September Smallies

September 20, 2011
Boat - Old Town 119
Main Outfit used- Ambassadeur 4600 with 12 lb Ande line
Main Lure used- Strike King Spinnerbait, Chartreuse
Weather- cool and cloudy


I was dying to do a float this am as it has been July since I have done a float because of my operation. Should I go after Largemouths or Smallies?....Or should I go after Crappie or Carp?.....

The decision was to go after Smallies since I Have not fished for them much this year.  Weather was supposed to be cloudy with a 30 % chance of rain from 7am -12 and 50% chance after 12.  A daylight to 12 trip it would be . I  arrived at the launch at daylight to a cool 60 degrees air temperature and no one else there. Here is a picture of my "new to me" truck at the put in.  Note- my ole Honda will be doing 90 percent of my canoe hauling as it is a lot easier to put a canoe on a lower vehicle and strap it down.  Not really bad with the truck but alot easier with the car.

This "new to me" truck is a 2002 Sierra that I told my self if I bit the bullet and purchased it that I would also bite the bullet and purchase a good canoe rack for it. I have used Yakima racks since 1988 and have them for 2 hondas but for a truck the Thule racks look better and look better made. Ouch! that hurt as I have always praised Yakima.

The water was a toasty 67 degrees and clear. I started off throwing a Chartreuse spinnerbait and was rewarded with this Smallie.  She wrapped me up twice,  but fortunately I had 12 lb ande on the Ambassaduer 4600 and 7' allstar rod..

Get Your Strike King Spinnerbait here - https://amzn.to/3VOfDuR

I then caught a bigger one but she broke my spinnerbait and fell into the water as i tried to lift her into the canoe.

The smallies were really whacking my chartreuse  spinnerbait .

Lots of these little guys.

To Steve and Jim. this ain't where u think it is.

Out of 3 smallie fishing trips this year this was definitely the best out of the 3. Next time I will be better prepared with more spinnerbaits.  See you on the water Mack

#bass

#smallmouthbass

#fishing

Gona miss Ole Sassy

I lost my second favorite fishing partner on 9/9/11. Sassy the Boxer has gone to doggy heaven.   Sorry Todd, Steve, Jeff, and Rodney but my son is first and Sassy was second as she never whined about me catching  all the big ones, never had to be home at a certain time,   and never once did she have to ask for permission to go fishing with me....LOL.......

Anyway,  she was diagnosed with cancer in May and we knew that this day would be here soon. Friday was a very tough day. A very tough day indeed.

A little History about Sassy.  Sassy was my fourth boxer and my  first boxer That wasn't a puppy when I got her. She was 1 1/2 years old and had no boundary's where she had lived. I consider myself very good at training dogs and all my previous boxers would stay in their yard with out fences(no underground fences here) . Sassy was going to be a project and would test my training ability and herself.

The first month we had sassy she was going everywhere....Running all over the neighborhood. My previous boxer(Jordan) was admired all over the neighborhood as people were amazed at how well she stayed in the yard and how well behaved she was. I even had her trained to climb ladders and get on roofs.
Sassy coming after Jordan was like the coach after  Bear Bryant or whomever is going to follow Joe Paterno.  It was going to be a tough job for Sassy.  Even Ms. Diane down the road told me one day after one of Sassy's many escapes "you will never get her to stay in the yard like Jordan". I informed her that Sassy would it was just going to take a little time. She was a diamond in the rough.   A little time was less than 2 months. She was a very fast learner and Sassy proved Ms. Diane wrong. Very wrong..... Sassy may not have been quite as smart as Jordan but it was darn near close  and her personality, loyalty, and strength probaly made her my number 1 dog of all time. She loved kids but you could tell that Sassy would protect us , to the end if she had to. Sassy was my partner on many fishing trips and if I left the house with rods in hand and didn't take her you could see the sadness in her eyes,  so sometimes I had to sneak out..

 On our first  fishing trip together we arrived at the haw and I put her in the front of my Old Town 158. You could tell she was a little nervous and about 50 yds after launching she vaulted out of the canoe and hit the water swimming. I  immediately snatched her back in which wasn't easy as she weighed 70 lbs.  She never jumped out again and was always ready to go canoeing. We enjoyed many days on the water together  and we also enjoyed many days at home with Sassy.  She was happy right up till the end......  I never feed my dogs people food but Sassy was spoiled this summer. She actually ate better than me sometimes and several days before her death she had 2 nice big ribeyes that i cooked for her on the grill.

Here are some pictures of Sassy.

And Finally my favorite Sassy fishing picture......

No Offense to Jordan as she was a Great dog but Sassy arriving on the scene after Jordan was like if  Roy Williams had accepted Carolina's first offer to suceed Dean Smith and there would of been no  Bill Gutheridge and Matt Doughtery.

Sassy didn't miss a beat. You will be missed.  Cindy, Mack Nicholas and Myself

Sassy McCorkle 6-12-2003 - 9-9-2011