First trip of 2012

[bamabassman]

DA RAJUN CAJUN is hooked up. batteries are charging up. rods are loaded, bait tackle is loaded. lifejackets, dip net, EVERYTHING is back in it's place.

got my clothes ready, gonna take a shower ow and hit the hay stack.


i'll be thinking of all ya'll who have to work tomorrow as i am floating, trolling along the river on GUNTERSVILLE. slinging my NEW ROD AND REEL. and yes.......hopefully catching dinks if the bigguns won't bite. lol. gonna take advantage of this nice spring like weather before it's gone back to raining again.

i'll give a report on how the new set up does as well as a few other things i got over the months.

LET'S GO FISHING!!!!

[WatterBoy]

Good luck, bama! Have a great time and hope you land a few!

[keithdog]

Best of luck to ya buddy. Send some picks!!!

[Bassboss]

Good luck to ya buddy! Hope you have a blast, wish I could be fishin this time of year!

Originally Posted by keithdog

Best of luck to ya buddy. Send some picks!!!

Please, no interceptions, but some pics would be nice!

[MallenManson]

Good luck John!!!!!
Wish I was out there with ya!

[joedog]

Have a great day!

[nobass]

go get them john best of luck

[MississippiBoy]

Poor John....I got a text from him at 6:30 this morning. His truck's idler pulley broke on him. He's already been to the parts store to get a new one, and is probably putting it on as I type, but he's not real happy about it. Hope this doesn't set the tone for the rest of his day....

[joedog]

Originally Posted by MississippiBoy

Poor John....I got a text from him at 6:30 this morning. His truck's idler pulley broke on him. He's already been to the parts store to get a new one, and is probably putting it on as I type, but he's not real happy about it. Hope this doesn't set the tone for the rest of his day....

That flat out STINKS!
The rest of the day can only get better....I hope.

[Bubba_Bruiser]

No doubt, turn that frown upside down and get on the water Bama.

[MallenManson]

Poor John.
Hopefully he can catch a dink or 2 to cheer him up

[bamabassman]

well.........as some of ya'll know, my first trip for the year didn't go as planned. left nice and early so i could be on the water as the sun came up. but then i heard this noise coming out form under the hood. then there was a "slap"! dash board lights all wnet crazy, EVERYTHING came on. "check gauges", battery light, you name it, it came on. so i stopped in the road (little barely 2 lane tar and gravel road). truck still running, i popped the hood to take a look see. there was the serpitine belt laying to one side of the engine compartment. CUSS,CUSS!! FORGIVE ME LORD!!! SO SORRY TO SAY THAT OUT LOUD FOR REAL GOD!!

simmer down john....simmer down. it's an old truck, many miles on her but she's a good girl. just a belt man. take it easy easy fix. BUT DANGIT!!! WHY NOW?!?! CALM DOWN JOHN!!! here it is 5 am and it's gonna be 2 HOURS till the parts store is open. ok, i'll just miss the buzzbait bite, that's all.

i pull the belt out......WHAT? IT AIN'T BROKE. WHAT THE CRAP?!?

so i get out the trusty flashlight, point it towards my face and click it on to be sure it works. GAAAAAAHHHH!!!! STUPID FOOL, OYU KNOW BETTER THAN THAT. now ya got spots in yer eyes. ok, serenty now..serenty now..........ok. calm again. dang it!!

i shine the light to where the belt goes.


nothing......wait...............what's that? oooohhhhh noooooo. idler pully is all tore up!! bearings are out completly. dang.

so i called lisa, no she wasn't asleep. thank goodness. i would hate to hear her blessing me out for waking her up this early. she goes over to her parents house and then she and her dad ride over to where i am. which is less than a mile away. i have 300 tools in my truck.......but of course not a SINGLE socket. her dad has sockets. ALRIGHT!! we take out the old idler pully. man is it TORE UP! the bolt is even bent beyond repair.

so we drive back to the house. i call ahead hoping the parts store is open. it's 6:45 am.

YES, the owner is there now. YES!! he has the pully. so i hoped in lisa's trailblazer and head over there. i get there and it's sitting ont he counter. but wait. what about the bolt? we dig around and find a bolt that'll fit, aaahhhh. $23.00 and some change and i am heading back to the truck. which is now on the side of the road witht he RAJUN CAJUN still hooked up to it. lisa's dad meets me there and we proceed to put the ol gal back together.
so i FINALLY get to the lake around 9 am or so. i launch the rig. the wind starts HOWLING. wait a inute..the weatherman said only 5-10 mph winds today. wtc? i crank up the boat. SLOWLY i go to JONES COVE. the wind is really blowing now. white caps EVERYWHERE. i otugh it out. by golly i was gonna FISH no matter what today. took a vacation day for this. gonna stick to my guns.

i start out with the spinnerbait, SLOW ROLLING it. nuthin..... FOR 2 HOURS!!!

i throw a jerkbait......same. i switch form jerks, spinners, cranks, traps, lizzards, jigs, worms,flukes......you name it i tired it. had 16 rods and everyone of them had something different on it.

wind was HORRIBLE. that is til i was worn out form fighting it and started heading in. of course, why not......been a bad day form the get go right?

so i loaded up the boat and tied it down and headed in to home.

got home and lisa knowing how rough a day it was for me, had BBQ ribs, baked tater, beans and bread WAITING for me. GOD I LOVE THAT WOMAN!!!

but i gotta tell you guys and gals. I HAD THE BEST TIME TODAY. didn't have to go to work, went fishing for the first time this year. and it was AWESUM!!

the new combo worked to perfection. love it. the lews reel is in my opion, a fantastic reel for the money. the new rod id exactly what i wanted it to do. it is gonna be an awesum worm, lizzard, frog and jig combo. it will be used a LOT this year.

da RAJUN CAJUN is still at the top of it's game. needs some tle i know, but everything still works and it still floats, hahaha. always a plus in my book.

so i am ready to get back out there. jsut waiting on some DECENT weather.

oh yeah......i DID catch 1 fish. not a bass............A 2 POUND SHINER!! at least i think it's a shiner. if my good buddy daniel will post it, ya'll can tell me if it's something else. i was slinging the trap where the seagulls were diving at some shad schooling. and WHAM! it hit like a ton of bricks. gave a nice fight too.

so until next time gang. hope everyone gets out sooner rather than later.

[lilmule]

Nice to get out,even nicer to have a great other half.
As for the fish without a pic bet it was a skipjack or poor mans tarpon.
That ragin cajin aint green an john deer yeller is it?

[WatterBoy]

Glad you got out, John, even if getting there didn't go as planned and the wind and fish didn't cooperate. Thanks for the report and hope you get out again soon!

[MississippiBoy]

Here's his catch. I called it a shiner, but I really have no idea what it is....

[joedog]

Success is measured in SMILES! '
Glad your day was a success!

[wallywallace]

i call that cutbait

[kennethdaysale]

Originally Posted by MississippiBoy

Here's his catch. I called it a shiner, but I really have no idea what it is....

Gizzard Shad????

[MallenManson]

Glad to hear you made it out on the water, Johnboy.
Just think, the truck coulda broke down on a day that was nice, and accompanied by biting bass!
You got that issue out of the way

[Bassboss]

Looks like a fish to me!

Gotta say though John, I was LAUGHING somethin fierce reading thing the first part! Seems like this stuff never goes right for ya does it? lol

Hope the truck and the weather cooperate for ya next time!

[james86]

Baked tater! My favorite.

[3dkicker]

Originally Posted by kennethdaysale

Gizzard Shad????

Not Gizzard. Head and nose not correct. Plus Gizzard aren't long and lean.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...B917D0&first=0


More likely Hickory or American.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...=0&FORM=IDFRIR

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...31&FORM=IDFRIR

[nofearengineer]

That is a Skipjack Herring. Best blue catfish bait there is. (I will of course defer to Cap'n Mike's knowledge on the blue cat subject.)

[bamabassman]

well WHATEVER it is, it's back in the water. thanks for clearing that up for me for real though. i htought about trying to push a couple hooks through ti and slinging it out. glad i didn't now. i DON'T catfish. lol.

[docirv]

All is well that ends well..... or something like that.... be well my friend....