3
Fishing, Friends,
and a
Forty Pound Carp!
Dale Hollow, here we come again. Saturday, April 16th why
oh why when plans are made obstacles pop up. Richard and
I planned for six days of fishing at Dale Hollow, but Richard
was suffering from a stiff neck and could hardly turn his head
from side to side. I’m recovering from gallbladder surgery. Al-
most too tired to go fishing. But the boat was packed, and our
swim was reserved. The weather was awesome when we ar-
rived to launch the boat. That turned out to be tough because
the boat was loaded down with so much stuff. Finally made
it to our spot and now the fun part begins… Not! Unloading
the boat and getting everything set up is always work. It was
a slow process, but we got it done. Later Richard went to the
marina to get ice I decided to put the Bivvy up. That was going
well until I found out that I put it up backward. So I waited un-
til Richard got back to fix it. After we got it set up the right way and got the bed chairs in, we were ready
for bed. Sunday morning a beautiful God-given sunrise greeted us with our morning coffee. After Finally
enough energy to start baiting our swim. 50 pounds of sweet feed, 20 pounds of cattle cubes, flavored
with Mango juice, a 5-gallon bucket of boiled corn, tiger nuts, and hemp. One of the great unspoken
things about a long session is just enjoying the beautiful world of sights and sounds of the lake. Monday
morning Richard caught the first fish a beautiful mid 20-pound common. Fish were starting to show in our
swim. Tuesday a migraine headache hit me upon waking, so it was all I could do to just stay in the Bivvy
all day. With the windows closed boy did it get hot in there but migraines and carp fishing don’t go togeth-
er. Rick and Denice invited us over to their swim to eat with them, shrimp boil! Over to their island, to
socialize with Rick, Denice, Danny Beck, Dan Rooze, Erni, and
Krzysztof Motwicki. We had a wonderful time with old friends
and new friends. Wednesday morning I felt a little better and
started fishing again. Richard put out more bait. Baiting in two
smaller areas trying to concentrate the fish. He was catching
again. But as the bite slowed some so he decided to walk to a
more secluded area and take a bath in the lake. We had about
four bass boat with fishermen in front of our swim. Hence the
walk to the secluded cove. So I was left there watching the rods
while he walked off thru the trees with shampoo, soap, and a
towel. He was gone maybe 7 minutes when his alarm started
screaming. I run to get it, whats on the other end was heavy!
A few minutes go by, and I hear Richard coming back from his
bath. Turning around while playing the fish to tell him that he
has a fish on, what I saw could not be unseen! He was strut-
ting back through the trees with just his crocs on and a towel
thrown over his shoulder. Jaybird Naked! He asked me, do I
have a fish? Is that my rod? All I could manage was a shake of
my head yes. Instead of him putting some shorts on he put the
towel around his waist struting out in front of the bass anglers!
Needless to say, they were snickering quietly! We got the fish
in the net that was a beautiful 28 lbs. 12 oz. fully scaled mirror.