I've been tied down to my taxidermy studio for a month since the birth of our latest litter of lab puppies. Between them and all the other chores in my life, I had just neglected my boat and tackle. Wednesday afternoon I saw a small break in the schedule and decided to break out the Bandits for the 1st time this year.
I got on the lake about 4 pm and was amazed (I should not have been) at the numbers of pleasure boats and assorted lake lice that were already infesting the lake. I got my gear in the water and started down one of my favorite channel ledges on the main lake. Almost instantly I caught my 1st, an 11 inch white male but since my crappie stash in the freezer is already down to dangerous levels, I threw it in the livewell full of ice water.
Over the next 2 hours, I said my prayers that if I should die at the hands of a cabin cruiser or pontoon boat full of blue-haired old ladies, I would go happy with fish in the boat. The fishing stayed good for a couple of hours then shut completely off. I ended up with 14 keepers, mostly 11-12' white crappie males, with several yellow bass and one 5 pound channel cat that nearly burned my thumb off when I was trying to reel him to the boat while moving at 1.8mph. I also donated a Bandit to some sort of large fish that decided he was either going to empty-spool me or break the line. I never turned him but it was fun for the several seconds that he was on my pole.
The next couple of days look great for cleaning out my garage. Holiday weekends on KY Lake are not my cup of iced-tea.
