Boats docked at Holiday Marina

end and awaiting patiently for us to board. We loaded it up with our coolers and my fishing tackle. Yes, I was ready to fish while the others were ready to go boating and get sun. I take my chances when I get them! We unhooked the ropes and were on our way out to God only knows where on this very large body of water….the ever beautiful, but sometimes really low, Lake Lanier.

Once out on the water, it was time to get comfortable. Mike, and his BFF Mark, got into their trunks and took off their shirts while I, of course, being the one that is supposed to be the country boy in the group, could not just wear trunks. I might have a lot of things country about me, like the way I talk, the way I sometimes dress, and even the things I choose to do with my free time, but does not include covering myself up in the hot sunshine. I have never understood why guys get into the sun and wear shorts that go down to their knees or even past them. If I wanted to wear that much material, I would just jump into the water wearing my jeans. That would lead to me being as white as a sheet. I would scare people senseless and it’s not even Halloween. I can’t have that! I am trying my best to get a good color again. Given that, I decided to wear my favorite bikini swimsuit from UnderGear.

“OMG”, you say, with your jaw hitting the floor. “I can’t believe you wore that to go fishing. What the hell were you thinking?”

Well, let’s go back in time about a year. We were floating down the Chattahoochee River on inner tubes. As we floated downstream, we had to pass men trout fishing. Some were out in the middle of the river while others stood on the banks. After floating a while, these two men came into view. I be damned if one guy wasn’t wearing square cut, skin tight swimwear and having the time of his life. I gave him a thumbs up and he

Getting some sun after fishing for a bit

smiled and said it was pretty hot out. I agreed and floated on passed him. I thought that was a testament in the sportswear of guys. If this country guy, and you could tell he was quite country, could get out there and comfortably fish in just these skimpy shorts, what should stop me? Plus, I am 31 years old….not 65. Why not dress in things such as this while I have the chance? When I reach that age, I will just wear them to Gulf Shores, AL and walk along the beach.

We found a place on the lake near some trees and dropped anchor. I got out my rod and reel and used the worms and minnows I had left over from my last trip. The worms looked as though they had seen better days. They were lying together in a big glob, probably trying to stay warm! I had them stored in a small fridge in the garage. I placed one on my hook and chunked it into the water. I felt some tugs and nibbles, but nothing major. I reeled in a few times and only replaced the bait once.

On the last cast, I got pretty far out into the lake. I felt this was going to be a great spot. I was fishing on the bottom, hoping the fish were taking a break from the heat. The lake was a bit choppy and was moving us around a bit. I felt a pull and jerked the rod backward. Yeah, it’s a bitch how tricky the lake can be. There are all types of rocks and trees under the water of Lake Lanier from when the area was flooded and, since then, because of erosion. That was my fish. A big rock on the bottom had snagged my line. When something like that happens, the only thing you can do is cut the line. I was so pissed by this point. One thing I got from my Dad is the ability to get irritated very easily. It’s not something to brag about, but it has been passed down to many a person in my family. I ran the line back through the eyelets and put weights back on the line along with a new hook. I collapsed my rod as small as it would go, reeled in the spare line, and neatly stored everything away till we got back to the dock. Yes, that was my fishing for the day!

After fishing, Mike went around the shore, seeing how many people were out having a good time. Since the waters have risen again, people have been taking every opportunity to get out of the house on pretty days for swimming and playing. People were jumping into the water left and right, sloshing water on people wading around. We found a cove and decided to beach the boat for a few. We jumped off the boat for a few. Since no one was around, we swam au natural! That’s right! We stripped and felt the coolness of the water as it was meant to be felt. I loved swimming in the lake, but would have rather the bottom been more sandy than slimy. It wasn’t like swimming in the Alabama River. Most places I have swam on that river has had sandy bottoms. We had our fun and jumped back on the boat for the return trip to the marina.

While out on the lake, you can see many different types of boats. I saw one boat that I would love to own. Anyone who enjoys being out on a boat would love to have this baby. The ideas of parties that could be had on this thing are endless. There were quite a few people on it and they all looked

House/party boat seen on Lake Lanier

like they were having a great time, especially the people at the front. It looked like there was a hot tub on that end. A few years back, I was with friends at a cove, officially named the Gay Cove for over the past 20 years. One of the boats had been rented for the weekend with a hot tub. It was awesome! I was invited aboard and had a great time. Who would have thought I would end up in that situation?!

On our way back, unfortunately, the boat decided to have some technical difficulties. One of the boat’s warning sounds began to scream real loudly at the three of us. Mike cut the boat off, thinking that it needed to cool down. He tried to crank it back up, but it made a bad clicking noise, telling us not to try that again. Man, did Mike become pissed? You better believe it! His new nickname to me is Cartman! The “F” word rolled off that tongue more times than it did in Scarface or in the South Park movie. Mark and I just sat there and listened, being the only thing we could do in the situation. Another large boat was in the vicinity and gave us a tow back to the marina. If you think it is embarrassing to have your car towed because of a wreck or because of a breakdown, you should get towed on a boat.

Yes, Mike. I agree with you. That was rather embarrasing, but it did not make the whole day bad. We still had a great time together on the lake. We had not done that in a pretty long time. I had a ton of fun and, since I was stupid enough to not remember the sunscreen, I am dealing with the after effects. It’s all good!

This past Tuesday, July 14, I was able to go fishing for the first time in forever. I visited a friend’s home located on Lake Lanier. He lives on a cove where, for the past few months, the water levels have luckily been rising. Lake Lanier suffered a drastic drought period that lasted for over a year, even through months that should have been drenching us with rain in the North Georgia area. Not taking into account the drought in our area, it suffered the ever increasing bitching and complaining by the states of Alabama and Florida. Florida complained that the loss of water to their area, caused by the holding back of water at Buford Dam, was causing death to fresh water animals. What’s fair about ours having to die so that theirs can continue to live. I wish all of them that were complaining could have seen the mass destruction of water live when the Corps of Engineers let more water out of Lake Lanier than they should have. Ugh, faulty meter my ass. I think faulty brains were at play.

Back to my train of thought, the water has once again started to flow back into this cove, lifting my friend’s dock off the dry ground. I had told him I wanted to go fishing and he told me to come up and see if I could catch anything from the dock. I took him up on his idea and paid him a visit, yielding my tackle box, rod and reel, lounge chair, and a small cooler of Bud. It would not have been a complete fishing trip if the beer had not come along.

I stopped by the local Wal-Mart to get some bait. I would have loved to go fishing for catfish, but I knew they were not going to be plentiful. I was going to have more luck catching either bass, trout, or carp. I have never eaten either of these fish, but I wasn’t planning on eating any I caught.

The Trout

The Largemouth Bass

The Common Carp

Unless the lake is stocked by someone, it will be fished empty within a matter of a few years. I wouldn’t want to see that happen. Fish farms are more likely to stay stocked by their owners so that the fishing business will thrive and never die out. That isn’t the case with a lake the size of Lake Lanier. There is a trout farm close to the dam, but that is located farther down the Chattahoochee. Not mentioning the number of fish in the lake, I have honestly never cleaned a fish on my own. My dad did all the cleaning of fish. It stunk then and it will nonetheless stink now!

For this fishing trip, I would not be buying the usual stink bait, otherwise known as “blood bait”, consisting of various things, including blood, giving it the dark read color. This trip would call for either fake lures, worms, crickets, or minnows and shad. I chose to get earthworms or “night crawlers” and silver minnows. I have to say, these minnows were not what I was used to seeing. When going to a true bait shop, quite often you will find large vats of water with an aerator. These vats contain thousands of minnows, ready to be placed in a styrofoam container. Since Wally World

Fathead Minnows

does not have these vats, and isn’t a bait shop, they have to rely on what they can get from distributors.

I had never seen preserved minnows till I picked up this jar. It’s amazing how they can pack this jar slam full of them! I tried one of these little critters first. I didn’t get a good bite on the first or second time I cast my line, but then again, I think about the depth of water around the dock. It wasn’t as deep as it could have been. There is a channel that cuts through where the dock is sitting, but still, in relation to the depth of the lake, it wasn’t that deep. Then again, it could be the time of day I chose to go fishing. It was around 1 or 2 pm. As I was reminded by Mike, fish do tend to feed in the morning hours when the sun isn’t at its peak.

When I didn’t get anything more than nibbles, I placed an earthworm on the hook. Good heaven, these worms are huge! When we went fishing at home, we always went outside and dug up some of the back yard where Mom used to throw out dishwater. (An explaination for that will come later in either a blog or podcast.) We would fill up coffee cans or some other bowl with dark, silt filled dirt and carry them along. Much cheaper I should add. These critters are sometimes like crack to a fish. They see it hit the water, see it wiggle some on the hook, and then attack it with force. They are also kind of fun getting them on the hook as they wiggle, lengthen, and then shorten

The Earthworm or "night crawler"

themselves while trying to get away. They make it a feat to get them on a hook! I cast my line into the channel running through where the dock sat and relaxed in my chair while talking to Mike. You know those conversations you have to pass the time….relationships, work, things you do around the house, people you know, people you wish you didn’t know, etc. It was fun spending time with Mike as I don’t get to see him as much as I used to. I met him years ago when we were attending a dinner group in Gainesville, GA. We have kept in touch since then through one way or another. These days, when you find a good friend, you need to hold onto them.

That’s about the extent of my fishing trip. I will go back again one day soon, definitely during the morning hours and not when it is so dang hot. I am not going to complain about the heat. It hasn’t been that hot to me. I’m not like others that go around with the wrists to the forehead, screaming how hot and unbearable it is. To me, the North Georgia area has no humidity. Mobile, AL has humidity. Grove Hill, AL has humidity. New Orleans, LA has humidity. Atlanta, GA has no humidity. In Atlanta’s case, it’s all the pavement that radiates the heat back into the air around us. Take away the moisture in the air and you have dry heat that is, to me, unbearable. That’s why I could never live in Palm Springs or any other areas in that dry climate. Give me the Southeast or give me death! LOL.

Today, I am going to our local Wal-Mart and purchasing my state fishing license. In the state of Georgia, reagular fishing license are $9.00. There is an extra $5.00 tacked onto that if you want to fish for trout. My interests fall more on catfish, bass, and brim, but after a chat with my friend Joshua today, I think I will get the trout addition. He tells me he will go fly fishing with me sometime soon and get me trained in the sport. I will be looking forward to spending time fishing with Joshua.

At the present time, I don’t have a place to go fishing for catfish in the area. Back home, there was a place called Presnell’s Catfish Farm. There had to have been seven or eight separate ponds. One large one, in the center, was my favorite spot. When I was a child, my dad used to get irritated with me and was sure I would never grow up to be a fisherman. He would throw in, sit almost on his heel, and wait. Waiting, for him, seemed almost unnecessary. The fish knew he had cast his lure and they were ready to pounce upon it. Dad would do this slight raise…steady as a guy could while dipping Skoal…then yank the hell out of the rod, shouting, “Ah, yeah. C’mon..Ha Ha!”  The rest of the family would sit there while he cranked on his Zebco 808 reel, whining from the pull of the massive catfish he was fighting.

Compared to my dad, my trips fishing consisted of sitting there, watching an orange cord float in a large pond. To an eight year old child, that is not the most exciting of times. At least not me! Dad would constantly say, “Watch the cork, son. If you don’t pay attention, you won’t catch nothin’.” I knew that. I just didn’t care!

One fishing trip I will never forget is when my friend (lets call him Bob) went with us to the catfish ponds. He had never been taken fishing and had not the slightest clue what to do if the cork went into the water. Dad had cane poles for the younger ones, including me, Bob, and my sister. We sat on the bank and Dad baited the small hooks with crickets. We chucked the lines in and sat down. Dad looked at Bob and said, “Now, when that cork yonder goes under, you snatch the pole so that you can bring that fish to you.” Bob said OK and we were set to fish.

All of a sudden, we see Bob snatch that pole backward. The fish obviously sprouted wings, flew out of the water, and sailed off into the trees across the narrow dirt road behind us. I thought my dad was going to die. He stood up, slapping his hands on his legs, hollering in hysterical laughter. He looked at Bob and said, “You did exactly what I told you to do. That made my day!” We all got a great big laugh at Bob’s expense, but he was happy too. He knew he had caught a fish and that is what mattered most. Dad explained how to pull up more gently on the next event the cork went under.

That story shows fishing can not only be relaxing and a great sport, but it can also be a time full of fun and laughter for the whole family. Children these days should be introduced to outdoor activities. You see so many overweight kids that sit at home and play video games for entertainment. Is it really for the kid’s entertainment, or is it more so that the parents don’t have to be bothered? I personally believe it is the latter. The children of today are being raised by people of my generation. We grew up with Nintendo, Atari, and Sega game systems and the very beginning of the computer gaming age. We knew those were fun and, i guess some more than others, felt the need to pass that onto their children as a way to fill their free time.

Let’s hope something changes before it gets too late.

Until later.