A Shanty Hollow Morning Greeting

Fall seemed to greet Kentucky early this season...at least the weather seems to have shifted in that direction as soon as September rolled past day one.  Reluctance greeted me this morning when the alarm sounded off at 4:15am.  When I stepped out of the garage into the morning air, the chill that greeted me then removed most of the sleep still lingering around my eyes.

An hour later I was on Shanty Hollow for some down time and fishing...and of course some photo taking.  The dark-thirty overcast skies greeted the Old Town canoe and I as I shoved away from the bank.  It's a strange sensation paddling a canoe in near total darkness...one loses that sense of motion and movement.  Fifteen minutes later I rounded the bend that arched around toward the earthen dam.  It was still dark...the clouds obscuring most of the ambient light except just on the horizon above the treeline.  Time to cast a line before the light grew bright enough for picture taking. Three casts along the rip-rap than lined the dam and I hooked the first bass of the day...a little guy...10 maybe 11 inches long...still counts as one.  

I'm always amazed at just how quickly the morning changes from dark to light...even on an overcast morning. One moment you can barely see what's in front of you...the next, everything suddenly becomes visible.  I beached the canoe...slipped on the muddy rocks as I climbed out and nearly fell in...then carried the camera box to the top of the dam and more toward the middle area.  I setup the small tripod and attached the HD video camera...set it to 1 frame per second...adjusted a few more settings and pointed it toward where the sun was suppose to rise.  Wasn't sure if it actually would on this morning with all the clouds... 

waited a few minutes to make sure all systems were functioning then returned to my fishing duties.

Over the next 35 to 40 minutes I continued fishing and took a few morning shots with the still camera...right up until the unexpected rain shower hit.  Fearing the unprotected video camera would not function well if it got too wet...I pulled over and clamored across and up the slope of the dam and shut it down.  

Over the next few hours I fished and took pictures...fished some more and eventually just paddled around.  As I was moving from one location toward another I noticed some bait fish wildly jumping with two or three larger splashes right behind...I tossed my minnow imitating lure into the middle of the fray...one slight twitch...a single crank...boom!  Bass number two was added to my days count.

By late morning the sky was beginning to clear...and so I headed back to the Jeep...took my time...no need to hurry.  Met a young kid at the ramp who asked if I had a slip sinker I could spare...tossed him two.  I suppose it was a good way to end the day.

When I downloaded the time lapse video footage from the morning...I was not disappointed.  The first 30 seconds or so were a bit too grainy because it was still quite dark when I started filming...a quick edit fixed that.  A Shanty Hollow Morning greeted me today...I'd like to share it with you...(and yes...that was me..:])