A Good Year for Crappie

Douglas Lake Crappie Fishing 2013
As of this week we had caught over 1,100 crappie and had brought home 262 keepers (over 10”). It’s been the best year I can remember for catching fish even though the percent keepers has been only 24%. The table below shows the dates we went fishing the results. I can’t complain. It’s been lots of fun, we all have some good eating in our freezer. (Table Updated Through 5/28/13)

Date	Keepers	Throw-backs	Total
4/9	19	23	42
4/16	45	206	251
4/18	30	156	186
4/23	45	117	162
5/10	33	110	143
5/13	30	73	103
5/21	34	100	134
5/28	26	62	88
Total	262	847	1,109

Here’s a couple of pictures from our May 21st trip. The view from off the back of the boat shows 7 rods we are trolling. We also have 5 rods off of each side giving us a total of 17 rods that we try to keep in the water. We keep the speed between 0.8 and 1.0 MPH and wait for the bites.
Here I am holding the stringer of 34 crappie. I’m grinning!

Monday May 27, 2013 is Memorial Day!
Take a minute to be thankful for this great country and the men and women who made it great, free & safe.

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Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught.  ~Author Unknown

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Quote of the Day

Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people,
and the sheep of his pasture.
Psalm 100:3

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Joke of the Day

A fleeing Taliban terrorist, desperate for water, was plodding through the Afghan desert when he saw something far off in the distance.

Hoping to find water, he hurried toward the mirage, only to find a very frail little old Jewish man standing at a small makeshift display rack - selling ties.

The Taliban terrorist asked, "Do you have water?"

The Jewish man replied, "I have no water. Would you like to buy a tie? They are only $5."

The Taliban shouted hysterically, "Idiot Infidel! I do not need such an over-priced western adornment - I spit on your ties. I need water!”

"Sorry, I have none - just ties - pure silk - and only $5."

"Pahh! A curse on your ties, I should wrap one around your scrawny little neck and choke the life out of you but... I must conserve my energy and find water!"

"Okay," said   the little old Jewish man, “It does not matter that you do not want to buy a tie from me  or that you hate me, threaten my life and call me infidel. I will show you that I am bigger than any of that. If you continue over that hill to the east for about   two miles, you will find a restaurant. It has the finest food and all the ice-cold water you need... Go In Peace."

Cursing him again, the desperate Taliban staggered away over the hill.

Several hours later he crawled back, almost dead and gasped...

"They won't let me in without a tie!”

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Catching Up…

I’ve been negligent in posting. So I’ll try to catch up.

Mother’s Day
To celebrate Mother’s Day, Kevin invited us to a nice picnic at the Eastman Picnic Area. We had five mothers in attendance and a great meal. The food was BBQ from the world famous Original Ridgewood Barbeque in Bluff City, TN.

Cataracts
Beverly had cataract surgery on her right eye last Thursday. I have been amazed at her recovery and the results! She was noticing big differences in her vision on the afternoon after her surgery and on Friday morning she was reading the smallest type on her iPhone. Later Friday morning we went to the doctor for a checkup on her eye and everything was A-OK. The doctor gave us a CD with a movie of her complete cataract surgery. I watched it later that day, but Beverly has decided to wait until after her cataract surgery on her left eye on May 30.

Tennis
We enjoyed watching our granddaughter, Kara, play tennis this year. She’s a freshmen and plays on her high school tennis team. Her improvement this year has been very impressive. She won quite a few (6-7) singles matches in competition. I noticed a dramatic change from when grandmother and I took her for her first tennis lessons a couple of years ago. Way to Go, Kara!!!

Band Concert
Zachary’s band concert was on May 9. And what a great concert it was! Zachary plays the percussion instruments and you can easily see that he enjoys it very much. He as right when he told us the concert would be “Awesome!”.

Upcoming Events
May 23 – Zachary’s Birthday. He’ll be 12 years old!
June 8 – Jim & Beverly’s 52nd Wedding Anniversary

Fishing
It has been a good year for crappie fishing for us this year.Thus far we have made 5 fishing trips to Douglas Lake. In total we have caught 784 crappie and 172 have been keepers (over 10”). The Keeper Rate is about 22% or about 1 out of very 5 fish is a keeper. The “keepers” are put on ice a brought home for the filet knife and freezer bags. (The 612 non keepers were gently released back into the lake to continue to grow.)

Our most popular lure this year has been the 1/16 oz. white Roadrunner tipped with a Crappie Slider.

The White Roadrunner

3 Crappie Sliders

 

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Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
In the James 1:19 it gives us some good advice:

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be
swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:”

~~~

Quote of the Day

In the presence of eternity,
the mountains are as transient as the clouds.
~Robert Green Ingersoll

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Joke of the Day

Walking into the bar, Mike said to Charlie the bartender, 'Pour me a stiff one - just had another fight with the little woman.'

'Oh yeah?' said Charlie, 'And how did this one end?'

'When it was over,' Mike replied, 'She came to me on her hands and knees.'

'Really,' said Charles, 'Now that's a switch!   What did she say?'

She said, 'Come out from under the bed, you little chicken.'

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