Where dips the dogwood trail
And piney wood near the lake,
There lies a sleepy cove
Where flapping herons wake
The drowsy fisherman.
There we've hid our fishing treasure
Amidst the southern yellow pines,
Full of big crappie lurking deep.
Come away, O, crappie angler!
To the woods and waters wild
With a fairy wand in hand...
(Adapted from The Stolen Child by William Butler Yeats)

That's what he called it. A fairy wand. "Oh no, you glorified cane pole fishermen have already dubbed it buggy whip." I tried to explain. "You can't go renaming it now." Thus I embarked on another fantastic adventure with a new found friend and kindred spirit. It is only right to thank Jerry right from the start for his hospitality, wit and humor. His demeanor is consistent with a stereotypical fisherman but behind the sharp wit lies the kindness of a true gentleman.

He was fishing with a fly rod, a Berkley Cherrywood of the older classic type, and it is a durable and venerable rod, not one of the fragile new ones. Then of course he had the new 8' Pro Angler rod. Comes with a rod cover too, as he showed me. How he managed to get me to fish with it for an extended period I'll never know. But he also had a fairy wand of his own. It was a Zebco combo and it turns out that he had two! But of the Zebco as with most of us, there was a sentimental bond reminding us of days gone past with friends now lost. So I think he forgave me for only bringing a 5 1/2' rod to a crappie hunt.

That's exactly what we did, hunt those waskly wabbits...err..elusive crappie. Jerry with his fairy wand and me with my buggy whip. But my fishing coach brought along a micro rod of his own and he wasn't outdone in our strange quest to go small and catch big crappie. It's an oxymoron, the term "big crappie." They are small fish and a big one might weigh three pounds. So why not use light tackle on those fun to catch and tasty panfish.

(what Jerry considers a dink)

It started out slow as Coach and I explored this new crappie Mecca which has supplanted Cedar Creek as our favorite crappie lake. Palestine which is pronounced pa-lə-ˌstīn is a phenomenal lake. With Jerry as our guide we were told that we would find big crappie and that they would be holding in deeper water on brush piles. We didn't exactly find them there. But we scratched out a few "dinks" and took home sixty six fish before all was said and done. Most were taken off of bridges between eight and twelve feet down in seventeen feet of water. Color didn't seem to matter except during that one flurry of activity where Jerry put on a fair imitation of Coach by flinging in quite a few fish one after another using a blue and gold looking thing that he tied himself.

I couldn't possibly finish a post without mentioning that I caught more of the bigger fish than my compatriots and I did it, once again, with the help of Wally Marshall. Those Crappie Thunder jig bodies have a tendency to attract the attention of oxymoron fish like big crappie. Thanks again Wally for helping me catch a couple of really nice crappie. Jerry and Russell are two mighty fine fishermen and I consider myself fortunate that they allowed me to tag along and teach me a little bit more about how to catch a crappie. Thanks guys! I can't wait for another Buccaneer toast to celebrate a successful trip and maybe next time we'll have some apple pie for dessert.

Here's hoping that you get to go fishing often and soon!

Yes Sir!

Excellent recap of your weekend PNSP! Sure wish I could've turned loose yesterday to join you guys. My TM & Point 1 finally got fixed/installed around 8pm last night. I Hope you & Russell come back real soon so me & Jerry can draw straws & the 4 of us can head out in 2 boats & see if we can find the truly BIG crappie that reside in our "Pond".

Good story Daniel. Congrats on a great trip.

sounds like a fun time to me , wish I could have broken off from all the previous things planned for me
nothing beats a bunch a fish and some great company to boot .
knowing the folks you traveled with and visited assures me it was great time no matter the amount or size of the fish for sure
K A B O O M

Buccaneer Recipe

Whiskey and club soda (equal parts)
Ice
Lime wedge

Jerry, I want to thank you for a terrific time on the lake. I also have come to realize the term "dink" on Palestine is a reference to a nice keeper crappie on most other lakes. Russell

Now tell me one more time, is it STINE or STEEN? Thanks ya'll I had so much fun that I even cracked a smile and every now and then you might hear me laugh.

I am blessed to have had the chance to meet and host three really great new friends from the forum over the last two weekends at my place down here at the holy waters. I am sure we will remain close friends and fishing pals for a long time into the future and have many more ketchn adventures. Evidence that this forum can offer far more value than merely fishin info. Thanks TFF.

I thought as their host I might be expected to perform like a real crappie guide, not that I needed to teach these seasoned crappie hands how to fish, but to put them on the fish on their first visit ever to Pal. I was feelin the pressure to show my first "clients" a good time. Especially since they wanted to take a chest of filets back for a charitable cause. The few places I have done ok at in the past were now iffy at best in my recent experience and the few fish I had been catching were much smaller than normal lately. Fortunately that pressure went away immediately when we hit the water. At most stops, to my astonishment, these guys hung one on their first drops... and they picked up the pace from there. I was still struggling to catch any as usual. I quickly realized I was attending the mother of all fishing clinics. In the end they got the filets needed but had to go thru 5 or 6 dinks to get a keeper. What an experience to be in the boat with three of the best crappie fishermen I have ever seen. Havent finished digesting all that I learned from them. Data overload on whats left of my aging brain.

One lesson I did get however was that you better learn patience, bring a tub full of baits and be able to retie jigs fast and frequently if you're going to play in this sandbox with 4# line. Next time boys I would suggest bringin somethin a litte manlier than your Barbie poles cause we're going out where it's really nasty and hunting down the bigguns me n Pepop warned you about. Lookin forward to the next happy hour with the Buccaneers. And dont forget the Apple Pie.... ps. Pepop its on!

What was that other term you coined for short rods? Oh yes, now I remember. Princess scepter. I had to beg Jerry to let up every now and then on the side splitting commentary. He literally brought me to tears laughing and on more than one occasion.

I was cheating Jerry. I had 6# line, Coach was using 4#. I'll bring my pail and shovel for our next foray into the sand.

PNSP,
He can't stop about the buggy whips? Even from 150 miles away sitting here having a cup of coffee, recovering from and debating on carpel tunnel surgery from cleaning fish I feel like I'm sitting in the back seat. I think the deep inner conflict He may be fighting was the success we had extracting crappie on deep water brush piles with a 4 foot dock shooter on 4#. I'm looking forward to our next trip Jerry. I thought I would reciprocate a trip to Cedar Creek, being my home lake and a lake I thought had good fish in it. However it would only reinforce the Barbie theory and " Palastine dinks are Cedar Creek Hoggs ", In the grieving process their are 5 steps. It's been 12 hours 12 minuets since I've gotten home. I need time. Time....... to call my real estate agent and find a place on your lake!

Pepop look forward to fishing with you soon.
Russell

pixie stix? Personally I'm goin to the three B's for the next clinc. 11' B&M Brushcutters, Baitcasters and Braid. Luckily My lil Zebco imploded and my pixie stick broke on the same day. No brainer... to the basura....finally.

Reciprocate with a trip to CC? Gotta ask why? You going thru the anger stage of grieving now Russell? Ha. I'm leaving the porch light on for you boys here in paradise. Looks like the Pal Posse is regrouping Pepop.