USS BUCHANAN (DD-484)

Here's a picture of the 1/350 scale Dragon USS Buchanan I just finished painting. It took quite a while to assemble but the actual painting went quite quick. The model is a X-gift for Wifey's dad.

The Buchanan was the WWII Destroyer my wife's grandfather served on during WWII. In addition to her Presidential Unit Citation, Buchanan earned sixteen battle stars in World War II.


Sorry about the dark photo, I was too lazy to set up good lighting.This was a nice model kit, I'm happy with the way it turned out considering it was my first naval model.



USS BUCHANAN (DD-484)

CLASS - GLEAVES As Built.
Displacement 2395 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 348' 4"(oa) x 36' 1" x 13' 2" (Max)
Armament 4 x 5"/38AA, 6 x 0.5" MG, 4- 20mm AAG, 10 x 21" tt.(2x5).
Machinery, 50,000 SHP; Westinghouse Geared Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 35 Knots, Range 6500 NM@ 12 Knots, Crew 208.
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny NJ. February 11 1941.
Launched November 22 1941 and commissioned March 21 1942.
Decommissioned May 21 1946 and recommissioned December 11 1948.
Decommissioned April 28 1949.
Stricken June 7 1949.
To Turkey April 28 1949, renamed Gelibolu.
Fate Stricken and scrapped in 1976.

2008 A Look Back

As 2009 comes racing forward threatening to close the book early on 2008 winter bass. It's time to look back at what I think I learned and accomplished in 2008.

1)Fishing with another person is great for discover a pattern quicker and sharing great moments. 2 Don't have to carry as much gear as one individual does on a long wade. A good fishing buddy trades casts and communicates well potential danger zones for spooking fish. Mike and Jim are great guys for this.




2) When summer months hit and water got low and clear, the majority of 'awesome' days were by myself for size and numbers.


3) I taught Jim a lesson on throwing heavier weights on his tubes in March, couple weeks later, Jim returned the favor big time in April. Weight makes a huge difference getting bait down to the fish.



4) 2008 Indiana summer stream fishing pattern was crazy different from the all day onslaughts of 2007. Hard work was required. Predusk bite was king from mid June on. We had a lot of sun and very little rain after the early June flood.



5) Small streams covered in trees often have better all day summer fishing because of the lower temps and higher O2 levels. Hitting 3 or 4 streams in one day is aces!





6) My clear winner for most productive lure of the year was the Lucky Craft Splashtail 90. The Lucky Craft Rick Clunn Wakecrank most promising new lure. The Workhorse ubiquitous 4" tubejig 3/16th oz head caught the largest share of fish and 3 of 4 20"+ SMB in '08.
Honerable mentions to 5" fluke, chatterbait, Pointer 100, Sammy 100.



7) Smallmouth bass will ignore one topwater while destroying another. The noise a topwater makes can spook or incite depending on excitement levels.



8) Last year up sizing was king, this year down sizing worked on occasion, at least with Sammies. The Sammy 65 is a keeper.

9)Big early spring creek bass hold really close to shore where depth and shelter are found.



10) Check good spots in late fall and winter when the water is clear for bottom structure.



I think I am most proud of finding fish consistently this year in all conditions, fishing with over a dozen different smallie anglers, and catching at least one fish out of 33 different Indiana creeks, rivers, and streams in '08.

Bowfin in '09

Ok, I am going on record that I am going to try and catch some Bowfin in 2009. Piecing together the how, where, and why will get me through the frozen creek winter times.

They seem too cool for school.


It may turn out that I don't like to go to the mucky places where these fish hang out, or see another potential smallie stream on the way to the swamp pit where these creatures dwell.

For now, I am going to research and try it. Because, why the hell not?

Ripgasm: New Lucky Craft Propbaits

Got these Lucky Craft Kelly J Propbait in the mail today:



The baits look and feel great. I was looking for more durability than LC's other fantastic propbait the Splashtail 90, at first glance KJ seems to have it. The props are not fixed on ballbearings. Which is good for durability but maybe a minus on the action. The blades are thicker and seem less likely to break off. The lure's tail slowly sinks undulating that tail feather. I had started doing this with suspend dots and Splashtails anyway. It sits with only the foward top 1/4 of the bait out of water at rest. It has a knocker for better weight transfer during casting. Weighs in at a 1/2 oz and 2 3/4" long (not including tail feather). Can't wait to put them to the test in 5-6 months. These baits are going to be phenominal.

RRRRRIPPP!!

Archaeology lesson 12/14/08

Met with Prowler around 10:30am to fish a medium river and its smaller trib. Everything up north was partially frozen. As we were gearing up, a local came out and asked what we were up to.

We basically told him we were complete smallmouth nutjobs. We got to chatting about fishing, kayaks, and I asked him if there were any good campgrounds on the river. Dude was pretty cool about it after 15 minutes had sized us up and offered to use his property to camp some time. Gave him an INSA business card and got his cell number for later use. He mentioned one of his hobbies was collecting Indian artifacts and proceeded to show us his arrowheads, grind stones, tommahawks, spear heads. I never realized I was potentially stepping past all this cool stuff. As much as I'm on the water, I'll keep my eyes open. Some of it is quite valuable. Neat.

We went fishing and I put on a demonstration of how not to cast float and fly most of the day. After about an hour, we hit a right angle bend. I finally hooked a 14-15" that lightly nibbled down the float or was it more of a sputter? One fish from that hole that usually produces many. At least smallmouth were going to participate.

We hit a side eddie in a long deeper pool at even higher pool helped by a beaver dam. It was mostly covered in ice. Matt got 2 smallies 11-12" on the float and fly. The action was slow. Fish didn't want the float moving much.

We moved on fishing a small trib, it was a waste of an hour. The river was all frozen up with a 1/4" thin sheet of ice. Tantalizingly thin. We walked back to the car and motored up to another hole I like.

When we finally got there, we caught a double almost immediatley. Matt's was 15-16" and mine was about 14". We sat on that hole and fished it for at least an hour. I got one looked 17"+, slipped out of my hand without a picture. Next cast, I pulled the fly free from a smaller fish. Float barely jumped. Like we were fishing crappie.

Smallmouth bass slowly plow the heavy winter water with an exaggerated snaking body during the fight. Matt was getting bit, his hook pulled free several times. We were both dumbfounded because it is rare to lose any fish on FnF. In our defence, I have never seen smallies hit the fly so wimpy. The didn't submerge the float. The float kind of rocked differently. Twice, I saw fish come off Matt's hook after a solid bend in the rod, I lost one this way too.

Were the fish grabbing the end of the fly beyond the hook? Strange. We did catch a few at the end for all our walking.

3-3 mostly nice fish, which this small river always seems to produce. Too much walking probably cost us some fish.

Cool fish prints, Great Cause.

The Native Fish Conservancy has been permitted to sell these fine Joseph R. Tomelleri fish prints as a fundraiser. Check it out. I think our walls need some fish.

http://nativefish.org/Store/JT.html


Remember, its always easier to beg forgiveness than ask for permission.

Wendy still excited about Phillies World Series Victory

Our Golden Wendy loves to play 'stay' games.

Oh, What a Difference a Day Makes: 11/30/08 Winter Wade

Woke up to snow on the ground, gray skies, and a slight drizzle. Highs were forcasted around 36-38 F. Jumped in the car and went about 100 miles east of the river I was on yesterday. Plan was to hit holes I caught fish in during the summer and hope there would be some winter fish in them. Water is super low. I hit the deeper holes and scouted through everything else, noticing boulders I had taken fish off of before as well as undercut banks that were held in place by the rocky terrain and sycamore roots.

Didn't take long. I was fishing the Float and Fly. The bait was down about 2' and I couldn't see any movement on the bottom even though I could see down 4' or more. The float dunked. A nicely colored 13" smallmouth came to hand. I tossed to a different part of the eddy over and over again biding my time until something sunk the float again. A 12" Smallie came home. Grinned. Fish were out and about. It looked about 2.5-3' deep in this eddy and I swear I could see the bottom and yet two fish had materialized on my fly jig. Started downstream and heard gunshots so I headed back up, pausing to catch another pretty yellow smallmouth 13" long.

I headed above the hole and fished a large, deep, rock filled hole. Tried the 'other' side of this hole. On my first cast, I got distracted. My float drifted down the slow current close to the rocky bank in front. Dunk. A nice fight and a lightweight 16"er came to hand:



This would be the pattern: toss float and fly, look away for a while. The float would be gone. I finally picked up that they didn't want any action imparted. I caught two dinks and decided to do a normal summer wade, looking for signs of holding fish that would give away the presense of smallmouth bass.

This 14"er must have hit almost on the drop on a long cast. I looked away for a moment the float was gone. It was a pretty color so I took a pic despite the black flecks.



Got another 14-15" at the next riffle again as I was daydreaming. Another dink on the next cast.

Mike and I had waded this section last year and had hit a hole not far away from where I now was. We had success with Gunfish 95 that day at a hole above. Made the trek to the general area. My float sunk after waht seemed like eternity and a large powerful fish went for the laydown downstream. Turned him just in time, boy was he fat! Went 17".



A couple drifts later another fish came out of the same general area measured 16".



After a few more fruitless drifts, I turned back and hit some of the previous spots on the left nabbing two more 12" fish and losing a fish on the fight.



4 hours 13 SMB (17, 2 16", 2 14-15")

11/29/08 Not much action

Currently in the mood to catch some bigger fish as the year closes out. The last three year's winters always seem to produce some large smallmouth bass. To end 2008 with a bang, I set out to hit one of the better hawg stretches I know of. Weather was nice, sunny and low 40's. Water ended up still being crystal clear and very low. I could see down 6,7,8 feet when the sun shined right. It was very informative. I could see boulders I didn't know where there as well as killer dropoffs and ledges. This area is a wide stretch with plenty of water and a high cliff with trees that overlooks the creek. The shade from the cliff and lack of current had allowed most of the creek to lightly freeze over. Right where I wanted to fish!

I tried to float and fly everywhere there was open water. Got the sense that my efforts were a waste of time. I didn't see any fish in that large pool. I finally drove up a few holes and walked upstream to fish. Finally, found open water, the key was how high the eastern cliff was. No eastern cliff- no ice. Got to some riprap and finally found some fish. Carp and Channel Catfish with a couple smallies mixed in. The fish were a good 6-7' down. I adjusted my leader and promptly got ignored. It became fun picking out fish with my polarized lenses under huge rocks and boulders. I saw a large drum looked to be hibernating. 2 Large channel cats in 6-10 lbs range in an eddy appeared to asleep even when I dropped down rocks near them. Few smallmouth sightings, but many carp, suckers, and especially catfish. Somewhat active within a small area.

Walked up another run and found schools of fish in another area I was unaware of the contours of. 1 smallmouth out of all the fish I spied on. Again more cats then bass. Were the smallmouth hiding? I walked up another large pool, this time the cliff was on the side the sun sets on and was largely free of any ice. When I found more dark shapes moving, they again ignored my Float and Fly. I switched to a tube.

There were a couple smallies huddling together next to a medium rock. One turned out to be another drum. I pulled my tube slowly to the bass that appeared 15" laying on the bottom against that rock. Then the fish's head exploded into a red mist! Just kidding. When the tube finally got within a couple feet I inched it very slowly towards my target. Letting it sit for as long as 30 seconds with no movement. The retrieve had taken close to 5 minutes at this point. The bass's gills flared and my tube was gone. I set the hook hard and felt the hook bite home! I pulled him away from his rock and that bass was both surprised and larger than it looked in the water. Not much of a fight, but a lot of satisfaction. Ended up being my only fish and bite of the day. Measured a bump above 18".



Later, I walked up on a couple smallies wedged under a ledge. Fish were hiding today. Weather was good enough. We need some rain bigtime, water is too darned clear!

2007 Pics and content added

I added a bunchload of old fishing reports from 2007 and early 2008. Enjoy.