Alabama Spotted Bass

Wouldn't some Bassmaster Classic competitor like to have these Alabama spotted bass tomorrow?

These fish didn't come from the Coosa, though. Instead they came from one of Kyle Mabrey's favorite stretches of the Black Warrior River. Mabrey used a BOOYAH Pigskin Jig matched with a YUM Craw Papi to provide a mighty good glimpse at why he loves fishing on the Warrior.

Guntersville was challenging earlier this week. Unusually cold water for this late in February made the largemouths pretty tough customers. However, the spots in the Warrior didn't seem to mind. It'll be interesting to see what Lay Lake's mix of largemouths and spots think about cold, stained water and to see who does the best job of figuring them out.

Nathaniel and I will watch the blast-off and then visit the big outdoors show at the Classic.

Guntersville Morning

It's a chilly but beautiful morning at Alabama's Lake Guntersville. Bottom photo is from my balcony at the lodge at Lake Guntersville State Park. The bass may not not mind the sub-freezing temps, but we're going to let a little frost melt before we venture out on the water. And in truth, they probably will bite a bit better after the sun warms the water a bit.

First stop of our travels went great. It was cold in Mississippi, too, but we dodged a huge storm and got in a fabulous day of shooting photos with crappie pros from the B'n'P Poles pro staff and the Magnolia Crappie Club. We were on Lake Washington, an old Mississippi River oxbow that's totally separated from the main river now and is loaded with 2-pound white crappie. Great time of shooting photos and learning about techniques that will provide fine story material. G'ville bass report to follow in a day or two!

Photo by Nathaniel Samsel

On the Road Again

Nathaniel and I left today for a week on the road. Along the way we'll shoot photos with B'n'M crappie pros, fish Lake Guntersville and the Coosa River with bass pros Kyle Mabrey and Jimmy Mason, spend a day roaming around the huge outdoors show at the Bassmaster Classic and then wrap things up with a rescheduled dulcimer festival in North Carolina.

If that wasn't enough for one trip, we had to bump up our plans and leave home a day early. When the forecasted snow become a reality, I realized there was no way we were going to get out early tomorrow morning to get to a Mississippi River oxbow by tomorrow afternoon. So we put the packing in express gear, hopped in the truck, drove through snow and loads of Atlanta traffic and settled in Tuscaloosa, about halfway to our destination.

Photos and fishing reports to follow as time and Internet access allow.

South Carolina Snow Hike

Snow blanketed most of the 2-mile trail to the Raven Cliff Falls overlook. It made for slower than normal going and dictated careful footing in places, but the winter landscape was absolutely striking, and my wife and I had the normally popular trail totally to ourselves. The waterfall, which drops more than 400 feet, was running strong.

We decided against continuing on to the suspension bridge that spans the creek at the top of the falls. Trudging through the snow added an extra challenge, and an extra 3 miles (round trip) might have turned out to have been a little much for us today. Next time!

Winter is actually my favorite time of year to hike in the South Carolina mountains, mostly because of the openness of the vistas and because of the likely solitude.

Sweet Melody

Did we need a new dog? Probably not. She sure is cute though, and the children are thrilled to have a puppy in the house. She's half lab and half English pointer and is 8 weeks old. Her name is Sweet Melody. Nathaniel and I are dulcimer players, and the word "dulcimer" means "sweet melody." We'll mostly just call her Melody, I suppose.
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