By Chris Erwin One of the reasons I am a member of the Kentucky Outdoor Press Association is its mission to shine a light on all the state of Kentucky has to offer the public in the way of outdoor opportunities.
With the help of one of our members Judy Tipton, and David Jones, a professional crappie guide working out of Homes Bend Resort, a visit was planned for the KOPA group to Green River Lake. When you go to one of these events you never know just what to expect.
I looked at the map of the lake and Homes Bend is centrally located. I knew the resort offered cabins, camping, beach access, and houseboat rentals along with smaller boats. I found out, there is also a restaurant and a gift and bait shop all rolled into one. My prior experience with these type of places led me to believe it would be a large impersonal business geared towards quickly getting visitors on a houseboat and out on the water. I was very pleased and surprised to find out this was not the case.
While they are ready and able to put you in the houseboat of your dreams or cabin only minutes from the water, the staff at Homes Bend is anything but impersonal. I found them to have a warm, old-timey welcoming attitude rarely seen any more. Mr. Butler owns the resort but he has, for the most part, passed the operation on to his daughter Kelly Caldwell and the rest of his family. After talking to them, it was easy to see this was a small tight-knit family operation whose aim it is to make your visit a memory you will want to repeat.
KOPA members stayed on a docked houseboat with central air, a full kitchen, two bathrooms, fly-bridge and a TV with a DVD player. The beach was only a short walk away and in view of the marina. One of the things missing at most large lake resorts these days is a fish cleaning station.
Homes Bend has one of the best one I’ve ever seen. It also has bathrooms all of which are covered making them possible to use even in a pouring rain. Our group from eastern Kentucky included Tom Clay, Sam Piatt, “Catfish” Stevens and myself. However, writers from across the state along with a few from Tennessee attended. Soc Clay would also normally travel with us but at the last minute he had to be admitted to Kings Daughters Medical Center where he was treated overnight.
I understand he is home and doing well. Next week, I plan to write about Davy Jones and his guide service. If you want to learn about a guy that day in and day out puts his customers on limits of crappie using the spider rigging method, you won’t want to miss next week’s column. I went out with Davy Jones Saturday morning and caught about 75 crappies by 10 a.m. we kept 38. The size limit on Green River is 9 inches. Two other guys guided our group fishing. They included: John Sparr, owner of Elite Pro Customs Baits (859) 583-6581; and Chris Hines, owner of Uptown Graphics (270)-369-0144. Chris, and his company are known as one of the best custom wraps graphic companies in Kentucky. John Sparr is an innovator in swimbaits.
We plan to cover John’s new head design. Just when you think there is no way to make something better someone like him comes up with a better way! If you would like to visit Homes Bend you can email them hbmr@kih.net or call 1-800-801-8154 or (270) 384-4425. The snail mail address is Homes Bend P.O. Box 353, Columbia, KY, 42728. You can also contact David Jones Guided Crappie Trips by calling (270) 634-2675 or visit www.greenriverlakecrappietrips.com
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