Hickman - start

The fish were jumping. They sailed past us at chest height before skipping into the water. Jokingly James moved forward to open the bow gate, inviting them in. CRASH. An 18" Flying Carp fish landed on our deck! It had leapt high, clearing our railing. Incredible!

At around 7:30 we bore left into a small channel that took us to Hickman, Kentucky. As we motored in, fish were flying all around uss. Several more leapt aboard bringing the total to 9 fish in all. One even hit Bobby square in the chest!

Billy Barns and his girlfriend, Cathy gave us a lift to a fuel station 3 miles away. The back of his blue pick-up was littered with crushed cans of Busch and Bud.

Billy has lived here all his life, but is "fixin to leave town...there be nuthin' here." We bought some cheeseburgers, fuel and topped off Billy's tank. Driving back to the boat, we passed one nondescript house after another. The air of hopelessness was plain.