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Fishing at best with family, friends
Monday, June 23, 2008
Written By: Jerry
Maupin, Kentucky Lake Professional Fishing Guide
http://www.jerrymaupin.com
I had the pleasure of fishing with some great
friends by the names of Berry and Kaitlin Turner and cousin Demi Craven. They
wanted to catch fish and it didn't matter what species, so we found a place
where the striped bass were actively chasing shad baitfish! Berry and daughter
Kaitlin are very good anglers so all I had to do was show them where to cast and
they did the rest!
Demi needed a little training with the equipment but she caught on fast and was
soon catching stripers also. We covered a lot of water switching from largemouth
to stripers and back again as we traveled south from Kenlake Marina.
Berry, Kaitlin and Demi were soon into the run look, fish an area, stay if they
were biting and leave if no action was available. We caught some very nice
stripers and one rockfish which were to be for dinner that night!
It was good to be with this family and we had a lot of fun! Sometimes the fish
were slow to react and that is due to the shad baitfish being so small at this
time. The spring weather last month had reduced the possibility of the shad
hatching large pods of their offspring and we had to really look for productive
areas. That is why it is called fishing instead of going catching! Anyway we had
a great day with the family as always, thanks!
I then had the pleasure of fishing with the Jim Ellis family. Long time friends
who also know how to fish well. In fact Jim is making some of his own lures and
catching bass with them. We did travel the same areas and catch both bass and
stripers which made for another great day. Now Kay and Brad didn't have to be
trained either and they were giving dad a hard time on who is catching the most
etc.!
The winds were a small problem and again the
lack of shad baitfish caused us to work harder and travel more. However, the
Ellis family did a super job and made a very good day for me to fish with more
long time friends! I must get them back down here when the stripers begin
jumping!
I fished next with another pair of great guys, Cory Braden and his granddad, Mel
Jack, were with me and they were looking for big bass! Of course, this was the
day of a tournament so we had to hunt and choose some waters which had been
overlooked. That was okay by me because we found loads of bass willing to take
our offerings. Beginning at first good light we were casting to the moss beds
and catching good bass. They often times were herding schools of shad into the
moss beds where they could attack them and get a good meal easily!
We just kept after them so when the smaller bass were full and out of the way,
the big bass would come calling for our lures!! It couldn't have been better
planned because right on que, when the major feeding was expected to begin, the
big bass came to play.
We had tournament anglers all around us but they never figured out what we were
doing! Both guys were catching a lot of small bass but they soon began to catch
some really great bass! You know, three and one half to four pounds like the one
Cory caught! His largest and most rewarding. Then granddad, Mel Jack, caught
fire and in three successive casts he caught a three and a half pounder, a four
pounder and last but not least a four and three quarters pounder! The same lure
was used for all and they came from waters one foot deep!
No kidding, Mel was the king of the day and rightly so, you can tell by his
smile he was thrilled to the bone! These bass were caught in no more than
fifteen minutes and then he said he had enough for one day and we rolled up the
gear and came in, all wearing big grins. When Tad came to pick them up they were
still grinning! Thanks guys it was a great day!
I next had the pleasure of fishing with another couple of guys who love to fish
and did a super job of it, Joe Melton the third and Joe Melton the fourth.
The fourth is only eight years old I think and he out fished everyone!
We threw some soft plastics and caught small bass so I switched Joe four to a
shiny spoon plug and he went to work. He caught white stripers and largemouth
bass with that lure so we made lots of pictures and released the fish. Then he
expressed his desire to catch a bass big enough to have it mounted. You guessed
it, the very next bass caught was a four and one half pounder and Joe four
caught it. That one was going to be mounted on a plaque and hung on the wall in
his room! He then caught some stripers as did his dad, Joe three, and myself. We
kept enough stripers for a meal to feed the family that evening!
Joe three said he wanted another chance to fish in the front of the boat
tomorrow. He will have that chance you know! Tomorrow he will have to hustle
that son of his to beat him I think! It will be a happy fishing day for sure!
Pictures next week.
Happy Fishing!
Jerry Maupin
http://www.jerrymaupin.com
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