Fishing Update for 2013

Spring Crappie
We have ended our trips to Douglas Lake for crappie fishing for this spring. Here’s a summary for the ten (10) trips we made down to Swann’s Marina.

Number of Fishing Trips	10
Total Number of Crappie Caught	1215
Total Number of “Throw Backs”	913
Total Number of Keepers	302
Percent Keepers	25%

Our last trip to Douglas was on June 20 where we caught 17 “keepers”, and had 34 “throw backs”. A “Keeper” is a crappie 10” or longer. The “Throw Backs” were returned to the lake to grow larger. Overall a good and enjoyable year for us. But it’s not over…

Lake Trout
When the water get hot on Douglas and the fish are hard to catch, we change lakes and our target fish. We can usually find fish in the deep waters of South Holston and Watauga Lakes. Just to make sure we had not lost our “touch” we made a trip to South Holston last Tuesday to try for the Lake Trout. Doug and I had our limit by 1:00 PM. We lost several big fish earlier but finally recovered the knack for catching these big fish.

Here’s a picture of our 4 keepers. The limit is only 2 per person per day and there is no size limit. The weights of the fish were 6 lb 3 oz, 5 lb 3 oz, 4 lb 7 oz and 2 lb 14 oz. That was a heavy stringer topping out at close to 19 pounds for 4 fish. Needless to say we were happy and smiling. Those are fun to catch. (You know, catching is  a little more fun that just fishing.)

NEWS FLASH
Just tonight, Kara and her partner, another Kara, won their tennis doubles championship match to win the girls double tournament at the Bristol Tennis and Racket Club. Here’s a picture of the victors who won in convincing fashion, 6-2, and 6-1.

 

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Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
It pays to keep busy.
Set goals.
Make a little progress each day.
Don’t let others discourage you.
Keep on, Keeping on.

~~~

Quote of the Day

A child can ask questions that a wise man cannot answer
~Author Unknown

~~~
Joke of the Day

Every time the man next door headed toward Robinson's house, Robinson knew he was coming to borrow something. "He won't get away with it this time," muttered Robinson to his wife. "Watch this."

"Er, I wonder if you'd be using your power-saw this morning," the neighbor began.

"Gee, I'm awfully sorry," said Robinson with a smug look, "but the fact of the matter is, I'll be using it all day."

"In that case," said the neighbor, "You won't be using your golf clubs. Mind if I borrow them?"

(Sounds a little bit like Herb and Dagwood in the comics)

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Eagles, Proverbs and Fishing

What I Saw Was Amazing!
We were fishing this past Tuesday on Douglas Lake. It was about 3:30 pm and the lake was quiet. We were trolling at about 1 MPH. It was a beautiful day. We had just caught another fish but it was not a crappie. Instead we had just caught a freshwater drum that we call a trash fish. After getting it unhooked we threw it back into the lake. I was in rear of the boat checking some fishing rods and I saw that old drum float by in the rippling wake of our boat. Then the most amazing thing happened when the fish was about 10-15 yards from the boat. I saw something in the sky. A big bird? At first I could not identify it, but as it got closer I could see it was an American Bald Eagle. The majestic bird circled and them swooped to the water and picked up that fish that we had just returned to the water. I was awed as I watched the bird circle over the lake and then fly toward the shoreline with his catch. I sure it was used to feed some eaglets in the nest.

I turned to Doug and Ralph who also witnessed this event, and told them that if we had not caught a fish all day what we had just seen was worth the trip. I’m so thankful for what I saw and for the American Eagle.

Chinese Proverb and the Washington Way
Original Chinese Proverb:
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.
2012 White House Revision:
Give a man a welfare check, a free cell phone with unlimited free minutes, cash for his clunker, food
stamps, section 8 housing, free contraceptives,
Medicaid, ninety-nine weeks of unemployment, free
medicine, and he will vote for Democrats the rest of
his life; even after he's deceased.

The Crappie Fishing Summary for 2013
This has been an unbelievable year for our crappie fishing on Douglas Lake. We’ve had a full 2 months of good fishing. We’ve made 9 trips to the lake and not had a bad day of fishing.

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
6/11	23	31	54
Total	285	878	1,163

I’m not sure if we will go to Douglas again until this fall. My gut tells me it is time to put up the crappie rods and get ready to go to South Holston Lake and fish for the Lake Trout. We catch them very deep (40-70 feet) so the hot weather does not impact this type of fishing.

 

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Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
I have some advice for you today. It came from my own Dad. He told me once that if I ever thought I was indispensible to get a “glass of water”. Then put my finger down into the glass. Then he said pull out my finger and look at the glass. If it leaves a hole, then you truly are indispensible. I’ll never forget that important message.

He also used the “glass of water” to teach me another lesson. When teaching me to drive, he told me to pretend there was a glass of water mounted on the dashboard. He said not drive so you will not spill a drop of the water.

~~~

Quote of the Day

Earth and sky, woods and fields,
lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea,
are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.
~John Lubbock

~~~
Joke of the Day

A six-year-old goes to the hospital with her mother to visit her Grandpa.

When they get to the hospital, she runs ahead of her mother and bursts into her Grandpa's room.

"Grandpa, Grandpa," she says excitedly, "as soon as my mother comes into the room, make a noise like a frog!"

"What?" said her Grandpa.

"Make a noise like a frog because my mom said that as soon as you croak, we're all going to Disney World!”

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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.

~~~

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

~~~

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

~~~
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

 

~~~

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

~~~
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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Two Great Days Last Week!

Last Tuesday
We went back to Douglas Lake and got our limit again! This is the second time in my life when we got our limit for crappie on Douglas Lake. It was a good day for sure. We use two fish counters (see picture). The one on the left shows how many under-sized crappie that we tossed back in the lake. The other counter shows the “keepers”. The limit is 15 per day and they have to be 10 inches or larger.

This picture shows the two guys I fish with. Doug is on the left and Ralph is on the right. We make a good team. It takes all three of us to fish my boat since we are trolling with 16 rods with rear-drag spinning reels. Our primary bait is lead head jigs with plastic. However, this year we have caught the majority of fish with Road Runners  baited with Crappie Sliders.

Last Thursday
I went to a luncheon to celebrate a good friend’s 25 year anniversary with Eastman Chemical Company. His name is Arved and I remember the day we interviewed and hired him. He came to Eastman from Wise, Virginia and he had a Master’s degree in Statistics from Virginia Tech. It was a great to see Arved and many others that I had worked with when I was working at Eastman.

The picture below was taken a few months after Arved was hired. He is on the far left. This was taken when Dr. W. Edwards Deming came to Eastman in 1988. Dr. Deming is surrounded by all the statisticians who were working at Eastman Chemical Co. at that time.

Yes, Tennessee Granddaddy is in the picture. See if you can find him. He turned 50 the week this picture was taken.

 

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
During this path of life, be careful that you don’t burn bridges. It much better to build new bridges and lay stepping stones for others.

~~~

Quotes of the Day

Learn all you can from the mistakes of others.  You won't have time to make them all yourself.
~Alfred Sheinwold


Experience is not what happens to a man.  It is what a man does with what happens to him.
~Aldous Leonard Huxley

~~~
Joke of the Day

A man walked by a table in a hotel and noticed three men and a dog playing cards.

The dog, predictably, was losing.

"He would probably do better if he could read the cards," the man commented.

"Oh, he can read cards just fine," said one of the players. "But every time he gets a good hand he wags his tail."

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My Fishing Report

Crappie Fishing
Actually the fishing has not been “crappie” but very good for us last week on Douglas Lake. We went twice, and we don’t do that very often unless the the fishing is good.

On Tuesday, the three of us caught our limit of 45 crappie. The state allows 15 crappie per person provided they are 10” or greater in length. However, in order to get 45 keepers we caught a total of 206 fish. That’s only about a 22% success rate for keepers.

On Thursday we only caught 30 keepers out of 156 total fish. That’s a 19% success rate for keepers.

I call that some pretty good fishing and even though 4 out of 5 fish are too small to keep it is lots of fun and it keeps you busy. And on both days we caught some nice catfish to go with the crappie.

Now I’m ready for some fried crappie filets, with some fried potatoes, coleslaw, and cornbread or hushpuppies. Yum! Yum!

 

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says: 
Enjoy the beautiful weather.
Go fishing!
Then you will smile and relax.

~~~

Quote of the Day

The gods do not deduct from man's
allotted span the hours spent in fishing.
~Babylonian Proverb

~~~
Joke of the Day

During John's physical, the doctor asked him about his daily activity level.

John replied, "Well, yesterday morning, I waded along the edge of a lake, escaped from wild dogs in the heavy brush, marched up and down several rocky hills, stood in a patch of poison ivy, crawled out of quicksand, and jumped away from an aggressive rattlesnake."

Inspired by the story, the doctor said, "You must be some outdoorsman!"

"No," John replied, "I'm just a lousy golfer."

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First Day

Of Fishing in 2013
We went to Douglas Lake today to fish for crappie. It was the first trip this year and the first trip to test the equipment (boat, motor, fishing gear) my new hip. Everything worked perfectly.

And we caught fish! We caught a total of 42 crappie, but only 19 were “keepers”. A good day.

That’s my friend Ralph holding the stringer and you can see Doug in the background.

We have had a late spring for sure. I was checking our fishing trips we made last year, and I was surprised that we had already made 3 trips to fish Douglas. The first fishing trip last year was on March 13!

 

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
Our winter was not severe, but so long. The late Spring is here at last. Soon the redbuds will be blooming and the dogwoods not far behind. Ahhh!

~~~

Quote of the Day

A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.
~Benjamin Franklin

~~~
Joke of the Day

A recently ordained pastor was invited fishing by two senior pastors. They rowed their boat out into the middle of a lake and started casting.

Suddenly, one of the senior pastors says, "I forgot my bait. I'll be right back." Then he hops out of the boat, walks across the water to shore. A few minutes later, he comes walking back and gets in the boat.

The junior pastor is astonished, but manages to keep it to himself.

A bit later, the other senior pastor says, "I forgot my sunscreen. I'll be right back." Then he hops out of the boat, walks across the water to shore. A few minutes later, he comes walking back and gets in the boat.

The junior pastor is now certain that these are two men of supreme faith and he doesn't want to appear less spiritual.

After a few moments, the junior pastor says, "I forgot my lunch. I'll be right back." He hops out of the boat and plunges straight to the bottom of the lake.

One senior pastor turns to the other and says, "We forgot to tell him about the stepping stones."

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