01-05-2015, 10:00 AM
Some days are diamonds, some days are stone...<br /><br />I&#39;ve had too many diamonds on recent guide trips. I guess I was due for a stone. Sadly, it was Curtis and Amanda Heck who accompanied me. I always tell folks that it is really hard to get skunked when you&#39;re catfishing. We didn&#39;t get skunked Saturday but we weren&#39;t too far from it. I think we caught a grand total of six eater-sized catfish. We were marking fish, they just had lockjaw. For what it&#39;s worth, we talked to three different crappie fishermen who said they were finding the same thing. <br /><br />But as always, me and the Heck&#39;s had fun. It&#39;s the second time they&#39;ve fished with me. They are good folks from Mississippi who visited Chattanooga for the Christmas Holiday. By the way, they had taken advantage of a special package deal I&#39;ve put together with a friend who owns a pair of awesome cabins on the upper end of Wolftever Creek in Ooltewah. The Hecks stayed there three nights and said the Old Mill Cabin was awesome. They&#39;d had a lot of fun catching bluegill out of the creek out their back door, that is, when they weren&#39;t basking in the hot tub. If you&#39;ve got friends coming into town (or you&#39;re coming into town), check it out. <br /><br />The Hecks called it a day about Noon-thirty, but I went back out solo to hunt for some fish that would bite. I failed miserably. Fished from 12:30 to almost dark and NEVER had a bite from a catfish! Finally, not long before dark I went and hit one crappie spot. Took me a few minutes to figure them out, but finally did and caught three nice keepers real quick. They went back in the water. After a long, almost fruitless day, I only wanted to prove to myself I could still catch a fish. emoBig <br /><br />Last night tbinchrist told me he experienced the same lockjaw scenario. Misery loves company, so that means life is good and gettin&#39; better every day!<br />