Doug Wynn

Hello from the Excel BP230 Elite. A big part of my job involves fielding questions and booking dates. Many times I never even talk to a booked client until they walk up to the boat at the prearranged time. My trips are booked thru my website so unless I have previously fished with a client, I’ve rarely talked with them.

Recently, I had a trip scheduled with a Grandfather and Grandson. It was chilly when they met me at Lynnhurst Family Resort and hoodies felt pretty good. The Grandson said very little as we got in the boat and began to motor out to our fishing area. He stayed curled up in his hoodie until I got the poles set and we began our fishing trip. Granddad and I carried on a conversation and he then told me it took a while for his Grandson to warm up to new people.

I asked the grandson several questions while helping him set out his baits with very little response. Once Granddad caught a fish or two, we started to see the grandson come out of his comfortable hooded shell. A strike on one of his baits got more interest in our task. Once a nice crappie decided to have his Pico crank for breakfast, the shell was mostly removed.

The action in our first spot quieted so I turn south to head across the bay. Just as the turn started, his 16 foot ACC Crappie Stix pole snapped back with a jarring strike. As I helped him get the pole out of the Millennium rod holder, I had a good idea the fish was a sizable catfish. For the next five full minutes, the pole was repositioned several times and the reel drag adjusted a couple of times. The boat continued toward the area I was headed and the catfish kept the fight up. Finally the fish gave us a good look at it as I tried to get the net positioned. Once the cat was in the net, any trace of a shy young man was gone. Now the trash talking started! A good natured back and forth between Grandfather and Grandson went on pretty much the rest of the trip. A big crappie the grandson caught really kicked it into high gear! I’ve heard all my life how fishing is the best medicine for getting shy folks involved in the outdoors. That morning proved it to me.

I’m starting to see the yellow bass and small white bass move in amongst the large numbers of baitballs. Most are smaller than I’m inclined to keep but they are causing an upturn in surface jumps that may foretell some good schooling action to come. It is very encouraging to see the amount of new clouds of minnows. Willow fly hatches are picking up and they are another valuable food source for most fish.

Most of the crappie we are catching are showing the rigors of the spawn have left them thin but hungry. They will spend most of the summer putting back on the body mass they have lost. The catfish don’t seem to be any worse for the wear except for an occasional battle scar on their head.

It has taken me a while to get my ducks in a row and get my tackle set up to try the tactic I learned from Capt Scott Lillie on Chickamauga. Our trip Monday was a test to see if Ky Lake white crappie would find the trick as tempting as the black crappie on Chickamauga. They did! Probably 80% of our catch came on it.

I’m not going to be giving away my new secret for a while. I want to get the National Crappie League tourney Saturday on Sardis Lake, MS behind me and try it for a few more trips with clients.

I still have a couple of dates in June but have several in July. I’ll be at Lake Erie with friends right after the 4th holiday. Miss Vickie has acquired a taste for walleye fillets so I feel obligated to try to keep them on hand.

We lost another local fisherman to drowning over the weekend. The work of our local Rescue Squads is so critical in such tragedies and we need to support them any time we can.

I know I bore folks when I encourage lifejackets and kill switch use but they do save lives when used.

Be careful out there! Welcome to our slice of Heaven.