TSFT - What the heck is that?

What is TSFT?  TSFT is Turkey Season Fishing Trip.  It started out in 2000 as myself, Alan and a neighbor of Alan’s Donnie going turkey hunting.  Up at 4a and in the woods before first light made for a long day, so by about 12p we were out of the woods and tired.  We camped at Ferdinand State Park in Southwestern Indiana and always tried to put the camper/tents near the water so we could throw a line in and drink some beers near the fire pit. 

Well one afternoon produced a boat load of nice sized bluegills and was a heck of a lot of fun.  I think Alan and I both started looking forward to fishing more than the hunting.  So in 2001 we made more plans around fishing, although we still hunted in the morning. 

In 2002 we bought a small Bass Hunter 2 man boat.  Donnie quit making the trip and Alan and I started working the schedule around mostly fishing.  We hunted opening morning and then put the guns away and fished the rest of the week.  The reclaimed strip pits and many small lakes around the area plus being Spring made it ideal to catch a lot of fish. 

2003 we took our guns but never had them out of the case. We added lakes and widened our fishing area to several counties.  The TSFT was official.  It was a Turkey Season Fishing Trip now. In 2003 we found ourselves fishing a private lake and staying a couple nights in a cabin with some Turkey hunting friends.  But all we did was fish and listen to stories of the hunt.

2004 we got into the swing of things and fine tuned the schedule to hit the most productive water and sprinkle in an occasional new lake here and there.

2005 was a great year. Alan had gone to work for a new company and had met Bob. Bob owned a great cabin with 2 private lakes.  Biggest bass we had ever caught and lots of them.  The fishing was outstanding. Our little Bass Hunter let us get on water and into places that had little or no pressure.  And Bob’s place was the perfect place to build a fire, clean some fish and have a beer or 11.

2006 was a repeat of 2005.  The fishing and fire pit stayed hot, the beer stayed cold.

2007 we got some bad news early.  The main lake at Bob’s had a leak in the dam.  It was out. We lucked into a new hot spot, another private lake just West.  Big Bass Lake we called it, AFTER we fished it twice in 2007.  Monster largemouth.  This lake put any others we had been on to shame, and it was OURS.  We still went to the strip pits, and hit several different lakes, but Big Bass was always on our minds.

2008 Alan found a place called Delaney Park on a Winter scouting trip. It had it’s own lake which was a nice lake in itself, and it was 5 minutes from Big Bass Lake. TSFT shifted from Southwestern Indiana to South Central for a few days and Southwestern for a few. 2008 also saw us selling old faithful, our Bass Hunter, and buying a Jon Boat.  After extensive work through the winter of 07/08 we were ready for the best TSFT ever.

The fishing was o.k. everywhere except Big Bass which continued to be the best producer of numbers and size. The strip pits were slowing down and the new water was becoming scarce.

2009 was scheduled to be a repeat of 2008 with some minor tweaking. The weather didn’t help us, the strip pits continued their downward spiral and the new water we tried was terrible. TSFT 09 was forgettable to say the least.

2010 started off on a bad foot.  We were told Big Bass Lake was 10’ low and the guy who takes care of the land didn’t know why, or if we could even get in it or not.  Despite the bad news we headed on TSFT 10 with Plan A and a back up.  We didn’t need the back up plan too much once we got the boat in Big Bass Lake, luckily the water was up a bit from our pre-season scout trip, but the water fluctuation hurt the fishing. And getting the boat out… wow.  Once again the strip pits left a lot to be desired despite us trying several new ones, and the fishing overall was not good.

We hadn’t even made it home before the discussion started that we might be in a rut. The fishing had steadily declined the last several years and we decided we needed a change. I suggested the natural lakes of Northeastern Indiana and a scout trip was planned. In the fall of 2010 we made out run to the North.  What we saw gave us hope.  All new water and some new species to boot.  The allure of Northern Pike, Walleye and Brown Trout sealed the deal for us. TSFT 2011 would be in Northeastern Indiana.

So here we are, planning for TSFT 2011. The tentative schedule is written up.  The scout trip is in the works. We are waiting on the boat and travel show in Feb. to gather as much info on the area as we can, and the excitement of our next adventure is building.

And that is what TSFT is.