[Dakota]

Well said TK!

Originally Posted by tkwalker

Dakota, Thanks for the post and memories ... You know a lot of people read all of my exploits in fishing, Commercial, Tourney, and Guiding and working at the TVA Gallatin Steam Plant, and Military ... And my early days as a kid fishing with my Dad In SC for the first land locked Stripers .... (Now here it comes) ... By the way My Dad worked for the US Gov... And I have lived in every State in the South and attended 15 schools before graduating from High school ..

I use to live in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Hargrove Rd., And fished the Black Warrier River ... I attended Tuscaloosa High School and Paul Byant Jr. was one of my class mates.

The Black warrier in 1959 thru 1962 when I lived there was nothing more than a enviromental industrial Trash Dump !!! ... The first time I saw an 8 Gauge Perm mounted Shotgun was on work boats to shatter the dried asphalt from the water line of barges ...

I first learned to water ski on the Black Warrier in 1962 behind a 14 foot Lone Star powered by a 40 HP Westbend outboard (later to become Chrysler) ... After a day of Sking ... When we got home we had to take Kerosene and clean our legs from our knees down to remove the asphalt oil paste that was floating on the surface ... Stripers then were unheard of ... Not sure that I remember the Dam ... I know stripers had not been introduced in the Black Warrier yet..

But great for the State of Alabama That they have improved their Eco system and cleaned up their act !!! And the results is a beautiful fish like this ...

<'TK><

PS... Before moving to Tuscaloosa I lived in Bessemer, Ala. and attended Hueytown Jr. High School Played Offensive Lineman for the Hueytown Gophers !!! ... On the way home we would walk, after football practice (since we missed the bus**) by Bobby Allison's Race Shop and hang on the chain Link Fence ... He would see us and come and talk to us ... A really nice guy ... I really felt sorry for him when he lost his two sons a year apart decades later ...

** The school bus drivers were Senior High School Students (We thought they were GODS !!) ... The bus's were 1955 Fords ... all seats were filled ..three to a seat and kids standing from the front to rear holding on to the above hand rails ... You have never seen a bus lean so much with these drivers and the winding back hill roads ... The drivers thought this was a sports car road coarse !! ...