Fred Raby

"Fred's Club Report"
Covering The Panhandle Bass Club
Email fpraby@cox.net

~2006 ~

The Appalachacola at Chipola Cut off was one of the best trips our club has made this year. Several of us went down on Friday and found some good fish! I think everyone on the water Friday caught fish and had a most optimistic outlook for the weekend. About 11:30 am Walter found Artie and I and pulled out a 7.4 pound largemouth. He gave the fish to Artie who put it in our livewell, Richie came by and Artie showed him the fish he had…we had some fun with it then Walter told Richie he caught it and gave it to Artie. Too bad Walter had that one on Friday!

Back at the luxury accommodations, we found a shallow mud hole as we tried to secure our gear and charge our batteries…then the fun began. The love bugs where so thick you could hardly see across the street. A few lids popped, and the lies started. Donnie had learned something about his equipment from a local auxiliary game warden, so he had to go buy a throwable device. Some of us got adventurous and traveled into the City of Wewa. Our group stopped by L. L. Lanier’s honey barn and stocked up on some of that famous Tupelo Honey. Dora and Wayne talked about creativity…Walter reminded us that the movie Tupelo Honey was made in Wewa.

We all ended up back at our rooms and the grills came out. There was a wide array of menus, hot dogs, sausage, chicken and rice, hamburgers and so on. Dora opened her bar and attracted an audience. Donnie and Richie got in a race, Donnie crashed, Richie got wound up, Dora interpreted. Artie saw some bass from the bridge and Dora went down and caught one in front of John K who was fishing the river, unsuccessfully.

Saturday morning, with anticipation high, we all headed to our spots. Unfortunately for me, there were two other boats in mine. And one of them had sore mouthed most of the fish there on Friday. I put a 2-½ pounder in the boat early on a buzz bait; Walter went down and had a limit by 7:30 am. Stories up and down the river were mixed but at the weigh-in there was a good showing for the club. John K was leading with Walter, Richie, Mack, and Rich R close behind. It had rained off and on most of the day, but now the love bugs were back as we tried to secure our gear and get the grills going. Chris and Walter had won the poker game of Friday, now comes John K with his “$5.35” he proceeded to clean house.

Sunday was much of the same for fishing; Walter had a limit early, some struggled but all caught fish. John K won it with Richie and Walter close behind. A major move in the overall standings put the top six within 7 points of each other. St. Johns is next, with the fish off, the championship and don’t forget the Boo Ray, all on the line. This is the closest running we have had in our five-year history, it should be a blast.