Craig, Maria, Caleb, Aaron and Mitchell Briggs

July 29th, 2009: Cloudy and pleasant, Water Temperature 85* and Clear.

Got out very early this morning to catch bait because some terrible thunder storms were blowing up and down the lake. [Bait can be difficult to catch sometimes during and after a storm]. Picked the Briggs family up at 5:30 at High Point and explained to them how to deploy the baits. I looked for a school of Stripers and ran over about 15 to 20 fish on the Lowrance so I decided to set up on them. This was the first set up and I knew there would be problems with getting the baits out correctly [5:30 is mighty early for kids to listen to instructions in the summer when they are use to not getting up until 8]. We got 8 out of 11 rods out before the first hook-up then it was madness for the next hour. Maria was the first to completely understand exactly how the baits needed to be deployed and it showed, every time she would put a bait out it would hook up. Gradually Mitchell got it and then everyone else understood and the bettter they put the baits in the more fish would hook up. We would have all the lines out of the water taking fish off and loose the school, I would get back on my big motor and find them again and we would put baits back in the Stripers face and hook-up again and again. We started the day off with 200 baits and by 8:15 we were down to 30. Fifteen minutes later we had used them up and had limited out, catching a very respectable stringer of Stripers. They kept 24 Stripers [130 pounds] and released others to fight again. Once the boys understood how to put the baits in everyone caught fish and did exceptionally well. I left the marina this morning with Craig cleaning Stripers and I am not sure but I think they were going to "Cheeseburger in Paradise" for lunch.

Blaine Lampman with guests Rick, Lori and Brian

July 27th, 2009: Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temperature 85* and Clear.

Got out on the water this morning in a Very bad thunderstorm, drove uplake and caught bait. Went back to High Point and picked my crew up at 5:30, the rain had passed and it had turned out to be a pretty morning. I found some fish nearby the marina and we put some baits out and started taking hits on downlines. After catching 5 or 6 fish John Called and said he was on a school so we looked over by him but the school had vaporized. We continued to look for schools and I saw some Stripers busting in the back of a short pocket off the main lake so we set up on them and hooked up to 4 Stripers. We continued to look for fish , set up on smaller pods, catch a few fish, do it again and again until we ran out of bait around 9:30. By now we had gone through about 150 baits so I looked for bait, found some and threw a dozen times on it but the water is so clear I just could not catch any. I looked for bait for over an hour with no success and were not seeing any fish so Blaine decided to call it a day for the fishing, he had to go back and work this afternoon. Lori is pictured with a nice Striper and they kept 10 Stripers to take home to eat. Blaine kept ribbing Rick that if he could have caught the fish that he had on this morning they could have limited out very early this morning. I will not comment on Rick was saying to Blaine. Good thing they brought Lori along, she is responsible for dinner tonight.

Kristin, Carey, Michael and Sarah

July 26th, 2009: Sunny and Warm, Water Temperature 84* and clear.

My Grandson Michael was here this weekend and wanted to go fishing and a friend Steve Seay has been bugging me to take him fishing so we went out this morning and caught bait then met his family at the dock and went out for a while. We no sooner set up before we started taking hits. We worked a 30' flat back and forth for about 300 yards and on every pass we would hook up numerous times. We were not seeing schools, just an occasional fish on my Lowrance. We had about 125 hits this morning , caught 20 Stripers and a few Catfish, and came off the water by 9am although the fishing slowed about 8. Sarah is pictured kissing her first Kitty, we were not sure if she was trying to be like Jimmy Houston or if she was hoping it would turn into a Prince. We all had a lot of fun and Steve got to take a few fish home to eat.

Tim, Bobby and Jeremy

July 23rd, 2009: Cloudy and Warm, Water Temperature 84* and Clear.

Started off catching 200 Herring early this morning and picking up my clients at 5:30. Set up on some singles on a bluff bank and pulled it for 20 minutes with only a half dozen hits so we got on the big motor and located a school on a 30 foot flat, baited up 11 rods and started taking hits. Lost that school after 30 minutes and moved to a different part of the lake and repeated the drill again. By now it was 8:40 and we had gone through 150 baits so I decided to go catch some more. Took about 10 minutes to find what I wanted, made a cast and filled the net up with 200 Herring [Too many, but I was glad to have fresh bait]. Put about 100 in the bait tank and found a school of Stripers. This time the guys were really prepared and they worked on the school pretty well. The school moved on, we found them again about 1500 yards away, set up on them and wore them out. Today we had 225 hits [probably half Cats], boated 33 Stripers, 5 Kittys and Tim caught this Bass. We came off the water at 10:30, time enough to beat the heat and the boat traffic. The guys kept 16 very nice Stripers.

Nick, Tom and Jim

July 22nd, 2009: Partly Cloudy and warm, Water Temperature 84* and Clear.

Caught bait early and picked the guys up at High Point at 5:30. Looked for schools of Stripers but only saw singles so we set up in a couple areas with limited success. Finally got on some pods of fish over 35' flats and worked them till we lost them , got back on the big motor and would find them , catch fish and loose the pods again. I looked for an hour and a half this morning for schools without locating a single school. This was a half day charter and we were back in early, the guys taking home a few Stripers for the week at the lake.

Tyson Messick with friends Kirtis, Ryan and Greg

July 20th, 2009: Cloudy and rainy morning, Water Temperature 83* and Clear.

John and I got out early and caught bait, we picked our clients up at 5:30 at High Point. I hit the water a minute before John and stumbled into a small school, taught the guys how to deploy the lines and put them out. We no sooner got a few baits in the water before we started taking hits. John pulled up and had to explain to his clients what to do, all the while he was looking over at us with everyone hooked up. Once he got his baits out they started reeling in fish also. The school stayed in the area for about 45 minutes, long enough for both boats to catch over 20 fish out of the school. I looked for another school for about 10 minutes and located one, worked it for a while and did it again and again. John's crew and mine finally ran out of baits and we called it quits about 9 this morning. John and I had caught well over 45o baits this morning and had at least 400 hits today. My crew kept 18 Stripers to take back to the lake house that they are renting this week.

A day on the water with Guide John Chadduck

Jake, Mike and Colin
Jim, John, John Chadduck and Gabe

Sunday, July 19th, 2009: Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temperature 84* and Clear.
John got on the water this morning at 3 and caught over 200 baits, went back to High Point to pick his clients up. Jake, Mike and Colin got in the boat and they took off, located a school of Stripers and worked them for an hour and a half, catching about 40 Stripers. They limited out with 16 Stripers and were done by 7am, a great morning of fishing! John takes them back to the marina to take pictures and get paid for the day and finds out that these gentleman expected to fish only a half day, and come to find out they booked a trip with McCotters and were suppose to meet a "John" at the marina, but not Chadduck. Chadduck realized immediately what had happened, another John from the other guide service had come by High Point and picked up Chadducks clients before Chadduck got to the marina after catching bait. How ironic it was, for the other guide had never picked up clients at High Point and probably never will again. Anyway John Chadduck found the other guide on the water and explained to the guide that he had picked up his clients [who wanted to fish a full day charter]. Chadduck informed the other guide that he had limited out and was taking them back to the marina, but the guys in the other guides boat had only caught 1 Striper that morning and wanted to get in the right boat and catch some fish. What a mess! Well, John Chadduck being the nice guy that he is took his first clients back that had limited out, went out and picked up the clients who were originally suppose to be with him and stayed out the rest of the day trying to catch fish with them. [Chadduck was suppose to work at High Point Sunday afternoon from 1 to 9 but had to find someone else to take his place due to the mishap, missing a days wage]. Anyway John put both sets of clients on Stripers today, both sets of clients are pictured above. Naturally John got s...... out of a days wage at the marina and had to pay the guide who messed up in the first place a half day charter price, but as John told me "I have made everyone happy today and I now have two more sets of clients that will love fishing with me, it is just going to be hard explaining to my wife why I am not getting paid for work today!"

Travis, Randy, Bob, Jim and Dan

July 15th, 2009: Sunny and Warm, Water Temperature 84* and Clear.

Some of the guys wanted to go out this morning to watch me catching bait so they met me at the marina at 3:15 and we caught bait. Picked the other guys up at 5 and went searching for Stripers. This morning it was in the 50's and cool for a July morning. I looked for a while never finding any large schools so we set up on smaller pods of fish. After a couple set ups I decided to look until I found what I wanted and I did. I pulled up into a creek and the Lowrance lit up with arches. The guys had practiced on the smaller schools and they were ready. They all jumped up, tried to get the baits down and everything we put in their faces went off. At one time everyone had a fish on the deck trying to get off the hook while other rods were bent over in the rod holders with Stripers. We finally lost that school and found another experiencing the same action and soon ran out of bait. We went and caught some more bait although it was tough. Set up on a small school and used up all the bait in the tank and called it a day. Today I learned what it was like for someone who had taken a half a Viagra, what happens to Bob shortly after he eats Chicken Wings, and a few other tidbits I shouldn't mention in this journal. We all had a good time, hard not to with good friends and the fish biting. The guys kept 15 Stripers to take home.

The Mitchells

July 14th, 2009...Sunny and Warm, Water Temperature 85* and clear.

The good looking guy on the left is Travis, Sketer is the guy who got up so early this morning he forgot to take off his PJ pants, Alex is freaking out because he has to go home and seal a driveway this evening, Mike is the proud father 2nd from the right, proud to have these great kids and prouder yet to have caught the 11 1/2 pound Striper, Sonny is on the right, he is happy he redeemed himself after loosing some hogs this morning, and finally Tommy sitting down, he is pooped after reeling fish in all day and smiling because he limited out first this morning.

Today was an interesting day, bait was tough to come by, fishing was good in the morning early, burnt $80 of gas looking for schools of bait and fish, but the best thing about the day was how nice it was to enjoy a day on the water with a family of genuinely nice people who enjoy fishing as much as I do and to see the smiles on their faces every time they caught a Striper.

Bruce, Eric, Brien, Mike and Jack

July 13th, 2009: Sunny and warm, Water Temperature 85* and clear.

Caught 210 Herring before daylight and picked the guys up at their dock at 5:30. Looked for about 10 minutes for a school of Stripers and found one over a shallow flat. We put out 10 downlines and the action began. This was the guys first set up so we were a little slow but managed to boat 8 or 10 fish. They wanted to release all the fish today so that was what we were doing. I warning them earlier that when we released the fish they would spook the rest of the school and that if I did not think the fish would survive that we needed to keep the fish. Didn't take long for the first school to break up so we looked for more. We set up about 5 different times until we ran out of bait and had to go catch some more. Shortly after catching the bait we located some more fish and had fun with them also. We caught about 30 Stripers today, not bad for releasing so many but I am positive if we could have kept some fish vrs alerting the rest of the school we could have done better. Everyone caught plenty of fish anyway and we all had fun today. Bruce caught this Bass out in front of Mikes house mid-morning.

Jim and Carlos

July 11th, 2009: Sunny and pleasant, Water temperature 81* and clear.

Caught some bait early , picked the guys up at their dock and went and caught a little more bait and went fishing. Set up on a small school and caught a couple and moved on. With only 2 fisherman I could not set up on large schools because we would not be able to handle the action. We hit another small group of fish and caught a few more then relocated to a flat where I had been fishing days before and the fish were on it. After about 30 minutes of constant action the had had enough and called it a day. Jim was anxious to get back, he had found a boat that he wanted to buy and wanted me to check it out with him. The hard part was to convince his wife Patricia who knew nothing of a new boat that he in fact needed another boat and that the new boat was a great deal. It all worked out, Jim caught fish in the morning and bought the boat that afternoon.

Peter, Senior and Family

July 7th, 2009: Sunny and warm, Water Temperature 82* and Clear.

Got out early to catch bait but did not catch enough, picked up my clients and went and caught more. We hit a couple areas with fish and when we had bait the action was good, not large schools but pods of fish that wanted to eat. Went and caught more bait, went through 125 baits catching fish, then tried to catch more bait but looked for 2 hours without luck. The guys took home 15 Stripers today. Bait collection sometimes can be difficult on a full moon.

John Mackay with guests Mike, Ken and Dave

July 6th, 2009: Sunny and Warm, Water Temperature fell to 81*.

John wanted to go out and catch bait so I picked him up early and hung a light. I told him bait may be tough today due to the storm we had yesterday, usually storms break up schools of bait and fish and it did, bait was very tough this morning. Caught about 50, went back to the dock and picked up Ken and went looking for fish and more bait if we could find any. Caught a little more bait , found some fish and set up on them with downlines. We popped a half dozen fish and the fish moved on, at least the guys got a taste of what was to come. Found some more fish, not a tight school like I want but nevertheless Stripers and we set up on them. For an hour we had constant action, going through at least 120 baits. We made two other moves catching Stripers in both places. This morning I started out looking at 40 foot flats but ended up catching Stripers on 30 foot flats. The guys took home 20 Stripers for the freezer.

Doug, Dylon and Gurtie Myers with Liam and Eric

July 4th, 2009: Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temperature 83* and Clear.

Caught bait before daylight and picked the guys up at their dock. Being a holiday weekend I do not usually fish but it has become a tradition for Doug to go out early and fish for a couple hours then get off the water before it gets too hot and primarily before the boat traffic gets up [Also Doug tips well ]. I found some fish at 6 and instructed the guys on how to deploy the baits in order to put it right in the Stripers eyes. We no sooner got 3 baits in the water and the rods started bending in half. We tried to catch up but there was constant action for an hour. Doug, Gurtie and myself were constantly taking fish off the hooks and baiting up. By 7am it was over, we had opened a can of woop ass and spanked the Stripers, catching over 40 within the hour , keeping 24 and releasing the others. We went to the marina, took pictures and had the crew back to their dock by 7:30. No other boats saw us or interfered with us allowing us to work the school without spooking the fish.The last 3 years Doug and I have done this trip which always proves to be a lot of fun for everyone.

Jason, Megan, Dave and Jeremy

July 3rd, 2009: Partly Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temp 83* and Clear.

Caught bait early and went to pick up my clients at the marina. We got a late start this morning, there was a mix up on where to meet so we started about an hour late. I looked for schools but only found pods of Stripers. We set up on a half dozen groups but by 9:30 only had 1 keeper. Hit a creek that was loaded with fish but only got punked, we left them for larger fish. By now the holiday traffic was rocking the lake and hopes were not very high. After burning 3/4 of a tank of gas I saw what I wanted and set up on it. 8 out of 10 rods went off soon after we set up but we were busted and another pontoon set up on top of us. Within 5 minutes there were a half dozen fisherman on us and an idiot pulling a tube in circles around us fisherman. We had enough of that and picked up and moved. We hit a few more areas, only catching a fish or two at each location. Jason ruled the action today, he said he would gladly just take fish off the hook for everyone but when he was helping his wife with a rod and the rod next to her went down he about knocked her down to reel the fish in. Jeremy caught the big fish of the day which was also the last fish of the day. Today they kept 15 Stripers to take home for the holiday. Traffic was horrible on the water, hope no one gets killed out there this weekend.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

Richard, Cindy, Wayne and Mary

July 2nd, 2009: Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temperature 83* and clear.

Got out early to catch bait but it was tough, seems when we have big storms the night before it breaks up schools of bait and fish. Picked everyone up at the dock at 5:30 , found a school of Stripers and we set up on them . Just as we got all the lines out the school disappeared. Got back on the big motor and found another school, started to put lines out and a guy in a Bayliner came by us about 3/4 on plane between my boat and the bank, about 30 yards from us. He watched us set up on the fish, he is out there every day, I think he intentionally wanted to spook the fish. I will be having a word with him next time I see him, he only had a half a mile to go around me to be courteous. Anyway, he did spook the school so we moved on. We found another school and set up on them with no other boats nearby and everything we had went down. We caught a dozen Stripers there and moved on. My bait was a little labored so I decided to go catch some more fresher bait. I looked for an hour till I found some tight enough to throw on, caught them, found another school of fish and worked on them. After loosing that school we hit one more school and limited out with 20 nice keeper Stripers. Richard kept 12 and gave me 8 to take home, thanks Richard.

Glen Tolbert with Scott and Larry

July 1st, 2009: Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temperature 84* and Clear.

Glen wanted to experience collecting bait so he met me at 3:15 and we went and caught bait. Picked Scott and Larry up at 5:30 and went and found a school of Stripers. I showed the guys how to put the baits out, and before we got 3 out the action started. For 15 minutes they tried to catch up but the action was fast and furious. We lost that school, I found another school and repeated the same senerio again. The guys took home 16 nice Stripers today and had a ball catching fish.