December Panfishin on Bluestone - December 29th, 2012

 Brad and I crappie/bluegill fished today. The air temp never go above 42 degrees but that didn't stop the fish from biting good. There was a cold front with snow coming in and it seemed to really turn the fish on. We caught over 60 total, and about 80% of them were medium sized crappies. The bluegills we did catch were really big ones like this one in the pic above that Brad caught.  We used a drop shot night crawler rig all day. I even tried a drop shot double down but the bites always came on the bottom rig about 18 inches off the bottom. All of your fish were crappie or gills except for one squeaker catfish that I caught. It was a fine fishing day by cold water December standards.

Lost Dog - December 10th, 2012

Joe and I attempted to rabbit hunt on the Wright farm at Ballard, but 10 minutes into it Daisy got separated from Sam and ran off. We spent the next to days looking for her. We finally did recover her 3 days later. While still hunting for her we did manage to wrangle up this really cool looking squirrel. Orange tail, grey/white body, and black face.

2012 Deer Season Highlights

Rabbits Sittin Tight - November 16th, 2012

Charlie and I rabbit hunted from 10am to 2pm today. Charlie took Sam, Sampson and the pup (Daisy) out again. The rabbits were sittin crazy tight. We jumped 6 or 7 and killed 2. Charlie was kind enough to let me do all the shooting. I killed one with a single shot and another with 4. One rabbit Charlie practically hit in the head twice before it finally jumped.We only got shots at two of the rabbits we jumped and as dry as things were the dogs were not getting much of a chance either. Four rabbits went straight to the hole as they were jumped. It was still a fun day. Matthew and Avery got a to take some rabbit pics.

Stompin Brush

Emilee's First Trout - November 12th, 2012

It was an ideal big fish kinda day. Stable water, heavy overcast cloud cover, warm weather being chased out by an incoming front, and low fishing pressure with everybody chasing deer. Nathan, his daughter Emilee, Brad, and myself hiked in for a day on the river. Emilee caught her first ever trout today, as well as several more trout including a couple whoopers. That in and of it's self made the day really special. We also landed several good fish over 3 lbs and another 4 or so over 4lbs. Brad caught one that was 5.5 on the digital scales for the big fish of the day. It was a pretty outstanding day to be outside with friends.

Charlie's Magic Rabbit Hat - November 8th, 2012

Charlie and headed out for a the first rabbit hunt of the year. Charlie brought along Sam, Samson, and a yet to be named pup on it's first ever trip into the field. The first couple rabbits we killed Charlie yelled over that he could see them as he was about to step on a brush pile to tell me to get ready. I would get set and then shoot the rabbit as it came out running for more cover. I gave Charlie a hard time by saying he must have a magic hat like a magician that he can just reach into and pull rabbits out of. We ended up jumping 10 rabbits, killing 6 and I missed one more. We shot around 15 shells. The dogs hunted great, the weather was great, and we had a great time. I am looking forward to going again.                                                                      

Fall Panfishing - November 3rd, 2012

Brad and I drop shotted Bluestone for specs and gills on this cold fall day. The air and the water temps matched up at around 45 degrees, coupled with a stiff breeze it made for some cold fishing. We managed to catch 25. Mostily gills with a few crappie mixed in, many were nice sized fish. Brad made some hot chocolate on his portable stove that made the cold more tolerable. Right before we left my trolling motor started smoking and stopped working all together. Off to the repair shop I go.

Skunked - October 15th, 2012

I hunted the full length of the Bull Falls bottom today from 7am to 12pm. I took my combination gun with the hopes of rounding up a fall turkey. I never did see any turkeys, did hear some but never could work our a shot. I saw 9 deer including 3 bucks one of which was a really big 10 point. I saw 5 squrriels but didn't shoot at any of them. I had the opportunity to shot a couple of them but I didn't fool with it. I did shoot a skunt at about 45 yards with a load of 3 inch mag BB's. That turned out to be the only shot I fired in 10 miles of walking river bottoms all day.

Shad Run Part II - October 13th, 2012

Brad, Greg and I started at the dam and floated to Advance beach. We fished on this clear cold morning from 7am till 11am. As usual g-tails we the order of the day. I even tried and Alabama rig some in the deeper water runs. I did snag about a 2 pound carp and have a good sized musky chase the rig all the way back to the yak.  The musky was on the Greenbrier side one set of shoals up above the Advance Beach ledges. I ended up with 17 bass, Brad had 17, and Greg had 28. Of our 62 fish they were all smallies except 4 large mouths I caught and a redeye and crappie Brad caught. The bite was totally early, 55 of our fish were taken before the fog lifted at 10am.

Shad Run Part I - October 10th, 2012

The cool nights have gave way to stunned shad getting sucked through the dam. Greg started at 8am and by the time I got down there and started fishing he had already caught 52 smallies, including a 3 pounder an several over 2. The ticket today were salt and pepper g-tails that closely replicated the shad that some of the bass we were catching were spitting up. I ended up with 14 bass. I lost at least 10 more including one that may have been over 4lbs. The bite is hot early while it's cold and the stunned shad are getting pulled thru the dam and then it slows down around 11am or so after the fish have fed up and the sun warms the water back up. Hopefully this will be a pattern, like last year, that we can repeat for the next month or so.

Death of a Lucky Craft - October 9th,2012

Greg and I fished the lake on this post cold front day. The water temp in the lake was 57 to 58 degree range. I took my bow with hopes of finding a deer to sling an arrow at, but we never did see any deer. We saw some squirrels, turkeys and a mink but no deer. We each missed a couple bites on flukes early then nothing for like 3 hours. On one last pass down the pit bank I finally caught a spotted bass and then a hybrid on my favorite Lucky Craft. We were right behind the boat trailer where we loaded the boat when I saw him coming up to attack my lure right at the boat. It was a 40+ inch musky mouth wide open. It nearly scared me. What I was looking at was the last thing many fish ever see. I had the presence of mind to wait till he inhaled it before I set the hook. And almost as fast as it happened it was over. Line snapped and my favorite lure gone. Well at least that lure went out a warrior.

Hits and Misses - October 8th, 2012

Nathan and I  bow hunted on a really nice cool morning that had the deer up and moving. I hunted from a ground blind and he hunted his spot from his tree stand. Early on there was a little rain but no wind. I saw 4 and missed one who jumped the string due to my poor judge of yardage. Nathan missed one and shot a second doe in head. She was a solid 3 year old doe. I saw a couple of turkeys and some sqwacks as well. It was a really nice morning to be in the woods. I got my first miss with a bow out of the way since I laid the bow down 6 years ago and Nathan got a nice doe.

Autumn on Bluestone Lake - October 3rd, 2012

I fished Bluestone with my bow in tow hoping to get a shot at an unsuspecting doe. I only got about 3 hours in and caught only one bass on a fluke before the rain started. I didn't see any deer this time out. It was a nice cool fall day to be on the lake though.                                                                                             

Shanklin's Camping Trip - October 5th and 6th, 2012

  Brad, Greg, Todd, Kevin, for a short time John, and I camped and float fished Shanklins Ferry. We had our trip cut a day short by a nasty wet weather cold front that moved in and killed our bite. We water was a little higher than normal for he fall, but by the second day it had fallen down to near normal levels. Brad and I stayed in my Dad's pop up Quicksilver camper. Greg, Todd and Kevin stayed in Todd's Dad's camper. We had a good time, had some good food , and caught some fish, even a few quality fish. The first day the six of us caught 48 total and the second day we caught 102 between the five of us. We saw deer, squirrel, turkey, bald eagles, mint and even a musky.


Home away from home



Brad with a Nice Smallie/

Preping to Float

Hard to Beat a Campfire

River Pumpkinseed

Kevin with a quality fish

Bald Eagle

Brad Shoots the Rapids in his Coosa