When I decided to get into the crappie guiding game, I already had years of experience dealing with folks I didn't know and would probably not cross paths with but once as a snow goose and duck guide. I had also been so lucky to have made friends who I hope remain so for the rest of my days.
Last year ,Steve (Roy49) booked a trip with me to learn pulling cranks. We hit it off great even though he lives in the heart of IU Red and we bleed U.K. Blue in these parts. We found we had so much in common we stayed in close contact. This past spring he came down to longline, pull planer boards and pull early season cranks. We had made plans to get back on KY Lake ever since.
Last night we met at a local fish place. Steve has taken Vicki and I to eat the last 2 trips. We talked about what a good day we had Sunday and made plans to meet at JoJo's in Benton for breakfast. I dropped a bombshell during our fish dinner--- Jere (cpr4570) would be fishing with us Monday. Since Jere and Steve hadn't met, I had to trust my judgement that they would be compatible. Boy did I create a monster!!
Our breakfast crew is a mixture of farmers, retired state workers, retired truck driver, construction workers, law enforcement types, you name it. Our table is open to all and Jere and Rickie (rnvinc) have been part of it several times. This was Steve's 2nd time and he fit in like he had always been a local. I'll let them tell the story that got our day started but it kicked off an epic trip.
We went straight to the bay we did so well in Sunday but the crappie had fled to parts unknown. After a couple of hours we made a move that proved to be just what the Dr ordered.
Jere and Steve took to picking at other like 2 old buddies who had done so their entire lives. I never laughed as hard or long as at and with these two. It seemed the fish catching took a back seat to the fun we were having and we were doing some major fish catching.
We found the crappie on 20-25 foot flats with scattered cover and scattered baitballs. We tried several different brands, size, color, action but the PICO cranks ended up on the majority of the 8 rods we had out. The colors varied thru the day but a couple of customs that aren't in the catalog yet found a place in the spread all day.
We ended up with 28 keepers, several lost crappie, a nice green carp, a ton of yellows, and a million laughs.
I think I can easily say Crappie.com is responsible for many such new friendships. I had a ball guys. Love you like Brothers. Attachment 275408Attachment 275409Attachment 275410Attachment 275411Attachment 275412Attachment 275413
