Well we finally got back from our three day excursion to "The Hollow" and all I can say is... WOW!!! We had an absolute awesome time! The Fishing, the Food, the Fishing, the Fellowship and did I mention the Fishing were one for the storybooks. Let me lay the foundation for this report before I get into the details... Many pictures were taken, so many in fact that I can not post them all in this thread. I will share a few and then provide a link to the Dale Hollow page of my gallery. There you can look over all of the pics from our trip and enjoy. You will notice there are a few pics of my dad and our friend (his partner for the weekend) which have numerous fish in one shot. This took place because my dad did not have a camera and I wanted to make sure we got pictures of everything. He held on to the fish and we would meet up every few hours. I would then take the pictures and all fish were released unharmed and unscathed. I am happy to report that no fish were lost, killed or removed from the lake.
Alright, now on to the good stuff...
We (me, my dad and two of our buddies) arrived at Eagles Cove Resort around 7am that morning where it had snowed on us for the last hour of our trip. We checked into our cabin, unpacked everything, changed clothes and launched our boats around 7:45am. It was 6 degrees outside and everything was frozen...
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Day 1 (01.03.08)
Launched: 7:45am
Air temp: 6 Degrees
Water Temp: 44-45 Degrees
Weather: Partly to mostly cloudy early with clearing skies in the afternoon.
Location: Upper end of the lake.
The fish bit all day on the FNF with most fishing coming between 8-12' deep. Color did not seem to be an issue as fish were caught on several different ones.
Team G3 (my partner and I) hooked up on 18 fish and was able to land 10 of them. We saw several of the others which got off and they were all nice fish that appeared to be between 16-19" long. Of those we landed, our biggest for the day was 20.5" long and almost 5lbs.
Team Skeeter (my dad and his partner) hooked up 10 fish and were able to land 5 of them. Their largest was 20" long and 4.5lbs.
All in all we had a great day with 28 hook-ups between us and 15 nice fish in the boat. Of the 15, there were 0-LM, 3-Spots & 12-SM on Day 1. All fish were caught on the FNF.
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Day 2 (01.04.08)
Launched: 7:30am
Air temp: 17 Degrees
Water Temp: 42-45 Degrees
Weather: High pressure and clear blue skies.... Lots of wind.
Location: Upper end of the lake.
This was a much slower day for everyone as the High Pressure which had moved in over night seem to slow them down tremendously. This was a little disappointing since the day before had been so productive.
Team G3 hooked up on 5 fish and was able to land 4 of them. Our largest for the day was 19" and weighed 4lbs.
Team Skeeter hooked upon 6 fish and was able to land 3 of them. Their largest was 20" and weighed 4lbs.
Total for the day was 11 hook-ups and 8 fish in the boat. Of the 8 fish there were 0-LM, 0-Spots & 8-SM. All but one fish was caught on the FNF. The other fish was caught on a small tube bait.
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Day 3 (01.05.08)
Launched: 7:10am
Air temp: 27 Degrees
Water Temp: 44-45 Degrees
Weather: Low pressure had moved back in over night. Skies were cloudy all day with variable winds.
Location: Upper end of the lake.
This was the day of all days! The cloudy skies and little to no early morning wind gave everyone a little hope when beginning the day. It would not take long for us to realize how great of day it really would be.
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We pulled in on our first point of the morning. On my first cast, I shook the bobber once, looked off at my dad as he was blasting off and when I looked back the bobber was gone. I set the hook, took three cranks and the fish came unbuttoned. My partner through in right behind me, shook the bobber a couple of times and down she went... a nice one that was 19" long. We moved on down the bank, turned around and came back. I landed a 13" KY and then a 17" SM. My partner had 2 more nice fish on and they proceeded to come to the top and spit the lure in his face. So on our first bank we had a hold of 6 fish. We were pumped to say the least. We moved on up the lake where we found my dad. We went over to say hello and see how they were doing. they had two bites and one fish to show for it. We started to take off when they said just go ahead and fish with us here, we aren't really doing any good. On my first cast, the float went down and up came about an 18" SM. I had it right at the boat with my partner getting ready to dip it and the line broke at the hook. The fish just sat there for a few seconds and then took off with my fly. It wasnt but 5-6 casts later when my partner caught the only LM of the trip. It was 18" and around 3.5lbs. My dad and his buddy had seen enough...
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They moved and we stayed at it. We moved on down the bank and picked up 2 more around 17' each. We then moved a couple of times hooking up on one or two fish each time. When we came back down, we saw my dad and stopped in again to see how they were doing and to :stir: the pot a little
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. When we pulled up they were both grinning from ear to ear... they had found a school of SM and had proceeded to wear them out! They just kept pulling them out of the livewell... all in all they had 10 between 14"-19" and said they had 3 more on bigger than any of those which they did not get in the boat.
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. We fished on up the bank and broke one off then decided to run back down to get out to the wind. We fished a few more banks and was able to catch two more good fish around 19" each. My dad and his partner found us near the ramp around 5pm and once again were all smiles... they had found another school and proceeded to load the boat. This time there were 5 between 15" - 20.5".
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So to end day 3.....
Team G3 hooked up on 18 fish and landed 12 of them. The largest was 19.5" and weighed 4lbs.
Team Skeeter hooked up on 24 and was able to land 17 of them. Their largest was 20.5" long and weighed 5lbs.
Total for the day was 42 hook-ups and 29 fish in the boat. Of the 29 there were 1-LM, 4-Spots & 24-SM. All but 4 fish were caught on the FNF. The other 4 were caught on a small tube bait.
Three Day Total (01.03 - 01.05)
Team G3 hooked-up on 41 fish and landed 26 of them. Our largest of the week was 20.5" long and weighed 5lbs.
Team Skeeter hooked up on 40 fish and landed 25 of them. Their largest of the week was 20.5" long and weighed 5lbs.
Combined total was 81 hook-ups and 51 landed.
Like I said... WOW!!! We had an awesome trip! It was great memory to make with my dad and our friends. If you ever plan a trip, go to Eagle Cove Resort. We had a 5 bedroom chalet overlooking the water, with a grill and hot tub. We left our boat in the water both nights. All we had to do each morning was wake-up, cook and eat breakfast, drive down to the dock, unhook the boat and go. There was also 3 neighborhood deer which I got pictures of. Like I said, way to many pictures taken to post them all here... check out the Dale Hollow section of my gallery by clicking on the link below or visiting the gallery section of our board. Note, with several of the fish we took multiple photos to make sure we got a good one.
Dale Hollow Gallery
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Alright, now on to the good stuff...
We (me, my dad and two of our buddies) arrived at Eagles Cove Resort around 7am that morning where it had snowed on us for the last hour of our trip. We checked into our cabin, unpacked everything, changed clothes and launched our boats around 7:45am. It was 6 degrees outside and everything was frozen...
Day 1 (01.03.08)
Launched: 7:45am
Air temp: 6 Degrees
Water Temp: 44-45 Degrees
Weather: Partly to mostly cloudy early with clearing skies in the afternoon.
Location: Upper end of the lake.
The fish bit all day on the FNF with most fishing coming between 8-12' deep. Color did not seem to be an issue as fish were caught on several different ones.
Team G3 (my partner and I) hooked up on 18 fish and was able to land 10 of them. We saw several of the others which got off and they were all nice fish that appeared to be between 16-19" long. Of those we landed, our biggest for the day was 20.5" long and almost 5lbs.
Team Skeeter (my dad and his partner) hooked up 10 fish and were able to land 5 of them. Their largest was 20" long and 4.5lbs.
All in all we had a great day with 28 hook-ups between us and 15 nice fish in the boat. Of the 15, there were 0-LM, 3-Spots & 12-SM on Day 1. All fish were caught on the FNF.
Day 2 (01.04.08)
Launched: 7:30am
Air temp: 17 Degrees
Water Temp: 42-45 Degrees
Weather: High pressure and clear blue skies.... Lots of wind.
Location: Upper end of the lake.
This was a much slower day for everyone as the High Pressure which had moved in over night seem to slow them down tremendously. This was a little disappointing since the day before had been so productive.
Team G3 hooked up on 5 fish and was able to land 4 of them. Our largest for the day was 19" and weighed 4lbs.
Team Skeeter hooked upon 6 fish and was able to land 3 of them. Their largest was 20" and weighed 4lbs.
Total for the day was 11 hook-ups and 8 fish in the boat. Of the 8 fish there were 0-LM, 0-Spots & 8-SM. All but one fish was caught on the FNF. The other fish was caught on a small tube bait.
Day 3 (01.05.08)
Launched: 7:10am
Air temp: 27 Degrees
Water Temp: 44-45 Degrees
Weather: Low pressure had moved back in over night. Skies were cloudy all day with variable winds.
Location: Upper end of the lake.
This was the day of all days! The cloudy skies and little to no early morning wind gave everyone a little hope when beginning the day. It would not take long for us to realize how great of day it really would be.
Team G3 hooked up on 18 fish and landed 12 of them. The largest was 19.5" and weighed 4lbs.
Team Skeeter hooked up on 24 and was able to land 17 of them. Their largest was 20.5" long and weighed 5lbs.
Total for the day was 42 hook-ups and 29 fish in the boat. Of the 29 there were 1-LM, 4-Spots & 24-SM. All but 4 fish were caught on the FNF. The other 4 were caught on a small tube bait.
Three Day Total (01.03 - 01.05)
Team G3 hooked-up on 41 fish and landed 26 of them. Our largest of the week was 20.5" long and weighed 5lbs.
Team Skeeter hooked up on 40 fish and landed 25 of them. Their largest of the week was 20.5" long and weighed 5lbs.
Combined total was 81 hook-ups and 51 landed.
Like I said... WOW!!! We had an awesome trip! It was great memory to make with my dad and our friends. If you ever plan a trip, go to Eagle Cove Resort. We had a 5 bedroom chalet overlooking the water, with a grill and hot tub. We left our boat in the water both nights. All we had to do each morning was wake-up, cook and eat breakfast, drive down to the dock, unhook the boat and go. There was also 3 neighborhood deer which I got pictures of. Like I said, way to many pictures taken to post them all here... check out the Dale Hollow section of my gallery by clicking on the link below or visiting the gallery section of our board. Note, with several of the fish we took multiple photos to make sure we got a good one.
Dale Hollow Gallery
