Fish Like A Pro class in Muscle Shoals

This class features local fishing pros and guides and is sponsored by the Muscle Shoals Education Foundation. It will be at 7:00 at the Muscle Shoals High School auditorium tomorrow night, thats May 5th. It's free, I understand. Any questions call 256-389-2698.

I read that it's basically for the bass fishermen, but crappie fishing is going to be discussed as well.

It will be the first time I've been to one of these so I really don't know what all will be discussed, but I read that they'll discuss techniques and so forth and there will also be boat dealers and tackle shops there as well showing their wares. Anyway, it's free.

We had a good time and learned a few things. Brad Whitehead contributed a lot about crappie habitat with his concrete and oak stave crab tree as well as showing us how he drove stakes in the bottom with a stake driver he made out of PVC pipe. Really interesting. His quesion to the audience was "How many people fish for crappie?" and the, "How many people fish for crappie year round?" The first question got most of the hands up, but the second lost about 75% of them. And then he proceeded to tell us how to fish for them year long. Really great info.

Todd Witt (toddwitt.com) filled us in on smallmouth fishing on Pickwick Lake. Jonathan Newton and Jimmy Mason (jandjbassfishing.com) help the bass fishermen a lot. And our own Tim Horton highlighted the class with his experience.

I look forward to seeing this high-powered panel again.

In the meantime, Brad Whitehead and David Waters are trying to get up a crappie fishing club for the shoals area. Next Wednesday, May 11, at 7:30 p.m. at the Muscle Shoals Middle School band room they'll have there first organizing meeting. They'll discuss the association, memberships, and tournament dates.

This is a real good opportunity to be in on the start of something good for crappie fishermen. Maybe with organization and numbers it might be possible to influence TVA in the care of the Tennessee River by providing better habitat.

I had a great time last night. I was proud of Brad. He was so nervous up there with those guys, but Tim Horton is a class act. He is really as nice a guy as he appears to be.

Brad and I are very excited about this organization. Been thinking and studying about it for months now. Brad Whitehead, myself, and Pat Stegall (another fishing buddy) will get the ball rolling with the organization. We will kind of be officers, so to speak, for the first couple of meetings and tournaments, with the hopes to have elections quickly for new officers. Then the three of us can just be members of the club.
I have downloaded and made a few appropriate changes to the South Carolina assotiation by laws. I will hand those out to the prospective members to look at for a couple of weeks and then return for the second meeting to vote on the by-laws.

We eventually would like SACA to be affiliated with Crappie USA. But, we don't plan to go that route until after the first year, after we get the ball rolling.

Very exciting stuff for us right now!!