Met up with Grease Bath on Friday on Benbrook. It was one of the most memorable fishing trips ever. It started with the weatherman getting it all wrong. There were supposed to be light winds early and not pick up until midday. Not wanting to disappoint a fellow TFF member I decided to get an early start and find the fish before meeting Grease Bath in the afternoon.

Launched at Holiday Park and picked up Ketchn at the dam (crossing 1). Headed to the south end of the lake to fish a location that I now refer to as the "parking lot." Wind came up immediately. We managed to catch a couple and my plan was to wrap it up, grab some lunch and get back in time for the afternoon fishing. Back to the dam was a wet ride (crossing 2). I checked the updated weather and the winds were supposed to die down a little around noon. So instead of fighting the wind I hit some coves on the east side and hid out searching for crappie. Couldn't find a crappie to save my life.

The wind was worsening so I decided to pull out, try the "parking lot" again and get lunch (crossing 3). Picked up three more but I hadn't found any areas holding good numbers. Not wanting to disappoint, forget lunch, I decided to check the east side of the lake starting in the northeast corner (crossing 4). Made it back to the south end of the lake again without a crappie (crossing 5).

Time to meet Grease Bath and I hadn't eaten. Thanks for the food Grease Bath! So we smooth out a hiccup with the gate attendant (they thought he looked dangerous and I had to vouch for his character) and get to fishing. We started at the "parking lot", he fished while I ate. Now I had to break the bad news to him, although I had ten crappie in the live well it wasn't going to be a big numbers day.

We worked our way back up the lake from south to north with the wind finally lessening as we went along (crossing 5). One black bass, one white bass and two catfish later still no crappie. I decided to work the dam and met some bass fishermen who were accidentally catching crappie. After they told us they were suspended six feet down we managed to catch three before we ran into Sac-lait-Pat. He was negotiating with a hostile native. Way to keep your cool and walk in faith Pat. He (Pat) donated some fish to our cause as did the bass guys.

So with 21 crappie in the livewell I attempted my sixth crossing of the lake. Half way back the outboard died and I knew exactly why. I hadn't put gas since adding four gallons on Cedar Creek a couple of weeks ago. Grease Bath you are one fine fisherman and a great sport. He cheerfully says "No problem, we still have the trolling motor!" He doesn't know what I know, that battery is five or six years old, been shorted out, ran dry twice and worked hard all day.

I raise the outboard and give it a good try. We cover half the distance to the boat ramp before coming to a snails pace. I call Ketchn to give him the heads up on a possible water taxi run. While Grease Bath is the ever cheerful type and is making jokes about Venetian gondoliers I unhook the cranking battery and use it to get back to the ramp.

Multiple trips across the lake in whitecap conditions and the embarrassment of running out of gas and draining the trolling motor battery make that one of the most memorable trips ever. Thank you Grease Bath for putting up with the nonsense. Hope to fish with you again sometime, next time I'll have a new battery and a full tank of gas. You sir are a scholar and a gentleman and one of the finest fishermen I've had the pleasure to meet. Spirit, tenacity and love of the sport are strikingly evident in your fishing style. Men like you are the experts and gurus of the future.

Flipp, you got that right. Really wouldn't have had any problem if I just stopped to put gas. I've got an 18 gallon tank and the motor sips gas so I just don't get fuel all that often. Skipping the preflight check is a recipe for disaster.

This is a good reminder for me to go down for maintenance for the next few days.

My memory is a little hazy but I believe it was blue...