The Bucket.

[jdmidwest]

The summer of 2015, things were going good.  Kids are out of the house, everything paid for, and time to spend enjoying life.  Around the campfire, I professed a plan.  I was going out and start doing other places.  New places.  I have not dipped my toes in salt water, just waders in Alaska.  There are many lakes I want to try.  I want to see big ships, naval ships.  You guys know what happened and things got stalled.  Cancer whacked me twice and the wife had a mild stroke.  Both of us are back up to speed again.

I have hit Normandy Lake and Tims Ford this year, one of the things we talked about that summer.  Tomorrow I embark on a journey to Cordell Hull for a couple of days, something we talked about while camped below Center Hill Lake that summer.

Next month, the trip I had planned that Thanksgiving week along the MO/Ark Line will hopefully take place.  And then I will see the ocean and the big boats with the wife.  DR visits are every 6 months now and don't eat up all of my vacation and spending money.  Life has returned.

Ducks are on the horizon again, may go looking for teal with my new 20 ga if a cold front hits in the next few weeks.

[Boobie]

I hear you JD. I have some funky crap going on and I don't hold back doing anything anymore. I was crazy enough to teal at a public area this morning after getting off a 24 hr. shift. Got there late but still got a few shots. Nice breeze made it worthwhile...… Ham and cheese with a ice cold tea didn't hurt also!!!!

[jdmidwest]

Filled a little of that bucket this week.  Spent a few days at Cordell Hull with a good friend.  It has to be one of the most peaceful and pretty lakes in TN so far.  Corp of Engineer Lake with a lock and generation.  Tailwater forms the upper end of Hickory Lake that runs into Nashville on the Cumberland River.  Upper end of the lake is fed by the cold water from Dale Hollow.  No docks or houses on the lake for the most part.  We camped at the Defeated Creek Camp which sits on a point on the lower lake with water all around.  Cool breezes off the water made the hot summer nights pleasant.  Nicest Corp campground I had been to also.  Clean bathhouses, open sites with shade.  Not crowded and packed like sardines.

The local town of Carthage was just a normal town.  Most of the area around it seemed to be just simple folks.  No crowds of tourists or big empty houses that were only filled by lake visitors on a mission a few weekends a year.

Sunday evening started out below the dam, generation was pretty stout.  We stabbed at it for an hour with no luck, we pulled out and made camp.

Monday morning arrived.  We fished around for a while hitting the usual looking spots for bass in the shallows, but no luck.  We finally picked up our first fish around 9 off a point and that was the pattern for the morning.  Several bass and a few green sunfish.  Not much size, but kept it interesting.  The sun was high at noon and we decided to put on cranks and troll the channel near the camp.  We had marked several fish going over them and gave it a shot.  We caught several white bass and a couple of sauger on Flicker Shads and Flicker Minnows at 15'. 

That afternoon, we launched out of Carthage and run up the Caney Fork looking for river smallies.  We had fished it below Center Hill 4 years ago for trout.  The Cordell Hull was generating heavy and had it backed up pretty good.  But we found the shallows, run the Panfish 17 aground in 3" of water.  Fiddled around with that for a while and got it worked off finally back to floating water.  My buddy thought we had performed well until I pointed out that the water had came up 6".  We did catch a few bass.

Back to the camp and fished till dark in the lake.  Several decent fish.

Tuesday morning, trailered the boat up a few miles and fished out of another ramp.  The only other person at the ramp was in a row boat, for exercise.  We had the lake to ourself.  The point pattern did not produce.  The trolling did and a mess on white bass for the ride home and a few more undersize sauger.

Its a Killer Lake, we found the Bass Funeral Home.  They must give them a proper burial.