Verne's Pool

Gator was half asleep when my cell phone rang. Truth be told, we were both nodding off and were startled when the call came in. Early morning fishing was our ritual on an average of four days a week. I fish and Gator sleeps. The old boy is nearing eight years old and has yet to realize he is a dog. On this particular morning we were fishing on the Elk River about a mile above the Estill Springs Bridge. The Elk River feeds Tims Ford Lake which is one of Tennessee’s best kept secrets. Life is not too fast-paced on the lake; nor is the glory of nature more evident anywhere else than in the fall of the year when you watch the sunrise across the beautiful trees and calm water.

I looked at my caller-id. “You woke up Gator” I advised my sweet wife as I answered her call. “He will expect an extra biscuit for breakfast when we get home!”

“Rick Cheatham, the last thing that dog needs is an extra biscuit, but that is another subject,” she replied. “Sally just called worried and wanted to know if Johnny is fishing with you this morning? I didn’t think he was going with you but I told her I would check. Sally woke up and doesn’t know where he is.”

From her tone of voice my wife seemed quite concerned.

Johnny and Sally are our best friends and were part of the reason that Mary and I moved to this area. Johnny and I have known each other since our combat days together in Vietnam and we have had a close relationship every since. Sally has never been an alarmist. For her to call Mary at five o’clock in the morning showed the extent of her concern.

 “I’ll give Sally a call to let her know Johnny isn’t with me. He likely woke up early and went big bass fishing down at Verne’s Pool. He is convinced that the mother of all bass hogs resides in those waters. In the meantime, sweetie, Gator and I will be home for breakfast in another hour or so. Don’t forget Gator’s biscuit!”

“Right!” I heard her say as she hung up.

My call to Sally was somewhat unsettling. She said Johnny had gone out fishing last night and she hadn’t seen him since. His boat was still gone. She called us because she thought he might have gotten home late after she was asleep and then had woken up and gone back out fishing with me while she was still asleep this morning. It would have been nice if that was the case, but he certainly wasn’t out fishing with Gator and me. Sally’s greatest concern was that she hadn’t gotten an answer when she called him on his cell phone. It was very unlike Johnny to stay out of contact with Sally.

I tried to downplay my concern when I told Sally I would cruise over toward their vicinity and look for Johnny on the lake. I elected to do so not only to comfort Sally, but also to set my mind at ease.

“Gator, breakfast will have to wait awhile,” I informed my fishing buddy as I hung up on my call to Sally. I started the boat and turned downriver toward Verne’s Pool.

The name Verne’s Pool is Johnny’s invention. It is actually a portion of the lake known as Maple Bend. Maple Bend was a hairpin turn in the Elk River before Tims Ford Lake was created. Near Maple Bend is the entrance to the branch of the lake that flows to the old Winchester Springs area. Johnny and Sally have a lakefront home in Winchester Springs.

Prior to the lake being developed by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Maple Bend Road ran from Highway 50 to the south, through the farmland in the Maple Bend valley to Highway 130 to the north. Highway 130 was originally part of the old Dixie Highway built in the early 1900s to run from Chicago to Florida. Many of the early farmers in the valley found work building that road. When the lake was developed in the 1960s, the whole Maple Bend valley was flooded and now rests under more than a hundred feet of water.

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