C-Land Report (non-Crappie)*

[kybluediver]

This report is from a couple weeks ago. Went to the lower end looking for bass/striper. The bass were non-existent. Couldn't even find any little dink KY's. Been like that for me over there lately. Ended up with probably 12 striper bites but only landed 3 from 24-28" or so. Now for the interesting part and a first for me. Ran across this guy crossing the lake and it was a beast. Actually stopped, coiled, and rattled at one point when my partner about fell in the boat and made a lot of racket getting from the back deck. I couldn't have fit two hands around it (seriously). This is the first rattler I've seen on the water. Now, if this guy boarded the boat about 1:00 AM, I may have to find a new hobby.

Sorry, no fish pictures. The stripers were pretty pedestrian and not pic worthy.

[M R Dux]

Beautiful snake. No snake in our area is as handsome as a timber rattler.

Anybody who wants to see what a poisonous snake from our area looks like in water, that pic is it. Copperheads, cottonmouths and rattlers all ride very high in the water, almost like they are swimming on top of it. Regular water snakes will just have the top edge of their backs and heads above the water when swimming.

Tasty too!!!

[kybluediver]

Yep... seen thousands of water snakes. This is the ONLY venomous snake I've seen actually swimming. Seen several copperheads but always on land. At no time did this snake ever submerge. Looked like you could use it as a flotation device..... well, maybe if you had a death wish.

[brucec]

I hope you killed that ugly serpent.

[crp4570]

if it had come into the boat with me in it, you would have had a whole lot of repair work to do before the next outing in it. I'm Dr. Jeckel with snakes 10 feet and out. I'm Mr. Hyde with snakes 10 foot and in.

[kybluediver]

In the boat would have definitely been a problem. Had the trolling motor ready to head the opposite direction if needed. I didn't kill the snake. I'm not in the kill everything without legs camp. Enjoyed watching it for 5 minutes or so then went back to fishing.

On a completely different topic, I hold that snake at a much higher regard than I do the yankee from OH at the boat ramp and his wife that went off the deep end and cussed me up one side and down the other due to their ignorance. I'm a pretty level-headed guy but man I thought it was going to get bad ugly there for a few minutes. Some people are unbelievable.

[M R Dux]

In the boat would have definitely been a problem. Had the trolling motor ready to head the opposite direction if needed. I didn't kill the snake. I'm not in the kill everything without legs camp. Enjoyed watching it for 5 minutes or so then went back to fishing.

On a completely different topic, I hold that snake at a much higher regard than I do the yankee from OH at the boat ramp and his wife that went off the deep end and cussed me up one side and down the other due to their ignorance. I'm a pretty level-headed guy but man I thought it was going to get bad ugly there for a few minutes. Some people are unbelievable.

I had a husband/wife clients recently. The husband made no bones about being terrified of snakes. His photographer wife not so much. We ran up on a scene straight out of Nat Geo. There was a beaver lodge in an LBL cove that had a large snake on top of it. I mentioned it to them and the wife started taking pics with her expensive looking camera and 2 foot long lens. She then told us it wasn't ONE snake but FOUR. One of them had caught a shad about 6 inches long and all 4 began to fight over it. We watched from 15-20 yards as the watersnakes put on a show. They would all tangle up, then tumble off into the lake. After several minutes the large watersnake with the shad decided to take his toy and go elsewhere. It was a sight I had never seen in my almost 60 years.

Sorry about your ramp incident. Care to tell us more about what happened and why?

["D"]

Meets the contest rules, even though it gives me the heebee jeebee's. "D"

[bkgooch]

cool pic and stories

[kybluediver]

Thanks D.
Here is the ramp story. I get to the lake around 7:00 pmwhen several of the pleasure boaters were taking out. This is at the dam. I’mwith a guy from work that can’t fish, can’t back a trailer, can’t drive a boatso I’m loading solo which is fine. I’m used to doing that since I take my boysall the time and they aren’t any help either. I drop my trailer in the one openlane. Everyone seems to be doing ok and we are probably 5 wide on that ramp.Now, I’m in the boat and have to dock it so I can get my truck out of the wayas there were other boats waiting to launch. As you may know, there is only onesmall courtesy dock at the dam. The left side has a boat on it which leaves theright. I’m pulling into the right side of the dock and there is a truck backingin to load their boat there. They are about half way down the ramp. So I have achoice to make. Tie up and pull my truck out of everyone’s way or wait for thisperson to load leaving my truck in the way. I make up my mind quickly that I’mgoing to tie up, walk to that person backing up and let them know I’m pullingmy truck out and they can pull in my spot right away. Best option I had giventhe circumstances.
Well, I tie up and this yahoo’s wife that is loading a boatnext to mine (not the person backing up) asks if I’m really going to park myf-ing boat there. That I should back out and wait for this other person toload. I say that my truck/trailer is in the way and there is no other place topark my boat. I’m going to let them know they can have that spot. Then herhusband I assume who is in that boat started in on me and told me to move myf-ing boat now among other things… I think he used the f word 50 times in about3 sentences. I asked if he could please go back to Ohio and then just decidedit wasn’t worth it and ignored him as best as I could. I stopped as planned andcalmly spoke to the person backing up and explained the situation. They seemedfine with it. While I was doing it, the jerks in the other boat leave. Well, ifthey would have done that in the first place instead of butting their head insomething that wasn’t their business, then this wouldn’t have even been anissue and she could have backed in right there.

Anyway, it just really put me on edge. No idea why they immediatelyjumped into something absolutely none of their business with such rage. I wouldhate to live that way. I thought then that once I got up to park my truck thatthey would be waiting on me and it might get physical but thank the lord thatwhen I pulled up, they were still pulling out on the road with the husbandstill in the boat so I luckily avoided this from getting worse. Oh, by the way,the boat that I was supposed to just wait until they loaded were still loadingas I idled out of the no-wake after parking my truck which would have left mytruck in the way for a minimum of 15 minutes. Not sure how much longer it tookthem after I left.