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Sunday, June 21, 2009 - Robert Alexander and Nat Harris
Full Moon the previous night...Robert with a mess of bass and bream. Average Bull Bream kept about 1 pound! Total catch kept were 8 bass (largest 1.5 lbs) and somewhere near 30 bream. Click on picture to enlarge... Saturday August 12, 2006 - Robert Alexander and Nat Harris - If Robert ever asks you to go on a fishing trip, just drop whatever you're doing and go. Here are the results of a recent trip to Destin. (Click to enlarge)
That represents ... a limit of Amberjack (1 each) ... total 7 Saturday May 6, 2006 - Doug Hardcastle caught this bass - 21" length and 14" girth - per formula, she weighed 5.65 pounds. Per the Bass Pro Formula, she was 6.2 lbs. Per Doug, she weighed between 7 and 8 lbs. At any rate, she's been returned for someone else to enjoy.
Here's the happy camper with his fish... ...per Will Morgan,
"We had a big morning at Heart's Desire on
Saturday. I caught a big bass, put it on the stringer, ran to the lodge for
the scales, weighed it (7lbs, 2 oz) and released it. Cathy Johnson (Billy's
wife) and I went back out to fish some more. 10 minutes later she caught her
bass on an ultra light rod with 6 lb test. Her bass weighed 13 lbs. 8 oz (they
took it and had it "officially" weighed. The state record is around 14lbs 8 oz
and was caught in the 1950's. That makes her fish one of the largest bass
caught in the state in the past 50 years!
Will
P.S. Have you ever heard someone say "Oh my god"
50 times in 5 minutes?"
...per Cathy Johnson, "This is my new best friend!! I caught this large mouth bass at Heart's Desire this past Saturday with an ultra light rod and six pound test line. It weighed 13 pounds 8 ounces...just short of the Tennessee State record of 14 lbs. 8 ounces set in 1954. Had I not had the help of Will Morgan I wouldn't have been able to get her any where near the boat, much less in the boat!" Here's the "little" gal
that Will caught - all 7
lbs., 2 oz. of her!
1 pound Georgia Giant
Believe it or not, but this is a 7 pound white catfish harvested at HD. This was the second of two catfish taken by Robert that day. If I can get the program to copy and insert the other, it will appear below. It weighed 11 pounds!
Late June - Robert Alexander, Billy Coble, Nat Harris and Jimmy Weaver got into the crappie at Lake Sardis in Mississippi. The first day, each boat kept 65, the second one had 71, the other 56.
Lake Sardis Mississippi with Roger and Bill Gant.... August 21 - Philip Fontenot - Let the pictures speak for themselves. 8 lbs., and after the spawn - i.e.., not full of eggs.
Late November - Will Morgan -
July 12 - Doug's maiden voyage:
July 5 - Doug Hardcastle and Nat Harris took a leisurely 4 hour trip to Tiptonville, TN for Doug to look at a "Reel Foot Stump Jumper" boat built by a 4th generation craftsman, Dale Calhoun. See http://www.nea.gov/explore/Heritage/CalhounBio.html Doug was enamored with the 17 1/2 foot Stump Jumper model. It is powered by an 8 hp Honda engine attached to a drive shaft with a "speed" (2 propeller) prop attached at a 45 degree angle (much like a "Go-Devil") and protected by a device that allowed the boat to jump over stumps without damaging the prop. In fact, no weed would ever touch the prop. This boat is basically a flat bottomed canoe with room for three and powered not only by the engine but also by a rowing mechanism which allows the rower (guide) to face the front, row with a normal back stroke, and yet propel the canoe forward with each stroke. With no negotiating, Doug sealed his deal at list price.
Doug at the helm.
Engine View
However, before the morning non-negotiations were complete, recognizing that this was a 68 year old fourth generation builder with no successor in sight, Nat stepped up and bought a 15 1/2 foot model without an engine - again for list price. So, with a trailer in tow, filled with a Hardcastle Stump Jumper on its trailer, and with a 2" hitch attached to the rail of the big trailer, the Harris Stump Jumper and trailer was towed to HD. I'm sure the I-40 travelers were amused - to say the least. Surely there's a country song about rednecks from Tennessee.
Hardcastle Double Rig......... Legal???
May 10 - Robert Alexander and Nat Harris kept 17 Bluegill
weighing a total of 10 lbs. 4 oz.,
17 Bluegill weighing 10.25 pounds.
Three Shellcrackers weighing 3.25 pounds.
Included in the catch, but later released, is this 1/2 pound Georgia Giant. Click on the picture and it will enlarge showing more detail. Note the coloration around the fins. They are multi colored with some combination of white, yellow and orange, each bleeding into the other. These are our future trophies and are the ones we want to keep in the lake. They will eventually grow to 4 or 5 pounds. Imagine catching one on a fly rod....... ******************************************************************************** Heart's Desire developed and stocked its own watershed lake in 1990. This eight and one-half acre impoundment is stocked with bass, bluegill, catfish and white amur (a grass eating carp). The fish are regularly fed a nutritious supplement and the results have been tremendous. Catfish over 18 pounds have been caught and released. Likewise, bass have exceeded 7 pounds, bream 1 pound, etc. Most recently, at the insistence of member Doug Hardcastle, we introduced the "Georgia Giant" strand of bluegill. These are ferocious feeders and the first generation are known to have grown to over 4 lbs. To keep in the lake as many as possible of the first generation of this species, we have asked all fisherman to release all bluegill. Later, when all are familiar with the distinct coloration of this group, we will encourage the harvesting of the regular bream as well as the secondary and later generations of the new Georgia Giants. But we want to preserve this first generation as our "trophy" bream. In addition, Heart's Desire owns a ramp for access to the Tennessee River. Thus, members have ready access to all the crappie beds and coves along the river.
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