102, The Chick, Crappie, 6/30/11, Charlie

[FishNews]

After several back breaking days around the house (i.e.-hand pouring concrete, mowing,weeding, spraying, cleaning,etc., etc.) I decided enough was enough. I needed a break from all this heat and sweat. I hooked up the Camo Express and headed to The Chick. <br /><br />The sweat decreased, but the heat...?<br /><br />My daughters dog, Charlie, was the only willing party awake at my home as I left. Far be it from me to leave him behind. When I first took him with me this Spring, it was almost embarrassing to have him ride in the boat with me. Now, it feels weird for him not to be there. This dog MIGHT weigh 8 pounds and looks JUST like a wet rat when he takes a dip. But man, he sure does love a fish. He can tell the SECOND I hook a fish, and stands over the gunnel waiting to "help" me bring it in. <br /><br />http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk135/rhb153/charlie.jpg<br /><br />We first hit the "community docks" and got lucky with several good fish hitting BG ghastly minnow on 1/32 in 15 fow. My shooting was spectacular today. Jimbow teaching and tutoring has really paid off (or maybe it was the blind hog/ acorn thing). <br /><br />We hit a few 25 fow holes I know about with vertical structure and had a hard time staying on top of it. It was WINDY. Had a few come out of the holes so I stayed with the same set-up. BG ghastley minnow on 1/16th and 4 lb. hi-vis with a 6.5 foot Wally Marshall.<br /><br />Next we headed to the River where the white caps turned us around about half-way to my honey-hole. Back to the creeks and the shelter of the ridges and trees. We continued throwing the same rig for the next couple of hours, shooting wooden docks and fishing rock bluff drop offs. The fish were scattered and soft mouthed but the high vis-line paid off with visible strikes. 25-30 fow brush piles seemed to give decent results but the fishing was tough. <br /><br />NOT because it was too slow, but because it was HOT. I mean HOT!!!<br /><br />A shade tree, iced tea, and a nice breeze would have been a WHOLE lot less tiring. IT WAS HOT on the water out of the breezes. And to stay in the breezes meant TOUGH fishing conditions. <br /><br />After about 12:30 we took a chance the River had calmed down and headed out. My hunch was right. We hit a couple of our favorite deep docks and added a few more to the count. the good news was that the water was more calm. The bad news was that calm water meant no breeze and so IT WAS HOT!!!<br /><br /><br />But Charlie and I still had a blast! <br /><br /><br />http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk135/rhb153/crappie.jpg