Lake Harding Alabama 2013

The annual trip to Lake Harding, Alabama came a few weeks earlier this year.  We were trying to hit the crappie right this year.  Previous attempts at the end of March-first week of April have left us wanting more.  Most of the fish had spawned and had left the shallows at that time of year.  We chose to this year to try them at the beginning of March.  Little did we know when we planned the trip that we would hit Alabama in the middle of a cold streak.  It snowed the the day we arrived.  We braved the weather anyway.

We, my uncle and I, spent most of the week bundled under layers of Long Johns, fleece, hoodies, and Gore-Tex (Sponsorship please!). 

The fishing was very slow as the temp held cold for a day or two then warmed a bit, then we had extremely heavy rains and a cold front.  Later in the week it warmed again and got up to 65.  These swings really hurt the fishing.  We caught three crappie the entire trip. Although, they were all very large, I caught one on a full size bass style spinner bait.  Did I mention the water was muddy as well? Nothing worse than cold muddy water.

Our first day on the water, despite the cold, was still fairly good.  We caught all three crappie and a few bass.  This was my first bass of the trip. Oh and many thanks to the photographer for placing his finger in front of the lens.  I'm still not sure why its so hard for some people to take a decent picture.  Yes, it's the button on the screen that looks like a camera.  No, it will focus on its own.  No, there is no film, it's an iPhone.

My second fish came a couple hours later and got my excitement level up in a hurry. You may notice the lack of a belly.  It was a giant male largemouth.  Males are usually much smaller than the girls but this one had been around a long while. He'd built many beds and protected millions of fry.  I let him go to do it again.  5 pounds.

We had trouble putting a pattern together.  We'd catch one fish on a point and couldn't find another, not even on the Side-finder, depth-finder, dynamite sonar blah blah blah.  Then, we'd catch one in two inches of 48 degree water.  Nothing seemed to be stable or predictable, and I had a terrible time fishing as slow as this weather required.

On Thursday we fished from sun up till nearly sun down.  I put the only two fish in the live-well; spotted bass both about two pounds.  I caught them both on a chartreuse spinnerbait with lime colored blades, very unique.  I usually stay with natural colors, but this stained nature of this water pulled me toward a brighter colors.  We moved the boat into about 12 feet of water and fished a long point running into deep water.  I caught one and immediately cast to the same spot and caught another. My uncle cast near the same area and had one on the first cast.  We'd found a school.  We caught 11 two to three pound spots in 15 minutes.  

The last day of the trip began at 4:00am Eastern time I suggested we fish the point that filled our livewell the night before.  Nothin' doing.  I guided us to the next long rocky point off the main lake. Nothing.  My thought was...the fish would be holding in deeper water near main and secondary points, ready to move up as the water warmed throughout the day.  I 'couldn't buy a fish', as my Grandfarther used to say.  My uncle took us to a little secondary point named Eagle on the Dock.  Anyone who has read my blog before, knows that nearly every spot on Lake Harding has been named over the years by my dad and my uncle.  Eagle on the Dock is my new favorite place on Earth.  This is where I caught the biggest bass of my life, so far.  8 pounds 2 beautiful ounces of pure bassin' glory. Enjoy.

I got this fat lady on a Norman Deep Little N, Tennessee Shad color, in 6 feet of water on a secondary point near a boat dock.  I let her go after my uncle snapped these overexposed photos.  She swam away. Maybe next year I will see her again at nine or ten pounds.  One can hope.

I'll leave you know with some more reasons to seek the water so very much.  The beauty it holds never stops amazing me and leaving me in complete awe.

Please feel free to comment below.  Let me know what I'm doing right and wrong.  Let me know what you'd like to see more of.

Go fish!

Sunset over Lake Harding

Post Storm

Post Storm one minute later

Sunrise Over Lake Harding

Waterfall running in the lake

Four Tree Island

Spring Prep

It's time to get ready.  All the fall hunting seasons are over and it's time to get all your fishing gear ready for spring.  Here's my list of the big three, maybe it'll help you have a better time on the water this year. 

1. Reels - I'm speaking about bait casting reels here, however spinning reels and others need similar care.

I start by getting all my reels out and stripping all the line off the spools.  I like new line every year, which can get pricy, especially if you're using fluorocarbon.  I leave about 50 yards or so of backing on the spools.  You'll need to do this for braid but I use backing on all my reels.  I feel like the it gives the line a better "bite" on the spool and it saves some money when you're spooling up ten reels with expensive line.

Second, I disassemble each reel one at a time to clean, oil, and grease.  This isn't such a tough task. Most manufactures provide a grease port for the main gears.  I use a Q-tip to clean the main gear, through the port, then to apply new grease.  I clean the spool, brakes, line guide, and every other part I can reach with an old t-shirt or clean cloth.  Then I move in with a Q-tip for the hard to reach spots.  Make sure you get all the grass, moss, and grime off that you can. I don't use any cleaners on my reels, just elbow grease.  Also, try not to leave any stray pieces of cotton from the Q-tip.  Then lightly oil the main spool rod, the line guide gears, roller bearing and reassemble. Lastly, oil the handles.  I suggest you use a high quality reel oil made specifically for reels.  Don't use WD40 or some such.  Most manufactures don't recommend that you completely disassemble the reel.  But, if you must make sure you do this with plenty of light and over top of a clean white cloth so you can see all the tiny parts that you are going to drop.  I have done many complete disassemblies in the past, most reels are never quite the same, some come through fine but these things are built to very tight specifications and it's difficult to keep them there.  Use the built in port on the bottom side of your reel and clean them completely and most will give you years of great operation.  If your reel isn't working quite right, take it back.  Most companies have pretty good return policies.  I recommend walking in playing dumb.  "This don't work no more." Seems to work out OK most of the time, whatever you do don't get mad at the clerk or guy on the phone; then they won't help you.

This is also a great time to check your internal brakes and magnetic brakes, if your reel has them.  I start by turning all my centrifugal brakes off and test casting and flipping.  Depending on the application of the reel, I adjust the brakes for what I need.  For example, my flipping/pitching reel has all the brakes off all the time and only a low setting on the magnetic brakes. My cranking reel has most of the brakes on with a much higher setting on the magnets.  Experiment, see what works best for the way you fish.

2. Rods - I don't have the money or the sponsors to buy new rods each year so mine have to last.

Usually you know when your rod is failing you.  You go to sent the hook on a 4 pound large mouth and it snaps in your hand.  That's bad.  There are however many other areas where your rod could be giving you problems and you may not know it.

First, I look at my rods very closely all over.  I pay close attention to the reel seat, handle, and shaft.  Make sure there are no visible cracks or chips.  If your rod is chipped but it seems to only be cosmetic, use clear fingernail polish to cover the spot.  this will water proof it and get you some more time out of it before retirement.  Cracks are a bigger problem and are usually not able to be repaired.  Send your rod back to the manufacture if possible.

Second, I use a magic eraser to clean the handles on all my rods, whether cork or EVA foam.  This really cleans them up quickly and easily.  It will give you and your buddies the impression that you have all new equipment and its only a three dollar investment.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly check each and every guide on every rod you've got.  I use a clean t-shirt with some WD-40 or dish soap like Dawn on it.  You can also take a Q-tip to these.  If the rod guide is nicked or cracked, even a microscopic bit, it can really hurt your line. Cast after cast, making your line weaker and weaker.  Using the Q-tip will help you spot guides that need to be replaced.  The bad spot on the guide will catch the tiny cotton hairs on the Q-tip.  If you see some left on your guide, replace it.  Rod tip repair kits are easy to find and easy to use for the most part.  If you find a bad guide in the middle of your rod, you're going to have to order a kit from BassPro or some other supply store.  Most local places just don't carry them, at least that's been my experience.  These take a little more effort to replace but once complete you've got a good rod again.

3. Organize - I'm a stickler for organized tackle. Everything has a place in my boat and a place in each of my 370 boxes, which is what I keep almost all my lures in, including plastics.  Everything goes in a 370 box with the exceptions of scents, spinnerbaits, and some other items that are too big for it.

This is perhaps my favorite part of getting ready.  I spread out everything in a big room and take a quick inventory of everything I've got.  I make sure all my 370 boxes are in good shape and don't need to be retired as well.  I also have a labeling system for each box. I organize hard lures by the depth of water they cover.  Topwater, shallow/med, med/med-deep, then deep. I place everything in each box so to limit hook tangles, if that's possible. Plastics are organized by the type of lure they are.  Creature baits in one box, worms in another, stick baits, flukes, etc..  I then organize by color within each box.  Dark colors toward the top or hinge of the box and progressively lighter colors toward the bottom.  When I'm on the water I can get to exactly what I'm looking for quickly.  I also know that my hard lures are in the left hand storage box and soft plastics are in the right of my boat.

Once you have a good idea of your inventory, you can make a good list of what you need to get.  I like to support my local tackle shops when possible but I have to be able to afford it.  I generally get half of my tackle from online retailers and half from local shops.

This are the big three things on my to do list.  It may help put of few more fish in the boat.  If not, I still have a great time getting ready.

Cedar Creek Lake - Stanford, KY