Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations 45 Days With The Traveling Cast-A-Ways!

Fatih -

Yer very welcome for the setup. Hope you land some fish using it!

Fatih Georgia Update:
So spending 2 days with Fatih was good fun. Here are some snaps.

No one can snag a lure like Fatih. Hands down he's the champ. In this case his worm snagged 2 nice crankbaits (the frog was my lure he utilized to help bring the snag to us).




The kids are asleep.




Whomever is hanging with Fatih get used to buffets ... he loves 'em!




Bowfish practice.




Fatih got this carp (apology for the soft focus snap).




I gave Fatih first draw at this cat, and when he missed I nailed this cat through the head. It was cruising the shallows with a large crankbait buried in its head.




Our guide hit this carp but needed a second arrow to secure the carp. I let mine fly and it literally nailed this carp to the tree as my arrow drove through the carp and through the tree.




Our haul that didn't get away. One gar - lucky shot 13 finally hit the darn fish. As our guide said "gar are just stupid". We missed that fish 12 times before finally hitting it.

The good times continue! I loved the picture of the "kids" sleeping!!! Funny stuff!

Keith loved the Asian buffet we took him to also....Him and Fatih will always agree where to eat on the trip!

I guess we're not supposed to post on this thread, but I have to say...basslover...nice report!

Rock on, Bros!!!

Fatih Georgia Update #2

So first day we fished for bass and bluegill, and I showed Fatih how to land some bullfrogs using an artificial frog lure. Then that night we went bowfishing.

Folks I hope Fatih publishes some of the video from that excursion because it was some seriously funny and fun schtick! He was like a kid in a candy store for the first time. Between losing arrow tips, missing fish under, missing fish over, wanting to video everything action oriented, not drawing the arrow all the way back, and the cursing ... Bill Dance has a challenger!

BTW, everything above is said in pure love - I flippin loved hanging with that kid because he has a genuine interest in learning - from the bait to the knots to the landing to catching big bullfrogs Fatih wants to learn it all. Was a great 2 days.

So here are some more snaps. Most from the second day of debacles.

FATIH: "Hey if you get tired I can help and drive. Just tell me."
ME: "Sounds good, thanks."
3 minutes elapse
FATIH: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
!!!! So Keith - good luck with a co-captain to help ya drive! LOL




Fatih snapping away. We're on Lake Oconee.




Fatih battling a flathead catfish.





Fatih's flathead.





His personal best catfish. I hope he lands a larger one while stateside!





I have to include this snap. This was not caught on video, but if it were you'd see: Fatih saying he can cast a baitcaster no problem he's got it he landed a catfish already. Then LITERALLY he builds this bird nest just after he said the aforementioned he casts out and poohs the bed! It was so darn funny because the guide tried to undo the mess but gave up saying he'd never seen such a nest before. Yah probably had to be there but just imagine someone saying they can do something and then right after that they fumble the ball on that very thing! LOL





Fatih and Bilbo Baggins:





The Last Supper, Keith, Fatih, and two of mine enjoying some delicious Indian table fare.




Keith and Fatih packed up ready to head out of Georgia. It would be a major pain to get a flat tire and have to pull ALL of this out to get to the spare tire ...

Hey everyone! And before I go too far, I've been keeping family and friends up to speed on Facebook which is so much easier with photos than the forum, that if anyone is interested please PM me your name and I would be happy to add you as a friend. There's some great photos and moments captured that I just don't think I can get on here. Fatih will do much better when he wakes up . But in all fairness, this is the first break we've taken! Past 2 of 3 nights were 2 & 3:30 am fishing!

I started typing this out on Fatih's laptop, but since it's Turkish,,,,,, well I gave up and I'm now on my tablet, so I will type this out and then edit to add photos from Photobucket on his laptop because I can't copy/paste them from my tablet. And even typing on this thing is a royal PITA!

Wow, there is so much to report, about so much we've done and experienced in just 4 days. For me personally I've already fulfilled my bucket list and feel I've done and experienced more than I could have ever dreamed of.

After a great dinner with basslover on the 9th, we made it to just north of Tampa to call it a night. Pretty tough driving after a big dinner!

We left early on the 10th and drove to Ed's place, a guy Fatih met on a Florida fishing forum. And Ed's place? Well, if you could imagine the most remote area of the Everglades, off a road that 5 mph was even too rough, turning into a driveway leading to a mobile home with stuff strewn everywhere, you'd be wondering if you would ever see your family again!

But Ed was one of nicest guys you could ever hope to meet! He gave Fatih a great interview, let us fish his pond and told us about fishing the Chuckoloskee bridge in the Everglades. Then gave us a 5 gal bucket, 2 bags of cut bait, a large knife to cut it with along with a cutting board, some very large hooks and some 3 oz pyramid sinkers, and flat refusing anything in return. Oh, except for some Turkish money from Fatih and asked that we call him now and then to let him know how things are going. He also got some Pistachios from Turkey and some of Keith's beef jerky.

Here's a few pics of Ed's place and the Chuckoloskee bridge:




I will start adding photos and add appropriate captions later.

Our charter in the Keys fishing the reefs and wrecks was called off for Friday due to high winds with 5-7' waves expected. But Captain Ryan agreed to take us out on Thusday at noon but that at any given time we may have to turn back due to the storms rolling in. He just knew how much this meant to us and wanted to help out.

So off to Islamorada, FL we went hightailing it to get there by noon! And dang happy about it as well!


As we left the marina we could easily see the storm, and how interesting to watch the captain focusing on it and our safety. Here's what we were looking at!



With the radar screen not looking too pretty!




So what did he do? He headed farther out to sea to get out of its path, in hopes it wouldn't take a turn. Oookaaaay

The boat was really rocking but we did get some fishing in with Fatih catching the first Yellow Tail Snapper!



Then I got one as well, one the Captain called a "Flag" due its size as he said you will seldom catch them that big. What a beautiful fish, especially watching it approach the boat in that crystal clear water! Unfortunately its a poor photo.



At about 4pm the waves were really rolling and he gave the word "We gotta go!"

We ended up with 3 Yellow Tail Snappers that he cleaned for us.


Then it was off to Snappers Restaurant to have them prepared for us, and what an experience it was!

I had mine blackened, Fatih had his grilled. And the server couldn't figure out why I wanted her in the picture too




We sat outside, a spectacular view of the ocean, with the ocean breeze blowing on us, a 3-piece band playing all the favorites in a truly Jimmy Buffet setting, making this a day that will live on in me forever.



Bucket list fulfilled, making my trip at that point complete! An absloutely incredible day!

Guys, i am going to be honest with you... I was so sad after catching almost nothing on most of the lakes in SC and GA, despite all the people trying too hard to provide some good memories for me.

And then we met with Keith and weather was awful in Florida. We had to leave Chokoloskee bridge an hour after we started fishing and fish were biting like crazy. We were probably about to catch some sharks or tarpons but another storm came and everything was ruined.

The same night we go to hotel and the captain calls to cancel our Keys charter which was one of the most important charters for the whole trip. When i heard that from Keith i felt like "I am done here. This trip will be the biggest disappointment of my life..." .

But then things started to improve and now it is at its peak!!!

I will try to go chronologically.

Catching mangrove snappers on our hotels dock, right after our Keys charter. We stayed only for a night in that hotel and i got at least 25 of these fish. Nothing significant but fun to catch!



The same night we go to Channel 5 bridge(we are not sure if we were on the right bridge). We used shrimp and live crab. Keith had a very big fish on his rod and i was the one close to the rod. So i tried to hook the line but the fish was so big ( and apparently i used a very tight drag ) , it snapped the line in 3 seconds. Sorry Keith . Hey but, 10 lbs line for bridge fishing in the Keys? Are you kidding me?
I caught 2 snappers there and we headed back.





We headed to Miami but before that we stopped on Tamiami trail which has been recommended by lots of people. At first i got nothing but with Keith's teachings and awesome soft lure i got 2 LMB in 30 minutes. One of them was close to 2 pounds.



The next morning we are ready to go to fish canals of Miami for tropical fishes. And we fished Kendall Canal. Bite was too slow. Actually those Peacock Bass would run away from our lures, instead of going after them. Except at 1 spot. There was a shopping cart in the water and all the fishes around that shopping cart would bite it. I caught 3 fish, lost 2 of them. Keith wasn't so lucky that day.

Sorry , i make horrible pictures...







Thanks to God we fished for Peacock that day! Because our Peacock charter captain called us and told he wouldn't make it because of his technical issues. He said "i can put you on fishing for peacock or LMB. But those guys won't do the both in the same day". We knew that peacock wasn't very eager to bite. So going after peacocks for a whole day could be a waste of time and Everglades probably didn't have very good bass fishing. I told Keith "why don't we just go to legendary Okeechobee which is also very close to our destination Deland?".

And miracle happened and we found a locally famous charter captain to put us on fishing. This was probably the only Sunday he had free! We were so lucky.

We woke up at 04:30 and drove to that place and met the captain. We were on the water at 07:30 . We would use live shiners but the supplier didn't have as many of them as we would need. We could get only 3 dozen.



Guess what... We got 20-25 basssssssssssss and the average size was probably 2-3 pounds. I got a 7 pounder ! I have at least 80 photos of this fish taken. Because i probably won't catch something like that ever again. This was the best fishing of my life.







Tomorrow we will be on a houseboat for 4 days on St. John's River on a 44 ft houseboat, towing a bass boat behind us. We might have internet access. And after that we will meet Bobby Rice to fish his pond and have fish fry and we will try to give you update the next time we have internet service.

Thanks everyone.
Fatih and Keith
PS: We are having the times of our lives.

We're now on the house boat on the St. john's river with bassboat in tow. And witin 15 seconds of Fatih dropping in a crainkbait to troll, he's got a LMB, then lands an Alligator gar, and next we spot our first Gator!

For the 3rd time in just 10 days, tears of awe are flowing! It's just beyond incredible what we've seen, where we've been and what we've done. Just incredible (as I'm sitting on the upper deck of the houseboat hearing nothing but nature,,,, )!

Fatih is in heaven!!!

Well, we're pretty much getting shut out on LMB on the St. John's river than other a few trolling, a turtle, bonefish, and gar but for the first time neither one of us care too much. This place makes you feel like you're hundreds of miles from civilation!

We've seen countless Gators, Spanish moss hanging from all the trees and a true feeling of being in a swamp. And at night the sounds you hear are just incredible.

It will be hard posting all the photos once we have internet service again but please check out my FB page if you're interested. It's just spectacular.

Keith McGinnis on FB and I'll accept all friend requests.

Thanks everyone and we'll update more when we can.

Keith & Fatih

PS - water temp is 92 degrees with avg max depth @ about 12'.

Oh, if I could only share the videos of Fatih fishing in the trees!

And I put him in charge of the trolling motor on this outting.

Good times!

What's he trying to do, catch squirrels??

Well done man! You are showing him all the features of US fishing. Please post a pic of Fatih with a nice tree trout! We have all caught them!

Those guys have not been able to post so I figured I would give a little up date on the trip for them

We met at the pond after work thursday night and enjoyed some Fried Shark and Maypport Shrimp.

We then fished the pond but things were really hot and slow. The water was like a hot tub, even when the feeder went off it was not as active as things normally are. Once dusk came things improved, Keith had on what we think was a tarpon and lost it near the bank. We saw a few flounder laying in the shallows waiting to feed (that was pretty cool). I hooked and landed a nice flounder and Fatih hooked and landed a nice "bream", ID not required.

We got up at 6 this morning and fished an hour before work and things were much better as the water cooled some over night. Fatih had several take downs. He finaly was able to hook a really nice snook (maybe the largest in the pond??). The snook Bulldogged him for a bit and as we scrambled for the net his line broke right at the bank.

Not but a few minutes later Keith's bobber went down as he was walking back to the truck to grab something. He ran back and grabbed his rod got what seemed like nice a nice hook up with a prerry good sized tarpon. After a pretty high and acrobatic leap it quickly overpowered his line and popped it.

It was very enjoyable visting with these guys and I will be watching for more updates as they continue the trip .

Bobby, we can't thank you enough for the great time we had with you and Emily, including the fish fry with Chris & Suzie as well! And we're still baffled as to how you have acclimated saltwater fish in a fresh water pond! Crazy stuff!

Bobby went out of his way to prepare a great dinner for us, followed by some pond fishing until dark, and even rearranged his work schedule to get up early and fish the pond some more in the morning, and this includes putting us up for the night with (finally) some freshly brewed coffee in the morning! (It's the little things ).

Before meeting with Bobby we spent 4 absolutely incredible days on the St. Johns river in a 44' houseboat with bassboat in tow. So please check back in on this post as we have so many photos we'll try to get uploaded, including a video of Fatih's bout with tree fishing while a bug finds it's way up his shirt. Just too good not to share!

(I just spent over 90 minutes uploading photos through the hotel's wifi only to have them all just disappear before postin g them, ARGH!!!!!!)

This is our houseboat that we would find a spot along the banks each night to tie up to trees.


Some amazing sights along the St. Johns river, where you would swear you were hundreds of miles from civilization




Fatih's (squirmy & slimy) Bowfin that ended up flopping in the boat several times befoe finally getting a picture of it


After tying up for the night, we realized the next morning we were parked next to a tree with some kind of "bird?" nest that was NOT made of small twigs!



Let alone this hole right in front of the boat! But the sounds at night were incredible!




Figuring we would take advantage of having a grill on the houseboat we had Ribeye, baked potato, corn on the cob and grilled asparagus


Seeing several gators, this big one decided to keep an eye on us until we decided to move on,,,,, well, it was mainly the reason we decided to move on

[img]http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums...uanib.mp4[/img]



We caught several BG and Crappie as well as a catfish I caught on a chatterbait which we fried up for dinner along with some grilled broccoli





Fatih has pretty much mastered tree fishing but this one had to take the cake! While being in charge of the trolling motor he landed another branch, managed to put the boat in the trees, and at the same time had some kind of bug crawl up his shirt!



[img]http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums...j9cqd.mp4[/img]

After our fishing with Bobby Friday morning we made our way to Pensacola for a full day on-shore fishing trip on Saturday.

Friday night at 7 pm we met with "Josh", a guy Fatih met on a Florida fishing forum that wanted to take us out in his new Skeeter SX 200. We met at a bait & tackle shop to get some necessary tackle and decided that we could get an early start so we decided to meet at 3 am instead of 7, to be fishing the Gulf by 4 and do some night fishing before the sun came up.



Yep, not much sleep and we stayed at it until about 12:30 pm, pulling in some speckled trout, Blue fish, Spanish Mackerel, Lady fish and a nice Red Snapper!




Then the bonus visit by a friendly dolphin who was more than happy to allow us to feed him on some of our cut bait. And a great video to go along with it. More than cool!!!!

[img]http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums...riawn.jpg[/img]

But the highlight of the day had to be the ornery speckled trout that landed a treble hook in Fatih's thumb, barb and all! And Fatih's bravery of pushing that barb through! We then drove around until we found some friendly folks parked to party on a white sandy beach with a pair of needle nose pliers and a first aid kit. Fatih then cut off the barb and pulled it through! And back to fishng we went!

[img]http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums...fnhwg.jpg[/img]

After fishing with Josh and Selena we headed to Pensacola beach for dinner at "Crabs, We Got 'em". Just a completely different way of life, but one I think I could get used to

We're still in Pensacola and will be heading to Henderson, Louisianna tomorrow where we have rented a 14' Jon boat with an 8 hp motor to fish and explore the Atchafalaya Swamp on the 22nd.

As it's after midnight, we over indulged at a Golden Corral and we're running on very little sleep (well, except for Fatih,,,, he sleeps a lot! ), I'm hoping to get pics and videos posted in the morning before we hit the road.

Keith & Fatih

Fatih's bout with a "trouble"hook!



But a real trooper for pushing it through the other side to be able to clip the hook and pull it back through!



Sorry the video of feeding the dolphin won't post from photobucket, it's really cool!



"Crabs we got 'em" restaurant on Pensacola Beach. Great food and great atmosphere as well



[URL=http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/lovnlivin2/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-06/IMG_20150619_162556381_zpsgoixf5fh.jpg.html][/URL

Arriving Sunday in Henderson, LA near our launch site we found a hotel right on the river with a restaurant next door, so we both had some crawfish etoufee and fried crawfish



Monday morning at 7:00 we rented a 7' Jon boat and headed out into the Atchafalaya River Basin in Henderson, LA.



Ever watched Swamp People? The Atchafayala is where it's filmed.



Using nightcrawlers we caught over 40 bream and one drum. Species caught were BG, GSF, RES, BCP and we think the one pictured is a Coppernose? We need some help idenifying that one.





After 8 hours in the swamp (and we have a lot of pics if you want to see more), we hit the road for another 5 hours of driving, heading towards Overton's fish farm as Fatih will be picking up some Camelot Bell and Coppernose BG to eventually make their way back to Turkey.

After getting them to FedEx around 3:30 today (Tuesday) we'll be meeting up with Fireishot for dinner. And with the recent storms he is trying to find an alternative to our Striper fishing on Lake Texoma as it had to be cancelled.

We figure we're about half way through our trip and excited to be in Texas, with then beginning to head North which is getting Fatih a little more excited as the heat and humidity has been pretty brutal on him, but he's handling it well, all things considered. The humidity in the Atchafayala was incredible! One step out of the car and it was instant sweat!

More to come so stay tuned for some Texas updates!

The above are a RES and a male regular BG.

The swamp is incredible. Glad you did not get lost in the swamp - it happens all the time.

Pretty cool!

I don't think you will have to worry about hot temps and humidity on the lake. Doubt many boats went out this morning with the waves splashing over the piers.

I just hope it's a good day to hit the lake.

Glad you had such a great southern tour! I'm looking forward to seeing Keith and Fatih this coming weekend. I won't make it to Windsor, since esshup has me working but is letting me get back home this weekend...lol

Thanks for the fish ID, Ewest! Beautiful colors on the BG that neither one of us had seen before.

Getting lost in the swamp? I admittedly made a few wrong turns and if not for a few "homes?" as landmarks, we could have easily gotten lost! It's enormous and almost all looks the same.it's a good thing we decided on the full day rental!

JKB, Fatih will be glad to hear about some cooler weather!

Rainman, we should be on our way to Windsor, MO after meeting with Bob Lusk Friday afternoon. So depending on what we get worked out with CMM it may be Sunday or Monday before we hit St. Louis. I hope we can still work out meeting up with you, and Fatih is hoping we can hit that buffet!

We arrived at Fireishot's place around 7:00 tonight and treated to by far the best smoked Brisket dinner either of us have ever had! I've had Brisket many times but never knew it could taste that good!!!

Al then gave us a tour of his place and had a nice relaxing visit before turning in for the night.

Tomorrow we'll do some fishing in his pond, joined by Dave Davidson. And also some fly fishing!!!

More to report but gotta get some sleep. Oh, and pulling into Al's place we just passed 4000 miles in the car! It will feel good to get a break from driving for a couple days!

Keith & Fatih

If the schedule goes as planned, I'll be done with Rex before noon on Thursday.

Overtons should get a big attaboy for running back to the FedEx place after they wouldn't accept the package of fish that you shipped. Why the guy at the counter didn't tell you that they wouldn't take it is silly.

Rex, invitation to Windsor is open if you can make it. Anyone else close to Windsor that wants to stop by while Keith and Fatih are here are welcome as well. Last I heard they should pull in sometime Saturday afternoon or early evening. The top water hit should be good late afternoon to dark. Hope they will hang around for a while on Sunday for fishing and maybe some target practice. CMM

Pm me for phone number and directions.
Cmm