinity for shakespeare products even if theyre not considered the best. while mine arent near as vintage as yours, they have served me well the last few years and hope they continue to do so as your old reel seems to have treated you well. ive had a chatterbait in the package brand new for over a year, im definately gonna have to use it this year. mine came with a trailer in the package, did yours not? Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted February 23, 2011 Author Super User Posted February 23, 2011 Thanks again guys for all the positive comments! The saga continues - see next post... Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted February 23, 2011 Author Super User Posted February 23, 2011 So I go over, again, to the cove where I've been having good catches on spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, and now chatterbaits. As I'm at the car putting on my gear, a guy pulls up and says: "I saw you out here fishing yesterday - did you get anything?" So I proceed to tell him that I spent a whopping 3 hours fishing there yesterday and only got one bass. I said "I think the water is still too cold." He wisely nodded and agreed and drove off. Phew... So I go to "the spot" (flat rock where I can cast to most of the good water) and work that end of the cove slow with the chatterbait. Nothing. I go out to a little fishing pier at the end of the point and start working the approaches to the cove that I can cast to. Nothing. I turn around and yikes! Another angler is on "the spot"...but he's using a spincast rod with a lipped crank so I figure he's not going to be much of a problem. So, I go over to "Cove B" where I've picked up a few fish. Nothing. I work back to "Cove A" and the guy is still on "the spot." I move to "Cove C" and beat the water waiting for the guy to leave - he finally does. I go out on the pier and work the approaches to the cove with a lipless crank and get a 12" white crappie. I then leave the pier and go to "the spot" and start working back in the cove as far as I can with the lipless crank (stumps in there...). I switch back to the chatterbait and tell myself "self - just work the water in front of 'the spot' and then call it a day." Just like yesterday, on what was going to be about my last cast...BAM. Bonus fish to follow-up my PB from the day before! 23" - 6.32 pounds - surface water temp still 49 degrees. Life is getting better all the time high on the Cumberland plateau in Tennessee ! 8-) Quote
Fat-G Posted February 23, 2011 Posted February 23, 2011 Haha good lord dude. You're using up all your luck now! You're not gonna catch much in the summer, LOL. I hope I can do something like that soon, I'm sure getting bored of "casting". Quote
FL_Sharpshooter Posted February 23, 2011 Posted February 23, 2011 Both bass command respect, nicely done! I really need to learn new techniques, getting too skunked these days. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted February 23, 2011 Author Super User Posted February 23, 2011 Haha good lord dude. You're using up all your luck now! You're not gonna catch much in the summer, LOL. I hope I can do something like that soon, I'm sure getting bored of "casting". LOL - you got that right. Won't be too much longer before I'll be driving to all of my 11 lakes, trying to catch 12" bass... ;D ;D Thanks Paul - things are pretty good right now on top of the plateau ! Brett - I bet you've got a couple baits that you haven't used yet - get 'em out and give 'em a try! Quote
CJ Posted February 23, 2011 Posted February 23, 2011 WOW! You're really on to something! Way to go Goose!!! Quote
hookset on 3 Posted February 23, 2011 Posted February 23, 2011 Goose, that there are some big sows! Be sure to give thanks for the special lakes up in the Cumberland Plateau, that have rewarded all your perseverance. Quote
WdyCrankbait Posted February 23, 2011 Posted February 23, 2011 wwwwwoooooooooooooooowwwwwwwww!!! :o :o Goose, how is the weather on cloud 9? Well done!! Awesome stuff, two great catches! What lure did you catch them on again? LOL!! Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted February 23, 2011 Author Super User Posted February 23, 2011 wwwwwoooooooooooooooowwwwwwwww!!! :o :o Goose, how is the weather on cloud 9? Well done!! Awesome stuff, two great catches! What lure did you catch them on again? LOL!! Weather is fine for now but all good things will eventually come to an end... : Bait? Z-Man TrailerZ Quote
hookingem Posted February 23, 2011 Posted February 23, 2011 Nice fish and shows persistent pays off! Quote
SausageFingers23 Posted February 23, 2011 Posted February 23, 2011 Great fish! You're really on them. I'm jealous. Still staring at ice. I would kill for 49 deg water temps. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted February 23, 2011 Author Super User Posted February 23, 2011 Great fish! You're really on them. I'm jealous. Still staring at ice. I would kill for 49 deg water temps. Last ice I saw was about 10 days ago! We could possibly have one more "freeze-over" but the odds are getting smaller of that every day... Quote
Super User senile1 Posted February 23, 2011 Super User Posted February 23, 2011 You're really getting dialed in Goose! That's another beautiful hog. Your posts and some others are really turning up the Spring fever. After a week of temperatures above 50 I checked my lakes and they are still ice. We needed another week of warm temperatures but, alas, winter temperatures returned this week. I'll keep checking. Quote
Super User Lund Explorer Posted February 23, 2011 Super User Posted February 23, 2011 Hey Goose, I don't want to say that I hate coming to this section of the forum during the dead of winter, but I really do try to avoid it. Couldn't miss you mentioning your new PB elsewhere though, so I better suck it up and offer my congrats as well. What's the fish count year-to-date? You are getting quite the head start on me. My first real chance is still over a month away. :'( Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted February 23, 2011 Author Super User Posted February 23, 2011 My fish count is not high. 31 so far this calendar year. It started well with a 3.76lb bass on New Years day. Then nothing until Jan 30/31 when I got a 17" and 19" fish. Much of January the lakes were iced-over. However, starting on February 1 I've just been nailing them in this cove. Not so much in numbers...but quality fish. I've had the cove ice-over with skim ice twice in February so I lost some fishing opportunities there. But when the water was soft, and 39 degrees or above, I've been doing well. I've really been able to capitalize on some air and water temp fluctuations, combined with some low-pressure fronts, that have brought the fish into this cove. On quality - here's the weights of the top 10 fish so far this year (these numbers are much better than I did ALL last season): 9.06 6.32 5.31 4.87 4.60 4.40 3.92 3.76 3.54 3.04 Those are just phenomenal numbers for any time of year in my lakes - let alone in Jan/Feb in water from 39 to 49 degrees! Quality is good for sure ! 8-) Quote
Super User Shane J Posted February 23, 2011 Super User Posted February 23, 2011 Yeah, buddy! That's the way to kick off a fishing season! Keep it up! Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted March 14, 2011 Author Super User Posted March 14, 2011 WAY TO GO ! What a TOAD ! Man you have been tearing them up. You may want to consider entering that beauty in The Tennessee Angler Recognition Program ~ http://www.tn.gov/twra/fish/tarp/tarp.html Congrats ! A-Jay Thanks for the suggestion A-Jay! My previous PB in Tennessee was actually longer at 26", but it was a skinny fish at only 7.75lbs and I never considered putting in for the recognition certificate. This fish was only 25" but was heavier at a bit over 9 pounds, and it may be a while before I better this weight, so I decided to apply for the cert. Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted March 14, 2011 Super User Posted March 14, 2011 Hey Goose you should have blackout your name. Now everyone on the Internet is going to know who you are. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted March 14, 2011 Author Super User Posted March 14, 2011 Not a problem Dwight - my real name has been easily found anyway with a bit of web sleuthing for a number of years now. Sometimes you just have to leave a "footprint" on the web... Quote
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