Daniel Kendrick from Chatsworth, GA bought his daughter, Brianne, a fishing trip (with me) for her high school graduation present. "MUCH better than any old shopping trip at the Mall," she said. :super:
Brianne is a neat young lady. Her goal is to get her college degree (on a track scholarship, BTW) and go to work for Georgia DNR. The ink on her arm is a heart fashioned from a fish hook and a deer antler. Way cool... I was very jealous (wish I'd taken a picture of it).
Oh yea, you're looking for a fishing report. These days in the mornings we have virtually NO current to speak of in Chickamauga Tailwaters, and it seems like it is March because every day we have a southwest wind blowing upstream that makes it impossible to do a downstream drift with the light tackle (one of my preferred summer techniques).
So, we're having to resort to a fake trolling motor-controlled drift across specific structure, trying to stick a chunk of chicken breast in a catfish's face ... sort of like dangling candy in front of a baby. It's working reasonably well. We're not catching HUGE numbers, but it's respectable. Plus, Scenic City has done six trips in the last week and we've boated at least one or more trophy blues (TARP-sized, 34 inches or better) on every trip. Daniel stuck a VERY fat 30-pounder and Brianne topped out with a very hard fighting 18. Plus, we had a couple dozen smaller fish. With conditions being what they are, however, I feel like I've dodged a bullet every time I come off the water.
ray:
In addition to Daniel and Brianne, I've added a few pics here from a couple other recent trips. Here is a really cool video of Tommy Ball doing battle with a huge, post-spawn 35-pounder (that should have weighed 45). And another fun video of 14-year-old Vaden Hamilton going toe-to-toe with a feisty big blue.
In an act of shameless self-promotion, I am compelled to share part of Holly Hamilton's comment from my TripAdvisor page: "Richard is a real gem. My 14-year-old son and I went out fishing with Richard and it was hot, hot, hot. The temperature and the fish.... Unfortunately, we caught the "big one" first so the two 16 lbers. we caught, along with all the other "little" ones did not compare to the whopper. We got to see Osprey and a Bald Eagle while on the river. Richard even let my son drive the boat back from seeing downtown. I am pretty wimpy when it comes to boats and fishing, but Richard made our mother-and-son fishing experience a memory for a lifetime."
When you get to spend a day on the water with great people and great Moms & Dads... fish or not, life is good and gettin' better every day.
Brianne is a neat young lady. Her goal is to get her college degree (on a track scholarship, BTW) and go to work for Georgia DNR. The ink on her arm is a heart fashioned from a fish hook and a deer antler. Way cool... I was very jealous (wish I'd taken a picture of it).
Oh yea, you're looking for a fishing report. These days in the mornings we have virtually NO current to speak of in Chickamauga Tailwaters, and it seems like it is March because every day we have a southwest wind blowing upstream that makes it impossible to do a downstream drift with the light tackle (one of my preferred summer techniques).
So, we're having to resort to a fake trolling motor-controlled drift across specific structure, trying to stick a chunk of chicken breast in a catfish's face ... sort of like dangling candy in front of a baby. It's working reasonably well. We're not catching HUGE numbers, but it's respectable. Plus, Scenic City has done six trips in the last week and we've boated at least one or more trophy blues (TARP-sized, 34 inches or better) on every trip. Daniel stuck a VERY fat 30-pounder and Brianne topped out with a very hard fighting 18. Plus, we had a couple dozen smaller fish. With conditions being what they are, however, I feel like I've dodged a bullet every time I come off the water.
ray:
In addition to Daniel and Brianne, I've added a few pics here from a couple other recent trips. Here is a really cool video of Tommy Ball doing battle with a huge, post-spawn 35-pounder (that should have weighed 45). And another fun video of 14-year-old Vaden Hamilton going toe-to-toe with a feisty big blue.
In an act of shameless self-promotion, I am compelled to share part of Holly Hamilton's comment from my TripAdvisor page: "Richard is a real gem. My 14-year-old son and I went out fishing with Richard and it was hot, hot, hot. The temperature and the fish.... Unfortunately, we caught the "big one" first so the two 16 lbers. we caught, along with all the other "little" ones did not compare to the whopper. We got to see Osprey and a Bald Eagle while on the river. Richard even let my son drive the boat back from seeing downtown. I am pretty wimpy when it comes to boats and fishing, but Richard made our mother-and-son fishing experience a memory for a lifetime."
When you get to spend a day on the water with great people and great Moms & Dads... fish or not, life is good and gettin' better every day.
