Family Vacation on Table Rock Lake 8/15-17/13

After visiting beautiful Table Rock Lake for each of the last two years, my parents decided to buy a time share. Table Rock is tauted as one of the best bass fishing lakes in the country. My first two trips sure gave me that impression. You can read about my first trip in 2011 here. It took a little under 10 minutes to haul out a monster bass. And, the fish never stopped biting.

Well, this year, we brought the Skeeter with us so that I didn't have to rent a boat for the bargain price or $60 an hour, not counting gas!

As you can imagine, I was really excited to be able to fish for 3 straight days! I have to admit that I was a little concerned with the fact that the area had experienced massive flooding the week before. I knew they would be dropping the water level a foot or more per day. But, hey, we were booked for Big Cedar and I knew that we would have fun regardless. How could you not! You have to see this place to understand!

The Wilderness Club at Big Cedar has TONS of features that I can't even begin to list. Tons of pools, hot tubs, a Lazy River, and great eating! It is one of the most family friendly places you can explore! Bent Hook Marina has a great selection of baits straight from Bass Pro. They have boat and equipment rentals and great amenities!

 Naturally, my wife and kids were really stoked about playing in the pools, lounging around, and eating. But while they dreamed about it in the early morning hours, I was out fishing.

Well, that's where the fun begins.

I started out fishing some areas I had experience in, but nothing was biting. I threw a wide range of baits from wacky rigged PowerTeam Lures Sick Sticks, to Strike King 6XDs, top water plugs, you name it. Not a bite. Same for my dad. We fished from 7am to 12pm without so much as a bite. We moved everywhere and fished everything from dirt banks to 25 foot drop offs. When we arrived back at Big Cedar, I talked to several of the guides and pros who use the Bent Hook Marina as their home base. It was tough for them too. No fish caught. So, I shrugged it off, loaded the kids and my wife, and went pleasure boating.

Later that afternoon, my sister and brother in law arrived from Springfield and we enjoyed a great dinner and then went to swim. In the back of my mind, I just KNEW that the tables would turn the next morning.

A weak hit or two over the course of the next morning showed that it had not changed. Again, frustrated, I parked the boat and enjoyed the fun...trying to forget about how much it cost us and how much effort we went to to drag a boat 10 hours just to get stumped. But, again, we had a blast in the afternoon playing in the water!

Later that afternoon, I ran into a local fisherman who seemed to know what he was doing. He pulled out several NICE fish out of the box and showed them to me. Sucking up my pride, I asked that he give a novice a few pointers. I told him that I suspected the fish to be deep, although I had fished 20-25 feet of water with everything I had. He told me to fish deeper. Find standing timber in 30 feet and drop shot.

Drop shot? In 30 feet? Neither are something I know anything about. Don't get me wrong, as far as TVA lakes are concerned, I can fish "deep water", such as Tournaments on Wilson Lake. But, that's 18-22 feet.

Ok. So I was fishing in the wrong place. I could fix that. All I had to do was learn how to drop shot and find standing timber in 30 feet. The lake is COVERED in standing timber, so it shouldn't be hard to find. Right?

Oh the irony. See, when I sold the Stratos, I sold it WITH my Hummingbird 798. The Skeeter doesn't have any modern electronics. So, the only way to find standing timber was to troll around, peering into the water, hoping to see a tree top. Every once in awhile I did, but if I had a bite, or I was hung up, or the wind blew me off...I would never find it again. To add insult to injury, the only good fish i hung all day threw me at the boat....as you can see from the vid.

So, now I am HARDCORE about buying a nice unit. If I would have had a nice fish finder, I could POSSIBLY have done well. Big stretch, I know. But I feel like it would have made a difference.

Anyway, it was Aubree's 8th birthday, so nothing was going to keep me down. We had a great birthday dinner, visited Bass Pro, and relaxed!

Check out Aubree's Bee Suit for tending her bees!

Sunday Funday 8/11/13

If you are pretty much anywhere in the South, you know that this past weekend was a wash. Rain ruined having much of any fun outdoors, particularly Sunday. There has been so much rain that my garden is starting to have problems from it. Turns out, too much rain is a bad things...even for water loving produce like cucumbers.

I won't complain too much about it. The garden, for the most part, has done fantastic. You may remember seeing some pictures on my Facebook page. I like to post updates. This year, I tripled both the over all size and quantity of the garden. We sure have profited. Yet, this rain...and the collateral damage it has done...has still stunted it from it's maximum expectancy.

Anyway, Sunday presented us a small opportunity to get some work done. First off, we picked up some furniture from my wife's grandmother. She is moving to her lake house and didn't have room for all her stuff. WE took a china cabinet that was the last piece that my wife's late grandfather worked to restore. It still needs work, but I am going to give it a try! Then, it was back across the country for the next chore.

I am having to pay my dues into the family hunting club, which entailed putting together a shooting house. So, my dad and uncle and I got to work on easily the most humid day of the year. They had built the house to be modular, so all we had to do was assemble it on the spot. Sounds easy, right? Nope! The walls sure are heavy and we are WAY up in the air! We were able to get the walls and the roof on, but much of the work remains to be done. We had to stop once or twice for storms. And the last one that moved in was nasty and we all had to head out.

Meanwhile, just a few hundred yards away, my mom, wife, and kids were all enjoying a little afternoon fishing. I had fully intended to wrap up the work and hit the pond for a few casts myself. I was able to get done in just enough time to make 2 casts with a Sammy before lightening ran me off. I did catch a little 15 inch fish on that last cast that made it worth it. Looks like the kids were able to have a fun time too!

WE finished off the evening with some Mexican food. Griffin ate his cheese dip and guacamole. Gavin ate everything we put in front of him! We were a site, I'm sure! Dad and I were soaked to the BONE with sweat in our mud boots!  I bet we smelled AWESOME!

By the time we got home, not only was it "late" but we were all dead tired! We have to get read for a week on Table Rock lake! Stay posted!

Fishing Report for Guntersville 8/6/13

What better way to break the fishing drought than to get a second trip on the water in just a few short days. I guess sometimes that stars align for the better. If you recall, Josh and I were able to hit Guntersville up on the 2nd. You can read about the trip here: Fishing Report for Guntersville 8/2/13.

The day was decent. We caught a lot of fish, but measuring bass were hard to come by. Although Josh caught several nice fish, it took me literally until my last cast to land a measuring one.

I know I shouldn't complain about catching good numbers, but this year on Guntersville has been ridiculous for quality fish. Since I have been fishing this lake, "tough days" were usually those that I had 5 bites, but they were all 5+ pound fish. This year it's been short fish after short fish!

Not to spoil it for you, but this trip wasn't any different...though even the bites dropped off.

We hit the water in the mid-afternoon from Waterfront and jetted to a few spots without much luck. In fact, it probably took an hour to get my first bite. I was throwing several different baits including the PowerTeam Lures Hammershad and 10" Ribbon Hinge worm.

The Hammershad has been wildly successful for me. It's funny, because I bought it solely to drop shot for Pickwick Lake smallies, but haven't been able to fish there much this year. Instead, I have made it a hybrid bait...something between a topwater Sammy and a Fluke. 

I have gone through two pro-packs in the last 4 trips. That's about 50 baits. Luckily, they don't cost much for a big packs.

Anyway, I had some decent success working the Hammershad on top of the grass. The fish really can't stand the bait and normally never short strike it. In fact, at one point, I had a hit, worked the fish to halfway to the boat and it came off. But, two other fish were following it, and as I reeled  the bait to the boat, I looked down and two fish were staring at me. I lowered  the bait back down and BAM! They nailed it.

It was hilarious, and I have it on video!

As the evening approached, it seemed the fish moved out of the grass and became more active. I swapped to an H20 Xpress top water plug (the Sammy knockoff) and was able to get a fair amount of action with it. I fished it just outside the grass lines in areas directly adjacent to deep water. The boat was sitting in about 18 feet and I was casting to about 3.

Anyway, I caught about 10 fish and none of them measured. We caught about 15 total to the boat.

Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Victory Reels

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A  few months ago, Dick's Sporting Goods was doing a special where you could buy one of their Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Victory Rods and get a free reel. Now, I have owned several of the rods and they seem to be fantastic rods for the money. They run under $100 and have lived under my abuse. Well, I jumped all over it and so did everyone else. In fact, I had to go to two different stores in order to get both. I bought the 7.0:1 ratio.

• Aluminum frame for durability and weight reduction.
• Infinite anti-reverse.
• One-touch removable aluminum spool.
• Centrifugal anti-backlash braking system.
• Powerful and smooth Teflon® drag system.
• Audible click star drag.
• Precision cut brass gears.
• Extra-large power handle and oversized rubber paddles.
• Available in right & left hand retrieve.
• Weight 7.76 ounces.
• Includes neoprene reel case.

Price Point: Right at $100

Initially, I was very impressed by it. I put it on a reel with 30 pound braid and only used it for soft plastics. I liked the high ratio for quickly getting fish out of the weeds. 

Things I Liked:

• The handles are nice and wide, allowing you to impart a lot of force without much effort
• The grips are very nice and comfortable
• The braking system and casting control are very easy to use

Things I Dislike:

• Something about it isn't quite as ergonomic as I would like. I don't know if it is the shape or size. It doesn't fit quite right in my hand
• The braking system is flawed. If you cast it hard, like a top water plug or crank bait, the brakes will reset or loosen up. So, your next cast will be a nightmare
• The side cover isn't attached to the main body. So, if you are adjusting it, keep a hand on it! It might fall in the drink! 

Overall, the reel is a great way to spend a little cash and get decent quality. Especially if it's free. However, the inability to really cast plugs reliably without having to mess with the brake system is a deal breaker for top water or cranking. Literally, every cast I had to redo the brakes. Now, it will be fine for plastics or other baits similar. But, if you are casting for distance, you will be in trouble. Additionally, with a coupon or two, I could buy a Shimano Citica that will outperform it in all regards. But, if you can find it on special and need a plastics reel, this is a solid choice.

Family Vacation 2013

One of the many reasons I haven't been able to post much has been that the spaces between traveling for work or training were filled with vacations. Well, really only 1 vacation, but it was on top of the 4th, so it was almost like 2. So, what do we like to do? Well, my first two years at NASA, we were really too poor to have vacations. But, I was traveling to Cape Canaveral a lot to work on the shuttle. My wife wasn't working at the time, so the whole family(at the time, that was either only 1 or MAYBE 1 and a baby). We really fell in love with the area. It isn't like PCB. It isn't filled with college kids and parties, but it has all the amenities that we wanted. SO, when we were finally able to afford our own vacations, we returned to Cocoa Beach. We get us a condo on the beach for about 6-7 days.

What do we do? Not much. We eat. We swim. And the last two years, we have surfed. This year I took the GoPro out and made a great vid of our fun! Check it out! Best5Zach Family Video

Having kids raised on the beach is such a blessing. They seem to embody it so well. Now, imagine our surprise when even little Gavin fell in love with it. We literally couldn't pry him away from the sand. He would eat it by the pound! He loved frolicking in the ocean! It was such a site to see!
Things we did and places we went:

Florida Seafood for oyster shooters, crab, and other specialties. This is a MUST if you have kids. They are very family friendly with a great atmosphere.
Grills for fresh seared ahi-tuna po'boys, sushi, shrimp skewers
Milliken's Reef for a few fruity drinks and some dancing
Fish Lips for great appetizers and drinks specials while watching all the fishermen come in for the day

I know where the food is. It's a fact. My nose leads me to all the right places and you cannot go wrong with any of these great places to eat.

We rented our boards from Cocoa Beach Surf Company. For beginners, get the 9'2" foam board. Trust me. It's about $75 for 5 days, I believe. While you are there, head to the Shark Pit for an awesome burger or appetizer.

What a great time! I'm still not a good surfer and a bum shoulder didn't help. But Alyse and Josh have gotten quite good at it!

Any College Football Fantasy Players Out There?

It's getting to be about that time! I am looking for a few players for College Football Fantasy. It will be a $30 buy in. Looking for several players! Please respond here or email me at best5zach@yahooc.com

Fishing Report for Guntersville 8/2/13

No. I'm not dead. I haven't given up fishing. I haven't boarded myself up in my bug out shelter (yet). I've been insanely busy with everything from work, to vacations, to softball, and back to work. Yep. I've been training to get my level III certifications in Radiography, Ultrasonic Testing, among other NDE methods. Those are 40 hour training classes capped off with tests....Then there is school. Yep, closing in on that masters. Then there is softball, and playing 4 nights a week. Plus a garden, 3 kids....

Ok, so yall don't care. Remind you, again, on why I haven't been fishing in 2 months.....right?  TWO MONTHS! WHAT.

Yep, it really has been that long.

Anyway, we put in at GoosePond Colony and went to the last place that we had caught some fish(2 months ago). We had both discussed the need to get better on a few summer patterns. Namely, flipping and cranking ledges. We started out flipping and I quickly had a hit that didn't connect.

Josh, on the other hand, pounded a solid pig as he was picking out a backlash. It was hilarious. And I got it on film! HAHA! You should have seen the look on his face as he brought in the bait and realized there was a fish on the other end.

After a few more flips, he started throwing a swimbait and connected on a second 4 pounder. That's all I needed to see. I started throwing the PowerTeam Lures Hammer Shad. I experimented with a variety of retrieve methods, but it didn't take long to figure out that the fish didn't seem to care. The only downside to the day was that I simply could not catch a measuring fish. Fish after fish hit the HammerShad, but they were all small. Not having been able to feel a tug on my line for some time, I really didn't mind. In fact, about 6pm I finally boat swung a healthy keeper and I put the rods down and called it a day! On the day, we caught around 20 fish with only about 5 of them measuring. The best 5 weighed about 16 pounds.