WHEN STRIPERS TURN INTO COUNTRY MUSIC

For a couple years, Cathy Needleman and I had planned  to go fishing for striped bass (better known as stripers.)  Research revealed that Guide Bob Angelos was known for putting anglers on trophy stripers.   Bob guides out of Mount Juliet, Tennessee, so Cathy organized a trip for us to go fishing in Tennessee.

We departed LAX early Monday morning April 7^th for our 3 plus hour flight to Nashville.  On arrival, we grabbed our rental car, drove to Mount Juliet and checked into our rooms at the Home2 Suites by Hilton.  We had a light dinner in a local pub then called it a night.

At 6:30 the next morning, we met our guide at Caney Fork River, a place Bob said he’s caught stripers up to 60 pounds.  Bob launched his boat, and we boarded.  Weather was in the low 30’s and we were bundled up like the Michelin man. The river was muddy and moving fast.  It was filled with large logs and sticks from the recent tornados and thunderstorms that crossed the area the previous week.  After traveling upriver for 15 minutes, Bob suddenly turned the boat around and said it was too dangerous to continue.  He was concerned that if we lost power, we might capsize due to the river conditions so we were changing plans.  When he pulled the boat out of the water, I realized he had a bait tank full of 7-to-10-inch rainbow trout that we were going to use as bait for the stripers.  Interesting bait.

We ended up at Bob’s house to change boats and gear.  We were now headed to J Percy Priest Lake to fish for hybrid stripers (a cross between white bass and striped bass). 

While at Bob’s house, we were introduced to his three Westies (beautiful and loving dogs) and given a tour of his recording studio.  His studio contained two baby grand pianos and over 20 guitars plus recording and mixing equipment.  It turns out Bob’s other job is as a music producer, musician and country music song writer. 

After playing with the Westies, we followed Bob to J Percy Priest lake.  The weather was still cold, only warming up to the upper 30’s.  We started by trolling octopus rigs with planer boards.  Fish weren’t biting.  Bob drove the boat back to the boat ramp, pulled the boat out of the water and sent us to get lunch while he went to buy some live bait - shiners. 

When we met Bob back at the lake, he was filling the bait tank and adjusting the water with chemicals to preserve the bait.  Once the tank was filled, he poured a bucket of 3-inch shiners into the tank.  We launched again and began trolling the shiners on three rods at different depths. 

 

As we trolled our baits, Bob kept us entertained with stories of his fishing and country music experiences.  He has fished many places, but mostly in Illinois and Tennessee. Bob’s fishing experiences were all fresh water.  He wasn’t a fan of fly fishermen though.  He referred to them as “Trout Fairies”.  This is when Bob made it clear he was a Redneck and proud of it.  Bob also informed us he thought anyone from California was too liberal so he never let us forget we were in Redneck Trump territory. 

Bob’s stories about the Country music industry were interesting and educational.  Bob has played guitar for singers at the Grand Ole Opry over 1000 times and once at the White House for Susie Bogguss when Clinton was in office.  Bob also produced the song Susie Bogguss sang at the White House.

At one point, Bob played a song for us he wrote with his dad.  It was a sad song beautifully written and performed.  I wish I could obtain a copy of the song but sadly it’s not available.

There were many other songs Bob played for us while we trolled which was a wonderful experience.  Meanwhile, the fish mostly ignored our baits.

Bob switched back to the octopus rig and we each managed to catch a 3-pound hybrid striper.  We called it a day around 6:30 p.m.

We cleaned up, went to dinner at The Goat restaurant then we went to bed. 

Next morning we packed up and checked out of our room as we had to head to Nashville at the end of the day.  We met Bob at 6:30 and we were back on the lake trolling by 7 am.  It was sunny but the air temperature was only 31 degrees, and the water temperature was 60 degrees so steam was rising from the lake.  It was a beautiful morning but bone chilling cold.

 

Day two of fishing was a repeat of Day one but without any bites.  We called it a day around 5 p.m. so we could make our 7 p.m. dinner reservations.

 

We arrived at The Heritage Hotel, cleaned up and went to dinner at Drusie and Darr, the hotel restaurant.  We had the Chef’s Tasting Menu.  The chef was advertised as having two restaurants with two Michelin Stars each.  Unfortunately, this restaurant was not up to that level (in my opinion).  The first and second courses, Egg Toast with Caviar and Ahi Tuna Tartar were great.  Course three, Mushroom Risotto, was good but would have been better paired with something.  The next two courses disappointed me.  The black sea bass was over cooked and dry and the Prime Tenderloin was tough and hard to chew. The dessert was great though – warm Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Bean ice cream.  

The rest of the trip was dedicated to exploring Nashville.  We took the Redneck Comedy Bus Tour where we learned about the popular sites in and around Nashville while two comedians kept us laughing.  We were taught the appropriate redneck language such as “Y’all, Hell Ya, etc.” 

 

We spent some time in Nudie’s Honkey Tonk bar listening to a band we enjoyed and walking Broadway, the six blocks of bars owned by country music stars where various bands played all day long. These bands played solely for tips.  

The most exciting part of the trip turned out to be a tour of the Grand Ole Opry House which is celebrating its 100-year anniversary. 

Cathy’s husband, Steve, bought each of us a pass for a Back Stage Tour of the Grand Ole Opry.  I can’t thank Steve enough for his generosity.  This experience will stay with me for months to come.  Our tour began at the Artist’s Entrance proceeding to a tour of the 18 themed dressing rooms, champagne and hors d’oeuvres in our own dressing room.   Don Schlitz, a country singer, songwriter played for us and provided photo opportunities with him.  We saw the iconic wooden circle where artists stand to perform on stage and visited the Circle Room Lounge (where Don performed again) then sat on-stage behind the performers during the first half of the show.

Perhaps the following photos will help to share our experience but the only way to truly appreciate the Opry House is to tour it yourself.

 

Program

Cathy and I boarded our plane the next day, pleasantly exhausted after our fabulous experiences in Nashville.  I feel extremely fortunate to have Cathy as a friend to share such beautiful experiences together.

PS  If you want to see more and hear some of the music, copy this to your browser:

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPqqRdA2tNhvCje_-KjkvK4mypfAiO6Q0cL_pomJY3yTzKyu9Hl4_DIEXlVgcgaSQ

Ranger 85 - Reds and Bobber Balloon Blues!

Fumio Ogoshi organized a 2 1/2-day fishing charter on the Ranger 85 with his good friend Jake Hensley, Owner and Captain of the Ranger 85.  I was fortunate enough to be invited to join a talented group of anglers that included Adel Rajab, David Dang, Steve Chuang, Keith Maruya, Keif Adler, Whitney Uyeda, Warren Yan, Garett Tsukada, Ned Mitrovic, Joe Trevino and Dan Trevino. 

Steve picked me up around 3 pm Thursday, October 10th for the drive to H & M Landing in San Diego.  We arrived around 5 pm.  We were very lucky and found a parking space in the landing parking lot.  We grabbed a dock cart and filled it with our fishing tackle then lined up along with the other anglers waiting to board.  We all signed the manifest and received our number for the trip.  This number would be used to tag our fish and keep track of our trip expenses.  My number was “3”.  By 8 pm, we were all on board, gear stowed and on our way to the bait receiver.

 

Jake gave us the safety speech then let us know the plans for the trip.  Big bluefin were on the menu, of course, and possibly reds as well.  We would start fishing at the Tanner or Cortez bank for smaller bluefin in the morning using lighter line (20, 25 or 30 pound test) and a number 2 hook. From there we might check out Cherry Banks looking for reds always on the lookout for the big bluefin.  Hopefully the big bluefin will pop up somewhere so we can jig fish for them Friday night.  I set up my tackle accordingly and hit the bunk.

We arrived at the banks about 6 in the morning and Jake started looking around for schools of bluefin.  We stopped on several schools but the fish didn’t bite.  Jake decided to head to Cherry Bank and fish for reds hoping the bluefin would be in the biting mood later in the day.

I used a two hook gagnion with feathers baited with squid strips and fished in the bow.  Jake set us up to fish in 300 plus feet of water.  We needed 16-ounce sinkers to reach the bottom.  The first few drops came up dry for me.  Eventually, I dropped in the right spot and brought up 4 reds, 4 starry rockfish plus others.  Cherry Bank turned out to be a gold mine.  We ended up with two-day limits of reds plus a variety of other rock fish including several cow cod and goldeneye (which had to be released).  Steve and I caught and released both goldeneye and cow cod.

 

We drove around searching for the bluefin ending up back at Tanner Bank in the afternoon.  Those fishing the 20- and 25-pound line managed a couple 15 pound bluefin and a couple 30 to 40 pound bluefin.  Jake came over and told me it was OK to fish the clear bobber balloon for the tuna.  He knew that I had fished using balloons on the Excel which is where I first met Jake.  I hadn’t used balloons to catch bluefin before but Jake assured me that they work for bluefin the same way they do for yellowfin. I'm surprised I actually brought balloons and rubber bands with me.

I set up my balloon outfit by rubber banding a 17-inch clear balloon about 10 to 12 feet above the hook.  I nose hooked a sardine then let the wind catch the balloon and toss the sardine out to follow.  The wind took the sardine away from the boat like the kite or helium balloon saving the sardine from exhausting itself swimming out to the bite zone.  The balloon did work but not on the target species.  I hooked and landed 3 large bonito.  I wasn’t the only one catching bonito either. 

We put away the light gear and got ready for the nighttime jigging then went in for a dinner of beef tips while Jake started the search for big bluefin.  Maryann did a great job in the galley making sure we were properly fed and ready for tuna battles. 

 

I decided to hit the bunk and get up when I heard the engines turn down.  I got up a couple times during the night with the boat still moving.  The galley and salon were filled with sleeping anglers also waiting for the engines to turn down.  Unfortunately, the bluefin never showed.

Saturday morning the wind had come up a bit but it was still fishable.  We were back on the Tanner Bank when we started our fishing day.  Jake drove around until he found a good school of fish and anchored the boat.  Little by little the fish started to bite for those fishing 20- and 25-pound line with belly hooked sardines on small hooks.  Adel, Fumio and Whitney seemed to be the lucky ones but they are just excellent anglers that know how to pick a bait and present it properly. 

 

It was a slow but steady bite and I eventually landed one on 40 pound line.  Watching others fight fish on 20 pound, frequently losing the fish in the end, made me stick with the heavier line.  I decided to try the bobber balloon again with crew member Paul assisting me bait up and deploy my balloon.  I managed to hook and land 4 fish around 40 pounds each using the balloon.  Others had success as well with the belly hooked baits with our final tally of 54 bluefin for the day – just shy of two day limits. 

While most of us fished for the tuna, Sheepie demonstrated how he got his nickname by landing 5 sheepshead in a row fishing the bottom.

Jake decided to use our last hour of fishing to try for the bigger bluefin again.  Unfortunately, it was not to be this trip.  Even though the big guys didn’t show, we had a spectacular trip with a quality catch of bluefin and rock cod for everyone. 

Maryann served us a steak dinner with all the trimmings and ice cream drumsticks for dessert. We broke down our gear after dinner while crew pulled the fish out of the hold and organized them by our numbers.  Once the fish were out, we moved to the bow for photos.  It was impressive the amount of fish on deck.  Crew took our requests for fish processing then got to work.  It took them until 2 in the morning to finish fish filleting and cleaning up the boat.

 

I was up by 4 am Sunday morning packing up my stateroom (named Bluefin) and bringing my stuff up on deck.  Around 5 am, Jake announced it was time to pay for our fish processing, food and fuel charges as we would be tied up at the dock by 5:30.

 

Steve and I shared a dock cart and got all our gear offloaded and up the ramp into our car.  Then we took the cart back to collect our fish.  I bought a couple bags of ice to keep the fish cold.  When we received our fish fillets, we realized we had a problem.  There wasn’t enough room in the car for all our fish.  We tried putting the fish in our ice chests, but they wouldn’t fit.   I managed to get my rockfish and 3 tunas in my ice chest, but no ice would fit.  Steve got 1 tuna and his rockfish in his bag and half a bag of ice.  We had to give away 4 tunas!

 

We said goodbye to our fellow anglers and headed north.  I was home by 7:30 am Sunday morning.  I cleaned up and put away my tackle, processed a few fillets for myself then called Shig to pick up the rest to share with his family.

Thanks, Fumio, for inviting me to join your group of friends on this charter.  You organized a great charter.  The crew were helpful and Captain Jake worked as hard as any captain I’ve seen.  It was a very enjoyable fishing experience.