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Our Next Trip
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We live in a country that has almost infinite smallmouth possibilities, so we are always scheming the next destination. But our business travels are not often predictable. We know where we may have the opportunity to go one day, so much like the military, we always have an array of contingency plans ready or under development for our next adventure. We want to be ready for whatever comes our way. It has always been our plan to use the business travel as a launching point for our fishing. But as we are seeing our plans come together, two or three states a year is not going to "scratch that itch". So we will have to juggle our finances, family obligations and geographic locations to devise a travel plan. The Eastern U.S geography will facilitate some early successes, but West of the Mississippi, the turf is large and planning all the more critical. With that in mind, we will lay out our next three proposed trips. These may or may not work out the way we plan, but it gives us a chance to see the logistics. Hey, it's something to get us through the cold winter nights. |
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Trip #1 Now that Mike resides in Maryland, we need to get as many of the neighboring states crossed off our list as we can. It might be time to try the fishing trifecta and see if we can fish Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey on the same day. Our hope is to take advantage of friends and relatives with boats and do some ocean fishing by launching out of the Indian River out on to the bay and then out to the Atlantic Rockfish, flounder and stripers seem to be the way to go. |
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Trip #2 While we researched possible 2008 trips, we ran across a very interesting location on the Tennessee / Kentucky border. Dale Hollow Lake stradles the border and gives us a chance to cheat again and cross off two states on one trip. We will need to check with the guide to see if we can effectively fish both states. This lake holds the world record for smallmouth as well as Tenessee state records for lake trout and muskie. What makes this a possible location is that trophy fish are availble in February and March, and it is accessible for both of us. We both know guides tend to post their best fish on their sites, but DAMN, there are some nice fish here. We have not made contact with any local guides, but are leaning toward... If you have fished this lake, we would appreciate your thoughts. | 
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Trip #3 This one falls more into the long range planning category. We have been fortunate in that we have been able to combine business travel with fishing. Our work group usually has one conference a year held away from our Chicago corporate offices. As the location is determined by group consensus, we never really know where we will end up. We were close to heading to Louisiana last year, and the fishing looks great down there, so we will make plans along those lines, and adjust as needed. Fishing looks great around Venice, Louisiana, so that will be a primary destination. Kayak fishing for reds will be the target. The trick will be to coordinate logistics to hit Mississippi and Alabama on the same trip. Biloxi and Mobile are relatively close, and should offer the chance to cross off 3 staes in one trip. The question will be whether we stay inshore, or bite the bullet to try our hand at some tuna. As always, we would appreciate your thoughts. | 
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