Saturday, March 27

This was supposed to be the big one – the most exciting way to take a big bull red – sight-fishing the skinny water on light tackle. We had looked forward to this, and the weather prevented us from doing this Friday, but was supposed to be decent today.

Unfortunately, the tide was not in agreement with us. Water was lower than expected, keeping us from reaching the areas we needed to get to. We did see and get to cast at a few, but no hookups. On top of this, it was around 40 degrees out, and a breeze picked up that continued to add challenges to a day that started out with very high hopes, but faded out and into nothing more than a sightseeing tour of the Bourg marsh. Which, I must say, was till pretty awesome. Too cold for the gators to get out, leaving my “gators seen/photographed” total for the trip at a big – and unusual – “0”, unfortunately, but I did get to watch the ospreys play. It was an absolutely gorgeous sunrise, albeit much colder than I had anticipated or packed for.
The highlight here had to be Nick’s attempt to hop off the boat to fish a little island from the bank. Unfortunately – although Ron and I were certainly entertained – Nick was a step short – or maybe thought the mud was more solid than it was. Nick quickly sank one leg well over his knee, losing his entire boot. It actually took a few minutes to locate and dig his completely submerged boot out of the swamp muck.

If not that, it was watching the Ospreys out-fish us. At least someone caught something… 🙂

Saturday, March 27

We hit the road, reached Grenada, MS, and holed up for the night. Turns out the Crappie Masters Tournament was there Friday and Saturday, so we got to see a bunch of fancy wrapped tournament boats running around town. Had a decent meal, a great beer, and a solid night’s sleep before getting up to try our luck in considerably less-than-optimal conditions. But we were here, in Crappie-Heaven, so we had to give it a shot, right?
Despite incredibly tough fishing, it was still a neat experience. Knowing that the likelihood of a 3lb+ crappie was at least decent added something to the anticipation. While the cold temps had the fish pretty well shut down, it was still a lot of fun to fish something different. Not to mention our host, Anthony, who was just an outstanding guy. Many, many thanks to this local crappie aficionado, willing to take a Sunday morning of his own time, away from his family, to entertain a couple randoms from the Kansas board. Anthony, should you ever read this, you have an open invitation for anything we can do for you here in the Wheat State! Come on up!

No trophy slabs on this day, but getting to fish “hallowed waters” such as these is an experience all its own – and one I’m glad we made time for.