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Thursday, June 25, 2009

Fort Loudon Fishing Report - 6/23/09

Brandon and I fished the Tuesday Night Thunder out of Louisville Point Park this week and could have performed much better, to say the least. On my first cast, I hooked up with a largemouth on a Carolina rig that would have been about 3.5 lbs but he threw my hook less than an inch from the net! Brandon was stretched out so far, I thought he was going in after him! We caught a few more dinks when, finally, I caught a small keeper that weighed 1.52 lb. Brandon hooked into a nice keeper smallmouth that ran under the boat and came unbuttoned from a crankbait. We caught several more short fish and had a good time.
Primarily, we fished the Concord area. We didn't want to make a long run due to all the logs and trash in the lake. Driving back to the ramp in the dark right now is absolutely horrible! My lower unit is brand new and I don't want to break it again. We used Carolina rigged worms, lizards, and craws, deep diving crankbaits, shakey heads, Texas rigged worms, poppers, and spoons. We caught fish on all except the spoon. I think we landed 20 or so fish.
The winners, Doug Yonce and Troy Dyer, had 18.18 lbs. Great job guys!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Vacation at Myrtle Beach, SC

It's been awhile since I last posted because I have been incredibly busy. I've been in at least 2 tournaments a week with little success, but it's hard to win when FLW guys are showing up. It must be nice to fish everyday! That's a great topic for a future post.
I finally got to go on vacation last week and just got back last night. My wife, son, and I had a great time! It was great to be able to spend everyday on the beach and in the pool with them. It was also great to be able to enjoy some real seafood!
I only got to fish for one afternoon on the beach. I was using frozen mullet, frozen shrimp, and Berkley Gulp! shrimp. I caught a 13" sand shark on shrimp and another on mullet. I got bit on the Gulp! shrimp but couldn't hook up. I also caught an 18" bluefish on mullet. The most exciting thing that happened was when I hooked up using mullet and my line started running and my reel started screaming! We fought for about 5 minutes when, suddenly, my line went limp. I reeled in and found my 2/0 hook broken in half! So, I lost the big one and will never know what it was, although I suspect it was a shark. That just made me even more determined to try again, so when they quit biting I kept trying. Finally, I called it a night around 11:00 pm.
Another highlight of the trip was meeting a man named Jack. Jack was in his 70's and was a marine before he started working for a chemical company right here in Knoxville, where he retired after 37 years. He was over the marine boxing team at one point in his military career and was a very feisty man. Some of the stories he told reminded me of why this country is so great and what we could lose if the lazy, no good, bums don't stop depending on the government! To all of you young people like myself out there, when an older person wants to chat with you, take the time to listen. They are a living history lesson and you can learn so much from them. Talking with him was a much needed break from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who I have to suffer through everyday at work in the tabloids! This was real unlike what I call the "fake reality tv."
My son was so much fun on the beach and in the pool. He loves the pool, ocean, and sand in that order. He learned how to count to three and how to say beach, ocean and shell. Also, he became quite good at waving and yelling "Airplane!" We had a hard time getting him to go to the room for lunch and his nap.
My wife is precious and so good with our son! When he throws a fit, I have a hard time figuring out what he wants, but she knows right away. I try to help her out the best I can but sometimes I just have to step aside and let her take over! I guess that's a mommy thing.
In closing, remember this: Love and spend time with your family, listen to and respect your elders, and fish when you can!