Tell me a fishing story, true or not

I am about as depressed as one individual can get. Sitting here recovering from my latest bout with the Hospital and I can hear Dale Hollow screaming for me to spend a week down there for Winter Finally decides to shows its head. No more FNF for me until next year. No Spring bite, No Flower Bite, No big girls going shallow to spawn. I may get in the boat some time in late May or June but who knows. Someboday tell me a fishing story to help a fat boy out a bit. I don't care if it is true or not, just let me use my imagination and try to catch a fish or two. All species welcome, Bluegill, Catfish, Carp, Green Fish, Brown Fish, Stripers, Spots and even Shad story are welcome. Good Luck on the water and catch a couple for me.

Well a few years ago, I started striper fishing. I had really been catching them everytime out, but the biggest one was 22 lbs. I wanted one over 30 to mount. I took a buddy that had never caught one before. About an hour after dark, both of my rods went down at the same time. I set the hooks on both, (one with each hand), and handed a rod to my buddy. I landed my fish, a nice fat 18lber. A few minutes later, he had his wall mount. His very first striper was 31lbs. LOL...went back to the same spot the next weekend...took my mom with me. Forgot the net. My rod went down, after a 20 minute battle, a 41lber came boatside. Handed my mom the rod, and I lipped it. Finally had my mount. Since then I have literally caught a few hundred stripers and had a few on that we couldn't do anything with. True story by the way....get well soom elnut.

I hear that man, I just had a total hip replacement last week. I left the hospital on Friday, so I'm back home. I've got a trip to Ky/Barkley planned with a couple of guys from work in April, so I'm using that as my motivation to get past this crap.... Anyway, I hope you feel better...

Here's a story (it may not be good, but it'll give me something to do.. lol). This was back in April '93 after I had a car accident that led up to my current prediciment. Anyways, it was my dad, me, and my father-in-law. We had a place down at Barren by the Narrows. We decided to run down for some crappie action and to get me out of the house, I had cabin fever like a $#%#$... Anyways, we get down to the house (which was a 1973 Mobile home) and turn on the heat, water, and electricity. All of the sudden, we hear watter running, We figured that one of the faucets was turned on or something. We looked everywhere, then traced the sound to underneath the trailer. Wadda ya know, it looked like someone had thrown a frag granade underneath the trailer. Every pipe, I mean every pipe under there was shattered to pieces. I was thinking that our trip was done because my dad was super thrifty and I knew he wasn't going to pay to have a plumber come out and fix it. I figured the trip was shot... My dad was one of those guys that could fix anything with duct tape, so I figured we'd spend the next three days under there wallerin' in mud and insulation trying to fix PVC with with duct tape. To my disbelief, he called a plumber down in Glasgow who told us he'd be out in a couple of days.

We got out on the water that evening and didn't do very good at all. The next day, We got out, it was windy, overcast and chilly. We pulled up to some downfalls back in Peters Creek and start pulling fish out of there like nobodys business. The lake was still down at winter pool, so there were exposed stake beds everywhere. Because we didn't have a depth finder or anything, it made quick work of finding fish. The next day we went back to Peter's creek, no luck. We decided to head up Skaggs Creek and try our luch there. BOOM, BAM, BIGGITY, BIGGITY, BLAP... we started killin' em again. We were pulling fish off of every stick and stakebed in the lake. We caught tons of nice fish too, some in 15/16 inch inch range!! Needless to say, we cleaned fish each night for about two hours. The funniest thing that happend during that trip was I hooked a big snapping turtle. I got it to the surface and he was pi$$ed. I told my dad to cut the line, but he netted it and brought it in the boat. I don't think any of us had seen one that big, so my dad goes tocut the line and the turtle turns his head towards dad and lets out a huge hiss.. my dad about filled his short.. I LOL'ed

Even tho we didn't have showers or water for two days, it was probably one of the most productive trips I've ever been on. We didn't even have a fancy fishing rig. A runabout, an anchor, and a ton of minnows was all we needed..

Dizzle for the win----> longest post ever!!

My son and I had pulled out of the Ohio River and headed up the Mississippi about 6 years ago. We pulled in behind the first island and my prop hit something. I thought it was a wing dam or something out there in the middle. Now, we knew nothing about this mythical river. The sun was getting low, the current was gushing, the barges were huge and we were tired. I looked at my son and said "are you scared" he said yeah. I said. "me too" and we proceeded to idle in the slue behind Tow head Island.

Shortly thereafter fish, species unknown, started jumping all around us. Sometimes they jumped straight up and some times in an arc 4 feet off the water covering about 10-15 feet in distance doing about 30 miles an hour. I thought to myself, man, I hope one of those things doesn't jump in the boat.

We made it to shore and camped that night. I finally went to sleep about about 3 am after that last mosquito bit the dust or decided to give up on injecting me with West Nile Virus which was in the news back then.

The next morning we headed out and as we were idling the strange fish started jumping again. My son was standing in the bow bent over getting something out of the cooler. A fish jumped over his back and landed on the floor in the middle of the boat. My boat is an aluminum V hull with some freeboard so that fish had to be at least 4-5 feet above the surface of the water.

There was quite a bit of commotion the fish being 15 pounds or so and 30 plus inches. The strange fish started to dance around the boat from the gas tanks in the back to the bow. My son Garrett, who is no squeamish little squirt, took up a perch on top of the cooler to avoid getting attached. As the fish continued to dance it made a bloody mess.

I had no idea if this thing had teeth, spikes or any other sharp things on its body so was reluctant to get into a fight. After collecting myself and becoming aggravate by the mess I took our only towel (for the week trip), grabbed the intruder by the tail and winged it back into the Big Muddy. As the adrenaline ebbed we assessed the boat condition. The boat was to be our home for the next 5 days so a cleanup job was in order. We doused the boat with Mississippi Brown from a drywall bucket and did some scrubbing with our only towel for the next hour.

We then proceeded back into the main channel, our bodies clinched in defensive positions more commonly seen on a punt receiver that has elected not call for a fair catch but at the last instant knows he should have. We might as well been on the Amazon. Without saying a word we both new what the other was thinking, what lies ahead.

More Asian Silver Carp.

Guess I have to ask. Where?

Peter

True story. It gets good at the end.

We were staying a week at Lake Cumberland. Broght two boats. Small fishing boat and a 23 foot cabin cruiser. Two couples with kids. I filled the cruiser up with gas first and my partner offered to split the difference. Since he worked for me I said I would pay for the first tank.

We put in and boat for two days. Me I am trying to get in the little boat and striper fish. With two women and a guy who likes to play golf none of them understood nor could I get away.

We pulled up to the dock on the second day and I filled the gas with my credit card. My partner offered and we agreed he could get the next tank.

We boated all day until dark having fun by all, (I am jonesing to fish by this time) We pull both boats out of the water because there was no slips available. He mentioned more than once that he was going to get the next tank. I agreed but the bourbon made he mention it more than once that night in our cabin.

Off we go the next day and I got to fish around noon. Bad timing as I wanted to fish early morning. I finally got my chance to go the next morning. My partner wanted to take the kids tubing all day and run the gas down as far as possible so he could fill it next.

This is where the story gets going. I told him we have a 65 gallon tank and it would last two days before getting close to 1/3 of a tank. The guage was bad it was my boat but he wouldn't listen.

I get in the little boat and catch my bait and am ready to go before daylight.

As I am back at the cabin lining up my equipment for the next day he starts to boast that he is going to the new Krogers in Russellville and fill up the tank. It is opening day and he is going to save 25% of what I paid at the dock. I didn't really care as all that was on my mind was a big striper.

I got up way before daylight and on the water at opportune time. Marked fish all morning and was sure I would nail one. Around 9:30 in the morning I was trolling in front of where we were staying. We stayed way up a clift and I saw the kids on the deck. I got on our motorola radio and got the kids to wave.

My wife gets on the radio and says you might want to get up here there is a problem with your boat. We had a discussion where she wanted me to come in and I wanted to stay out one more hour as I knew this was my last chance of the day. She agreed.

I get back to the cabin and there is my boat with everything out of it and on the ground. My buddy is working in panic mode. Sweating profusely and could hardly look me in the eye. My wife says we had a gas leak in the boat and we have been working on it all morning. I walk back to the rear of the boat and there he is drining 20 gallons of gas out at a time in Rubbermade containers.

He starts to explain what happened. He is at Krogers opening day and it is crowded as all get out. He climbs up on the boat from the outside and loosens the gas fitting and begins to fill the boat. Determined to prove me wrong on how much gas he ran out the day before. His wife is watching the gas pump as it nears $100 and ok thats enough. He claims no that we filled the tank up two times and it is his turn. As the pumps reach $200 he has had enough as well and gives his wife the credit card and says to go inside and pay.

He climbs up on the outside of the boat to put the cap on the gas fill and all of the sudden the bilge kicks on and gas comes flying out of the boat. Hits the garbage can on the side and goes everywhere. He panics and runs around to the back climbs in the boat and the bilge kicks on again. Spewing gas all over Krogers new parking lot during the grand opening.

HE climbs inside the aft cabin to turn the batteries off thinking of a major explosion is about to occur and steps in gas that reached right below his calf muscle. He turns off the batteries and gets out of the boat.

At this time everyone is standing around in amazement. His wife comes up and following him is the store manager. Obviously his first store manager position. His wife is asking him what the hell just happened. He can't even talk because he just saved Russellsprings from the biggest explosion they have ever seen.

The store manager is flipping through his policy book trying to do everything the correct way. He calls the fire department then he calls the sheriff and I don't know who else.

My buddy who is in a panic mode and still can't speak well enough for anyone around him to understand what is going on; is trying to explain that there is gas inside the boat. He looks at the manager and says there is gas in the boat and he is on the phone and is saying things like yessir I know there is gas in your boat but the first thing we have to do here is contain the spill. He is stammerin and studderin saying but there is gas in the boat.

Here comes the fire department and the sherrif ambulance and everyone else. The fire department is working on containing the gas. My buddy keeps telling everyone there is gas in the boat. Knowing in his head this would put a mushroom a good 50-100 yards in the air when it goes off.

Now you can imagine a puddle of gas out of a bilge that was on for that amount of time. It is under the boat and the truck that is pulling the boat.

The head of the fire department is tired of hearing my buddy say "What about the gas in the boat" He says look sir just move it over there and points to the entrance of Kroger. He claims I'm not pulling a boat full of gas next to all those peope your crazy. Out of frustration he says look just get the hell out of here.

So he and his wife get in the car and tow the boat full of gas back to our cabin. She is mad at him; he is embarrassed; he is still in shock; he still is stammerin but there is gas in the boat. He is driving as careful as possible and watching the boat. The next thing he sees is his wife lighting a ciggerate. "Hey Put that out he yells" It makes her mad and puts him more into the shock mode again.

So the last two days of our vacation we are cleaning the gas out of everything we own and are beached at our cabin.

By the way I am an expert of getting gas odor out of a boat if you ever need the info.

After about two weeks of getting the gas smell out we begin to look for a gas line that broke or a hole in the tank and we can't find a thing. I start to look at the boat and ask him hey you didn't put gas in the old waste fitting did you? He then turned bright red. He and I just cut the tank out as we don't use the toilet anymore.


He added two hundred dollars worth of gas that was on sale into the aft cabin of my boat.

Well around 1986 or so with in a year or so if I can recall... A buddy of mine and I drove from Slem, Indiana to Madison, In. about a 50 mile trip to go pre-fish for a local Bass Tournament. We got to the river tand headed up river to the Little Ky, then on to the Big Ky and locked thru the locks. fished hard for almost 4 hours without even the closest sniff of a bite. So we headed back to the ramp and got the boat out...He says hey what about let's go on back down to New Albany and put in the river there and see if anything is biting there...I say heck I'm game...So we drive another 50 or 60 miles back down the road again to go fish. we arrive at the ramp and by this time every pleasure boat in the State of Indiana seems to be down at the ramp waiting to get into the water. After driving around for what seems like hours...We can't even get to the ramp....So he comes up with another britee idea...

He say well I guess we can go back home and fish John Hay Lake.... I say after all this mess here, anything sounds good, just to get away from that area. So off we go back towards home and another 45 miles of driving to our town and another 10 miles to the lake. we make it to the lake and from the first cast I know it's going to be a dosey..... I had tied on one of those 20 pluse deep diving Mann's Crank Baits that would dredge up about 6 inches of mud off the bottom of the lake if you had the muscle to get'er in.... Anyway I remember about Paul Elias kneeling down on one knee and having his pole shoed down into the water to get the bait down even farther.... So I'm all the way up on the front of the boat with my rod as far down in the water as I can get it and crankin in the bait....Were sitting in about 18 feet of water with a blanket of grass coming off the bank out into the lake type of cover and structure....Water temp about 75% and air temp around 80 degree's... All of a sudden my rod buckled and I got a biggun on....I can't believe it, my first cast of the evening on the third place to fish and I got myself a wall hanger on my line...

I stand up and set the hook all in one sweeping motion, yell for my buddy to grab the net....Mean while my rod is doubled over the side of the boat and my buddy is going ape on me...He can't find the net he yells...I tell him where it is and he gets it....Seems like minutes have passed since I set the hook and have been crankin in this huge fish.... Anyway as I get the big ole bucket mouth up close to the boat, the fish kinda just rolls on it's side and is lookin at us...My buddy starts screaming , hey you got at least an 8 or 9 pounder there...I'm still in shock, can't believe on the first cast I hook one so big... Now to the rest of the story....As my buddy leans forward to net the fish the fish just makes the slightest wiggle and my big 20 plus crank bait pops right out of it's mouth and the fish rolls over and just swims back down to the deapth's it came from....I stare in disbelief and my buddy just starts going beserk...He's yellin out every cuss word known to man kind and even making up a few I believe.... He can't get over it, that I had such a huge fish on my line and for it to get away in the blink of an eye....I'm disapointed but tell him, well maybe I'll catch him or her again another day... We continue to fish and have one of the best days fishing our home town lake we've ever had.... After realizing that we should have stayed home and fished....We could have saved a lot of money instead of running up and down the road and fishing other spots...Figured we drove close to 200 miles, burnt at least a tank of gas pullin the boat around everywhere and finally got home from fishing around 11:00 pm that night after getting up at 4:00am to start our merry adventure....

Based on a true story and all names and dates have been changed to protect the innocent...he he he lol Had to add that as if it were a cop show or something...But all true, hope you enjoyed my story.....

Get well soon........

It was a dark and spooky night, no wait a minute that ain't a fishin story..... Dang you anyway Elwood you wished this goshdang Penguin weather on us. Just kiddin man get well soon and catch some fish.

Middle of August, 2:00 in the morning, throwing Zoom Pumpkinberry U-tail worm on a long sloping point outside of Holmes Bend on Green River. Set the hook and nothing gives. Buddy says I'm hung in a log or rock until my lines starts moving. AQfter a 15 minute dead weight fight, up comes my bass of a lifetime. Netted and guessed in at 8 plus. All marinas are closed and it's just too hot to put this fish in the live well and keep it there 4-5 hours to weigh it.
Take a few pictures and turn her loose. The pictures did not turn out and i've kept the memory. And the weight hasn't gone up over the years, I keep it at 8 plus and go with it. (true)

There was another time I was fishing Helecopter lures tied onto the treble hook of a Dance's Eel under the shallow water boat docks at Herrington Lake. Every 2-3 cast I would catch a 3-5 lber with a 6-7 lber every tenth cast or so. Got so tired after a few hours of this I had to get out on the bank and lay down. Once rested up I would go at it again and this went on for six days. Finally started fishing for mermaid in the shallows down by the dam and caught my third wife. Didn't last long, she always seemed a lil fishy. (leave that alone!!) Boy, what a time!!

Wow

My first trip to Bull Shoals to fish for those old brown fish was 25+ years ago. There was a group from here that had been going to Bull Shoals for several years, two of them asked my fishing partner and me to come down and they would show us how to catch smallmouth in clear water.

The trip was around the first of April, four of them went down about three days before we could get there. When we arrived on Sat night they had every one at the cabin for dinner that night. They told us the fish were biting and that Dave K and Dave F would take us out tomorrow and guide us since they had the hot hand. Neither Dave knew us nor did they know they were going to baby sit us.

We decided to leave at 7:00 from the boat dock however Dave F said he was not leaving until he had suntan lotion because it was 75 and sunny and he was sunburned. I assured him I had suntan lotion in the boat. He said he would not leave until he saw it. Then they departed the cabin where we were staying to go to there efficiency cabin. When we awoke the next morning we had about two inches of snow on the ground and still snowing. We got dressed and went to the boat dock met our new acquaintance’s. As we were backing out of the slip I hollered for them to stop. I then got in the glove compartment got out the suntan lotion and threw it to there boat. After Dave F was through cursing me and Dave K was done laughing we headed out and I found out cold fronts don’t bother smallmouth like it does largemouth we fished until about 3:00 that day and caught several fish. But most important we forged a great friendship that has lasted many years. Last March about a month before our spring fling Dave K passed away.

Elnut you will be back at them in May cherish every trip because life is too short to waste a minute.

Steve