Dan and Danny Gibson

9

September 30th, 2009: Cloudy and Beautiful, Water Temperature 72 to 75*.
Picked the guys up at 6 at High Point and went to catch bait. 3 hours later we finally had enough so we went fishing. Started pulling boards over 5 to 20 foot flats with no luck so I moved deeper with still no hits. Finally got boiled over 10 foot of water then hooked up over 5 foot. Pulled another hour shallow with no luck. I was getting bummed out with the lack of action till we hit an area and boated a fish and lost another. The wind was up today and I hit the area 9 times, every time pulling with the wind we would take a hit and against the wind nothing. It was a long day but The Dan's were happy with the outcome and enjoyed the great weather. A few leaves are starting to turn on the lake and with the nice temperatures it looks like it will be a beautiful fall. Can't wait for bait to get easier and for these fish to turn on. Should be anytime now!

Chris, Dan, Troy and Brian

September 26th, 2009: Cloudy and Cool, Water Temperature Dropped to 75* and Clear.
Met the guys at 5:15 and went to catch bait. Threw for a couple hours then went fishing. Set up pulling a stretch of water, 5 to 30 feet deep, where we caught fish earlier in the week. After 3 hours and only 1 fish we moved to another area and set out our spread of 10 planner boards, a bobber and 2 downlines. Fished till about 2 o'clock and only got a couple more hits. Fishing has been tough the last couple of days. Hopefully the rain and cooler weather will put some oxygen back in the lake and straighten these Stripers out. I had warned the guys yesterday that if I had to bet the farm that we would be lucky to catch 4 or 5 Stripers at most today, and we caught 4. Didn't seem to mater to much to the crew, they are a great bunch of guys, we all had a good time and I hope they will go out again so I can show them what the lake will produce.

Paul, Dave, Bob and Ron

September 24th, 2009: Sunny and Hot,Water temperature rose to 83* and Clear.

Picked the guys up and went and caught 24 Gizzards and 24 Herring and put out a spread of 9 boards, a bobber and a couple downlines. I was excited having bait early and being able to fish without much boat traffic. The guys were pumped and we were ready. We pulled our spread for 3 hours without a strike! My friend Anthony was also out and I kept calling him today to see if he was doing any better but he was not. By 1:30m we were still strikeless but shortly there after a bait got nervous and a Striper pulled a planner board across the water about 15 yards, Paul grabbed the rod but 3 jet skis had just buzzed us and he tripped on the wakes and when he grabbed the rod he trapped the line between the rod and the fish got off. I made a circle and headed back to the spot all the while everyone was giving him grief for missing the fish. We hit the spot and he redeemed himself by boating the first Striper of the day, at 2 o'clock! He got more grief when he had to put on his "MAN GLOVES" to hold the fish. We hung the bottom 3 or 4 times today and Bob wanted some action so he would fight the bottom for a while then hand me the rod to break it free. Dave was up and a board tilted sideways for about 60 yards so I told him to reel it in, it was a 9 pound Turd Roller, it never even wiggled till it saw the boat. Soon after we had a similar hit and Ron reeled in this Bass. How long do you thing the Bass is? I had him hold it all the way out, it might have been 8 inches at best. Bob is pictured holding a citation Crappie, he had never caught one that large before, and still hasn't. I caught it in the net and tossed it to him to catch so he could say he had caught one that big, but he fumbled and dropped it. That's it, 4 strikes all day, no fish but a lot of fun. All fish were released except for the Striper, Paul wanted to take it home and feed his family, they are going to have a feast tonight!

Jeanne

September 23rd, 2009: Sunny and warm, Water temperature 78* and clear.

Finally got my new Lowrance HDS8 yesterday, installed it and went out playing today. I spent about 6 hours on the big motor learning the features and playing with different screens. After I got completely dialed in I called my wife and invited her out for a couple hours, went and caught bait and met her at the dock a little after 12. I told her we were going to fish someplace that I haven't fished to try to locate some fish for my clients the rest of the week. I put out 15 lines and pulled a 2 mile stretch , working from 2 foot of water out to 45 foot. We had 7 hook-ups and all the fish were about the same size, not bad for the heat of the day. Jeanne is pictured holding a couple of the fish she caught, We released all the fish, hopefully they will live to fight another day.

Joey and Patty

September 18th, 2009: Cloudy and Pleasant, Water Temperature 76* and Clear.

Left the marina at 5:45 and headed to where I caught bait yesterday. Someone had already beat me to the spot but it did not matter, there was no bait there or anywhere within 500 yards of the place. To make a Long story short, we looked and threw for the next 4 hours and only caught 8 baits! At 10 I needed a break so we put the baits out in a bay and pulled it for 45 minutes, boating 2. The sun was trying to peek out so we got the baits in and went looking for more bait. At 2:15 we had caught only a dozen more so we went to where I found fish yesterday and put our spread out. We worked the area for a couple hours and boated 5 more Stripers. Since bait was so hard and I felt so bad about the limited time we fished I stayed out longer than normal and didn't come in till 4:30. Joey and Patty were happy and thrilled with the day but I surely was pretty bummed out. I actually threw for bait for 7 hours today, ruined 1 net and tore the braille lines on a brand new net. I knew we could catch nice fish but we could not find bait anywhere. We limped in to the marina , my gas needle was almost a quarter inch past empty! My gas tank holds 25 gallons and I put 26 gallons in it at the end of the day.

On a brighter note, when I got home my wife Jeanne came running out of the house with some great news, she had just heard from her Doctors that her Biopsy on her Lymph Glands came back negative! All of our prayers have been answered, for the time being she is cancer free!

Many thanks to everyone who has prayed for her and helped up through this ordeal.

Ben and Allen

September 17th, 2009: Cloudy and cool, Water Temperature 77* and Clear.

I have been off the water for a few weeks, my wife was diagnosed with Melanoma recently so I decided to take some time off to spend with her. We have been busy with numerous test and she finally was able to have her operation on the 9th and is recovering now. We are still waiting for results from a biopsy and praying we will get some good news soon. I would like to thank all of you who have missed my posts and emailed me inquiring about me not fishing lately.Your thoughts and prayers were very welcome.

I wanted to get out today and locate some bait and fish for my clients tomorrow so I met my friends Bob and Allen at the marina before light and started cruising the lake. I checked most of the creeks and coves for fish and bait and ran all the way uplake to check for bait. By 9:15 I had still not caught any bait so we made a long run back down lake and pounded an area where we knew we could catch bait and by 10 we were ready to fish. We had seen some Stripers earlier below Hunters so we set up a spread of 9 boards, a bobber and 5 downlines and pulled about a mile exploring different depths. After more than an hour we had nothing to show for our efforts so I made a move. We ran to the back of a creek and put out the spread again and after another hour we had had a few boils but no hook-ups. Then we hit a stretch of water and everything on the shallow side went off. We continued to check out other areas catching fish on the same pattern. The east wind probably did not help much today but I am confident about fishing tomorrow. The guys only wanted to keep 3 fish so they kept the first 3 they caught but had to keep one additional one because it was hooked deep and probably would not live. We took pictures of 2 of the larger fish and released them along with numerous others.

Bob Crawford with Jimmy, Herbert and Roger

August 25th, 2009: Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temperature 85* and Clear.
The guys wanted to see how bait was caught so I picked them up at 3:30am and went and caught bait. After watching what I go through with bait I believe they may have changed their minds about trying this on their own. We picked up Roger and went in search of schools of Stripers. I looked for a hour before finding what I wanted to see. The guys were getting a little antsy, it was quite cool this morning and the picture I painted for them was me finding schools early and reeling in fish, not cruising looking for fish. The water Temp had dropped 3 degrees since Saturday and had repositioned the fish shallower than I had expected but once I found them I dialed right in on them and we worked 7 schools within the next 3 hours. We went through 200 baits this morning, caught 19 Stripers and a dozen Catfish. The lake reminding me of the beginning of July with all the fish we saw and the numbers of schools we found. On the way back to the marina I was still marking schools of Stripers. Hope this continues through September!

Bill Halladay with friends Brad and Brian

August 22nd, 2009: Cloudy and Warm, Water temperature 88* and clear.

Caught 220 baits this morning and picked the guys up at 5:45 and went in search of Stripers. Found a school and we put out 10 downlines. No sooner than the last bait hit the water Brian hooked up. Great way to start the day with Brian catching the biggest fish he had ever caught. Well for the next hour he put it on his dad and Bill catching most of the fish. We worked a school of fish that was relating to a ledge, we would loose the fish and find them a few hundred yards again down the ledge. I had a friend Greg that was out and we worked the school for a couple hours this morning until the magical 9 o'clock showed up, then the schools scattered and the fish turned off. We looked and fished for a couple more hours only to catch 1 more Striper. Boat traffic got up around 9:30 also which did not help the fishing. We had quite the light show this morning with all the thunder storms rolling through but before daybreak the rain stopped and no one got wet. Not a bad morning for a cold front blowing through on a weekend.

Andrew, Mark and Daniel

August 20th, 2009; Sunny and Warm, Water Temperature 88* and Clear.

Caught bait early and picked the guys up at the state Park Cabin dock. Found a school early and worked it for about 20 minutes then lost them. Looked for other schools nearby but could not locate any schools. Set up on some pods of fish and had little success. Looked and looked and never could locate any more schools of fish and also fished numerous places where I would see a few fish and bait but could not put anything together today. Although the day was slow the guys caught 7 Stripers and had a great time.

Josh, Kurt and Kyle

August 19th, 2009: Cloudy morning turning into Sunny, Water Temperature 88* and Clear.

Got out early and caught 200 Herring, picked the guys up at 5:45 at High Point. This was the first day back on the water in two weeks so I resumed where I left off catching Herring and searching for schools of Stripers. It is getting daylight about a half hour later now so I took that time to show the guys how to deploy the lines. Found a small school nearby the marina and tried to set up on them but as usual the first set up is very slow and it took way too long to get the baits down so we lost the school. I assured the guys that every time we set up it will get easier and things will go faster. I looked some more and found a very large school, the guys started setting up and I called John to the school. This time it went a little better, we started popping Stripers and when John got there he saw the school about 150 yards from me and they started catching fish as well. After about 5 minutes John looked over at me and we both threw both hands up in the air, we both were frustrated because both of our sets of clients were still green and having difficulty getting the baits out properly because this was only their 2nd set up and John and I knew that if we could just get all our lines out we could slay the fish in this huge school. We worked the school for about 30 minutes and eventually lost it, so I got back on the motor and started looking again. I located another large school in the mouth of a creek and told the guys that this time they knew exactly what to do and we would spank the Stripers. They jumped up, got all the lines out to the exact depth that I called out and everything went off. At one time I looked on the deck and there were 5 Stripers on the floor still with hooks in their mouth's and they were reeling in others. Well I only had 10 lines out so by the time we removed the hooks from the fish , rebaited and got all the lines back out we had lost that school. By now it was about 9am, and I was getting worried that it was time for the schools to break up and quit feeding. I got back on the motor and looked for 3 more hours for fish, stopping often to fish some singles but in the next 3 hours only caught 1 Striper. For the last month the scenario has been pretty much the same, better catch them early and while they are schooled, after that it is just a boat ride. Kurt is pictured holding a Bass he caught on the old road bed out in front of the marina's, looks like he was mad but he wasn't, he just looked that way a lot today. The guys were having a bet to see who would catch the next keeper but it only applied to Stripers. That bet may go on for the next year, after they made the bet we never caught a keeper or could ever locate a Striper to fish! We kept 9 Stripers for a picture and released the rest, the guys did not want to take any fish back with them.

Tail of the Dragon

What a trip, 8 days of turns, hills, great scenery, weather and friendship. Rode the mountains of Va., West Va., Kentucky, Tenn., Georgia and NC for 8 days with 11 friends. Picture above was taken on the tail of the dragon, the #1 rated motorcycle road in the US. [The famous Tennessee Dragon has 318 curves in 11 miles] I am back on the water this week hunting Stripers and will resume my journal with our fishing adventures.

Annual Bike Trip

I am taking off from fishing for a couple weeks to go on my annual motorcycle trip. This year we are going to ride the mountains of West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. We are going to also hit the "Tail of the Dragon" twice on our trip. I will be checking my emails and calls daily and Jeanne will be available for fishing charter bookings at 540-967-3313 or jim_hemby@hotmail.com For clients interested in fishing while I am gone Jeanne will be making reservations for John Chadduck. Both the Stripers and myself need a break!

Bruce, Colleen, Angela, Jack and Casey

August 5th, 2009. Sunny and warm, Water Temperature 85* and Clear.

Caught bait early this morning and picked the gang up at high Point at 5:30. Showed them how to deploy the baits, found a school of fish and put the baits out. The girls in the back started hooking up and enjoying catching stripers. We lost that school after 20 minutes so I found another and did the same drill again. We hit 6 schools of stripers this morning, catching fish out of all of them until about 9 o'clock, then the fish simply turned off. Everyone enjoyed the fishing while they were biting and these fish were all the girls could handle. I am showing pictures of the girls holding fish, they caught most of the fish today. Bruce took home 12 Stripers for the freezer.

David, Mike, Mike and Keith

August 4th, 2009: Sunny and HOT, Water Temperature 85* and Clear.

Since I had a hard time yesterday catching bait I was on the water very early looking for bait. Caught 220 and picked the guys up at High Point at 5:30am. I told them how important it is to deploy the baits exactly like I tell them to and showed them how to do it. I also explained that if they listen to me and do exactly what I say, we should catch 50 Stripers before they shut off which lately has been around 9 o'clock. I looked for about 5 minutes and found a huge school. As it always is on our first set up of the morning everyone is slow and making mistakes, the way I fish is different than what people are accustomed to. We tried to get 10 baits in the water but the fish would not let us, then David threw a 25" fish back in the water. I explained to them that this time of year when the stripers are schooled tightly that if you release that size fish back into the school it alerts the rest of the school and the school will disperse and shut down. I had no sooner said that and the depth finder went blank. These guys were quick learners so we pulled our baits up and went in search of another school. Took about 3 minutes to locate another school, set up on them and caught 7. Lost them, looked for 3 more minutes and found another school and this time the guys were ready, we worked on that school for 25 minutes before 2 guys in a small boat saw us catching fish and pulled up on us, so we gave them that school and went and found another. This school ended up being larger than I thought and everyone hooked up at once, with 27 to 30 inch fish. We had fish going every direction , rods everywhere on the boat, fish all over the floor, then I called the ball, we had our limit in the cooler and had to stop. Not bad timing, we had gone through 200 baits, caught at least 30 keepers and a few non keepers, kept 20 Stripers and released the rest to fight again another day. These guys SPANKED the Stripers this morning , all by 8:15, A GREAT DAY OF FISHING!

I am seeing schools of Stripers positioned and acting like July 1 fish. The lake is still about 1 month behind this year [ One fish was releasing eggs in the livewell]. The month of August should be a great month to fish, unlike past years, I believe the best summer fishing is ahead of us.

David and Ryan

August 3rd, 2009: Sunny and Warm, Water Temperature 85* and Clear. Picked the guys up at 5:30, went and caught bait and looked for fish. Found a school, set down on them and caught a few. Got back on the big motor and looked for about 3 miles and found what I wanted to see, the guys jumped up and tried to get the baits in the water. I baited Ryan first, he deployed his line while I baited Dave, Dave went to put his out, Ryan's went off and for the next 30 minutes they were running around the boat like a couple of Chickens with their heads cut off. For 15 minutes they couldn't get but 4 or 5 lines in the water without getting hooked up. One time Dave came running to the back of the boat asking for bait, got tied up in two lines that were still hooked to fish laying on the deck, almost tripped going back to the front of the boat, before he could get his line in the water the rod next to him went off, got tangled in another line that he had just left dangling over the side, I cleared it and he got the fish in. They did excellent handling the action, and it was over as quick as it started. We caught 15 keeper Stripers this morning, came off the water at 9:30 and gave John the rest of our baits[He had started the day with about 200 baits and had used them all up]. David and Ryan took home 7 Stripers and released the others to fight again. Mark, we missed you today, they needed your help.

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.