First lets talk a little safety on the winter water:

I almost lost my Brand New Explorer to the depths of Dale Hollow due to certain people not using any common sense or just not knowing about winter safety rules. I took out Friday morning at Horse Creek around 9am to go meet Bobby Westmoreland for breakfast and the ramp was completely iced over due to certain people launching their boats then immediately hauling butt up the ramp bringing all the lake water with them. This water drains off all up the ramp and when the temps are in the teens this water will freeze in seconds. I backed down my empty trailer just seconds after another person had launched his boat and did not drain his trailer. The second my tires hit the water/ice I kept on sliding towards the lake with no chance of stopping. If it was not for my quick thinking and putting it in drive then flooring it with 4 wheel drive up the ramp I would have been swimming. I ended up going to the other side of the marina and took out at the old ramp. This all could have been avoided if people would launch their boat then pull the trailer up just enough to let the water drain back into the lake for a minute or so, then proceed up the ramp. Their will be very little water on the ramp to freeze over. Take note for anyone that fishes in the winter please for the safety of others. If I had my boat attached when I backed down the ramp, I doubt I would have been able to get back up the ramp at all.

I am a big guy and they don't make winter gear for a man of my size. To stay warm, I wear about 6 layers, literally 6 layers, plus a couple of hats and hoods to keep my head warm. It is hard to move your head around with all these layers in the cold plus your eyes water and freeze. Very dangerous in operating a boat in this condition. Buy a helmet for I will this week. It will keep the wind off your face and make it safer to operate the boat. I always thought wearing a helmet was stupid and I WAS WRONG. I am the stupid one. Fishing in the winter is not like any other time for I think it is way more dangerous. We may get the skiers and joy boaters out of our way but the cold water, temps and other stuff is just more obstacles for us to overcome. Be careful.

Now for fishing:

Monday I fished in the Horse Creek area for only a few hours after my arrival. Water was 54 and very dark. Caught 2 short smallies on jigs and had one massive strike on a jerk bait that had perfect teeth impressions on both sides of my lucky craft right over the front hook. I guess it was a muskie and have no clue how I did not hook this fish for the bite was perfectly centered over the front treble.

Tuesday I fished with Steve Headrick and we put in at Holly Creek. Water clarity was a million times better as was my confidence for I mainly fish from First Island north most of the time and know the lake pretty good. High Blue skies with very little wind all day made for tough fishing conditions. Second cast with yellow asprin head jig comes aboard a beautiful 5 1/2 pounder. Steve had a decent one on the jig shortly thereafter with the fish practically hitting it as Steve was hung on a stump. We hit some bluffs, islands, banks up in the creeks, and points all day and ended up with 8 or so total plus a couple of LDR by Steve (That is Long Distanced Released).

Wednesday I fished with Mike, 3sons on here. High Blue Skies and tough conditions to start and then it clouded up a bit later in the day. I picked him up at Willow Grove and we hit one spot early that I landed the big one on Tuesday with no luck. Then off to my honey hole that produced a 5-6 for me within a few cast and Mike did an excellent job of netting this fish. He took some good pictures and off we went. Mike landed a good 3 1/2 pounder plus a couple more good ones and then there was that massive 4 incher towards the end of the day. I had a 3 pounder on the yellow jig than a good 5-4 on the fly later in the afternoon plus 2 others all day. We had 8 total, 7 on the fly, and I thought that was not very good considering the day clouded up but when we took out there was one certain guide that was taking out and he had 7 for the day with none over 4 so our day was pretty good after all. All fish came north of First Island.

Thursday, I fished by myself and if it was not for John Davis guiding 2 guys, I would have been by myself on the lake. I never saw another boat ALL day other than John. Cold, Windy, Cloudy, Snowy, Sleet, Misty rain, just like the Smallies like it. I caught 11 total all day, all on the fly, with a 5-15 that was 6-0 if I held her in the wind but 5-15 without wind aided so she is a 5 and not my 3rd ever 6. Fought the waves all day and fished windy banks, windy points, protected walls and points, banks up in the back of creeks plus my honey hole. Camera froze up early and it is still froze in the open position with the shutter open. I am looking for a winter camera by the way if they make such a thing. All fish came north of Goat Island.

Friday, Fished out of Horse Creek from 5am to 9am with nothing. I hit Horse, Dale and a few other spots with not a hit. The only thing that I realized is that when the fish are not biting and it is 14 degrees, it is really cold. Water was visibly more black than where I had been fishing and I had no confidence at all. Took out at 9am and had a very good breakfast with Bobby Westmoreland to hear some more Billy stories. By buddy Cliff, Chunknwind, came down at noon and we put in at Holly Creek. Ran to one spot and I had a good 3 pounder right off the bat to show him there were still fish in Dale and he did an excellent job of netting, AS HE ALWAYS DOES. He still has not lost that touch in netting big brown fish from last winter. High blue skies and we ended up with 3 total.

Saturday, back to Holly Creek before daylight and to my suprise there was someone there on the ramp which is the first time I can remember someone beat me to the the ramp. Cliff caught the first one in my honey hole then off to another newly found spot that produced a 5-0 for me and another good smallie to boot. Little did we know that was it for a long time. Ran all day hit spot after spot, by my gas mileage we ran 42 miles total all around mid lake. Around 3pm I set a goal that we will catch 6 before we leave the lake that day. I gave up on my big fish holes and went to my numbers spot that produces fish but no big ones. I guaranteed him that we would catch fish less than 15 inches long and it happened. Clebo made a comment that I done man and made his last cast to put her down as the sun was way behind the hills. Waves are hitting this spot pretty hard and I had the trolling motor on 50% just to move up the bluff. Bobber goes under and I set the hook on a monster 8 incher that got off shortly thereafter, then a couple of cast later I catch 2 monster 6 inchers back to back cast, a couple of cast later IT happended. The bobber goes under and I rear back to set the hook on a 3 1/2 incher, yes a 3 1/2 incher. Most of the jerk baits in my box are longer than this fish but I did set the hook and did land the big girl. She did have 2 eyes and by my wifes calculations size does not matter, if it has 2 eyes, 2 gills and a tail it counts as "1". I will accept her math and that made 6 for the day with a 5-0 to boot.

Sunday, cloud cover gave promise not as cold as we leave Holly Creek. To my honey hole we go and Clebo lands the firs of the day again. Nothing after that so honey hole #2 we go and he is saying something to the effect that he led Saturday 1-0 when my bobber goes under and it is a 2 lb "Trash fish" Largemouth. He laughs at my comment about Trash Fish. We hit to our 3rd spot and I catch a good 3 pounder. 3 spots = 3 fish it will be a good day. But that is it. I have had a small leak in my boat for several months but have never taken it to get repaired. It is under warranty but no time to take it to the shop so I just bilge out every time we move and there has not been a problem until my bilge pump did not work this morning. We took on so much water that I lost 5 mph on top speed, barely could plane out and no whole shot at all. Took her to the ramp and put her on the trailer, pulled the plug and it took 15 minutes to drain while the boat was sitting on the ramp. No telling how many gallons of water was in my Deep V at that time but we think we were well on our way to a nice liesurely swim back to Holly Creek in 49 degree water with about 6 layers of clothing on. To the shop tomorrow to get a bilge pump installed then back to Dale Sunday for 5 more days. The leaky hull can wait until the FNF season is over but if you see a big fat guy in a Navy Blue rain suit swimming for his life at Dale, stop by and give me a ride.

In all, water temp was 53-54 Monday and 48-50 when we left this morning. I never patterned any fish to say they were on one part or another. I can say none of the big fish came off bluffs so I don't think they are there yet. The 5 over 5 came off an Island flat, secondary point, secondary point with grass, back of a creek on sloping mud bank, back of a creek on a steeper rocky bank so you can see no pattern. The yellow jig bite will only get better and the water clarity was pretty good when you get north of First Island and better the farther north you go but probably will get better farther south if the temps hold down this week. I fished 10-12 feet deep pretty much most of the time and used Duck Feather or Craft Jigs with Grey, Red and Chartruese. I am just guessing but I bet my boat hit 40-50 different spots over the week and averaged 15-20 per day or more.

It was nice meeting those that I did Friday night. Sorry we did not get in the tourney but I had no confidence in the water in the Horse Creek area and my boat is not set up to run the 22 miles one way to get to where I was on fish. Thanks to Redneck for the jigs that he gave me and I tried a couple of them with no luck but they look good and will produce whent he time is right. I will say that Bob and Steve gave everyone some very good information during the Friday night meeting. Follow the shad, stay in the shade, don't be afraid of the wind, don't be afraid to change it up and use different colors, different depths or retrieves, and focus on what you are doing for when the fish hits try to duplicate that same presentation again. I will forward pictures to Jim to get posted as soon as my wife gets them downloaded. Until then, Good Luck in the hunt for the 12 pounder for I believe even more every trip she is in Dale Hollow and someone will catch her one of these days, SOON.