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!