I'm sure this will be long winded for this was my only 2 days on Dale and only days 9 and 10 over the past 2 years due to my medical problems so it is long and you don't have to read if you don't, but informational so here goes....
I have been to Dale Hollow no telling how many times over the past 4 years but I never thought I would see such a beautiful sight than driving down the road to Holly Creek and making that last left hand turn and seeing the marina and Holly Creek water in the background just after sunup. In November, I really thought I had taken my last few breaths and this 2 day trip was the ABSOLUTE best trip I ever had in my life and will be so up to day I see my son hook and land his first 5lb Brownfish or any Brownfish at all. Now for the trip.
Both Chunknwind (ie Hens, Cliff, Clebo, Netboy...all the same person, but my best Buddy on the planet) and my cell phones automatically switched to CST in Burkesville which put us 1 hour later on the water than we wanted to, but hit the water Saturday around 7:45. By the way, you can be launching around 6am CST these days and be ok. We ran up to our first spot, the same one that Cliff landed a 5-4 last Saturday and the same one that has given up several over 5 to me in the past (No not that spot in Sulphur, which is not at the top of my milkrun list, but a different spot). I make my first cast with my All Pro rigged up with my Favorite jig this time of year, Duck with Red and Chartreuse and it was wonderful. We begin down this spot and LITERALLY my 10th cast (+/- a couple) the old Woody's homeade bobber takes a dive and I remembered how to set the hook. I tell Hens that it is just a little fish, 2 pounder or so, then she keeps digging and does not jump (Clear sign of a good one) so I say maybe 3 but we still have not seen her, digging stripping drag so I say maybe 4, the fight keeps on and we finally get a glimpse of her and she is getting bigger with ever turn of the handle and strip of the drag, Beautiful netting job by who else but Netboy and Hens says 4 1/2 so out come the digital Boga scale and 4-7 on the nose. The absolute my favorite fish to date bypassing both my 6-2 and 6-4 due to all my circumstances the past 6 months. How pumped are we. On down the bank and Hens lands a beautiful "fattie" about 15 1/2 "" 2 1/2 pound Smallie, another perfect tourney fish. We move to spot number 2 and I land a really nice tourney fish which was about a 1 1/2 pound Spotted Bass. On to spot 3 and 4 to nothing, then to spot 5 and I catch a 12" Largemouth on one end of this spot and then Hens puts the trolling motor on about 70% because I only fish the left and right side of this particular spot, which are about 30 yards or so apart. My FNF rod tip is inches above the water, my bobber is 2 inches from the tip, my bail is open and my finger is on the line in full casting position as we are "trolling" down the bank. Sitting in about 38 feet of water and the most amazing thing happens, my rod loads up and this fish rips the line from my finger tip, strips no telling how much line moving at mach 10 and I yell fish as I engage the bail and try to get up slack, when done the rod loads up to a good 3 1/2 pound Brownie. This fish literally committed Fishicide. What is a fish doing, hitting a moving FNF jig at 70% Trolling motor speed, less than one foot under the surface in 38 feet of water????? Now we have 5 in the boat in less than 2 hours. I never got another bite the rest of the day. Hens wore me out in the afternoon and landed 3 more, 2 excellent just under slot Smallies and one good 3 1/2 pounder. We hit maybe 20 spots or so from Holly Creek to a couple of miles past the Wolf River Marina. We went up into the Wolf looking for warmer water, which we found, but it was Chocolate Milk and had some funky oily surface. We hit some of my favorite spots with FNF, jigs, Silver Buddy, Cranks and had a bunch of birds busting shad within a cast of the boat but we could not get nothing to bite. Our last fish came around 2pm and we fished to just a bit before dark and Cliff got one more bite and missed and that was it. Cliff now wants to put a hit out on Mark Zona for I began singing the "Baby Cub Song" in both his and my own version the last 2 hours begging for a bite. I was looking for "Baby Cubs and Fatties" but got nothing and all Hens got was earaches and headaches for I sing worse than I "catch" which is pretty bad. Water temp started 43 mid lake, and we found 48-49 in Wolfe, mid lake was 46-47 by days end. Morning was overcast but by 11am, high blue skies, no wind, TOUGH conditions. We take out, get to the hotel and just as we get out of the truck a guy is walking towards his boat in the parking lot. I think his name is Rick from Chilicothe Ohio, I can remember every bank and fish but could not remember a guys name on the 2nd tee box when I played golf if you held a gun to my head. Cliff always keeps me straight on peoples names, I take care of the lake knowledge and fish catching, both mine and his. Anyways, this guy "Rick" says he fished all day with no takers. 6 hour one way drive is tough to not catch a bite. He asks us to come into his room and see his FNF rig to see if anything is wrong. His problem was he was using Crystal fireline for both his main line and his leader. We both instantly told him Flourocarbon leader or Mono if no Flouro available. He said he knew he did not have any Flouro and maybe no Mono in the boat. We were talking some more and he asked us where we were from. We told him and he asked if one of us was the "Famous"????? elnut, to which I beat my chest mightily and let out a yell like a Silver Back Gorilla, not really I just made that up because it sounded good. I told him I was Elnut to which he went to his suitcase and pulled out a post from Fishin.com that I had posted. Yeah my head swelled a bit more, Cliff had to make me turn sideways to get in the room and made a comment about fishing with a "Legend". I am a "Legend" ok, only in my own mind. We had the cover snugged on the Triton and I knew I had an extra 1/2 spool of 6 pound Flouro in my box. Hens said he was a nice guy and I suggested taking off the cover and letting me give him the line. We actually squeezed my arm under the cover and I felt my way around my box and found the line. He was walking to his boat when we called him over and I gave him the line. He graciously offered money to which we declined. He said thanks and off to the room we went. He left the parking lot this morning just ahead of us and put in at the state park. I don't know him and he said he reads this site but is not a member. Hopefully, he will read this for he is a nice guy and hopefully he caught "Big Momma".
Sunday morning we are on the water just past 6am and still could have been idleing out at 5:50am and been ok, but went to the same #1 spot. This time we struggled mightily. It took me a good 15 cast or so before my Woody Bobber decided to take a swim, I laid her back and a wonderful feeling when the rod loads up at the top and you can't get anymore but she can't either. This fish feels bigger, but I think that was my fault. My drag is extremely tight before every cast for when I set it, I want no chance of any slipping and giving her a chance to get off, then once I set it I immediately loosen the drag. Well, I loosened it too much and she was a fighter but not to the extent that I grandstanded her. She came to the net and Clebo says, "that was yesterday's twin sister". Out comes the digital and it reads, 4-9 lbs. If it was not Saturdays twin, then it could have been the same fish with an additional 2 ounce shad in her belly. This time it is phot op, out comes my camera but no photo for she is froze up. No shutter no nothing, Digital cameras and me don't mix at Dale. This is about the 4th or 5th time my camera is froze "off". Big kiss, more like a french kiss, fully licking my lips and mustache as Hendo is telling me how gross that is and how sick I am. I have had worse in my mouth and even though he did not agree, he has had worse in his mouth also and EVERY one of you reading this has as well. Down the bank we go and we play the game again that I like most which is called "Woody catch one", Cliff likes the version "Cliff catch one better" but it is my turn again. Hammer time on a good 15 1/2", 2 1/2 pounder Smallie, good tourney fish again. We move from spot to spot with no other takers. Weather was better this morning than Saturday early on with overcast skies up until around 11 am or so. Cliff suggested moving South past first Island in looks of clearer water, excellent idea, so off to a particular spot he wanted to fish. He ties on a frest jig and on the 2nd cast sets the hook. I had just made a long cast behind him and I lay down my rod to grab the net. This fish never jumps, sign of Big Momma, and keeps digging deeper left right, I move my rod over his, then lay it down again as my "Cat like abilities" are shown by moving to the middle to land then to the back deck then to the middle as this fish will not give up. Hendo brings her to the net and I display my EXCELLENT netting skills by stabbing the fish in her side and knocking her 3 feet out into the water, oops my bad, lets try it again and I prove what 50% in netting will get you. If I net in the NBA at 50%, I am worth MILLIONS but not on the water. I know Cliff is nervous as a Cat in a Room full of rocking chairs when I attempt to net, but it is not my fault for I don't have a bunch of practise netting somebody else fish. This girl hit exactly 3-9 on the scale and was the best fighting 3-9 I ever saw. We release this fish then spend literally the next 15 minutes untangling our lines. Bobbers, 3 way swivels, fireline, flourocarbon, jigs, the works. Hens took one look at the end of his rod and handed it to me with the remark, I don't have the patience to do this, lets cut and re-tie. Too many palomars for me, which is all I use. We get her untangled and fish a couple more spots to no avail then put the Triton on the Trailer a bit before noon. 11 fish in 1 1/2 days, 4-9, 4-7, 3-9 plus some excellent just under Smallies and one good Ky, plus one that frankly was ready to die and committed Fishicide. Water temps today a degree or so warmer, Mid Lake Clear Water with a bit of stain, the water south of First Island was a bit clearer and as usual this time of year the further towards the dam you go the clearer it would be. We never got a clear cut solid pattern but the best I would give is stay on the main lake or just up into the creeks, fish the grass beds in 12-20 feet of water and ALL of our fish came on the outer edge of the grass. No bites of fish came in the grass, which is unusual for the spots we fish, but the outer edge was the ticket. Hindsight 20/20, we could have fished about 4 spots within a couple of miles and milk runned them all day with the fly, plus silver buddies or jigs up into the day and caught just as many fish, but that is why I am not a pro and will never be one. Majority of fish came on 10-11 foot leader, Cliff never changed but I tried everything between 9 and 15 foot leader and about 7 different jigs. Duck Red and Chartruese, Duck Blue and Chartruese were best but Hens did land one today on Craft White, Blue, Grey and Pink (I think was the color combo).
I want to publicly thank my boy Hens for the trip. This man paid for everything including my yearly TN fishing liscense. He let me pay for the pizza Saturday night only because I bet him I would catch a fish in the Wolfe on my Silver Buddy before getting hung and loosing it. I was trying to get him to let me pay for something so I made a bet I knew I would lose, which I did in about 5 casts for hung up I got and snapped off the Buddy went. I would bet there is tons of lead in Dale due to this lure alone. Anybody on this board that has a buddy like Cliff is very lucky and I am the luckiest of all for he is my best friend and I can't thank him enough for this weekend. He will NEVER know what it meant to me. I feel a millions times better than I thought I would both Mentally and physically thanks to this trip and him. He did everything to make sure I did not end up in the hospital. Cliff, Hens, Clebo, Netboy, whatever you want to call him as long as you call him my BEST friend is ok with me, Thanks Cliff. See you on the water, elnut...
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