[tkwalker]

Isaac, my figures may be obscure do to the time frame and my age .. (when fish were more plentiful as far as the large mouth bass) Note: I'm Southern ... Yes Mam and Yes Sir ... Also I only deal In pounds and not inches ... If I told you I caught a 54 inch Striper with a 48 inch girth what would that tell You ??? Naught ... If I said I caught a striper weighing 61 pounds would that relate better ??

1. Large mouth bass .. My personal best is a 9 and 10.5 pound ... on the same fishing trip my brother caught a 11 and 13 pound ... These are Fla. Fish and we have the mounts ...this was in the late 70's and early 80's ... The largest LG. Mouth in Tennessee for me is a 6.5 ... on Old hickory ... and a 5.9 on JPP caught last year ... (see pic's on past post).

2. Crappie ... over 16 inch for both white and black nose ... JPP and Center Hill .

3. Brown trout .... 8.5 lbs ... on the Caney and Rainbow 10.10 on the Caney ... Remember I had a cabin on the Caney ... This was within 24 hours ... of TWRA release of brood Stock ... Me Bad ... Released, Had fun though ... LOL !! I lived on that river as much as I could ...

4. Actually the largest Walleye was caught by my wife on Center Hill ... 10. 8 pounds ...

5. Stripers ... My devotion for these beast started after my BASS tourney Days .. which was brought on by Houseboats and Jet Skies and Bass Cowboys ... (which still lurk today) ... I had to leave the reaches of theses activities ... Upper river ...

My devotion to stripers ... As most of you know Ralph Hollis Dallas is the King of Stripers ... I have known Hollis since the early 70's ... Hollis use to do all of the GABA (Gallatin Association of Bass Anglers) taxidermy ... We became friends ... But Hollis would never take any one local out Striper fishing ... ... He researched and pioneered the striper fishing in the Cumberland ...

Ralph ... became very popular in the Striper circuit in all of the fishing Mags ... A decade later when I got into stripers I would buy every Mag at yard sales ,flea mkt's .. etc. and read and study as well as talk to Hollis and then hit the water ... Trial and error ... After the study decided to remove about 50% of the usual fishing hype BS %%% ... I would use my two Lowrance Paper Chart Graphs to record hundreds of miles of river bottom on both up down and stream ... and years of research before I decided it was time to go pro and guide ...

I developed an learned about bait ..wore out rotary cuffs on casting nets ... but I succeeded ... I missed the state record twice by only a pound ... and guess who beat me out ... Ralph, Hollis Dallas ... Well I got beat by the best !! ...

Stripers ... .. Caught dozens in the 50 pound Plus range .. My personal best is a 61. 4 pound and a 62 .2 Pound ... (Bait 16 inch Skippy and a 15 inch Rainbow respectively)

Did I mention a 140 pound Tarpon in Tampa in 2004 ... I had more fun with a striper......