Lake Ouachita 2012

For the 3^rd year in a row we made our pilgrimage to Hot Springs, Arkansas for our Easter fishing vacation.  This particular trip, we were elated that our permanent striper guide, Capt. Terry Brodnax, had invited us out for a gratis fishing excursion the day before our scheduled charter.  We met him at the dock in Crystal Falls, same place we fished out of the year before; you know you need to turn into the Lake when you see this sign.

I’m not sure whether the “biten” means ‘bitten’ or ‘biting’ dogs?  I know what automatic shotguns do!

The weather on our first trip was fabulous!  “Clear, Blue, and 22” as we pilots say; fishing wasn’t half bad either.  Capt. Terry had brought along his daughter Alley to assist in boat driving, navigation, and all of the other things Captains need to learn – she did a fantastic job!  We caught 3 really good sized stripers and called it a day around 4PM.

The next morning we met Capt. Terry and Alley back at the pier at 0600.  Traffic was bad with trucks, boats and trailers since they had a tournament going on and everyone was trying to put in at the same time.  Our Captain was already in the water and waiting on us, what a pro!  It was in the 50s, and fog hung low on the water – visibility about 50 yards, the smell of exhaust fumes from the boats reminded me of the JP-8 burning on the flight line – I digress.  It didn’t take long to get the lines wet, and after a few passes we were “Fish On!” 

Go here to see a short clip in Full HD:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ywx-QK7sQ

We trolled past another guide boat in the vicinity that was using planers and shad and about 8 dudes on her, never saw them pull in one fish….but they saw us pull in about 6 or 7!  We have really loved the time spent in Arkansas and we always talk about the next year’s trip all the way home.  Terry, thanks so much for making our vacations memorable!