Grabbed a fishing pole the other morning after a night of deer darting.  First cast across the main lake point and the crankbait got absolutely annihilated.  Fortunately, I had an electronic scale – so no fish stories.

He weighed 6-7.  A big fish by my standards and one of my largest ever.

Released and after 20 more empty casts, the fishing “trip” was over.

One of my best buddies and his wife came down from North Carolina on Thursday night to spend a few days in Alabama with us.  The ladies did their thing – shopping, watch movies, gossip, etc.  We did ours.

Friday morning, we were on the road by 5:15 a.m. to try to squeeze in a few hours of fishing before a cold front rolled through.  The fishing was unbeatable.

First cast for me, I had a 10-12 pound bass (3-5 pounds bigger than anything I’ve ever caught) throw my plastic worm back in my face on his first jump.  Wow!  I was shellshocked!

After pulling 2 or 3 small bass off a deep water point, I had another decent fish on that snapped me off.  Frustration setting in.

Then it happened.  We hooked a big bass and landed a big bass.  Danny had a fish pick up his bait right under the boat and on the hookset, we knew another big one was hooked.  This time, his jumps didn’t throw the hook, the line held, and the stump field stayed out of play.  Danny’s previous big bass was in the same 6 – 6 1/2 pound neighbor that mine is.  This one dwarfed them.

9 1/2 pounds of thick largemouth bass.  I was shocked how healthy a fish it was in the dead of August.

After 20 or so pictures and 30 seconds of rescusitation, the big girl swam back down into the murky water.  Not something I’ll soon forget.

At this point, I decided that it was big bass or bust for the rest of the morning.  We both tied on 10″ magnum worms.  I had 2 more fish bite, but I didn’t get good hooksets on either with my lighter-than-it-should-have-been 10 pound test line.  Both fish were in the 6-7+ p0und range.

With all that excitement, Friday’s trip ended.

Friday night was spent perusing the aisles at Dick’s Sporting Goods in search of 17 pound test line and some bigger hooks for the big plastic worms.

Saturday morning found us back at the lake, but the big boys and girls ahd done their feeding before the front and they had shut off for the most part.  We had 2 unconfirmed big bass bites though – one ended up wrapping around a stump and pulling off.  Not to be discouraged, we had a better numbers day and put a dozen 1-2 pound bass in the boat, which ended up in the ice cooler, which ended up in my freezer.

Just to show you that big baits don’t only catch big bass.

Took a buddy fishing at the lake on Sunday evening.  We fished for 4 hours or so, but had limited luck that was mostly traceable to the fact neither one of us could set the hook.  We still managed 8 fish.  I did turn one back though.

This 4.5. pounder was good breeding stock and he was returned to the water.  Truth be told, this bass is probably the biggest I’ve caught in 3 or 4 years as bass fishing has taken a backseat to bowfishing during the offseason (the on season being hunting of course).

Baits of choice for the evening seemed to be a brown lizard with chartreuse tail rigged Texas.  I was practically begging the fish to hit topwater on a plastic frog, but an hour of throwing the bait right at dark didn’t even yield a bite.

Traveled down to the study site on Saturday morning to relax with my bride on the lake.  Bet was that if she caught the first fish, I would take her out for lunch after church on Sunday.

Well, it took a looonnnngggg time to catch any fish at all, but the first one did arrive in the boat at the end of her line.  I must admit she impresses me how well she can cast in tight to the bank.  The bass was also the biggest of the day.

The big smile was because she had won herself a trip to Logan’s Steakhouse for lunch.

We only caught 2 more bass while fishing, little ones by yours truly.  Tough fishing to be sure.  It was interesting though that on the evening news, Channel 11 out of Atlanta posted a game/fish activity table at the end of the weather and sure enough – Saturday morning was about as low quality fishing as is possible.  Several other fishing reports from friends indicated similar results.

Anyways, here are a couple of other random pictures that Kara took on Saturday too.

Turtle stretched out and soaking up the sun.  Looks like he’s about to take a swan dive.

Tree frog stuck to our back door window.

Rose bush out in the front landscaping.

A bit of a random post, but that’s as outdoorsy as I got this weekend.  That will not be the case this weekend though.

Hopefully, I’ll be lining up a local elk guide in Kentucky (my fingers are crossed) on my drive to Kansas where we’ll be hanging deer stands, picking up antlers, and hunting turkeys.  I can’t wait.

Wow, those words haven’t left my mouth in a loooonnnnngg time.

Whatever had the carp splashing about in the shallows of Lake Martin in Saturday wasn’t kicking yesterday, because we didn’t see a single fish in breeding mode on Tuesday.  A couple passer-byers got shot at, but they were so deep that a hit would have been a miracle.  I’m talking 6-8 feet down easily.

Fortunately, because I was fishing with a bass tournament angler, the day was easily salvaged chasing largemouth and spotted bass around the lakeshore.  Not with a bow of course…lol

It took me a long time to catch my first fish, but I finally connected with a nice largemouth, then another, and another.  All fish were caught on Senko baits rigged “wacky”.

Sorry Allan, I know you were hoping to hear the term “whacked” in regards to a big common carp getting the fiberglass coup de grace.

Read the rest of this entry »

Didn’t use my camera as much as I usually do today for whatever reason.

But I did head down to the study site and attempt to dart deer this morning.  Nothing doing except some shed-out bucks and a buttonhead that was much too far to attempt a shot.

I did hear quite a chorus of turkeys though.  I had several single hens come through all emitting their own version of turkey talk.  Some cutting, putting, even a little purring.  The gobblers weren’t far off either, but I never laid eyes on them.  Definitely got an earful though.

After trying to dart deer, I put the walking boots on and went shed hunting with my advisor from Auburn Univ.  We picked up about 15 antlers, most of which were old and chewed.

However, I did manage a nice 5 point shed that was fresh and we tag-teamed on 1 side apiece of a 2.5 year old 8 point set.

The 2 other fresh antlers were small, probably yearling bucks.

To boot, we even threw in a little fishing and managed to pull out a handful for the freezer.

Good day to be alive.  Sorry no pictures, but maybe I’ll snap a picture next trip of the sheds that we found.

Well, I had the opportunity to go out again with my neighbor chasing turkeys.  After a rough night of dodging some serious storms, we met out in the driveway at 4:45 a.m. to give us plenty of time to listen for gobblers on the roost. 

All was quiet until about 6:00 a.m. when an ol’ tom struck back at a crow that was squawking in his vicinity.  The gobble wasn’t loud, but after a second listen we thought we had a good chance of cutting the distance down quickly.

15 minutes later, we were sneaking into position with the turkey slamming every crow that dared to utter a “caw”.  We had snuck within 200 yards or so and were debating on our best approach to finish off this easy hunt, when we ran into trouble.  Trouble in the form of a beaver.

We were separated from the bird by a large pond and as we were gathering our thoughts and strategies, a beaver detected our presence (course he could have been just slapping the water for the heck of it).  Regardless, 2 tail slaps and the gobbler never made another peep the entire morning. 

We set up and did some hen calling, but after we heard 2 different wingbeats down to planet Earth, the hunt was over.  They headed in the opposite direction, and we were left birdless.

A future NWTF magazine cover

But we would not be denied.  Read the rest of this entry »

People often talk about their ponds or favorite fishing hole on the lake being choked out by hydrilla, but few of us – including myself – really understand what Hydrilla verticillata really is and the damaging effects it has on water ecosystems.  I picked up the latest copy of Aquatics this week and read the feature article on hydrilla eradication from Clear Lake, CA – a site commonly referred to as the “Bass Capital of the West”.  Bass enthusiasts might recognize this premier fishing destination as the producer of the 122 lbs. 14 ounces stringer from a Bassmasters Tournament.

Hydrilla is anchored to lakebed sediment by tubers that survive at least 4 years and can generate in excess of 30 million tubers per acre in ideal conditions…SCARY!!!  More often, tuber numbers are in the 3-5 million tubers/acre range.  Hydrilla is such a persistent pest because of their tubers which aren’t vulnerable to most ordinary commercial aquatic herbicides.  Among its more damaging effects are the clogging of irrigation canals, hydroelectric intakes in dams, and interfering with boating activities.  At high concentrations, hydrilla can harm local fish and wildlife.

How can hydrilla be exterminated?  Grass carp consider hydrilla a delicacy and some lakes such as Lake Gaston, NC/VA, stock the triploid freaks at a rate of 10 fish/acre.  Copper herbicides such as Komeen and fluridones such as Sonar are effective at killing hydrilla plants and has a very low toxicity to desirable aquatic organisms such as fish and waterfowl.  A more strenuous method of removal is diving and uprooting the hydrilla, but this method causes an over-disruption of lake bottom sediments.  Mechanical harvesting of hydrilla can be effective but runs the risk of creating floating mats of hydrilla and fostering new infestations at different sites in the lake.

Every year in my bowfishing outings, I am amazed at the size of some largemouths I see guarding nests back in beaver pond habitats and in the back of weedy coves that are too shallow for most boats to access.  This weekend I took a trip home with my wife to celebrate her birthday and her mom’s birthday with family.  While I was there, I grabbed a few fishing poles that I plan to start packing in on my bowfishing forays.  I’ve never caught what some would consider a trophy largemouth…8, 9 lbs.  but have caught my fair share of 5 – 7 pounders.  That being said, I know that I have witnessed bass weighing in excess of 10 lbs. in the North Carolina lakes that I bowfish and where the lake records are somewhere in that same ballpark.

Every year, I write down a list of outdoor goals.  In that list, I aspire to lipping my first 8 lb. bass.  My plan is to try and catch one while wearing waders, but who knows…10 pounds sounds good too.

Check back tomorrow and I’m going to be posting my 2008 outdoor goals.  I’ll have a couple tips you can use to make your own list of goals.