Graybeard Outdoors banner

Anyone up for some winter time Bassin'

2K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  Skipper 
#1 ·
Hey Guys,

Just wondering if anyone had any Florida or Texas trips planned in the next few weeks or possibly some float and fly up in the highlands. Remember, Bassin' is a year round sport. Around here, we fish 52 weeks a year.

Skipper
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
Joel Wells

Don't know what part of Kentucky you are from, but we have a little more than 3 inches in Corbin. :wink:

The first year the Corps came up with the ramp pass deal on Laurel it went into effect Jan 1st. Well New Year's Day it was cold, icy, and generally a good day to be cleaning your reels. Joel got the first ticket for launching without a pass. He didn't figure they would be out checking the first day in 20 degree weather. Wrong. The Long arm of Smokey the Bear was on the job.

Skipper
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
Home Lake

I guess that would make your home court Barren River Lake. Been there. It used to be a great fishery. The last time I was there, it was a different story though. Seems like something was wrong with the dam, and they had drained it to almost a puddle. The fish sure wern't biting for us. Seems like every Barren trip is an adventure.

One year we had a company trip to the state park lodge on the lake. Of course most of them were golfing, but a few others and I didn't own a set of high priced turf diggers, so we went fishing. We left out at 6 am. At the time, I had a tin rig with a 40hp on it. One of the locals out there said follow me, and I will put you on some holes (first trip to the lake). Well, he planed that 20' Astro with the 200 on it out, and I just decided I would have to figure it out on my own. By 8, i got on fish. By 8:30, I had 5 fish in the well over 18". That's when I remembered we were supposed to be back by 9 for a meeting. So I went back to the meeting. Afterwards, my buddy in the 20' Astro lost his partner to golf and asked me to get in with him. I did. I spent all day fishless begging him to go back to my pattern. :x We did tour most of the lake though. I went back that night to night fish what I found that morning. On the way across the lake, the lower unit fell off my outboard. It seems that the mechanic who rebuilt my power head forgot to put all the bolts back in. By the time I had figured out what happened, the wind had carried me into another fork of the lake. I saw a dock, but not the state park. I ended up on the other side of the lake with a long walk home.

We normally fish a tournament each year on Barren, although since that draw down it has been replaced on the schedule with an extra Norris tournament.

Skipper
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
The Bobby I was refering to was a DSM for Farm Bureau. He would be about 60. Had a big bus motorhome. He was the one with the 200 on the Astro.

That's nice to hear. Sometimes tourney fishermen get a lot of flack from non-tourney fishermen. There seems to be animosity on the non-tournament guys towards us. Most often cited is crowding. I try my best not to do that, and will really go out of my way not to most of the time. Sometimes thought its just tough. I remember getting a good yelling at on Douglas one time for getting too close to someone, and really I was trying to ease around them, but my batteries had gotten weak from fighting heavy wind, and I wasn't making fast progress. We did move though after he said what he did though. Funny thing was, we caught a 4 pounder 2nd cast after we moved. I think the major problem occurs when tournament fishermen have a set of holes scouted out and find someone in one of them on tournament day. I know a lot of times I make it a point to write out a schedule of what I intend to fish and for how long. When you find one of those places occupied, it creates problems if you haven't planned alternates or there aren't alternates close by. I have found over the years that I do much better when I stick to my game plan than when I "wing it".

Skipper
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
Were kinda lucky in that respect in East Tennessee and Kentucky. Most of our lakes are well over 100 feet deep. They do get drawn down every year though. The last few, we have been somewhat dry, and they haven't came up like normal. This year has been different though. All of them came up last April, and most stayed that way for a while. It got a little dry this summer, and a couple like Dale Hollow hit the bottoms of the gates at the dams which is about 35 feet below full pool. It started raining again in September, and hasn't let up much. Laurel, our local lake, is only 2 feet shy of full pool in the winter. Now that's unusual. Normally its 30+ feet below where it is this time of year.

Skipper
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top