FNF

[know1]

A little tip on how to get the relatives out of bed. LEAVE THEM. I took my Brother in Law down to Dale and he is a pretty good fisherman and would be a pro if all the tourneys launched at NOON. We were staying in John Davis's cabin just outside Holly Creek. I got up first and showered, woke him up and cooked breakfast (yes I do this with every fishing partner I take for I am a pretty good cook and would make a good fishing wife), I woke him up again and again. I finished my breakfast, started getting on my 18 layers of clothes and told him that if he was not in my truck at a certain time, I was leaving him. I went outside, unhooked the boat from the charger, put the snacks, waters, rods, and tackle in the boat. Got in the truck with about 2 minutes to spare from the time I told him. I waited the last 2 minutes and started pulling out and here he came a running. He jumps in and said "You were going to leave me". I told him that I did not drive all this way and spend all this money and miss the best bite. We launched and had 9 fish in the boat in the first 3 hours, including 4 over 4lbs each that I landed and he caught his first 5 pounder. The next morning he heard me get up and get in the shower and he was sitting on the couch for his turn in the shower when I walked out of the bathroom. Never had a problem with him since. I have since fished with a few other people and they all know if I am launching out of Holly Creek and the sun is starting to come up, I AM LATE. I make cast with the fly when I can't even see my bobber. I will cast and slowly reel in the bobber just to keep tension on the rod and have caught 3 fish this way. Best bite on the fly is defineately from SUNUP to 11am.

Good story!

When I go with fishin is life, it's not a problem.

But I do like to fish with my Dad and my brother....and I don't have a boat so we use the brother's. He's not so bad, but the times I go with Dad he never wants to leave early enough to get there and be fishing by sunrise.

[Fishin is life]

and i just made my first trip to the punisher lures website...should be all set up to go float and flyin

[elnutsmalljaws]

and i just made my first trip to the punisher lures website...should be all set up to go float and flyin

Fine people at Punisher Lures. Steve Headrick runs a top notch business and is very presonable and honest to boot. We have became pretty good buddies over the past couple of years and I am still amazed when he calls and checks on me personally. A man that deals with Bass Pro Shops, Gander Mountain, Bassmasters, Punisher Lures Internet, His Store, BBQ Shop, Lure Manufacturing and who knows else, will still take the time to call a friend 240 miles away to check on him. Just shows the type of person that he is. We have sat and talked for hours on end, sometimes with his wife, about fishing, business and life in general. Shared a boat together several days and he has taught me more about Dale Hollow than anyone. He will promote Smallies and Dale Hollow Lake until the day he dies. He will tell you when the fishing is good and when it is bad and will always tell you what the fish are doing. I have called him looking to come down on a night trip or something and he has told me when the bite was a bit off or so. He does not want anyone to have a bad experience on Dale Hollow and will help all he can. I had a guy tell me that he did not believe me that he would tell anyone that the fishing was bad due to the business that he potentially is losing from someone not coming to the lake for the weekend. I told him the same thing Steve told me, "Why would I want to tell someone the fishing is great when it is not, them get down here and have a bad experience and not want to come back". Tell them the truth so they know what to expect when they get here and they will appreciate it much better and good trip or not, fishing wise, will want to come back for a better day. Real promoter of Smallmouth and Dale Hollow lake and he flat out LOVES his fish. I don't think he is know as "The Smallmouth Guru" for nothing. Good Luck in your FNF and hopefully Know1 can learn Dale Hollow some this winter and you fellas will make that extra 30 mile trip with confidence in knowing you will have a better shot at catching a TROPHY Smallmouth on the fly versus Cumberland. I drive over the Cumberland Dam each and every trip and not once have I wanted to stop and fish. This is how much confidence I have in Dale Hollow versus Cumberland. I know there are good fish in Cumberland and other people will say that they would rather fish Cumberland versus Dale due to having better luck or knowing the lake better, but all I know is I catch more and bigger fish out of Dale Hollow, have the confidence in that every time I launch there I EXPECT to catch a 5 pounder and that is a hard thing to beat. Sort of like the 3 times I fished Barren River in the Spring with not much luck versus fishing Ky and Barkley in the Spring. 9 days out of 10 in the Spring at the Twins, I will catch fish and lots of them so when I am heading down the BG Parkway towards the WKY, the thought of stopping at Barren never enters my mind, when I know there are good fish in Barren but I just don't have the confidence in the lake that I know it good enough to catch them. For me the decision is easy for I have to make "Trips" to fish. I am not close enough to either to run over and fish a day then come back, economically speaking. I could run down to Cumberland and be on the lake near Somerset in a couple of hours which is what I do when I Striper fish in the winter for a "Day" trip, but when I go to Dale, it is for 3 days minimum. Both my trips in December are for 5 days each. Hopefully, with fishing for 3 days before the Get Together starts, I will have the depth and pattern to pass along to all there to help them catch them the two fishing days of the get together. Like fishing is, we will wait and see but it won''t be without lack of effort making cast from Daylight to Dark all 5 days I am there. Later