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Bet you thought that I had quit fishing. 4/7/2018
Ever since the TVA shut the floodgates below our dams, I have been fishing tailwaters for Rockfish, Walleyes, White Bass, Drum, LM Bass, and Smallmouth Bass. Basically, we had it to ourselves except for a couple of Walleye fishermen who were trolling. No one was fishing for Striped Bass until the first guide boat showed up on the 30th of March. So, from the 17th until the 30th, we about had it to ourselves. Now the word is out and guide boats are out in force and running amok through the fish and ruining a great day for everyone, but they have paying customers and don't really care for the normal fisherman. Some are considerate and know how to avoid spooking the fish, but others don't have a freaking clue.
You all know that I am not a live bait fisherman, so all the fish that we have caught has been on artificial lures. Soak them "minners" if you must, but I will catch them on artificial or will take up another sport. Grin.
I don't troll either. I want to catch the fish and not let the boat catch the fish. Not a knock on others who have great success planer boarding and long lining jigs. More power to you. It just isn't my cup of tea.
We fished current seams for all our fish. The flow rate that TVA was running on any particular day determined the size jig heads that we used. You just have to figure out what works best for you. We have caught 19 Walleyes to date. We have 3 Rockfish over 30 lbs with the largest being Dr Phil's personal best 38 pounder. My biggest this year so far has been 31 lbs 3 ozs. I don't know the number over 20 lbs. I took one of Dr Phil's hunting buddies one day and he caught his PB Rockfish at 28 pounds. Phil had the other big fish at 30 lbs 1 oz. The fish are feeding on threadfin shad that are 2.5-3 inches long from the ones that they are throwing up in the boat. We have released all Rockfish except for a couple of smaller eating size that I took home the other day. All Walleyes are gracing someone's dinner table either a few days ago or in the near future. LOLOL Oh, the White Bass showed up this past Monday. They were a no show until then. They are big ones. We took some home and threw a bunch back.
I'll try not to post too many pics.
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