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Hello from the Excel Storm Cat 230. It was good to walk on wet leaves this morning. Hopefully our extreme dry spell will soon be in the rear-view mirror. Wind is still a factor a large part of the time.

I’ve been on the road quite a bit recently. While it has been fishing related, it is still not like being on the lake with the sights and smells that come with enjoying Mother Nature. It’s been several days since I’ve been in the boat.

The lake is at 354.5 feet level and 62 degrees. Fishing has slowed a bit and is sure to take a few days to catch back up after the front that moved thru yesterday. Those who are catching decent numbers of crappie are Livescoping or slow trolling jig and minnows in 10-15 feet of water.

My last trip was with a gentleman from Northern KY who was on a swing through our area, fishing with several different guides in Tennessee and west Kentucky. I knew we had winds forecast to get up to almost 15 mph in the latter part of our scheduled trip, but he had a health problem that caused us to delay this trip from the spring. I wanted to do everything I could to make it happen on this day.

He had never pulled crankbaits for crappie. He knew the basics having longline trolled with other guides, so he was a quick learner. My plans were to finish up our day in Jonathan Creek since the wind forecast was for NW winds at 11-14 mph about 11 am. I thought we would start on the main lake then seek out protection in Jonathan.

I have been puzzled many days by a seeming lack of yellow bass. This day I found them. Everywhere I went, the yellows seemed to follow. When I would find crappie, I found many more yellows of keeping size.

I finally found a main lake bank that was holding good crappie. He caught the best fish of his trip, a white crappie over 2 pounds. The wind soon found us and made our boat ride back to Jonathan an interesting one. The forecast NW wind became west winds of 15-20 mph. Our trip ended soon after.

Last week I attended the 2022 Crappie Expo in Branson, Mo. My first trip there had been in 2020, during Covid, and it was not a pleasant experience. This year was very much better. The crowds were back, and it seems the fear of Covid had subsided.

It was great to greet folks in the Pico Lures and PTG Outdoors booths. We attended the tournament weigh-in on Thursday at Table Rock Lake. Friday was Championship Day and the weigh-in was held inside the Branson Expo Center.

Several teams from our area made the final day 25 team cut. The winners were the father and son team of Dan and Hayden Jefferies of Mississippi with 34.88 pounds. Their first prize was a check for $100,000! Next year’s Expo will be in Birmingham, AL. To all I got the chance to talk to, it was great seeing you.

When I’m not on the lake or traveling, you can find me in my taxidermy studio. I start my day with a cup of coffee, checking my desk-top for the latest news. This morning as I was scanning down the page, I saw an article about a singer-songwriter who I had never heard of.

I would normally just pass over such an article, but something made me open this one. An artist by the name of Michael Farren has co-written a song called “Checking In”. As I watched the video of him performing it, tears streamed down my face.

The song was about a man who had a voicemail message on his phone from his late father. The father was just checking in on his son and his family. The son hadn’t taken the time from his busy schedule to answer or return his father’s call. Now all he has is the voicemail.

That man could be me. I treasure a voicemail from my late Father. He opens the message “Hey son. It’s Dad. Just checking in.” Luckily, I did return that call and got the chance to enjoy having my Dad for 6 months after the voicemail.

We lost Dad to a stroke in November 2018. I got to hold his hand as he drew his last breath and attend his visitation at the funeral home. The next morning, I was in surgery at Lourdes Hospital for a severe back problem.

I’ve always second guessed having the surgery the day of his funeral, but Dad would have kicked my tail if I had decided to wait. I miss him! Today was the first time I have cried over his death since the night he died.

I guess my rushing around, trying to do a thousand things before my left shoulder is replaced on November 9th, has caused me to not remember the things that are really important, our families.

Take time to return that call.

Be careful on the lakes. We had a couple of drownings on Kentucky Lake last week. Cold water is not your friend. Wear your PFDs and carry those extra clothes in case you do get wet.

I’ll be back after my surgery. God Bless each of you. Thanks for reading.

Welcome to our slice of Heaven.