Turkey Season 2009, we've had better.

Not what we were looking for exactly, but we fished.

This was the year. New 14' Jon Boat. Decked it out. We were going to kick some major Bass. And then Mother Nature showed up and let us know who the boss is. The week started cold and rainy. Then it warmed up a bunch which brought the wind and we spent the rest of the week being blown all over the lake. Add on top of it the fact that we put a hairline crack in the boat on the first evening and it was a lot of work and not very relaxing.

Paul helps Alan with the deck

PBR and a Jon Boat. Yup.

Big Al gettin the work done.

The week got off to a bad start when we were informed that the private lake we refer to as Big Bass Lake had a hole in the damn dam. We decided to swing by Tuesday after work on the start of the trip to assess the damage.

Big Bass Lake - Big Ass Leak

We could have cried.

We could see it. And we knew the big ones would have little place to hide, but we couldn't get to it, a 10' mud bank all the way around kept us from GOLD.

We each had a beer and a chew and saluted this awesome hole. They say it will have to be drained completely to fix. Nothing that could be done, we decided to head to a new lake on the list Delaney Park. Which is also where we would rent a cabin the first 2 nights.

Sprinkles kept up but were threw on the rain gear and put into the water. Delaney is a nice enough little lake. Main lake with 2 big fingers. One with your typical cover on the banks, the other with stick ups throughout for 500 suare yards. We hit the dam on our way by and I caught a small largemouth on a husky jerk about 15 yds. from the ramp. It was going to be a great trip. Alan was struggling with boat control from the start and it soon became apparent that the fish were not on. Water temps in the high 50's. We picked up a few and with the rain and wind we called it an early evening. About 7:30p. We decided to have a few beerverages and just forget about the start of the trip.

My first beer of the trip.

NOT our first beer of the trip.

We did not get an early jump on our first full day of the trip. We got up about the crack of 9:30a and then dilly dallied at the cabin to get our bearings. We noticed water in the boat from the night before and upon inspection found a small crack on a rib at the bottom that was rubbing the trailer when we put the boat on. We headed to True Value and bought some liquid steel and tried to patch er up. We grabbed a bite to eat and got on the water at Spurgeon Hollow at the perfect fishing time of 12:20p. The wind immediately blew us from the ramp to the back of the lake and I managed a nice little largie on a husky jerk. Alan could make a cast every 10 minutes or so as he struggled with the boat to keep us out of lily pads, or stick ups, or other people. It was miserable. Great looking little lake. Water temps in the high 50's.

We headed to the Red Barn bait shop to try and find a lake where we might get out of the wind a little. John Hays was suggested, we punched it into the GPS and headed that way.

Surf's Up!

John Hays looked like the Atlantic Ocean so we chatted with some locals at the ramp and decided to head north to a little FWA with a small protected lake I'd fished in Jackson Co. We arrived to chat with a nice lady who asked if they'd put fish back in the lake since it was drained last fall. We loaded the boat back up and headed to Scottsburg to fish the reservoir which was suggested somewhere along the line with a warning about a shallow ramp. No doubt about it. It was like a foot deep for 15 feet. Just one more pain in the ass and typical of the way it was going. The water was up and 61 degrees. Lots of submerged bushes and stuff along the banks, I started chucking a spinnerbait. Alan fought the wind. Big Al switched to a crankbait and picked up a nice crappie and out came the stringer. We were determined to keep some fish at least one night and the cabins at Delaney have a stove, so we were on.

Scottsburg Res. - Al Crappie

We worked to the far end of the lake and headed up the bank towards the ramp where we actually found a little calm sheltered water out of the wind. We threw on a bobber and started chucking red worms. The action wasn't furious but it was steady and we caught fish until it was too dark to see. We kept a handful of bluegills and a couple crappie and headed for the cabin. We noticed at the ramp that we had NOT fixed the leak.

Alan was dead set on doing a little catfishing so we grabbed our stuff and walked down to the shore of Delaney lake. We chucked out some liver, Alan started to clean fish, I cracked a beer. I didn't expect a ton of action with water in the upper 50's but I'll be damned if Alan didn't have a bite in about 15 minutes. A small channel cat, we added to the pile to be cleaned and I cracked another beer.

We woke up pretty early Thursday morning, but with the prospect of changing city's, from cabin to hotel, and patching the boat again, we weren't moving very quickly. We stopped back by True Value and worked on the boat again. A little lake called Spring Valley was next on the list. We took a winding road waaay back into the country side and decided that we hadn't taken very many pictures. So we set a rule that the first fish we each caught had to be photographed. The wind still wasn't giving us a break but we dropped the boat in and headed out to our 4th new body of water in 2 days. We worked the bank and at least the water temp was in the low 60's. I hit 2 largemouth right after we launched in submerged grass in about 8' of water. I was jerking a new Shallow XRap shad. Alan was fighting the boat and not doing much. We worked down to the dam and I picked up another. 4th on a popper in the far corner of the dam and that was pretty much how the week went. I was up 4-0 I was casting twice as much as Alan and I was even trying to be considerate. Seemed like as soon as I hit 4 each time, Alan would start catching fish. We kept chucking and the water kept trickling in, I was not happy. It kind of worked out though. Alan got to fight the wind, I got to run the battery powered pump and keep the water at a respectable depth and neither of us got to fish as much as normal.

We came to a nice finger and the jerk bite turned on. We both hit a couple boom boom. Then we came to 3' water that was 64 degrees and caught our first buzzbait largies of the week. This would actually be the only lake that Alan won all week. I believe the totals were 9-7 and I was up 4-0 to start.

My first fish of Springvalley

Als first.

A few sprinkles and we decided to get out and head to a lake that has been great for us in the past. Lots of bass and big ones. Except last year. I only caught 3 there last year, nice ones, but Al was shut out. So "The Honey Hole" as it is known was a question mark. We arrived to find it about 15' low. Our issue was that we didn't know if it had already been drained and all the fish were gone, or if it was going down and we could still catch a few. It was a mighty struggle but we got the boat in. The water was 65 degrees and stained. I threw the only bait that had worked consistently, a jerk bait. I found a small stump and pulled 2 largemouth off of it. Alan was throwing a popper. I switched to a lizard and hit a couple more. 4-0, Al's turn. He snagged on a jerk bait. We found ourselves along the dam and I told Alan that was where the crappie always were and sure enough he found one with his crankbait in its mouth. We switched to bobbers, threw the anchor and started killing them. First double digit lake of the trip for me. I think Alan managed 9 before dark. We fought to get the boat in and then wondered over our horrible week with a beerverage at the ramp.

We arrived at the hotel to find the Mexican restaurant closed. Dang it. What could go wrong next? We still didn't have the boat completely fixed and Friday morning would be here in about 10hrs. We ordered pizza, worked on the boat a little and tried to get some sleep.

Friday morning was a small park lake in Holland, 2 actually but the one had wind blowing it like a washing machine so after an hour stop at the 2 different parts and hardware stores, we installed our new bilge pump. It was a dandy. We got on the water at exactly 11:58a and noon was our goal so we were ahead of schedule. We had good success at Holland last year and were excited but the howling gale was going to make things tough on us. After a side trip to the liquor store at the top of the street to get a $15 permit (don't ask) we now had a nice digital camo boat with a 4"x6" blue HOLLAND sticker on it, but hey we was legal as the owner of the store said.

We moved to the far side of the lake and beat the bank for a while. We came upon some grass along the bank and I started to work the buzzfrogs. Blow up after blow up and several fish. I had my 4 and it was Alan's turn. Only this time it wasn't. We worked out of the grass and towards the back of the lake where poppers worked last year, but we were doing about 40 knots and I was getting seasick. Alan turned us into the wind and by now I wasn't making a cast unless he was. I managed 2 more along the bank in some muddy water on a spinnerbait. Alan was still a goose egg. We FINALLY found a little sheltered water and we started working small Pop R's. I hit a couple more and Alan was ready to go. Of course we didn't have a drop of water in the boat since I spent $50 on a bilge pump, but hey at least it was dry. Alan finally threw hit popper over about 6 branches waaay back into a hole along the bank and sploosh he had his fish. We ran for the ramp and got the hell out of there.

It was off to the strip pits just north of the highway. We almost always catch fish in these pits. There were a bunch of them and we had 3 on the schedule for tomorrow. Crystal clear water, steep banks and lots of trees, branches etc. I love to throw a Senko in these lakes and sure enough, it was the ticket. It was harder than hell to throw because of you guessed it, the wind, but I could manage. Alan had to throw a lizard, no chance with a weightless anything. I again got way out in front but this time, things changed. The more we lost light, the better Alan's day got. First the wind slowed down and it was almost tolerable. Then he switched to a weightless fluke and they were killing it. This tactic produced the first nice bass and biggest of the week so far. 17.25" and Alan had the leader in the clubhouse. We fished well past dark and actually enjoyed the last couple hours of Friday night. We made it back to the hotel and found the Mexican restaurant open until 11p on weekends. Sweet.

Fluke Largemouth. Big of the week for a while.

I should have hit the motor and left him.

Have a little chew... I obviously have more than enough.

Saturday morning believe it or not, we were fishing by 9a. We were up at 6a but we weren't moving very fast. A long tiring week and it was about over. We arrived at Al's Lunker Lake, so named because he destroyed me there last year and had the big fish of the week for a couple of days out of that lake. The sun was pounding, we into the 80's and the wind was fierce as usual. We worked our way out to the far end of the lake which is all standing timber. Al of course through his fluke and it worked again. He hit a couple little ones. I had a couple on my trusty husky jerk. I also switched to a fluke to catch a couple more. Then I pulled out the Senko's and it was on. All I had to do was drop it by a stick up and I had a bite. They weren't killing it, just kind of slurping it but I hit a couple including a 17" that Alan thought knocked him from the lead. We let out a sigh of relief. We had started anchoring or tying to a stick up so Alan could actually fish for a while while the wind continued to beat on us. I thought I was hung and I gave my rod tip a twitch. My senko came loose and floated up and over the stump I was fishing. The water boiled and I set the hook. We had a contender. Al grabbed the net and I put him on the tape. 17.50" We had ourselves a new sheriff in town. We fished the whole place and some it it twice and decided to change lakes.

Senko Largemouth

Winner for the week. 17.5 I attribute it to the BassFury hat.

We headed over to Twin West, another new lake to us. It was a bit strange to say the least. The water was clear as gin and had a great big shelf of about 2'-3' of water where you could see bottom which was grass with big spots of clear bottom. It was like fishing the flats in Tampa. Alan's fluke did the trick for a few little ones and I hit a couple on jerkbaits and spooks. Then we got into some deep water. 15'-20' steep edges and unbelievably clear. I could buy a bite and neither could Alan. I even threw a swimbait which the water seemed perfect for. We came to a bank with some nice cover and some pollen and propellers from the trees about 3' thick along the edge. Alan tossed his fluke and I hit it with my buzzfrog. We both started catching fish again. Not crazy, but steady and if I'd caught all the ones I missed, I'd have doubled my total. Water was getting into the high 60's now and things picked up a little.

We moved over to Twin East which is a lake I typically do pretty well on. I immediately started bombing buzzfrogs down the bank and I nailed a couple good ones including a nice 17". Alan didn't have much luck but he was once again fighting the motor and I had a crickhopper on one pole that helped me sneak several gills and small bass into my total. We were winding down and our week was about over. We set a limit of 6:00p and we left right on the nose, we wanted to get to a great little pit that we have fished every year. Bethel. We arrived and excitedly put the boat in. I threw everything in my box and only had mild success on a senko, I think I caught 4 and Alan was shut out for the first time in memory at Bethel. We fished well into dark once again, we know it like the back of our hands. But I'll be damned if either of us could get a popper bite, frog bite, nothing after about 7:30p. We dejectedly loaded the boat and headed for some nachos and I promised to buy Alan a margarita. We arrived to find the restaurant closed. They close early if they aren't busy we were told. @#!$% #!@$^T$ $%@#^ great ending to the week. It was freakin pizza again.

The debate started as soon as we hit the room. Where are we going tomorrow? I don't know. Where do you wnat to go tomorrow, I don't know. The schedule says Schlam. New water. What the hell it can't be any worse. We packed our stuff and got a good nights rest.

We were up and at em fairly early. 7a. We got everything loaded and were amazed that the week was over. I added up the fish total for the week on our way to Schlam. Alan 45, WarEagle 81. Sounded like a decent amount of fish, but for the time we spent it wasn't much. We caught 107 on the last day of our trip last year. Schlam wasn't busy, but with the 2's and 4's on it you needed a 24 footer to do much good. It wasn't quite that bad, but still damn rough and difficult to fish. I popped one with a spinnerbait and then another. Alan hit a couple with a small XRap. I got a couple nibbles on a lizard and then actually managed to catch one as we found a semi sheltered section of water. I whipped out the crickhopper and Alan started throwing a floating frog. I got bit every cast. Gills and small bass but I managed a few and totals started climbing. Alan finally saw the light and put on a small Pop R and his luck changed immediately. We had a time limit of 2p to get Alan home when he was needed so we speed fished the bank back to the ramp. We could have caught many many more with the time. I threw the crickhopper and he threw the popper and our totals were Alan 8, War 17. We loaded up for the last time and headed for home.

Once we got the boat fixed, it was awesome. Alan did a fantastic job on the decks and the seats and all the amenities worked great. We'll have lots of fun in the new boat before it's over. The wind killed the week. And after 8 years of fast and furious fishing, we were kind of due for a bad year. If it's only 1 out of 9, I'll live with it. But I have to say that I have a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth and I haven't fished since, but I'm sure I'll get over that soon enough and be chucking real soon.

Weekly totals.

Alan 53
WarEagle 98

A nice side note that some of you will appreciate. I used spray and gel CB's HawgSauce on every lure all week. Alan used Bang.