By Marty Dixon/Sports Correspondent
This past week allowed me to get out on the water for a few days and with any luck, I can get at least one more day in the books. I’d like to thank Super Dave Wesson for a tip that helped put a few fish in my boat. Dave put the hammer to them on Sunday with some good numbers and size. For the most part, the weather this past week has been mild. The water temperature has been in the low 50s with a little bit of current, thanks to Alabama Power. I managed to land a few fish late in the afternoon around the house in the mouths of pockets by throwing a crankbait and a little swimbait. The key has been finding bait balls and getting a lure down in them. I haven’t hit big numbers, but the sizes have been pretty good.
Another of my friends, Tim “The Bass Chaser” Heard, was one of the lucky ones to win the fish with a pro contest Bucks Island Marina ran over the summer. Tim fished with Scott Canterbury and had nothing but rave reviews for Scott. Tim carried Scott to places in his boat he was a little scared to run. They caught fish on a flat side square bill around points, rocks and seawalls. Tim and his pro managed to catch fish most of the day and had a good lunch. According to Tim, all of the guys were very friendly and forthcoming with information on fishing. Tim wished to express his gratitude to the Bucks Island pro staff. Tim’s partner, who was one of the pros, weighed in three fish for 12 pounds. That’s a good bag any time of year. They caught their fish on a swim jig in the backs of pockets in shallow water.
It appears that there are more ways to catch fish, even in cold water. The spots appear to be in their deeper water pattern while there are still some largemouths in the shallows, especially on the warm sunny days.
Just so no one thinks went smoothly for me this past week, I managed to stay hung up about half the time. The lure retriever received a major workout, as well as my trolling motor in circling my lures.
As per usual, however, something screwy happened. I wish Brother Butch had been there to appreciate it. I had a bite set the hook into a log and spent at least 10 minutes hitting the lure with my lure retriever. I finally got it unhung, and to my surprise, I reeled in a 2.5-pound spot and lure retriever. Of course, I got hung up in the same piece of wood three minutes later.
I do want to mention that we carried all three of the grandkids to The Falls for the Christmas light show and train ride. It was well worth the price of admission. We only had three meltdowns and a crying fit in the car, which was by my wife and myself. Overall, it was a good trip and the kids had fun, although I did have to promise Hurricane Anna that I would roll up The Grinch if he came near her. She does not like The Grinch very much.
I wanted to mention one of the young guns that fished with us all summer, but once again, I forgot his name. If you are reading this column, please give me a shout. My apologies for being old and forgetful. The young guns regular partner was one of the guys fishing with the pro staff this past week.
It has been a pretty good week so far, and let’s hope some of that good luck stays with me. Next week I may just print a Christmas list so everyone can shower me with fishing gear for new year. It’s late and I’m hungry, so see you on the water.
Until next time, tight lines and fish on!
Marty Dixon is a 1982 Sardis High School graduate and retired high school educator and coach. He was head coach of the Gadsden State women’s basketball team from 2015 to 2019. He and his wife Texann live in Gadsden. He can be contacted at fishn4funin02@yahoo.com and the Neely Henry Bass Fishing page on Facebook.