No longer OneDayLate

[OneDayLate]

Fishing here in North Mississippi has been iffy all spring long, mostly due to high water. When I joined Crappie.com I found one day late had been my pattern on the limited number of fish available, so I chose that as my moniker.

A few days ago when a childhood buddy up in western Kentucky called and said they were catching some fish at a spot on Kentucky Lake, we accepted his invitation to come up and give them a try. He seemed to stretch the truth while telling us about his recent outing, but my brother and I wrote that off and made the trip up last Tuesday afternoon.

Our friend had told us of catching fish so fast that he had two on and one flopping in the bottom of the boat a few days earlier. Of course, he issued a disclaimer, saying that he couldn't guarantee anything, which we knew, but it was worth a try.

I'm 70 years old and grew up fishing between Reelfoot and Kentucky lake with many points in between, so I had been infected with Crappie disease since I was a child. We got up early Wednesday morning and drove up to the Big Sandy area, near Paris, Tn and launched the boat filled with both excitement and that old expectant feeling of being one day late.

We had bought minnows at a nearby bait shop and a few crickets in case the crappie didn't bite. The first line overboard, after we had tied up to some brush about 400 yards from the launching area, went down fast and on the line was a very feisty keeper. It was that way constantly until the three of us had our limit of very healthy slabs. We never had to untie from our original bushes. It was, by any measurement, the best day of crappie fishing I had had in a lifetime.

Since we had the crickets we devoted a couple of hours sightseeing and occasionally dropping a line in to test the Bream. We stopped after boating 15 decent Bream and shell crackers and drove the hour back to our friends home to clean the fish.

The three of us agreed that we would get up at 3:00 am and get on the water even earlier the next morning (yesterday) so we did. We tied up to the exact same bushes at daylight and had a repeat of the day before, only with more intensity than the day before. The bite was so strong that we freely tossed keepers overboard, and waited for exceptional fish. We had our limit within an hour in spite of our reckless abandonment. After filling out the limit we started culling and did that for another half hour or so before deciding to take advantage of our good fortune and get home in time for a late breakfast.

So, finally I have shed the millstone of being one day late at a late enough stage in life that I can now relax, having been to the mountaintop, not once, but twice in successive days.

[averie]

congrats, I need a couple of days like that...

[OneDayLate]

congrats, I need a couple of days like that...

Thanks, and I know how you feel. It has been a tough spring, hasn't it?

[pstone]

GPS coordinates?????:D:D:D:D:D:D

Naw, congrats on those 2 days...Maybe I'll experience that one day.....:D

[OneDayLate]

GPS coordinates?????:D:D:D:D:D:D

Naw, congrats on those 2 days...Maybe I'll experience that one day.....:D

I'd like to share but my friend would have to kill me.

[DaveCourington]

That is completely awesome. I have hopes of experiencing that one day myself. It is a true pleasure to congratulate you on that wonderful excursion. I am glad for you and your friend and your brother. Thanks for sharing... Do us a favor and post a couple of pictures of those slabs all breaded and fried up so we can get our appetites going.

[Black Crow]

Great story and notably well written.

I could also use a day like that.

[creekslick]

I won't ask for a whole day like that just a couple of hours.:D

[OneDayLate]

Great story and notably well written.

I could also use a day like that.

Thank you. I notice you are in Nashville, not too far from Big Sandy. Well, at $4.00 a gallon, may it is a little far.

[joejv4]

Awesome to get that nickname off your back!! Congrats on the great outings!