STA is BACK for good, and maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan have things changed. New staff, new trips, new articles, new press, and 99% fewer Serbian libido pill links. From here on out, expect smooth sailing, with steady winds of reports from each and everyone here at Stone’s Throw. Though now, our roster is just slightly longer, but a whole lot stronger. Speaking of which, before we play “catch-up”, let’s take a minute to introduce the new members to the team.

Few people I meet or watch on the water, lack something I call “Finstincts”(TM), which is that innate predator intuition that comes from a well-taught and honed angling mind combined with “the great intangible”, that immutable Jedi factor. “Fishichlorians”, if you will….

Nick Adams, owner of “Adams Custom Canvas” in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, embodies all that should make up the quintessential 21st Century angler. An angler built on a chord structure of knowledge, innovation, and sheer gut instinct, Nick has proven time and time again that in any element, for any species, he may not have a map, but he is never lost for long. In fact, he excels in several trips what many take years to reach, and the most impressive factor in all this, is that it is not sheerly from emulation of knowledge and technique, its the ability he has to creatively absorb what he sees and hears the first time, squish it all together, put it in the Play-Doh Idea factory, and come out with everything from tried-and-true tactics that fit the suit, to concoctions more unorthodox than Martin Luther hammering Ludacris lyrics to the door of a church. But…more often than not, it works.
Nick built his “creek cred” on the bronze backs of huge smallmouths,”stream-engines” that pull drag like a locomotive, pulling them from water so skinny a supermodel could drown in it [with a scratch and sniff sticker on the bottom, of course]. While Nick understands the intimacy of fishing big smallmouth in a low ceiling environment, his knowledge and experience doesn’t end there. He has pursued these fish all over the Cumberland region, including pulling bass so thick from the Cumberland river, they look like they should be kicked through a goal post. In fact, Nick doesn’t really get excited until he sees a smallmouth on his line that would warrant a TWRA Trophy citation..and he sees those rather often, no matter what water he’s hunting.
Nick, seeking another outlet for his insatiable appetite for piscivious pursuits, came upon the marvelous muskellunge fishing to be had here on the Cumberland Plateau, and quickly learned to adapt his knowledge to accommodate the scale of these grand predators. Whereas alot of people come into the sport just reading about a few tactics in a tattered-edge copy of Field & Stream in their orthodontist’s office, Nick prepared like a Sin-Tzu student and set out to “know thyne enemy” before even touching the water. From day one, he had a firm grasp of how to pursue and where to find the esox, and only a year later, his scrapbook speaks the truth…this dog can hunt.

Whether its knee deep in the thick of big bronzebacks or slingin’ the big guns at giant muskies, Nick is not only at home, he excels even in the most drastic changes in conditions. Rest assured, a day in the boat or in the stream with Nick is not only an almost assured successful fishing trip, but a great opportunity to learn critical thinking skills that you can take back to nearly any water, nearly any species. He’s that good…

While definitely not a native Tennesseean, Alfred Crabtree has probably divulged more secrets from this region in the time he’s been here than many planted in the ground on these hills. Al literally lives the adventure we live for here: he’s helicoptered to the top of the Rockies and jumped out with nothing more than a snowboard and a quick “Meet ya at the bottom”; he’s paddled through white water that could make an able-bodied Chinook salmon pull up the GPS for a detour route. More than all that though, he’s one hell of a great guy who doesn’t do this for glory or fame, but simply for “the love of the game”, being out there and enveloped in the canvas.

Al brings a unique flavor to the team, being a jack of many trades, and a master of most, though he’d never admit it. He has the best gear and expertise available to delve into the deepest caverns littering the superstructure of the upper Cumberland. The next day, after he washes the caked mud off his face, you may see him pulling impressive stunts behind a ski-boat on Center Hill lake, riding wakes up to 8-10 feet in the air, recapturing some of his surfing days from the California coast. Expect a few specialty trips in the future from Alfred Crabtree, but for now, look for his insightful, well-written blogs about many of the adventures off the beaten path in this region, as well as his amazing photography gracing the pages of our entire site, documenting various angling trips as well.

Yet another neophyte to the south, but already head-over-heels for the entire package, Michael Ernst hails from central Minnesota, where he served for years as a guide with the legendary “Trophy Encounters” guide service, specializing in trophy musky from the Metro area Minneapolis lakes, with an emphasis on the gator factory that is Lake Minnetonka.

Even coming from a sportman’s paradise all its own, Mike is absolutely astounded at the variety of fisheries that exist here, with nearly all of them offering unique trophy opportunities for almost every game fish imaginable in freshwater, and unlike up north, there is no period where you have to fish through a hole the size of a bagel. Mike has the luxury of living in the metro Nashville area, and gets out any chance he can to explore. He’s already had good success with hybrid stripers and bass, trout, and walleye in his short time here, and he takes some of the most beautiful photographs of the “urban jungle”…Nashville has a beautiful collage of industry and nature to be captured by the trained eye. Mike’s photography of the outdoors has been featured in professional print in the outdoor industry, and just wait till you see his portfolio on this site.

Look for Mike’s blogs to document his transition to this different region and all its challenges in angling and the outdoors, and see through an outsiders eyes just how cool this area really is… I think many who have been born and raised here really don’t know just how lucky they are to have this out their backdoor. But Mike sure does…

Well, I’m off to prep for today’s recon trip in the Big Tuna Jackson Kayak with Rusty. We landed several nice muskies last week in the kayak utilizing some new tactics, and lost some brutes. Rusty got his first musky, a 38″, and had action from several larger. We’ll be posting those blogs soon, hopefully with real-time updates from the river. The trout have been slamming too, and even without regular generation, we’ve found a trick that almost guarantees success with bigger fish when many others are shooting  blanks at their target. I’ll get this all caught up soon, but before I go…

…be sure to check out this year’s In-Fisherman Musky and Pike Annual Guide. Stone’s Throw Adventures Musky Guides Cory Allen, Nick Adams, and Jase Bouldin were featured in several articles, including a feature article on the amazing musky fishing to be had in our system and other southern systems. Great pics, great press, and quite sincerely the single most influential angling publication ever, knowledge is power and no one has brought more “power to the people” than In-Fisherman Magazine, combining the generational knowledge of tested tactics with the latest and greatest innovations in bait and tackle, and sharing it with the public at the speed of information.

Not only that, but they have helped pioneer the advent of several species that were once considered “trash fish” to becoming treasured game fish. From alligator gar and snakeheads, to bowfin and African Knifefish, they leave no stone unturned and look for angling opportunity in the most unlikely places. Stone’s Throw Adventures is both honored and humbled to share print and be featured in such a medium that shares our own philosophy towards angling. Feel free to check it out, and we hope to see you on the messageboard soon, which should be fully repaired and ready for users abooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuut……now. Now that all the kinks are taken care of, there is a forum for anything imaginable to do outdoors in Tennessee, and if there’s one we happened to miss, feel free to message me, and I’ll make you your own personal playground to romp in. Live it up and enjoy the new and improved site.

-Cory Allen, Stone’s Throw Adventures

In-Fisherman Magazine writer Steve Ryan also found his way down to fish with myself and Jase for an evening in the Coosas, and I managed to connect with two fish at 40″, one hitting a figure-8 after dark, and Jase hooked and lost two more fish that appeared to be pretty impressive. Stone’s Throw Adventures musky guiding and the great year-around musky fishery we have here in middle Tennessee will be featured in next year’s In-Fisherman Annual Pike & Musky Issue, hitting newstands in January.

Be sure to check out our new partners in the outdoors in the Outfitters section of this site: Outdoor Experience, Big Rock Market [Fly Shop, Restaurant, and Jackson Kayak rental service on the Caney Fork River], Jackson Kayaks, Hook 1 Kayak Angling Store, Kayak Fishing Unleashed, Fontana Guide Service, Tackle Industries, Musky Armor, Simms Outdoors, Bending Branches Paddles, and Dunwright Tackle.

Of course, we regularly work with, utilize,and endorse all these figures in the outdoor world, and they represent the finest products and services you can find to make your adventure one for the ages. While summer is nearing an end, don’t expect us to be slowing down at all. While the booking for Rock Island Kayak Musky trips end in November, we’re of course, still booking trips for trophy brown trout on live bait and conventional tackle, and the musky bite in the big boat will only get hotter as the mercury gets lower. When others up north are sitting around a hole in the ice hoping a 10″ perch nibbles on their line, we’re slamming hooks into the jaws of trophy muskellunge all through the winter…and remember, winter is when these fish are at their fattest, i.e. your best shot at a state record.

As always, tight lines and if you wish to book one of our trips, please call 931-261-2483 or email us at stonesthrowadventures@gmail.com.

Tight lines, y’all. Whether you fish, hunt, hike, climb, paddle, swim, off-road, spelunk, wake-board, this is your place, and remember, the heart of adventure is just a “stone’s throw away”…

-Cory Allen

First up, Stone’s Throw Guides Jase Bouldin and Cory Allen are now taking bookings for musky fishing…in kayaks. As far as we know, we’re the first guides ever to offer trips for one of the most coveted species in freshwater, as well as one of the largest and hardest fighting from the intimacy of a kayak. Using and featuring Jackson Kayaks Coosa Elites, the premiere fishing kayak available on the market, Jase and Cory will take you into some of the most remote, scenic, and dragon-filled haunts in the entire country. These floats are absolutely LOADED with musky, and while lots of the fish run in the low-30″ to low-40″ range, both Jase and Cory have landed fish into the high-40″ range in the small paddle-craft, and have the expertise and know-how to get you hooked up with a “nantucket sleigh ride” getting pulled around by a giant musky. To not only pursue and hook, but safely and successfully land and release these big toothy predators requires precision and skill. We can not only get you hooked up, but make sure the experience is memorable, enjoyable, and painless for both you and the musky. This is a GREAT trip for someone who is just getting interested in the sport of kayak-fishing, or a die-hard musky hunter who is looking for a whole new way to approach the sport and access waters almost untouchable through any other means.

New for this summer, Stone’s Throw Adventures guide Cory Allen is offering the “The Caney Fork Slam” Combo Trip. In the spirit of the saltwater world, where the goal of many days is to land a highly coveted “slam” or a set-list of species to catch within a single trip. Here in middle Tennessee, we have the luxury of pursuing multiple trophy species within a short driving distance in the same day. Born from his own “marathon trips” with friends, Cory now offers the ability to chase and land not only trophy musky, trout, and striper, but take on all three in one fell swoop in one day’s span. Starting June 1st through August 31st, the peak of the striper season, a great time of year to pursue the trout, and some of the best musky activity of the year, you can book the Stone’s Throw Adventures Caney Fork Slam. A signature trip not offered anywhere else, the extended day trip spans from the scenic, musky-thick waters of Rock Island to the chilled flowing flows of the Caney Fork below Center Hill, where bomber browns and stripers the size of U-boats haunt the summer morning mist. On past fun trips, Cory and his friends have repeatedly landed trophy musky in the morning, only to jump ship, shift waters, and land multiple giant stripers and mix a few big browns into the bag as well. It takes hard work, discipline, and skill, but to those willing to take the challenge, the chalice of completing their own Caney Fork Slam awaits.

If either of these trips with Jase or Cory piques your interest, then get on the horn and book your trip today! These are becoming quite popular and bookings are already starting to come in. If you want to be apart of the adventures, call 931-261-2483 or email us at stonesthrowadventures@gmail.com.

Tight lines and remember, the heart of adventure, is just a stone’s throw away…

Be on the look out for some new-blood to the site, in the angling arena and in the white-water/recreational kayaking as well…very soon.

Never stop exploring, even in your own backyard…

-Cory Allen “Stone’s Throw Adventures”

First up, Simms Tackle, a branch of the widely popular and ever-growing outdoor multi-media powerhouse Simms Outdoors, owned and operated by Southern Illinois musky guide Colby Simms, has added Stone’s Throw Adventures Musky guides Cory Allen and Bryan Morris to their pro-staff. Simms Tackle is headed by the effective and innovative line of spinnerbaits called the “School-n-Shad”, a large bass-style safety-pin style spinnerbait built to the specs and demands of the most dyed-in-the-wool musky angler.

With the highest quality hardware components coupled with artistry in the aesthetic presentation of the baits born from Colby’s extensive experience pursuing muskellunge and other large gamefish across North America, these baits not only attract the attention of trophy muskies all over the country, but also come in sizes easily applicable for trophy bass, pike, and stripers anywhere these fish swim.

While the traditional musky bucktail is tough to knock off its pedestal for its versatility and sheer fish-hooking power, Colby’s bass-style spinners geared for the musky crowd offer the advantages of the safety pin, such as free-movement through he thickest cover with minimal snag potential, without sacrificing the hook-up ratio usually acquainted with such designs, through the addition of an extended main hook, coupled with a trailer hook treated with a soft-plastic shad body. Add 24-karat plated gold and nickel blades glistening down the main arm, and you’re dealing with one bad customer for big gamefish in just about any angling situation, but especially the high-density cover we so often encounter in our southern reservoirs.

Both Bryan and myself greatly anticipate adding these lures to our arsenal this season and seeing just what kinda of magic they can work on our fish. Muskies…big muskies are a given. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few exceptional largemouth take a shine to these studded lures this season. Perhaps these spinners could become a “game-changer” bait for the tournament bass angler looking for the edge with that big trophy “bumper” fish. Who knows…only time will tell. Either way, a thanks goes out to Colby Simms and all those at Simms Outdoors for providing such great lures and such great media representation of our great sport of angling. Check out their amazing line of outdoor services, as well as their great big-gamefish baits, at http://simmsoutdoors.com/.

Next, to be quite frank, is one of the single most innovative and paradigm-shifting tackle solutions to come down the pipe in years…decades perhaps? OK. Let’s use our imaginations for a second….think of every tackle box you’ve ever owned [long list isn't it?...]. What things about them did you find useful? Concise and easily-accessed storage? Perhaps. Transparency for ease of selection? Of course. Latches to secure the storage compartments when the box is not in use? Standard.

Now, what things can you think of that you did NOT find the most palatable about those characteristics?…limited dimensions and spacing available in the unit itself? Nod your head, “Yes”. Bleached baits due to over-exposure to sunlight in a translucent container, practically ruining your 10-40 dollar baits? Keep that head a bobbin’… No real security as far as tackle storage, leaving thousands upon thousands of dollars in musky/striper/bass/whatever tools at the mercy of those who do not care to swipe your arsenal in a matter of moments? By now you’re startin’ to look like that little Dog the Bounty Hunter bobble-head on a trucker’s dashboard…

Bob Schmitt, owner and manufacturer of JustEncase storage systems adapted his construction and technology from home and business security, using his knowledge with advanced plastics and engineering, to devise the ultimate tackle storage system on the planet. As a musky angler, he realized the need for himself and in the market for a storage system that could be fitted to specific spaces on board any boat, support inordinate amounts of weight, endure any elements imaginable, and provide maximum security for the expensive tackle most musky [and other anglers] use today. And he met this need with briliance…

His tackle boxes, or as I prefer to call them,  ”The Devil’s Tupperware”, are becoming the rage in the professional and recreational musky world, and beginning to be recognized for their value in other arenas, from the bass pro circuits to the world of saltwater angling. Bob’s boxes not only can be custom-made to mount into any size space on any boat, but can be fixed permanently into the hull, and are strong enough to serve as a casting platorm or casting deck extension that doubles as the ultimate in lure storage. Aside from all this, the patented polycarbon-lexan material he uses is completely transparent, but blocks 100% of UV rays, allowing you to immediately see the bait you want, but keeps your baits from bleaching out from days of direct sunlight, like normal plastic boxes.

Enough talk, check them out for yourself at http://www.justencase.com/water.html to see his selection of stock box designs, or even better, give Bob a call at 952-401-8909 for a personal consultation on your own custom tackle box. It’ll be some of the best money you ever spent in your angling career…I can vouche for that personally.

-Cory Allen, “Stone’s Throw Adventures”

Bryan brings a definite edge to the team, as well as experience in writing, speaking, and doing video work in the outdoor field. He has worked alongside the legendary Crash Mullins on several projects and will most certainly be both an actively booked guide and valuable asset to the team. Be looking for Bryan’s reports posted on the messageboard and the main page, and be sure to check out his guide page listed as “Green River Kentucky Musky”. Not a trip to be missed…