Humble Pie

The weather forecast is for a major cold front to move into the area on Tuesday afternoon - rains and dropping temperatures.  Still reeling (no pun intended) from the outstanding smallmouth bite on Saturday I decided that my best chance to duplicate was to go first thing this morning before the front arrived.  The rain was not forecasted to arrive until late morning, it was a balmy 60 F, and I felt sure I was in for an awesome morning.  I got on the water at about 6:30 a.m. before first daylight - I started in Rowe Cove, just in case the stripers wanted to surrender to a top water or two before I targeted the smallmouth.  The rockfish were breaking this morning better than Saturday, but were - as usual for this time of year - all over the place breaking once and then moving on.  I could never get one to notice my redfin, so I gave it about thirty minutes or so and then got bait.  I got my favorite freshwater bait - perfect sized thread fin shad (Dorosoma petenense) I was thrilled at the prospect that awaited me.  I ran over to the rock pile at Thief Neck armed with the rig of choice; a standard bobber with a 3' 4 lb test Seaguar flourocarbon leader on 10 lb test Power Pro and a 1/0 Owner Mutu Light circle hook.  This rig was delivered on my new 7' Temple Fork Outfitters ML matched with my Shimano Stella 4000 FB. I fished the same stretches I fished just three days ago and only boated one smallmouth and one drum.  I lost 4 others, but the bite was just nothing like it was on Saturday. It just goes to show you as soon as you start thinking you've got it all figured out, it changes.  Nothing like a good day on the water to keep you humble :)

Fall Rockfish Are Making Me Crazy

After fishing down the lake this morning (see Humble Pie), I went to work for a few hours.  I just can't get these ferocious stripers out of my mind.  I talked with a friend of mine in church this past Sunday and he told me he saw them breaking in the back of the cove around Roane Co. Park.  So, after I got home from work and discovered that the girls all had something going on and Crystal had to work late, I decided to take a look at Roane Co. Park for myself.  I launched at Caney Creek, got good bait in one throw (shad minnows are all over Caney Creek right now) and headed over to the swimming area and public pier.  Right away I noticed healthy (10 - 15 lb) rockfish breaking on the monstrous schools of minnows.   I had a rod with a 9" redfin, and a rod with a poppin' cork and circle hook (for basic free-lining). The stripers were breaking with 25' of the boat every minute or so, but they would just do a ravenous roll and then be gone - several times I was standing cocked and ready to cast waiting for a fish to break and would cast right in the middle of the swirl within seconds of the roll and nothing - never got a bite.  It was very exciting, but exasperating at the same time.  Man...maybe someday  I'll figure out how to get stripers in this mode to bite.  It's part of what makes this whole thing so addicting to me.  I can't wait to get back out after 'em.

Classic November Smallmouths

5 .5 lb Smallie

4 lb Bronzeback

4.5 lb Smallmouth

4 lb Smallmouth

Scott and I got up with the chickens this morning and navigated the pre-dawn fog to partake in the first light striper top-water bite on Watts Bar this morning.  The lunar calendar was in our favor and said fishing should be excellent today - especially from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Boy was it ever right!  The moon was full last night, and will actually be at peak tonight. We started in "Row" Cove looking for packs of silver kings cruising the shallows for shad.  The minnows have been congregating in the backs of coves recently in search of the warmest water they can find.  The surface water temperature was around 58 F, prime for stripers roaming around like a pack of wolves looking to put the feed bag on.  There was a little bit of surface action, but nothing significant - just an occasional largemouth or white bass chasing minnows near the shore line.  We worked our way into the very back of the cove where we saw feeding fish working some shad minnows over.  I was throwing a 9" redfin and picked up an extremely aggressive 1 1/2 lb largemouth (talk about your eyes being bigger than your stomach!), and then a nice 2 lb white bass on a shad colored Excalibur lipless crankbait.   At about 8:30 a.m. we decided to get bait and start looking for smallmouth.   We headed over to the rock pile at Thief Neck Island.  I pretty much always fish a float when using live bait in this area because of the jagged rock bottom.  Fishing on the bottom here will almost always guarantee a hang up.  Right away we started getting bites and boating smallmouth.  The fish were aggressive and feeding. The rig of choice was a standard bobber with a 3' 4 lb test flourocarbon leader on 10 lb test Power Pro and a 1/0 Owner Mutu Light circle hook.  This rig was delivered on my new 7' Temple Fork Outfitters ML matched with my Shimano Stella 4000 FB.  We caught a 5 1/2, a 4 1/2, two 4's, a 3, and multiple 2 lbers. All tolled we caught over 20 smallmouth.  The best 5 weighing a total of 21 lbs!  This easily the best bunch of smallmouth we've ever caught in one trip - A great way to break in my new TFO rod!

Cooling Water Temperatures Means Roving Stripers

I had just a couple of hours to fish this afternoon, and my buddy Stuart Row had been catching some nice striped bass in his cove in the afternoons.  As the weather and the water have started cooling off, the shad minnows have moved into the shallower coves in desperate search of the warmest water the lake has to offer.  So guess who's following? You got it...the wolf pack of the water, stripers...and of course Big E.  I put in at TWRA's Shady Grove launch, got a nice batch of 3-4" gizzards and ran across the lake to Row Cove.  I rigged up with a poppin' cork, a 3' 15 lb test flourocarbon leader and a 2/0 Owner Mutu Light circle hook on old faithful Shimano Stella 4000 FB on my new 7' 0" ML FWS 703-1 Temple Fork Outfitters spinning rod that I bought yesterday at Edgemoor Sporting Goods in Claxton.  Needless to say I was eager to break in my new rod the right way - inaugurating it with a silver king.  The surface water temperature was 58 F.  Right away I could see the rockfish relentlessly harassing monstrous schools of minnows.  The feeding frenzy had my adrenaline pumping and at one point a striper that was at least 15 lbs came completely out of the water about 10 feet from the boat as he recklessly exploded on a school of gizzards.  The stripers were moving around so quickly and covering so much water that it was evident that chasing them was pointless.  Consequently, I strategically positioned the boat where I felt they would most likely surface again.  In the two hours I had to work with, I caught one striper about 5 lbs and lost two others.  It was pretty frustrating because the fish were everywhere but just too spread out to really be able to pinpoint.  I did take the one I caught home and enjoyed a fresh fish dinner.  Striped bass are becoming one of my favorite table fare fishes as well as one of the most exciting freshwater sport fish to catch.

The Early Days - Redfish #1

Here's an old picture I found of me with my first redfish! Not quite a slot red, but it was great start.  I caught it off a pier at Cedar Key, Florida - It was probably 1973 - 1974.  I also threw in a  shot of me with a blue crab.  We used to love crabbing off the piers with hoop nets.

Tornado Smallies

The National Weather Service had issued a Tornado Warning for the Roane County area  as I drove south on Hwy 58 to fish below Watts Bar Dam, and the Emergency Notification System interrupted the music on the radio and announced that severe weather was in the area and everyone should remain in doors - I thought for a minute about whether I should go or not...the thought might have lasted a minute, but I seriously doubt it - more like 10 seconds.  I did decide that it was probably a good idea to go below the dam since it would provide the best wind break I could find.  Needless to say when I arrived at the launching ramp I got the closest parking spot because there was no one else in sight.  At about 4:30 p.m., I headed up river.  The wind was blowing straight up the river out of the southeast and about 1/4 mile downstream of the dam the fast flowing water (rushing down river) met the wind blowing the top surface of the water and formed some huge 3-4' waves that were quite a force to be reckoned with when traveling to the dam.  Once I was up close to the dam the wind wasn't too bad.  There was a nice school of shad minnows running the west shoreline, so I got a good batch of bait fairly easily.  The rig of choice was a poppin' cork with a 3' 10 lb test flourocarbon leader and a 1/0 Owner Mutu Light circle hook.  I drifted down the west shoreline offering the 3" gizzard shad along the chunk rock bank. In about 3 hours I boated 8 bass, the best being a 4 lb. smallmouth shown above, a nice 2 lb Kentucky spotted bass, and a 2 lb largemouth completed the day's East TN Bass Grandslam.

Scouting Trip

Stuart Row and I went out on Tuesday evening from about 4:30 to 6:30 to see if we could spot any stripers working minnows in his cove or to see if we could hook up with an easy smallmouth.  When I arrived at Stuart's place on Watts Bar, he had already got our bait - which is extremely plentiful this time of year - we headed out in his 24' Hurricane.  Although we didn't see any feeding stripers, and we didn't locate any smallies, I did show Stu a thing or two about trash fishin'!  Being the trash king I snaked out two of Watts Bar's fiestiest drum. It was one of my greatest showings so far - NOT!  Either way it was great getting to spend some time with Stu, he is always encouraging and good for plenty of thought provoking conversation. Thanks Stuart.

October Smallies

After an early morning run down to Chattanooga to pick up Kimberly's new car (2004 Volvo S40) Scott, Ethan, Ian and I fished the Clinch for a few hours for smallmouth.  The smaller (2 - 3") shad minnows are bunched up in big schools in the main channel, so it was a one throw bait day.  We started down the Clinch in town just across from Byrd field where Ethan and Scott caught a couple of small bass.  Ethan kept the Barnett "trash fish" tradition alive and boated a respectable drum.  Next we hit the bluff side of the main channel just downstream of the discharge from TVA's Kingston Steam Plant.  Ethan caught the smallmouth of the day (2 lbs - Boca certified).  Scott added a spunky Kentucky Spot, and I missed a couple of fish - I think I was having redfish withdrawls from the Destin trip - I was definitely not on my A game today. We then headed up river to try the bluff on the right just up from the Center Ferry bridge.  Ethan added a couple more smallmouth to the day's total, and I think I may have accidently landed a game fish that was attempting suicide.  Overall, it was another beautiful fall day on the water with some of my favorite fishing partners.

Destin Redfish-O-Rama: Day One

Fueling Up @ Dreamland on the Way to Dreamland!

 

One of several triples during the day



 

A Typical Bay Bruiser

Think of one of the most exhilirating experiences of your life...  All of us could probably generate a mental list of the top five to ten events of our lives.  For you, this may include your wedding day, the birth of a child, winning the lottery, being the first man to step on the moon (if you happen to be Neil Armstrong).  Well I'm about to take you on a journey down to Destin, Florida that ranks right up there with Apollo 11.  On last Thursday I headed south with two of the craziest fishing partners I have ever had the pleasure to accompany in a ocean vessel.  The lunar launch began at about 3:00 p.m. on Thursday after work when I met up with two great friends - Charlie Shields and Stuart Row.  Stuart, Charlie and I have been planning this trip now for about 2 months and have been looking forward to it with great eagerness.  As a matter of fact, from about 72 hours out Charlie was providing me and Stuart with periodic countdown departure time reports via text message.   Every time I go on a trip like this, the level of anticipation and expectation grows to almost incomprehensible heights in the days immediately preceeding departure date - so much so that the 9 hour drive to Florida is indistinguishable from when I was just a kid and Dad would take my brother Scott and me to the panhandle every spring to bass fish.  Two things matter most on trips like this...fishing & food!  So the first pit stop on the trip down centered around locating some top shelf bar-b-que with plenty of local ambiance - Dreamland in Birmingham!  This was my first time to Dreamland, and how appropriate since I was on my way to my own personal dreamland...Destin.  The restrauant had a great atmosphere with an a good SEC decor and a heavy leaning towards Bear Bryant and Alabama. This particular Dreamland sat right in the heart of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) campus.  We all thoroughly enjoyed the ribs, and pulled pork bar-b-que, and topped it all off with a healthy helping of banana pudding.  The intensity of the abdominal pain and outward pressure on my lower rib cage was directly proportional to the outstanding quality of the food at Dreamland.  After stuffing ourselves, the journey returned to I-65 South and thanks to Charlie's glorious shortcut to Andalusia we rolled into Destin about 11:30 p.m.  Along the way down, Stuart got a call from our guide Daniel Pike, owner of Inshore Angler Charters (http://www.inshoreanglercharters.com/home.php) who wanted to delay our departure time by a couple of hours because of forecasted high winds early in the morning.  We met Capt. Dan on Friday morning at about 8:45 a.m. along fisherman's wharf to begin the days adventure in a 24' Blazer Bay powered by a four stroke 225 Yamaha .  The weather could not have been any better if we had ordered it, beautiful blue sunny skies with a high in the low 80s.  We started off catching our bait, atlantic croakers (Micropogonias undulatus) using dual hook rigs baited with cut squid in Marler bayou.  In about 45 minutes we had about 30 croakers and were ready to get serious.  Our first spot was at the Destin bridge about three pylons to the east of the main channel, and we moved around anchoring the boat so that we could fish the various pylons of the bridge.  The most productive spot turned out to be one section to the east of the main passage way or as Charlie so fondly referred to it..."the left metal".  This hole produced a good number of high end slot reds, and a few over.  Capt. Dan also shared his secret deep hole with us which was west of the main passageway and further north just off Crab Island.  This hole also produced a good number of redfish, most of which were larger on average.  Capt. Dan said this is where he had caught most of his 40+ pound redfish, so we were more than glad to give it a fair shake.  Although it didn't cough up any 40 pounders it did produce more 8 to 15 pounders than these three good ole boys from East Tennessee ever dream of seeing.  The fishing day ended around 3:00 p.m. with us taking our fattest three 27"redfish to the 2010 Destin Rodeo for the weigh-in.  The rodeo rules require that all fish be gutted and then weighed,  our best redfish of the day was 7 pounds even which was good enough to take 1st place in the Bonus Awards Division (i.e. the big money division!).  Last year's winning redfish was 7.4 lbs, and this year the 1st place redfish in this divsion at the end of the month with take home $6000! So we were pretty good about our chances of at least placing one of the top three money spots.  Overall we wound up catching over 30 redfish all between 7 and 15 pounds.  It was one of the most amazing days of fishing I have ever experienced. 

 

Me, Miss Destin and our 1st Place Redfish



Clinch River Striper Fishin'

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day.  The weather is beginning to cool off more at night, and the humidity is lower during the days.  There's getting to be a really strong hint that fall is just around the corner.  So guess what that means?  Elliott has an ever increasing urge to take 1/2 day vacation and go fishing or hunting!  I chose to launch today at the Gallaher launch to concentrate on the upper end of the Clinch.  I got to the river at about 1:00 p.m. and was at the upper end of Jones Island with a bait tank full of perfect shad at 1:30.  Melton Hill was generating yet so I through out a shad on a float and put it on the Ambassadeur 7000 with 50 lb mono on the 8' St. Croix rod in the holder in the back of the G3, and fished with a bottom rig on the Shimano Stradic 8000 with 80 lb Power Pro and a 50 lb flourocarbon leader on the 7' Shimano Tallus Saltwater rod up front.  I slowly used the trolling motor and worked my way down the north shoreline of the island.  As I worked my way down the river I spooked up several pairs of wood ducks (Aix sponsa).  They are especially beautiful ducks, and very leery of any one coming close.  I kept count today and I saw just over 20 wood ducks in all today.   About 30 minutes into my float trip, the current began to pick up and I no longer had to use the trolling motor to move myself along.  My confidence always goes way up when I've got a little bit of current.  I particularly like to be on the river when the generation starts and conditions go from nothing to good flow.  I feel like this can sometimes turn things on for a number of reasons; current creates ambush points, current moves baitfish, it can drop the temperature, along with a variety of other reasons.  But... today it wasn't making a difference - no bites.  I had invited my good friend Charlie Shields to come with me today, but he had a couple of things on his plate and wasn't able to make it, but at about 3:00 he called and had miraculously cleared his schedule and was on his way to the ramp.  I think he might have a touch of the same addiction I have had since birth.  On the way down the river to pick Charlie up I noticed a bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) sitting on a log on a shallow flat (about at old Pickel Island).  I immediately slowed down pulled out the binoculars and watch him for a few minutes before he took to flight and his flight path took him back across in front of me with the sun at just the right angle highlighting all of his beautiful features; deep dark brown body, snow white head and tail, crisp yellow beak and feet.  I got an exceptionally close look at him - he probably came within 50 to 75 yards of me. As I fired the motor back up to head down to pick up Charlie, I hoped he would stay perched on the bluff overlooking the river for Charlie to see.  I got Charlie and we headed back up to Jones Island for another float.  This time Charlie used a float (free line) rig on my Shimano Stella 4000 with 15 lb Power Pro and a 15 lb flourocarbon leader, I continued to fish the bottom, and I left the 7000 Ambassadeur in the rod holder.  We floated about half way down the north side of the island and I hooked up a spunky 5 lb striper.  Little did I know this would turn out to be the only fish of the day.  At about 5:30 Charlie had to leave to go back to a work appointment, so I ran him back down to the ramp.  Along the way we spotted the bald eagle again and Charlie snapped a couple of pictures before he tired of our gawking at him and flew off.  After I dropped Charlie off I worked downstream from the Gallaher launch, and focused the last few hours of my day on hopefully finding some breaking fish pushing minnows up on the flats.  I stopped at 5 or 6 places along the way between the Hwy 58 bridge and Rick Klein's house only seeing an occasional rockfish break the surface.  When they did break they were very spread out and never stayed in the same spot long enough for me to capitalize.  Only at about 8:00 p.m. when there was only a hint of twilight left did I finally get into a school of fish.  I had one blow up on my redfin and another crushed a live free line minnow, but neither fish fully took the bait and so I did get a hook up.
I did have a beautiful V of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) fly over me at dusk.  Again as earlier, the faint bit of remaining sunlight highlighted perfectly the best parts of these beautiful waterfowl making for a great nature scene.  On the ride back to the ramp I realized I've been seeing an increasing number of Great Egrets (Ardea alba).  There is a roosting island for the Great Egrets just downstream of Rairity Ridge on the opposite side of the river.  Each bird provides a unique viewing opportunity.  I really enjoy watch and learning of their ways, and how the Master created them to survive and thrive.
Thank you Lord for a great day out on the water, with a good friend, and for time alone to enjoy You and your creation.

Clinch River Stripers

Scott with a 15 lb Striper

Ian with a 9 lb Striper

Gourmet Rockfish - About as fresh as it gets!

Scott, Ian, and I fished the Clinch River this afternoon for stripers.  We launched at the Gallaher Rd. launch at about 3:30 p.m.  The first order of business was to get our bait.  So we went  into the first creek to the right as you go upstream from the launch.  The water temperature was in the low 60's.  We got a good number of 6 to 10" gizzard shad and headed up the river to Jones Island.  We started on the upper end of the island and within 10 minutes I landed a 5 lb striper, and Scott caught one about the same size.  At about 5:00 p.m. Scott hooked up the big fish of the day, a 15 lber (see picture above).  A little bit later good old Ian was chunkin' his favorite jig and got ahold of a really nice 9 lber (see pic above).  He is one of the luckiest guys I've ever been around. 
We fished another hour or so and it began to rain and lighting.  So, we headed back home, and as we got to the launch the rain started absolutely pouring out of the sky, and the wind was going crazy.  So I guess it was a good thing we decided to pack it up when we did.  The final fish count was Scott - 3, Ian - 1 and me- 1
The last picture is of Scott's 15 lber (or at least a piece of it) - I took it home and filleted it up and had some of it for dinner.  It was some of the best fish I believe I havc ever tasted, really firm, white and flaky.  I covered it in flour, salt, and pepper and  then added a little Chef Paul Prudome's Redfish Magic seasoning and then lightly fried it in olive oil. I had it with rice and it was literally some of the best fish I have ever put in my mouth

Striper Fishin' the Clinch

After Scott (my brother) listened to me talk about striper fishing all night long at the Kingston Football game on Friday night (by the way Kinston beat Scott Co. 21 to 12 - Go Jackets!) he decided to go with me on Saturday morning. Ethan and Ian joined us. We started by getting bait in Dead Man's cove (Young Creek)- nice 6 to 10" gizzard shad were abundant in this creek, so we loaded up with as many as the bait tank could hold and headed up to take a look at the area I had been catching fish in previous days on the ole' Lowrance. There were tons of baitfish and what looked to be good sized rockfish all over the drop from 10 to 30'. So we started fishing on the bottom, but didn't have any luck - occasionally we would see a nice striper break the surface but never got any to bite. We decided to make the long run up to Jones Island because I just felt sure we could find some fish up there in the early part of the day. We made the run of about 14 miles and by the time we got there TVA had started generating at Melton Hill Dam, so we had current - I always feel more confident when I'm fishing with a little current. Right away we started getting bites using bottom rigs and free lining. Scott and Ethan each lost one, I had several short strike my live bait, and then Ian hooked into a nice 10 pound striper. Just a little bit later, Ian hooked up with the big fish of the day - a 21 pounder - the biggest of his life. Needless to say he was psyched and so was I! I added one more 5 pounder to the stringer and shortly thereafter we ran out of bait. We went into Paw Paw Creek and I finally accumulated enough good bait to get back out on the river. Unfortunately it was getting a little later in the day (~12:30) and the bite seemed to turn off. Since we had a long run ahead of us and since I had to get back home to get ready for UT's first football game of the 2010 season, we decided to call it a day, and what a good one it was. Thank you Lord!

Striper Fishin’ the Clinch

I took Mike Walker and Adam Doughty up the Clinch this evening. Unlike the night before, I struggled a little bit to get the right size shad minnows – I couldn't seem to find them on the flat between the two bridges in town. There was an abundance of smaller gizzards and threadfins everywhere along the main channel in huge schools. I ended up getting good sized gizzards in Dead Man's cove. The first spot we went to was the spot I saw fish breaking across from the mouth of Clary Foote's place. Since we spent some extra time chasing bait fish, we arrived at the spot at the opportune time - ~7:15 p.m. Just as we arrived big stripers were breaking on the surface – I had Adam and Mike rigged up with poppin' corks (in essence free lining) and circle hooks – The first cast Adam had a fish on and lost it, next cast lost another fish, next cast he caught about a 1&1/2 lb smallmouth, next cast lost one. At this point my heart was beating out of my chest – Mike moves up to the front of the boat and gets hooked up and lands an 8lb striper. I hook up another 8lber – somewhere in all the chaos I think Mike and Adam each lost 3 or 4 more fish and then Adam caught about a 2&1/2 lb smallmouth. As is typical, the stripers seemed to move on so the bite slowed a bit.  We moved down river a mile or two and started seeing stripers break the surface on a flat - a couple of blow ups on a redfin but no fish in the boat.  We moved again a little further down stream to the flat with milfoil in front of Rick Klein's and saw more stripers breaking the surface.  I missed another fish blow up on the redfin and Mike missed on on a minnow - By this time it was good and dark and we all had to get home.  Man oh man, what could have been.  If we'd caught all the fish we had a chance at tonight you would have just finished reading a much different story - that's how it goes some times on the water.

Clinch River Striper Fishin'

I took Stuart Row and Christian Allen up the Clinch this evening for a few hours in hopes of finding a few stripers. I got bait between the Hwy 70 and I-40 bridges. We started out at the routine spot across from Rick Klein's house and didn't find any. We then ran way up the river (~13 miles) to Grubb Island. We floated shad under a poppin' cork along the shore line, and right away I caught one that was about 8 lbs. We stayed another 15 minutes or so and then headed back down river until we saw rockfish breaking across the river from the mouth of Clary Foote's place. Another fisherman was closer to the breaking fish and got the slip on us, blocking our line of casting – we sat there and watched him catch a couple and then out of utter frustration, we moved on downstream. We returned to the spot across from Rick Klein's house and almost immediately saw fish breaking in front of Rick's dock. We quickly motored across the channel and hooked up two nice stripers – Christian caught one on a free line shad and I caught one on a 10" redfin – I missed another couple on the redfin.

Striper Fishin' the Clinch

Today I had the good fortune to take Jack Britt and Dan Hurst striper fishing on the Clinch River from 7:00 a.m. to ~12:00 noon.  We were also joined by some of our other good buddies, Charlie Shields, Stuart Row, and Stuart's son Ben - they fished from Charlie's Ranger.  We concentrated on the same general areas that I had been finding fish in the past few weeks, but since it was the morning and Melton Hill Dam wasn't generating we were in a very different situation.  I got good sized (6 - 8") gizzard shad minnows for bait up on the flat between the Hwy 70 and I-40 bridges.  We fished a couple of hours with no action and then decided to run up the river and try some other spots I had luck with in previous outings. Just as we were ready to head up river we checked in with Stu and Sir Charles and noticed Stu was hung (or at least I thought he was judging by his rod being doubled over to a non-moving object), as we got closer we realized the non-moving object was beginning to slowly budge.  As the fight ensued we each speculated as to what the monster may be...water soaked log? a turtle? possibly - if he's lucky a drum? - well as usual I was shown up and to the water surface came a beautiful 18 lb flathead cat!

After all this excitement we continued up river and here in a minute the river started flowing, and Dan caught a nice 11 lb striper up around the Gallaher Bridge on the flat near the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Site.  I was hopeful that the fish would turn on, but it wasn't meant to be today.  We ran back down river again and finished out the day where we started out, and Jack's patience finally paid off with a small blue cat and a beautiful 18" sauger - which turned out to be my lunch!  One extra added treat was that we saw a mature bald eagle fly down to the water surface and pick up a dead fish (probably one of ours).  This happened on two different occassions this afternoon and got to get a terrific view of him - really a beautiful and majestic creature.  Overall, it was another great day on the water spent with two of the guys I admire most. 

Striper Fishin' the Clinch

Mike Walker and I launched on the Clinch at the Food City Launch to rockfish.  We got good sized gizzard shad minnows between the Hwy 70 and I-40 bridges just downstream of the Steam Plant on the flat on the left side.  We went up and fished the 1^st bend in the river above the Emory/Clinch confluence but got nothing.  We then went up to fish the shore line just down from the entrance to Dead Man’s and got nothing.  We then ran further up the river around the 3^rd bend and saw some rockfish breaking on the surface.  We proceeded to catch eight rockfish between 10 and 20 pounds on free line live gizzards (~6” ).  The water temp was ~75F and was crystal clear so I watched several of the fish come up and take my bait – it was awesome!  Thank you TWRA for your wonderful striped bass stocking program.

Storms had passed through the area earlier in the afternoon, and I had actually cancelled our trip for the evening because I thought the wind and rain was going to be horrific.  But at about 5:00 p.m. the weather seem to calm down and so I called up the guys and in a matter of minutes we were back on target.  I took Christian Allen and Will Tullock out in search of big stripers tonight on Watts Bar. We gathered up our bait at the usual spot this time of year - Center Farm Cove for 6 - 8" gizzard shad.  The water temperature remains in the mid to high 80's so it's tough keeping the bait alive for very long.  Once we had an adequate supply of bait we ran up the river to the northwest side of Long Island to look and see if any rockfish were staging at the drop off just near the TWRA tractor loading area of the island.  Right away Christian hooked into a drag squealing striper that he fought for a couple of minutes but somehow it came loose.  That's not too common when using the circle hooks I like to use.  We continued to allow the current to drift us around a little and here and in just a bit Christian had another hook up.  This time he landed the big boy - a 20 lb striper.  His personal best - we were all pretty psyched up.  We continued fishing for the next couple of hours, but things just seemed to be dead.  We caught a couple of small blue cats, but nothing else for the night.  Either way it was an excellent trip and Christian was very glad he had gone.  Once again I vow to never change my plans based upon the weather forecast.

Ft. Loudoun Dam Tailwaters

I went below Ft. Loudoun Dam for about 2 ½ hours this evening.  I got bait easily below Tellico Dam, good sized (2.5 – 3.5”) shad minnows – threadfins, gizzards, and alewives/bluebacks.  The pictures above show the differences in the four types of shad minnows.

I caught a 15 lb drum (got to love those trash fish!) and a few small catfish – I fished the end of the wing wall coming off the lock side of the dam, caught one small largemouth. I never located any stripers - oh well, that's what keeps me coming back, always trying to figure 'em out.

Catfishin' Watts Bar

Crystal and I went catfishing at the upper end of Long Island – she caught an 8 lb blue cat. We fished for about an hour at this location and then moved down to 50 lb point at Bell Cove – got a couple of bites but no fish. While we were up at Long Island we saw Scott and his boys fishing for white bass, and wouldn't you know it Ian finessed out a nice 3 lb smallmouth. He and Ethan are really turning into good fishermen.

Rainbow Bass

Todd Moore and I went fishing on Watts Bar above Long Island tonight from about 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.– I got good sized shad minnows (mostly gizzards ~2.5-3.5’) in the Center Farm Cove. The surface water temperature is about as high as I ever remember seeing it, 89F. We first tried the spot near the TWRA access on the northwest side of the island for stripers and didn’t get any bites.  We then moved to the uppermost end of the island near the osprey nest.  I caught a 2.5 lb smallmouth and the next cast lost a bigger one (~3.5 lb), then I caught the 5 lb largemouth shown in the picture above. Notice the rainbow - Todd took this picture with his cell phone and getting the rainbow was just an accident.
Todd then caught a ~2.5 lb largemouth.  All these bass were with the boat sitting in about 17’ of water on the drop off upstream of the Long Island flat casting into ~5’ of water near the osprey nest.  We then moved  up on the flat at about 8:30 because the white bass started surfacing.  We caught ~15-20 white bass on white rooster tails and Spro buck hair jigs (shad color).  It was a very successful trip, and it was a real blessing getting to spend some time with Todd.

El Blanco

Since we had done so well in such a short amount of time the night before, I took Karoline and Crystal up to the flat above Long Island to let them catch some white bass – we arrived at about 7:00 p.m. which was too early so after about 1 hr and only two piddling fish (one white bass and one small largemouth) we headed back to the house.  Lesson learned – if all you are after is the easy white bass wait until about 8:15 p.m. to arrive this time of year.

White Bass Galore

I took Kate and Adam up to the usual spot (this time of year) above Long Island.  We were sitting around the Sage’s swimming pool and decided to go at the last minute, so launched at Center Farm at ~8:00 p.m. and started fishing by 8:15.  We had a great time and caught ~ 15 white bass on white tube jigs and shad colored Spro jigs.  We were back at the house by 9:45 p.m.  The sunset is always so beautiful this time of year at this spot. Thank you Lord for the immense blessing that comes from getting to enjoy quality time with loved ones in the setting of your beautiful creation. 

Fishin' with the Interns

I took Will Tullock and Christian Allen (summer interns from Strata-G) to the flat above Long Island.  We started about 5:30 p.m.. This was Christian’s first time to ever fish in a boat.  I got good sized (~2.5-3.5”) shad minnows in Center Farm, and we headed up river.  Unfortunately, this time of year arriving too early can create some discouragement – thus the old adage that patience is so important when fishing.  We really weren’t catching much on the flat – just an occasional small catfish – so we ran down river to the smallmouth point across from the eagle nest, and we got to see a bald eagle just sitting up on the bluff. We only caught a few small catfish.  Next we ran back up to the flat above Long Island to finish out the evening.  We ended up catching a few white bass, but overall it was disappointing considering how many fish we have been catching lately.  This is a picture of Christian – I believe this is probably the first white bass he’s ever caught.  We all had a really good time.  Check out the incredible sunset the good Lord painted for us tonight.

Tellico Bronzebacks

I ran over to Tellico tonight to see if the smallmouth were on the canal point yet.  I first launched at Center Farm on Watts Bar and got minnows and then loaded up and drove to the Tellico launch at the canal between Tellico and Ft. Loudoun.  The smallmouth were not quite as thick on the two points as I have experienced in the past, but I still caught ~12 smallmouth in about 2 hours of fishing.  I spent a fair amount of time playing around with my new fly rod - an 8 weight Temple Fork Outfitters - hoping to catch one on that, but had no luck.  The best smallmouth was about 2 lbs, but I lost one that would have pushed 4 lbs – I got it half way to the boat and it came loose after I got a good look at it.  Nice evening - tonight reminds me that it's nice to occasionally spend some time alone in the boat with the Lord.

Striper Fishin' with Will

I took Will Tullock (a summer intern at Strata-G) to the upper end of Long Island tonight.  We started about 6:30 p.m.  I got good sized (~2.5-3.5”) shad minnows in Center Farm, and we headed up river.  Will caught two nice rockfish (4 lbs and 6 lbs – see picture) right off the bat at the drop off just above the osprey nest at the uppermost end of Long Island.  
We proceeded to catch several other white bass as the evening cooled off – the good white bass action started around 8:00 p.m.  Will really seemed to enjoy himself, and as a thank you for taking him his mom made me a plate of the finest brownies I believe I have ever tasted.  Thanks Ms. Tullock!

Rockfishin' with Luke

Luke and I went back out to the upper end of Long Island tonight to catch rockfish.  I got good shad minnows (gizzards) in the Center Farm Cove.  Luke hammered a couple of nice ones (8 lbs and 10 lbs).  The 10 pounder is shown in the picture.  What an incredible blessing he is in my life.

Watching the Graph

I went out to the upper end of Long Island by myself tonight and caught several nice rockfish in the 4 to 10 lb range.  Below is a picture of the graph at the drop off just up from the osprey nest showing the dense stack of fish that were sitting at the base of the drop off.  Wow! When the graph looks like this you better hurry and get a big ole' gizzard down there.

Fishin' with the Bosses

I took Joe Whedbee and Dave Peters (Vice President of Johnson Controls, Inc.) below Ft. Loudoun Dam tonight.  Dave was in town for work and Joe had promised to take him fishing, so Joe asked me if I would take them striper fishing – of course I was able to be convinced!  I went to Watts Bar earlier in the day and got some good sized (6 – 8”) gizzard shad because I have been struggling to get bait below Ft. Loudoun and I wanted to make sure we had good bait.  I arrived at the boat launch (below Tellico Dam) a little early so I thought I would run up below the dam and see if I could find the fish real quick.  I stopped at the end of the wing wall off of the lock and immediately caught a 5 lb (Boca Grip Certified!) largemouth bass – it was awesome!  I left there not wanting to ruin the spot and went on up below the dam (nearest the lock discharge side) – 1^st minnow in the water was a 10 lb rockfish – BAM!  He fought like a ton of bricks.  I ran back down below Tellico and picked up Joe and Dave.  I wanted to take Dave to the end of the lock wall first thing and let him catch a nice bass – but just as we arrived a tournament fisherman had locked through from Ft. Loudoun Lake and he was camped on the spot.  So, we went on up to the dam – right away Joe and Dave each caught nice rockfish in the 6 to 10 pound class.  Then Dave caught the bruiser of the night an 18 pounder (see picture) – he was thrilled!  It was a real pleasure to get to fish with Dave and Joe tonight.

Striper Fishin' with Joe & Clip

I took Joe Whedbee and Brian Clippenger (Regional Sales Manager with Johnson Controls, Inc.) up above Long Island tonight.  Brian was in town for work and Joe asked me if I would take them.  We did ok – not near as well as in recent times, but Brian and Joe each caught a few good fish – I believe Brian caught a personal best judging by his reaction to the squealing drag!

Doubling Up on Personal Bests

Kate, Karoline, Adam Doughty, and I went fishing on Watts Bar (upper end of Long Island) tonight.  I got our bait (gizzard shad) in the Center Farm cove.  All of the bait was large (7 -10”).  We fished from ~6:30 to 9:00 p.m. and caught several blue catfish, ranging in size from 1 lb to 10 lbs.  Kate also caught a nice 14 lb rockfish (the best fish of her life), and Karoline caught a 5 lb largemouth bass on about a 6” gizzard shad!  That's quite a hawg for a 12 year old.  This was by far the best bass she’s ever caught.  Two personal bests in one evening - awesome!  Thank you Lord Jesus for all your many blessings!

Doubling Up on Personal Bests & Big Flatheads

Crystal, Arnold, Nancy, and I went fishing on Watts Bar (upper most end of Long Island) tonight.  I got our bait (gizzard shad) in Center Farm cove.  All of the bait was large (7 -10”).  We fished from ~6:30 to 9:00 p.m. and caught several rockfish, channel catfish, blue catfish, and flathead catfish.  Crystal and Nancy both caught the biggest fish of their lives – Crystal a 9 lb blue cat and Nancy a 15 lb rockfish.

I also caught a really nice 45 lb flathead catfish.  My Boga Grip only goes up to 30 lbs and the flathead pegged it out instantly, so I measured it at 46” and I estimated it weighed between 40 & 45 lbs.  I looked up on the Missouri Department of Conservation website a catfish length vs. weight estimator (http://mdc.mo.gov/fish/sport/catfish/length_weight.htm) and it says a 46” flathead weighs 45.59 lbs. Sweet!

Minnows Matter

Luke and I went fishing today with the intention of fishing the smallmouth point at the canal between Tellico and Ft. Loudoun.  We launched below Tellico Dam to get shad minnows, but could not get any – I threw the net for 45 minutes and never got the first minnow.  So we loaded up the boat and re-launched at the ramp at the canal between Tellico and Ft. Loudoun.  We fished the island directly out from the ramp on Tellico and I caught a small largemouth (~14”) on a pink drop shot worm.  We didn’t catch anything else.  We fish a total of probably 2 hours.  Good time together, but definitely humbling from a bassin' point of view.

Bassin' with Stu

Stuart Row and I fished on Watts Bar this morning. (7:00 – 11:00 a.m.).  We went in Stuart’s Hurricane deck boat which he already had in the water at his dock at his lake house.  We fished around Thief Neck Island and up the lake all the way to Lake Harbor.  We caught ~12 largemouth bass on various baits – Texas rig plastic lizard, crank bait (Lucky Craft; shad colored shallow running), drop shot worms.  The best fish was about a 2 lber. It was a great morning, getting to spend some quality time with Stuart - he has definitely become a great friend in a short amount of time.  It's amazing to me how the Lord can unite folks so quickly and strongly that have shared common beliefs and interests. 

Karoline's Biggest Fish - So Far!

Karoline and I went out on Watts Bar for a quick check on the upper end of Long Island tonight.  We got bait in the Center Farm cove – all good sized (5” – 7”) gizzard shad.  Karoline caught several blue cats and rockfish.  One fish in particular (the one shown in the picture) was the biggest fish Karoline has ever caught - just look at that smile.  She cast and fought this 9 lb rockfish all by herself!  She was absolutely thrilled. This will go into the memory banks forever!  Thank you Lord that I got to share it with her - what a precious gift she is!

Rockfishin' with Luke

Luke and I fished Watts Bar after work up above Long Island this evening for a couple of hours.  We got gizzard shad in the Center Farm Cove and caught several rockfish and smaller catfish.

The section of river where the fish are so congregated is shown on the map.  Notice the small hump at the red arrow.  The red arrow points to an osprey’s nest.  The osprey’s nest sits in about 5’ of water and just out from it the water drops to 30’+ deep.  The fish were stacked up on this drop off.  We got a bunch of bites – almost every cast, but lost a lot of fish making me think our bait was too big, and or there were a bunch of small catfish in the area.

Guntersville Bass

Luke and I traveled down to Scottsboro, Alabama today to fish Lake Guntersville.  We had this weekend blocked out for the trip in advance so when the weather turned bad, we opted to stay with the plan and see if we could still find some of spring time Alabama hawgs.  We launched at Goose Pond and fished hard all day in cold windy rainy conditions.  The air temp was in the high 40s so we pretty much froze all day.  We blew across huge sparse grass flats in Norht Sauty Creek.  The bites were few and far between, but we each caught nice 4 lb largemouths on spinnerbaits.  Overall it was a great day of hard fishing.