Hal, Chick, Crappie & Bass, 12-18-09, Alone-in the Rain

[FishNews]

What a day, emoParty yep, it was a party, a rain party, emoSmile I didn't get on the road 'till after 9 AM and with the front of Signal Mountain's HWY 127 down to 1 lane the traffic on the mountain is all fouled up so I went my usual way down Falling Water Rd. Only problem was that when I got about 3/4 way down there was this big ole lovely pine tree across the road, emoRolleyes Now for those of you who have never traveled Falling Water Rd. off Signal Mtn this is a very narrow two track road with guard rails all the way down and these guard rails are about 6 inches from the edge of a very narrow asphalt lane. A car can just barely turn around on this road but an SUV with a 18 foot boat, forget it, emoAngry So here I sat from 9:15 'till 10:30 waiting for the county to cut the tree out of the road so we could get passed. (I have to say that the county guys who came to cut the tree did a great job. Once the two of them got started they didn't stop 'till the road was clear) great job but it was a hold up and I didn't get on the water 'till 11 AM, a late start for me emoTongue It rained and then it rained some more without a let up all day, emoRedface I stayed pretty dry but it's impossible to stay completely dry in those conditions, emoRain <br />But the fish were hungry, emoHungry and I managed to boat 26 crappie and 2 spots while hunting places to get out of the rain, bridges and docks that had room of ole Hal's boat, emoSmile <br />I talked with Catfish1 and he is trying to get enough crappie for a fish fry so I called and asked if he wanted some crappie to add to his freezer for the fish fry. I saved him 15 nice ones and some were 13"+ slabs so he was happy.<br />All in all it was a good catchin' day but I hope the rain stops and they can slow the flow.<br />Water temp was 44* and the bait of the day was BG bleeding shad and crystal shad. It took a while to figure out what they wanted today, a 6 count and a fairly rapid retrieve, didn't want a stop or a twitch just a steady retrieve, emoScratch It's different every time you go out, they must've all been female, emoBig <br />No pictures today, didn't want to get the camera out in the monsoon, emoRolleyes <br />I gave it up about 3:45 while they were still biting, emoThumbsup