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.