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Bassmaster readers are familiar with our "Day on the Lake" series. Here we put top BASS pros on small lakes they've never seen before, then give them seven hours to locate and catch bass while we log every move they make. Recently we invited Bassmaster's own country-fried bassin' duo, Harry 'n' Charlie, to take our "Day on the Lake" challenge. Here's what happened when the piscatorial pair took on Lake X, an obscure body of water in the middle of nowhere.

5:00 a.m. We hook up with Harry 'n' Charlie for breakfast at a truck stop near the lake. Harry is wearing a pair of nasty blue jeans with battery acid holes in the knees, a frayed T-shirt with chewing tobacco drool stains on the front and a pair of rotting sneakers. Charlie is attired in a mustard colored BASS jumpsuit circa 1971; he's put on a few pounds since it was new, judging by how the seams are splitting.

5:05 a.m. "The first rule of bass fishin' is you cain't catch no lunkers on an empty stomach!" Harry insists as we hit the breakfast buffet. The pair load up their plates with sausage, biscuits and enough sawmill gravy to drown a horse.

5:09 a.m. They go back through the buffet line for seconds. Make that thirds.

5:17 a.m. We head for Lake X in Harry 'n' Charlie's battered pickup truck. "Nothin' gets me mo' riled up than explorin' a new lake!" Harry chatters. "Actually, nothin' gets you mo' riled up than that gallon of black coffee you drank at breakfast!" Charlie laughs.

5:47 a.m. We turn onto a dirt road and follow it 18 miles until it dead-ends at Lake X, a shallow body of water loaded with standing timber, stumps and lily pads. Harry exclaims, "Holy bilge pumps! This lake has gotta be loaded with lunkers!"

6:00 a.m. They slide their battered johnboat into the murky waters of Lake X. Harry hops in, lowers an ancient Wheezer 4 1/2-horse outboard and pulls the starter rope. A thick cloud of greasy black smoke wafts from the cowling as the motor coughs and dies.

6:32 a.m. "@#$%&^%!" Harry cusses as he yanks the starter rope again and again to no avail. Finally the diminutive kicker sputters to life. Charlie and this reporter climb aboard and we're off! What's the first step in their game plan for the day? "I gotta have me a lil' snack!" Charlie says, searching through a duffel bag for a can of Beanie Weenies.

6:55 a.m. Harry bangs the boat through a tangle of submerged timber, cuts the outboard and picks up a 5-foot baitcasting outfit with a big spinnerbait tied on. He casts the lure across a sunken tree and retrieves it, muttering "C'mon, big'un! Hit it!" under his breath. Suddenly his rod doubles as a big bass engulfs his offering. "I got one!" he hollers as a lunker bass takes to the air, cartwheels and comes unbuttoned. "#$%^&^%$!" he cusses. "That bass was 9 pounds if it was an ounce!"

7:02 a.m. Charlie rigs a 9-inch scuppernong Mann's Jelly Worm onto a rusty hook and casts it to the same tree where Harry lost his lunker. As the worm sinks, his line jumps and he sets the hook, exclaiming, "Looks like I got one now, Harry!" He plays the fish expertly, finally bringing it close enough to grab its lower jaw: "That's what I'm talkin' about!" Charlie grins. The fish weighs 7 pounds, 4 ounces. "Decent enough, I reckon, but nowhere near the size of the one I lost!" Harry grumbles.

7:38 a.m. The pair have fished their way down the edge of some flooded trees. I ask them why their boat isn't equipped with depthfinders: "Oh, we got depthfinders, all right," Harry replies. He sticks his rod into the lake, jabs it into the bottom and pulls it back out: "See? It's 4 1/2 feet deep!"

7:49 a.m. Harry runs Charlie to the bank so he can "answer nature's call." "Don't step on no rattlesnakes," Harry cautions him.

8:13 a.m. Charlie finally returns from the woods and gets back into the boat, drained of color and soaked with sweat. "Phew!" he gasps. "I don't know if it was the sausage or the gravy, but that breakfast went through me faster than a dose of salts through a goose!" Harry complains, "Hurry up and sit down, will ya? The clock's tickin', and we need to get back fishin'!"

8:16 a.m. Harry drags a rubber frog across a patch of lily pads. KA-BOOSH! KA-BOOSH! A huge bass explodes on the weedless croaker twice, but misses it, prompting Harry to snarl, "Whatsa matter, fish — is you blind?!"

8:18 a.m. Charlie casts his Jelly Worm to the hole in the pads left by the lunker's missed strikes. Instantly his line pulls tight; he hammers back his rod and sputters, "I got him! I got him!" The monster bass bulldozes deeper into the pads and buries in the stems, prompting Charlie to plead, "Hey Harry, scull us closer so's I can grab this fish! If I bear down on him any harder, I'll rip out the hook!" Harry obliges, but not without considerable grumbling. Finally Charlie sticks his arm into the lake and wrestles a giant bass into the boat; his second keeper of the day weighs 10 pounds, 11 ounces. "Make sure you score me an 'assist' on this one!" Harry says. "Lucky here wouldn't have never caught it if I hadn't shown him 'zactly where it was, then sculled the dang boat right up to it so's he could lip it!"

8:23 a.m. There's some tension in the air as the pair continue fishing the pad field. "I've contributed two big basses toward our limit," Charlie complains. "When is you gonna catch somethin', Harry?" "Just you watch, Mr. Smartypants," Harry snaps back. "I'm about to catch me a lunker so big, it'll take a forklift to get it into the boat!"

8:26 a.m. While Charlie continues casting his Jelly Worm, Harry digs through his possumbelly tacklebox and comes up with his secret weapon: a vintage wood prop bait with one of its glass eyes missing. "My Uncle Ezra gave me this here bait when I was just knee-high to a grasshopper," he says, his eyes misting over. "I only break it out in emergencies! It's so deadly, it's been banned in 17 states!"

8:27 a.m. Harry casts Uncle Ezra's ancient surface plug to the edge of the pads, then lets the water settle before nudging it with his rod tip so it makes a gentle Splossh! But nothing happens. "C'mon, big momma, I know you is down there!" he pleads. He nudges the lure again: Sploosh! "Awww, c'mon, Harry!" Charlie complains. "Quit foolin' around — haul off 'n' give that ol' plug a good loud jerk!"

8:28 a.m. SPLOOSH!!! Harry jerks his rod hard, the plug slushes forward like a frightened minner and KA-BLOOOEYYY!!! The plug disappears in an explosion of water as the biggest bass in Lake X grabs it, prompting Harry to holler, "See? I told ya I was about to latch onto a lunker!" The huge largemouth surges for the sanctuary of the pads, but Harry leans back on the fish hard, his stubby pool cue rod creaking in protest. Zzzzt! Zzzzt! Even though Harry has tightened down the reel's star drag with Vice Grips, the rampaging bass manages to rip line off the reel. He digs his thumbs into the spool to corral the fish and the smell of burning flesh fills into the air!

8:35 a.m. Harry finally manages to work the giant bass close to the boat, but it still hasn't shown itself. "Just how big is that bass?" Charlie wonders. "I dunno, she don't wanna come up to the top!" Harry wheezes. "Everybody hold still — I's fixin' to stand up so's I can get a look at her!" Charlie warns, "Don't stand up, Harry! You'll flip the dang boat over!"

8:36 a.m. Charlie's prediction has come true — their johnboat has flipped upside down, and the three of us are in the water clinging to it. As their tackle sinks to the bottom of Lake X, Harry says, "Hey, at least I got a glimpse of that bass! You shoulda seen 'er, boys — 15 pounds if she was an ounce!" Unfortunately, Harry 'n' Charlie's day on the lake is forced to end early. What's their take on the events that transpired this morning? "Just another typical redneck bass outing," Harry shrugs. Charlie adds, "C'mon, let's get to shore! If we hurry, we can beat the crowds to the lunch buffet back at the truck stop!"

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