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.