An open letter to anyone asking me about my weight loss

People have been asking me for months, "How have you lost so much weight?" 

I don't know if they are concerned that I may have a terminal illness or that I'm super stress out with a new home, marriage, or whatever...But no, I’m not sick, actually I feel very well thank you.  And while, a new home and marriage have been stressful, it’s been that most fantastic, rewarding journey of my life and not what has caused me to lose weight.

Here is the honest answer and all my secrets: 

I have lost a bit of weight, almost 50 pounds.  I was up to about 220 at my biggest point; today I'm at a much healthier 175, give or take.  I didn't do this all at once mind you, but it didn't take a lot of effort or at least I don’t think it did.  I wasn’t even trying to lose weight; I just wanted to treat my body in a more healthy way. 

So everybody has been asking me HOW?  Here it is. 

This plan is not a weight loss plan; this is a plan to make me healthier.  Weight loss is only a side effect.  I recommend, if you like my plan and want to try it, doing each step for a couple weeks before adding other steps. 

First, I have to start by saying you must understand that if you want to be a healthier person you have to give up the idea of counting calories and counting fat grams. If you just want to lose weight, this is not the plan for you.  Once you forget the math and the diaries just eat good food.  The amount of fat in something or the calories it has is not a measure of how “good” or “bad” a food is.  Judge food on it’s nutritional content and on how awesome it tastes. 

Step 1: Stop drinking soda (pop, coke, whatever you happen to call it)!  We all know this one, it’s just a candy bar in a can.  First, I moved to a cup of coffee in the morning, but have water the rest of the day.  Don’t say, “Oh, I drink diet! It’s ok.” No. No, it’s not.  Diet does two things, delivers a blast of caffeine and then tricks your brain into thinking it’s getting sugar, REAL sugar.  The only problem is that the artificial sweeteners are not sugar and your body knows the difference, so your brain triggers a response that makes you actually crave real sugar! Water is the way to go, this is a big one.

Step 2: Eat breakfast!  I like a good cereal with a lot of protein, but eat something besides a donut, bagel or Cheez-its.  Eggs are great, fruit, yogurt, cereal, just eat breakfast.  We've all heard it before, but still some of us don't like to listen. 

Step 3: Eat real food.  If it’s organic, that's great, but don't get hung up on that.  Just eat real, actual food that looks like it looks when it’s growing.  If it’s in a box, bag or can, chances are it’s not real.  Really, what you’re looking to get rid of here are preservatives and chemical crap that you eat every day and don't realize.  Winter time can be hard getting real tasty veggies but in the cold months I stick to frozen veggies, not canned.  The rest of the year I stay on the outside edge of the grocery for fresh stuff, or get to the farmers market.

Step 4: Don't ever, ever, ever buy anything that says low-fat, no-fat, or low-calorie.  Again, this is about removing nasty chemicals in your food that hurt you from the inside out.  This is a billion dollar industry, and the know how to advertise.  Seriously, they make that crap in a lab.  

Step 5: Stop worrying about fat and calories.  The amount of fat in something or the calories it has are not a measure of how “good” or “bad” a food is.  Judge food on its nutritional content and by how awesome it tastes, not the numbers on the back. 

Step 6: Cook.  Cook that food yourself.  You’ll get healthier food, know exactly what and where it came from, and have some tasty stuff to share with your family.

Other tips:

Don’t be afraid to use butter – Yes butter…not margarine.  Butter is as close to good as you can get.  Those other things that are meant to taste like butter…just aren’t and they have some really awful chemicals in there.  Olive oil it great and I use it for most things.   

However, I don’t pour olive oil on my baked potato, I use real freaking butter and there is no substitute. 

Don’t eat anything that is a substitute for something real.  See butter.  Don’t buy anything that says “Flavor”, that’s code for chemicals that taste like real things, only not really. 

Don’t eat anything that says “product”.  Like cheese product or cheese spread.  “Product” is code for, we could have made actual cheese, but instead we made something that could be mistaken for cheese.  By federal law, companies must label a food item as “product”, “Flavored”, or “spread” if it’s not actually the real deal.  If you look out for it you will be amazed at how many items you purchase at your local grocery labeled this way.

Can’t read it? Don’t eat it.  I like to look at the back of a package the food comes in.  If I can’t read the ingredients and pronounce them all…I don’t eat it. This one is hard. Good luck.

Lastly, go local.  This is a great way to expand your dietary horizons also.  Take a trip to Critchfield for really awesome meats of all types.  You may spend a bit more for this stuff, but let me tell you it’s worth it. Go to the farmers markets.  Not only will you support a guy that actually grew the veggie, but you can also talk to that guy about how the animals are kept and what his wife’s favorite recipe is.  Oh, she’ll be there too.  You don’t want a chemically ripened apple shipped from 1000 miles away, when you can have one from two miles away ripen on the tree planted in Kentucky soil.  I promise it will taste better.

So this is not a true weight loss plan.  This is a give my body what it needs plan.  Oddly enough, what the body needs is real food not food like products. Having said all that…I am no doctor and don’t claim to know anything more than doing what I have described above has made me lose weight and I feel much better.  Eat at your own risk.

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

Cold and Cloudy

A cold and cloudy day on the water is not all together bad.  Some of my most productive days on the water have come when a normal man would stay home and finish or start some of those 'Honey-do' projects.  I on the other hand am not married and my 'Honey-do' list just says 'Go fishing!'.

I met my Uncle in his 19 foot Ranger at Cedar Creek Lake around noon and began a cold, cloudy day of bass fishing.  I spent the last three months waiting to get back out and fish, this was not the best day to go, I promise you.  For the last couple of days we had cold rainy weather, and today it had only stopped raining that morning.

We both tied on heavy jigs and began dragging deep structure with cover.  Nothing.  Normally when I say nothing, I mean, we got a couple of bites and missed a few or caught a couple of small fish or something like that.  When I say nothing in this post I really mean nothing.  I downsized my presentation to a Texas rigged 'Allen Custom Lure' beaver style bait in Party Pumpkin color.  Nothing.  We flipped standing trees, nothing.  My uncle tried a jerkbait on some drop-off areas, nothing.  The sad sad truth is that we couldn't figure them out.  Nothing seemed to foot the bill.

I suggested that we find some warmer water.  We were fishing water in the 43 to 44 degree range. Cold, cold, water.  We started up one of the three creek arms that make up the lake and found some water that crept up to 45 which for a fish is significantly better than 44.  Just one degree can make a lot of difference.  But still, nothing.  My uncle tied on a Sexy Shad spinnerbait and we started behind the island, our old stand bye.  He caught a 2.5 pounder almost as soon as we got there.  My excitement began to stir, had we started finding a pattern, shallow water around 46 degrees? No, we didn't catch anything but a cold the rest of the day.

On the upside, as I was writing this my good friend Mr. Lister came by my office and dropped off some artwork I had commissioned. Check it out! This will be a walk the dog type lure with a prop at the tail.  I can promise you that no fish has seen a lure just like this one.  It's one of a kind.

He also made this for me a few months ago.

Hopefully, the weather will warm the lake up a bit and the spring feed can begin!  Peace.

Looking forward to the 2012 season

Firstly, I think it important to understand the level to which fishing has consumed my life.

Fishing has become, over the past few years, my true passion.  I need it, I yearn for it, I work more hours now so I can take time off in the spring for it.  I find nothing in the world as relaxing and exciting as being on the water searching for my elusive foe.

I feel it mostly spiritually.  Being a guy that believes in God and his son, yet not being the Sunday morning go to meetin' kind.  The water is my church, the boat my pew, and my preacher - god's creation.  I see his beauty, majesty, and power in every sunrise...fog lifting slowly off the water...birds and fowl of every sort flying, swimming, and diving around; he's in there, every bit.  Every fish I catch seems to glow with creation.  I know this sounds odd and a bit obsessive. All I can say to that is...I don't care, I love it.  I feel truly connected to the earth and its creator when I'm out there.

I spent most of my life liking different things.  I liked motorcycles, cooking, baseball...I have liked lots of things throughout my life but never had I found something that I loved.  Yes, I love my family and friends, but never a thing.  This thing...this thing I love.  It fills me with something that eludes most...joy.

Having attempted to explain how I feel about fishing, one should understand  the symptoms of that obsession.

I spent last season fishing out of a 14 foot jon boat and trolling motor. Not the quickest way to get around on any body of water, but my sanctuary none-the-less.  I upgraded my vessel to a 1986 17' Fiberglass bass boat by Bass-Hawk, which are no longer produced.  When Bass-Hawk was in business they were made in Olive Hill Kentucky, which adds to my buy local frame of mind.   I love it. Yes it's old, yes the gel coat is faded, but it's mine.  It has character and class, if a boat can have either.  The 115 Johnson outboard, made around the same time as the boat, runs like a dream with a top speed of about 45 mph.  It's not going to outrun a Ranger but frankly I fish better than most of those guys anyway, or at least that's what I think.  This is symptom number 1, buying a bass boat before buying a new car that you really need.  Don't worry the boat is paid off now and I have recently purchased a new car to tow it with.  Which presents symptom number 2, buying a car based on its ability to tow a 2000 pound bass boat.  Not on its safety rating or gas millage.

After the season was over, meaning cold weather set in, I had the boat winterized and in the back yard it sits waiting till the first warm spell in February or March.  Now the big question is what the hell do I do now that I can't get on the water!

Hunting, something I had never really done until this year, was on the agenda.  I shot and killed my first deer this year.  I must say, it was exciting, fun, and felt absolutely great to be in the woods, even at 5am.  Not to mention, delicious. 

After having spent November in the woods, distraction was much needed.   Not having my usual lake time outlet of pent up energy, I needed something.  Jann's netcraft offered the outlet.  I began making lures.  I had designed jigs and spinnerbaits in the past and continued producing more and more.  Every size and color combination lay across my work bench, but I wanted to do more.  Now plastic lures take up most of my space on the bench.  Again, I love it.  Flukes, worms, senkos, craws, and creature baits.  Softener, hardener, colors, molds, dyes, and glitter.  It's like a chemical craftstore in my basement.  I know how great it will feel when I catch a bass on a hunk of plastic that I designed and created.

All for what? The love of the game?  Catch a fish? What is it?  For me, it's a combination nature and the connection to it, the spiritual closeness it makes me feel, and yes catching a slouch.  You can thank Mark Zone for that.

I guess my point here is that the world is really so very awesome find that thing that brings you joy, and pursue it constantly.

This blog with feature mostly reports from Cedar Creek Lake in Stanford, KY, but may also have some reports from fishing elsewhere around the state and perhaps the world.  Feel free to post comments and pictures

Also check out the Cedar Creek Lake FaceBook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cedar-Creek-Lake/202952089718249

Justin

Lake Harding, Alabama 3/27/11 - 4/2/11

The stories I've heard from my Dad and my Uncle over the years would make Lake Harding sound like Guntersville on some hardcore narcotic.  After four - twelve hour days of bass and crappie fishing I found the lake to be needing a fix.  The nine-pounders and 80 crappie a day were less than active.  However, we did find fishing and had a blast.  One thing I realized, as much as I love to fish, 12 hours in a boat is a long time even for me and my aching back.

Lake Harding is a small lake by Alabama standards and sits along the Georgia/Alabama line.  Clear green water in the main lake and heavy muddy up in the creek, which we affectionately call 'Snipper' Creek.  The real name is something of a mystery to pronouce because everyone I heard say it, mummbled it into something foreign, not knowing how to say it as well (Osanippa Creek), Which is Indian language mean People of the Skunk (Creek).

We dabbled for crappie up in the creek pulling a few off the brush each day but nothing like the stories of days past.  We cranked up some bass, but it wasn't until I got frustrated and pulled out a 3in swim bait and started in on the boat docks, did we have some real fun. My uncle had never caught a fish on a swim bait, and as I can remember neither had I.  Let us just say its fun, a lot of fun.  When they crush it and you see it, its like a gun goes off in your arm. You slam back the rod and power down on a one pound spot like its a twelve pound largey.  Fun.  A white or silver fluke worked good too.

Docks almost completely line every creek and cove on the lake, they are everywhere.  Packed with Seadoos and Pontoons and speedboats.  "This lake was a backwater heaven twenty years ago.  Fallen trees covered all these coves before, now all these rich people keep cleaning the place up and putting in million dollar houses everywhere."  My uncle grumbled.  Evidently the cosmetic improvement of the land surrounding the lake was detrimental to the fishing, at least according to my uncle.  What was funny, was that the million dollar houses were surrounded by little cabins and shanties that I was surprised were still standing. Rusted and rotted, and slanted just a little to far to one side.  The cabin we stayed in was literally on the water, rusted and dilapidated.  Looking under the side from the front, lake water lapped up inside the floor.  I didn't get wet but the failing air mattress kept me at least a quarter inch off the floor.  We can put a man on the moon but can't develope a portable mattress that can hold air for a single night.

This most entertaining part of the trip was the accumulation of names and designations that had developed over the years.  This group of guys that had been annually venturing to Lake Harding for nearly 40 years had developed a system by which nearly every cove, creek, channel, bridge, and overpass had been described and labeled.  Such a system had been created so that one fisherman could explain where the 10-lb bass had been caught or where the school of crappie had been seen.  Years of careful thought and effort had been put into the creation of the labeling system and the five other fisherman each knew where each name was located and what lures had worked there, the depth of the water and what they had caught there in the past.  I was completely lost in the conversation.  The places I did learn were as follows: Rooster, Bad Dog, Blowed Out Duck Dam, Long Bridge, Train Wreck, Sail Boat, Rock Dock, Birdhouse, George's, Georgia and Pelican.  Now while some of the names were evident such as Sail Boat (big group of sail boats tied up)and Long Bridge, which was the longest bridge on the lake, others seemed to be beyond me until I heard a few stories.  George's was a cove next to a guy that lived in a shanty, his name was indeed George.  George had since sold out and moved.  Bad Dog was a point where this bad dog would come running out on the dock and not stop barking until you left the area.  This seemed to be a common occerence on the lake however, I couldn't tell the difference between one bad dog and the next.  Rooster was however my favorite. This area was related to an old man that had a bunch of chickens and of course a rooster.  The rooster did not confine himself to the usual morning sunrise wake up call, he felt it necessary to sound his call let us say outside the boundaries of the extent of his duties and screamed all day.  The man nor the rooster had been seen in twenty years, however the label remained.

We named an area or two that had yet been described in the Lake Harding book of fishin' holes, but no so as entertaining as above.

Overall, I did have a great time despite the slowness of the fishing.  The weather didn't help and the constant lowering and raising of the water level I'm sure affected the activity of the fish.  I'll be back.  I know fisherman lie but no one can lie so much as to say 'I caught a nine pounder under that dock right there', even if the story is an exaggeration anything remotely close to nine pounds is a mammoth fish no matter the line, reel, or rod.

See you again next year Rooster.

Cedar Creek Lake

Cedar Creek Lake April 3, 2010

Cedar Creek Lake seems to be the new hot spot in Kentucky big bass fishing. The timber laden water is usually clear and calm as it was on this day after a small front moved through and the winds died down in the late afternoon.

Reports at the dock were positive as I put in, around 3:00pm. My fellow comrades in arms had found good luck around various points and shallows, some in deep water off the main ramp near the dam.

Bass seem to be staging in deeper water ready to move up into shallow waters to spawn. The spawn is coming and the great feast just prior to it, should be on now.

I found not quite the same luck as my fellows, however as I moved into a small cove up from the second ramp, mainly to get out of the winds blowing my small jon boat around the lake. I tossed a black and red flake Chigger Craw on a jig head up against a tree for which the lake is so aptly named and took a swing and a miss on a interested party. This may have been an early spawning sow that only wanted to move my lure out of her well prepared nest. I was unable to get her to take it again.

I tried a few other tactics in the area with little luck. They seemed not aggressive enough to attack any type of small crank bait. I was sure my Sexy Shad diver would anger them enough, it did not. I decided to try something a bit bigger and through an over-sized spinner, of the same color, at them. After a few unsuccessful attempts I tossed it way back into a pile of floating lay-downs. I was attacked with vengeance nearly as it hit the water. She was a very angry girl and not happy with my disruption. After careful pulling her up and over a few logs and dislodging her from under another she came into sight. She was indeed a fat girl, more of a lineman than a wide receiver. She was a healthy 3 pound 12 oz lady at about 18 inches.

I stayed in the cove until some crappie guys came to run me out, actually they were very nice and asked if it was ok it they fished for some blackies behind me. I really didn't mind I just wanted out of the wind.

I decided it was time to venture back out into the breach. The wind had died and the water was flat calm.

I tried the flats with a lipless crank and the spinner without any luck. I went to the roadbed where the bottom drops from 6-8 ft to 12-15 ft rather quickly. The depth finder showed some activity but my soft plastics where unable to do the job. One big swing One big miss.

I decided to try the creek channel at the north end where I sight fished spawners last year. None yet.

Then as always to the berm. Everyone knows it, everyone fishes it. Well, it is a highway. Road bed, big drop, rocks and timber. If I was a fish I would go through there too. Nothing.

Beside the berm is the second highway (deep creek channel), I decided the big watermelon lizard was a good choice. And as I hooked up on something heavy, it seemed I was right. And she ran, the problem was she ran through the woods and pinned herself under a tree. I tried to convince her I would let her going and that I only wanted to meet and chat for a min, perhaps take a photo. Evidently she didn't care and tossed my bait and hooked it into the same tree in which she made her temporary home. I dislodged my lizard and tried again. She had spread the news of my arrival. No takers.

As I put my small Jon boat on the trailer the guy at the dock seemed to think they were staging in about 20 foot of water, where he had plucked 5 earlier. 2 over 5 pounds. His pictures showed that he was not a big fat liar, if they had indeed been taken today, one can never tell.

Mackie Pike

Mackie Pike - 4/13/10

After work is a great time to go fishing. Now that I think of it there no bad time really, unless perhaps there is a tornado or some such.

Yesterday, I decided that life was too oppressive to go without fishing for another second. So I crept to the nearest fishin' hole I knew of, which in this case was a small creek I know as Mackie Pike. It runs along a road of the same name which is only a few miles from my house.

I threw a small spinning rig in my truck and my creek box of lures. My creek box is only about the size of a pack of cigarettes. The lures I take to Mackie only consist of a very few essentials. I take a bare hook and split shot in the rare case I use some type of live bait, which I assure you is very very rare. I also take a small Rebel grasshopper and crawfish diver. They only dive about a foot or so. And of course I have a white Rooster Tail and a yellow, 1/8 oz I think and that's it. They all throw quite well on the ultra light spinning rig. And If you can't catch everything that swims on one of those baits you really should consider doing something else with your time.

Really, if you go to a creek with those in a small box you can catch any manner of fish pretty much all day. Despite their small size you can catch some reasonably large fish as well. The fight of a one pound fish on my three foot ultra light is too fun for words. You really have to work them hard.

Anyway to the fishing. I pulled up on the side of the road with my little dog at my side and away we went. The spot I fish is where two forks of the small creek come together. My dog (Dax) was very happy to be out and about and very curious about every blade of grass stick she could find. We hopped the guardrail...well she went under I hopped, and walked the short distance down to the water.

The two streams of water come together and create a pooling area with swirls and wakes and calms areas. The spot also has a rather deep area to the left hand side near a large tree on the bank. Aim for the deep hole. Fire. I decided it best to start with the 1/8 oz yellow Rooster Tail. My lure was ambushed by the third cast. The fat girl jumped and splashed violently. She was a very respectable small mouth, very bronze in color with nice vertical stripes. I would have to guess that she weighted about a pound and a half.

After a few more unproductive attempts I switched to the grass hopper then the white Rooster Tail 1/4 oz and had no luck.

Then I went to my last lure, the crawfish (natural color). This was a good idea. I caught another fairly quickly. This one was not quite as large as the first but it will keep me sane for another day.

Go fishing.