i've no experience fishing reservoirs and figured it took local
knowledge of the structure and fish to be successful. wrong...well,
sorta wrong. danl had the local knowledge about minnows. g

one thing i've learned from my tenn experience... live minnows trump
every other trick a fisherman might devise in the effort to catch a
fish. while i was tossing metal and plastics, danl and willi were
catching every species of fish swimming in watts bar. i managed only a
few largemouth bass while they caught drum, catfish, crappie, bluegill,
largemouth, and smallmouth. danl caught the largest smallmouth i've ever
seen on a hook. we originally thought it was a huge carp when he first
hooked it, but then the monster leaped out of the water about 3 feet
into the air right next to the boat. magnificent... unfortunately,
before he could lip it, the lunker shook the hook at the boat. willi
and i enjoyed tellin danl that it was easily a citation smallmouth...if
only he could have landed it. i'll remember that fish for a long time,
but i expect danl will remember it longer, and figure he'll frequent
that little point in the reservoir.

we traveled in style, fishing the reservoir leisurely on wednesday and
thursday in danl's bass boat...after monday and tuesday's trips that
required hiking and climbing up and over rocks, and after taking several
half-reids, it was relaxing and pleasant to tour portions of the
reservoir and to fish from the comfort of a boat. willi used a flyrod
half the time, but without a lot of success.

in the evenings, we ate remarkable gourmet fare prepared by cindy,
fished from the boat dock, and generally sated ourselves til dark. sarge
reigned over the boatdock fishing ventures. a fascinating canine. he
monitored all of the bobbers, kept us alert, and helped release the
fish...well, after he talked harshly to them a bit. i enjoyed using a
bamboo pole and bobber again...something i hadn't done since my preteen
years on slocum creek...and even managed to catch a few bluegill.

it was an exceptionally good time among terrific folks in a beautiful
setting. posted a few pics on abpf...

jeff