Thread: Watts Bar Stripers

Kevin,

Any hint where to look for these on Watts Bar? My son is coming in on leave
from Germany for a week or so , and I would like to put him on a few fish.
He likes the linesides fine !

Great fun Kevin...glad to see you're back at it with the boys!

I tried the Thief Neck area yesterday 7/15 using down lines and gizzards. Nothing but cats. It is very hard to keep bait alive, even with a good tank, in this hot weather. I heard that the areas near the discharges of the dams is better because of the cooler water. Redfins work well when the fish like it on top. I am just learning the striper deal. I want to add it to my list of what I can do when I retire which is getting near.

Just look at the size of that tail compared to the size of the fish. No wonder those guys put up such a good fight. Theyre alot of fun to catch for sure. Congrats to you and the boys.

Good catch, lots of fun, and they will stretch your arm real quick.

thx guys the boys like to cast and i remember when i did. we are catchin em on zara spooks jr and when they miss they will knock the plug 2 ft out of the water

another fun way is pullin planer boards with gizzard or threadfins.

tnhooker are you using better bait, foam off, shad saver, ice and rock salt. i have a vest bait tank i can keep bait alive for a couple of days. the vest tank is 15 yrs old dont even know if they make them anymore but it has an extra compartment that you put pillow filler in and it catches all the scales and foam as it circs.

Originally Posted by kevinmays

thx guys the boys like to cast and i remember when i did. we are catchin em on zara spooks jr and when they miss they will knock the plug 2 ft out of the water

another fun way is pullin planer boards with gizzard or threadfins.

tnhooker are you using better bait, foam off, shad saver, ice and rock salt. i have a vest bait tank i can keep bait alive for a couple of days. the vest tank is 15 yrs old dont even know if they make them anymore but it has an extra compartment that you put pillow filler in and it catches all the scales and foam as it circs.

Kevin I have a 30 gal Grayline with areators and filters. I use 1 cup salt per 10 gal of water. I also use shad keeper and amonia remover. For foam I use non-dairy coffee creamer. I think my problem has been starting with H2O that is too warm to begin with ( 85*). This put too much stress on the bait. The last bunch that I caught I could not let them stay in my bucket for 3 min or so. The net was so heavy, I could not lift it and I had to have my buddy help. It filled a bushel basket. Needless to say, the bait went straight to the tank and that I understand is a no no. I may use 3% hydrogen peroxide in the filter box to add oxygen to the water. Only about 1 oz per 10 gal of water.

yes i have used peroxide just a bottle cap to 10 gallons i never measure. i always try to fill my tank in deep water. usually not where i catch my bait. i have a few places around where i fish where i fill my tank that the water temp is alot better than others.

another trick is to use a long rope on a 5 gallon bucket and get the bucket deeper than the surface to fill your tank.

anyway you do it this time of year it is tuff. there aint nuthin better than catchin stripers with big bait.

what size catfish you guys catchin? aint nuthin wrong with some big cats.