Next fishing trip

Since i'll be off from work on the 26th of this month and have nothing to do on that day, i'm planning on making the second fishing trip of the season to one of the best crappie fishing locations in all of North Alabama. Bear Creek, which is a very large slough located on Pickwick Lake of the Tennessee River is right on the Alabama/Mississippi line, and yields huge crappie each year to those that fish it.
Never been there before, I only have stories from my Daddy's trips there when he was in his younger days. It'll take some getting used to the new surrounding, but the new fishfinder will be utilized to it's fullest potential for hopefully finding some fish to catch.

Here's a picture of Bear Creek:

I'll be putting in at Colbert County Park boat ramp, then motoring over to locations designated as 6 and 7 on the map. I'm hoping to locate some deep structure to fish around (mainly sunken timber and tree tops), and will be using the tightline method to drop jigs in and around the congested limbs/brush to coax a few keepers from their winter secrecy. Wish me luck.

Jeff

Fishing trip #1, 12/11/11

The first fishing trip of winter was really just about putting the boat into the water for the first time since last May, and also trying out the new fishfinder and how it worked on the water. Wanting to take things easy for this outing, I decided to put in at Florence Harbor located on Pickwick Lake, and simply troll around the marina filled with boats to see what was around them. It was a beautiful sun-filled day, but still just below 50 degrees outside.

Water surface temperature was 50 degrees also....

Here's a picture of Oneal Bridge that crosses the river, and all of the riprap (stones)in the foreground that I really thought would have potential for holding fish. The fishfinder indicated a sunken treetop on three consecutive passes in this location, and although I fished the area pretty hard - no fish were taken from the spot.



My stringer for the day consisted of a nice bluegill, largemouth bass with it's dorsal fin ripped off by something, and of course this drum that was thrown back in. This drum weighed at least 5 lbs., and boy are they some real fighters...
Fighting this dude with a 10 foot pole and 6 lb. test line was pretty intense, but one just has to take their time with landing it.

What was learned from the day? That I really needed to read the user manual for the fishfinder, because I was really struggling with getting it set right. Oh well, at least everything worked - and the only problem that popped up was a leaking fuel line that was promptly repaired out on the water. Tools kept in the dry storage bin of the boat are a necessity to have, because you never know when a problem will arise.

Anyway, hopefully the next trip will bring with it better results....

Jeff