merc1997 Bo

got to take taylor sanders fishing last night. we had been trying to get hooked up but things kept getting in the way for one or the other of us. went to the lower end to chase the brown fish. pretty steady. ended up with more than a dozen keepers. lots of boats out. caught them in all new places. just went exploring looking for areas with shad. depth is still the 20 to 25 for the most part. did catch a couple on a 3/4 GrassJig, but be caught the rest on the 1 oz. Elite Black Widow, and the 1 oz. Elite Mega Blade. bo

leonard and i got out for a bit this evening. put in about 8 and fished till 1. bite was way better than i anticipated with the passage of the front and strong north wind. ended up with 17 keepers and had some dandies. started out getting them on a 3/4 GrassJig. got the first 9 on it, and then caught the rest on both the1 oz. Elite Black Widow, and the 1oz. Elite Mega Blade (big wobbler). most all bites were 20 to 25 ft. had to have the shad around. leonard told me he was tired of going as an audience😄. don't know why he was not getting bites or if he was, and was not recognizing the bite as one. the bites were nothing bites for the most part. bo

had made a short trip monday evening with leonard, but catching was one here and there because it had been cloudy and raining all day, but we did catch 8 keeps with on 4lb., all brownies. they were all pushing 25 ft. and all of them came on the big wobbler. got out last night and took a feller from louisiana fishing. he was wanting to catch some brownies. i got them on the big wobbler and the Elite Black Widow both in a 1 oz. the LA feller was kind of lost fishing so far off the bank and could not get the hang of the bite when it occurred. found them grouped up pretty good in a couple of areas and got 11 keeps. most bites were out closer to 25 ft. seems as though they are moving to more summer depths now. had one dandy in the group. bo

well. took the BOSS fishing tonight. it was dark when we put in and quit a bit before 1:30. bass have moved just a tad deeper. most bites to begin with were 25 ft. caught a few 15 to 20 as it got later. the 1 oz. Elite Black Widow and the 1 oz. Elite Mega Blade did most of the damage. i did catch a few on a 3/4 GrassJig. ended up with 14 keepers. the Boss caught 6 of them. almost everything we caught was further back in bigger coves. that seemed to be where most of the bait was. bo

took knickmeyer fishing down to the lower end last night. lots of boat traffic until around 10:30. bass are on the move, and you need to be too to track some catchable ones down. we jumped aroun looking and finally found two spots with a good number of bass hanging around. both were further back in big coves. we caught most of them last night on the 1 oz. Elite Black Widow. flatter terrain and most were more in the 20 ft. range. knickmeyer actually had the biggest one, brownie, but after banging it on the side of the boat two or three times, finally getting it onto the back deck, it flopped back in again, and was gone. oh well, got all the good out of it, but would have been nice to show you a pic of this toad. i took a pic of a pretty good one and knickmeyers was quite a bit bigger. we ended up with 16 keepers and all brownies. had to have lots of shad as usual. bo

this is a report of two trips actually. took my brother fishing thursday last week. we fished the lower end. most of what we caught was on steeper stuff, but did have a few on flatter terrain and they were a bit shallower, like 10 ft. deeper ones on steeper stuff came on a 3/4 GrassJig. the shallower ones came on a 1 oz. Elite Mega Blade, and a 1 oz. Elite Black Widow. had some 3's but nothing bigger. one of us in the boat caught 11 keepers. always did like to beat my brother😂. i took a pic of him holding one that i caught. last night leonard and i ventured back down stream. ended up being a good trip. started out a bit slow. bounced around getting one hear and two there, but landed back in a cove and caught 7 off one spot. seems as though there are some that are moving back in again. the black widow and the big wobbler did most of the damage last night. and, these bass were also more back to being on flatter stuff. we caught a lot of fish 20 to 25 ft., but did get a bite or two up in 15 ft. ended up with 18 keepers. Same thing about looking for areas with lots of bait. bo

got back out last night and took leonard. got to get all my guide duties in for all my older than me buddies😄. went the lower end again. we found areas with plenty of bait, but not much success in catching anything. had 5 keeps at midnight. all of our stops had been areas catching all the wind. i decided to make one more stop on the way in, but it was on the other side of the lake out of the wind and BAM we were in business. put nine keepers in the boat in a blink. bites were close to 25 ft. caught most of them on the 3/4 GrassJig. goes to show that wind is not always your friend. i do not know why, but there are many times on the lower end that you have to hunt areas that have wind protection to find catchable bass. goes to show that you just have to keep trying different areas and terrains until you find a patch. a kind of sorry night turned to a good one in about 15 minutes. bo

took my old buddy gary harlan fishing last night. we went to the lower end to avoid anything too much floating. i really was not expecting to catch too much with the massive sudden rise in water level. most of the bites were still where they were before the rise so many bites were pushing 25 ft. the best lure last night was the 3/4 GrassJig. we ended up with 17 keepers. of those 3 were giant k's. biggest of them was an easy 3 lbs. over half of the keeps were lmgs, and darn nice ones. bo

leonard and i got out last night to see if my motor was going to run ok. the crank broke off right under the flywheel, and we just put a crank in it and buttoned it back up. bill vance marine did the work and got me back on the water pretty quick. motor ran just perfect. then our next objective was to see if we could sore mouth a few. it took and few stops and trying different stuff, but the ticket was a bit further back off the main lake. flatter terrain and the Elite Mega Blade 1 oz. (aka big wobbler). we did catch two or three on a 3/4 GrassJig. a few bites were in 10 feet or less, but most were closer to 20. so, with the terrain being flatter to really cover what was there, it required making a pass sitting closer to 15, and then make another pass sitting out past 25 ft. same thing, there had to be a lot of bait in the area. the bait is still staying 10 ft. or less after dark. ended up with 18 keepers. did have some good lmg's in the mix. several 3's. no keeper k's. just brown ones and big heads. bo

got out for a bit last night with knickmeyer and we fished between eagle rock and big m. caught lots of shorts, but did have 9 keepers, all lmg's. these bass looked as though they had spawned not too long ago. very skinny. caught them from 5 ft. to 20. caught them on flatter stuff and some on 45 degree banks. two baits did all the catching. a 1/2 GrassJig, and a 1 oz. Elite Mega Blade (big wobbler). same ruled applied as downstream. had to have shad around or no fish. bo

leonard and i ventured back downstream last night. seemed like we were dealing with post frontal conditions. shad were pretty scattered and it was a one here and a couple there kind of bite. the one thing that was a constant was everything we caught was further back in, and that is where we also saw the most bait. we ended up with 10 keeps and a really nice walleye (4 lb. range) feel to a 3/4 GrassJig. of the 10 keeps, 7 were lmg's and 3 brownies. we did have 4 in the 3 lb. zone. nothing that would weigh 4. caught them about equally on a 3/4 GrassJig with rattles, a 1 oz. Elite Mega blade, and a 1 oz. Elite Black Widow. seemed as though the bite scooted out a tad with several pushing 25 ft. i just believe the depth was more to do with the frontal conditions. all the bait was from surface to 10 ft. i sent one of my emerald beach buddies looking more on the flats up our way. and he did pretty good. 6 keeps and lots of shorts. he caught them on a 1/2 GrassJig. he had been fishing bluffs and not doing too much. i suggested that it seemed the bait was related more to flats. so, when bluffs are not getting it done, you might need to change lanes. you just have to begin each trip with an open mind and go do some looking before putting the trolling motor down. you just might be surprised at how that can improve your catching. bo

did not have anything to do last night, so leonard and i decided to go sift in between all the tourney boats and see if we could find another bite on the lower end. we did put in around 7:30 to give us a bit of time to look around to see if we found more than one area that was loaded with shad. we only found one that was really loaded and guess what. that is where we caught all of our bass. 14 keepers. we fished until 1 am and called it quits because i had a few things to do today. these shad were 1/2 way back in a bigger cove. like i said, you just drive around looking until you find something. of the 14 keeps, 1 k, and 4 lmg, and the rest brownies. nothing that would weigh 4, but 5 that were in the 3 range. depth was from 10 out to 20. best bait was the 1 oz. Elite Black Widow. had one a 3/4 GrassJig, and one one the "big wobbler". we did fish three other areas that we saw some scattered shad, but no bites. the shad were thick enough in the place we caught them, you could smell them. there were quite a few boats went up long creek, and several of them came back fairly early. there were some that just came back through in time to get back to weigh-in. bo

got our for a bit last night. went down to the big end to see what was going on. started just before dark and quit around 12:30. had to do a lot of looking and a lot of stops before we found an area with a lot of shad closer to shore. ended up with 12 keeps, 4 were nice lmg's, and the rest of the brown catagory. had several in the 3 lb. range, but nothing bigger than that. most bites were 15 to 20 ft. deep. caught them on both a 1/2 and a 3/4 GrassJig, and a 1 oz. Elite Mega Blade aka big wobbler. there were lots of shad out in the lake last night. fished some stuff without shad present, and nary a bite. seems pretty essential to keep on the move until you find an area with shad in closer. one other key, which is hard to do with the water up is to find an area with some trees in the right depth range. most of them are too deep right now for night fishing. be checker dandy for daytime though. bo

got out for a few hours last night. was not quite as good as last trip, but still managed 6 keeps. four being good chunks and two nice ones. all of them came on a 3/8 GrassJig. all of them still on steep main banks, but all the bites were 10 ft. or less. did catch some short k's out close to 20'. all of them were fat and slick and still full of eggs. not a mark on them. on another note, NuTech Lures helped in a top 10 finish in the B.A.S.S. open on chickamaga. bo

finally got to feeling better and got out for a bit tonight. went fishing with my old buddy gary harlan. he is spending the summer here instead of falcon. too much stuff going on down there on the border. the dems need to talk to someone that actually lives down there and they will straighten them out pretty quick on how bad things really. now back to the news. we kind of did a bit of showing out tonight. plus 12 keeps and a host of those good ones. a 3/8 GrassJig got most of them, but got a couple on a beaver type bait on a 1/4 Pro Series head, and one on a tube, also on a 1/4 Pro Series head. the one bigger one that was caught on the bank came on the tube. all the rest were in the 10 to 15 ft. range more on the main channel and not back in pockets. only one of these bass seemed to have spawned. the rest were as slick and fat as could be. the pic on the two were caught at the same time. mine was on the tube on the bank and the other one more in the 10 to 12 ft. range. with the water fluctuating as it has been, there may be some bass spawning next month just as there were last year. bo

i have fished from one end of the lake to the other and have caught bass every area along the way, and i have not caught any that have spawned, and that includes all three species. linda and i fished around kc for a bit last night. drug out the big wobbler and it was on until the dew fell, and then it seemed like they just quit. ended up with 10 nice keepers and a good mix of lmgs and brownies. nothing that would make 4 but at least 4 in the 3's and two of them were lmgs. we caught all of these bass 10 to 20 ft deep. outside and inside the points which is very typical with the water dropping. i do not have a clue as to when the bass are going to spawn. we ran a couple of pockets before dark looking. saw some nests, but very few with a bass and they were very spooky. did not see any fry. talked to a friend of mine that had fished around viola and did pretty decent, and said the same thing, none of them had spawned. all slick and fat. i am ready for them to get their thing done, rested back up and put the real feed bag on. and, they may well still be feeding heavy during the day. heard lots of activity out in the lake. and there you have what little i know. bo

got out and did some daytime fishing. with rain in the forecast, i figured it would scare several from getting out and it did. kind of a hodge podge day. fished with a 3" swimmer quite a while with no love. ran some banks and coves to have a look see as to what the bass were doing spawning wise. saw lots of nests with no one home. saw a few with a small skiddish bass. saw nests both on main lake and in coves. my water temp was showing 64, but when you pick your bait up out of the water, it felt pretty cold. so, my opinion is that some of the juniors are up looking around and the old folks are still out to lunch somewhere, so to speak. never saw or heard a carp up shallow. did not see hardly any perch up shallow. those two factors will tell you when the bass are spawning. when you see or hear carp up wallowing and hear perch pecking around the bank at night, then it is right for most of the bass to spawn. as far as the catching went for yesterday, we caught them on tubes, doodles, and weenie worms. had 8 keeps with a couple of 3's. all the keeps were lmg's and none had spawned. only one keep came from right on the bank. they were mostly in the 10 to 12 ft. range. the best basser i ever knew, Glen Andrews, always told me that in our area, tr and bs, "the bass spawn in may" and i have found that to be a pretty good "rule of thumb". we have had quite a bit of continual water flow through the lake so far this year, and with the water being very clear, the better bass will spawn deeper than they have for a number of years. the water is still fairly cold at 10 ft. i am not for sure if the brown bass have spawned yet. i have not ventured downstream but a couple of times so far. bo

it is april and the moon is out. we had a big front go through with cold temps and cold rains. dropped the water temps 2 to 3 degrees, but april bass are all about eating getting ready for spawn. went last night and even with the colder water and post front conditions they still bit fairly good. was just missing the bigger bites. there were still a few bites fairly shallow but most were out 10 to 15 feet deep. caught all of them on a 3/8 GrassJig brown and blue with a blue trailer. ended up with a dozen keepers with two that would make 3 lbs. not too shabby for fishing from dark to 11. these pre-spawn bass are always hungry until they begin to nest and then they can get harder to catch many times. i always try to stay with the pre-spawners as long as possible and when they run out then go back to the areas where the bass first spawned and they will be back to eating. pretty good way to not bother them much while the are nesting. on a lake the size of table rock, the bass do not all spawn at the same time. do not be surprised with the water very clear as it is this year, for many of the bigger bass to spawn 10 to 15 ft. deep. anyway, right now is a great time to get out after them either day or night because even with the fronts bass have really got the feed bag on to bulk up for the rigors of spawn. they just seem to move a lot from day to day. bo

took my long buddy norman boles fishing tonight and we just, as norm puts it, caught the lungs out of them. somewhere in the vicinity of 25 keepers and several shorts. could not guess how many in the 3 lb. range. a few bites were on the bank, but most of the good ones were more in the range of 10 ft. caught everyone of them on a 3/8 GrassJig brown and blue with blue trailer. 3/8 worked tonight because of no wind at all. this was the first time norm had been night fishing in ten years. it was a fun night with a long time friend. bo

debated and debated about going last night. wind still a hurricane. cold front. just a nasty night to be out fishing. well, this is april and the moon was up. i went fishing. fooled the bass too. they did not think any idiot would be out. so, they were out and biting. most came on the 1/2 GrassJig in brown and blue with blue trailer. one of the good ones came on the old 1/2 Elite Black Widow and caught a few others on it too. i was right about the cold front and it had moved the good ones off the flat stuff. the more sheer the better. most bites were anywhere from 6 feet to 18. had some 3's and some chunk keeps. very few kentuckies and most of them came on the Black Widow. bo

put in at eagle rock this afternoon mainly there because of the wind. was really out on a r&d trip. took my old buddy norman boles. he is the best tube fisherman that i know. we threw two models. one was a 3/16 Pro Series head inserted into a 4" tube and the other was the 1/8 Crappie Jig with the 4" tube stuck on the back of the jig, not inserted. the 1/8 Crappie Jig was winner. the 3/16 fell too fast. we were fishing them on 10 lb. test hi-vis yellow spider wire. even with the horrible wind, we caught 8 keeps -- 7 lmg and one big brownie (3 1/2). all the lmg's were 2 1/2 to 2 3/4. the main lake was better if we could find a fishable strip with the right combination of rock and gravel. bites were 6 to 10 ft. norm has always been one to insert the jig head in a tube. so, he was certainly surprised to see they bit the tube quite well just stuck up behind the jig head. i did fish the doodle some, but just caught some shorts. the better ones liked the tube better. our bit upstream shut down around 4 and i noticed the water temps dropped. guess they let some water go out of beaver. water surf temps were right around 60 most places. bo

moon is on the way to full once again, but so it some more cold weather and rain about every day. fished big indian monday night and never caught one fish before or after dark fished about everything under the sun with everything i had in the boat, nearly. did an about face last night and was having the same results and then finally stumbled upon a patch of them and did pretty good. caught them on a brown and blue GrassJig with blue trailer. they were right at 15 ft. deep and associated with a point going back into a short steep pocket. water temps surface were 65 to 69. more 65's after dark, but your lure was cold when you took it out of the water and the bass were very cold feeling. i believe we spent monday fishing way too shallow. sure am not going to be happy about all the nights the moon is going to be covered up looking at the extended forecast. bo This post has been promoted to an article

took linda out since it is supposed to get winter again. bite was not quite as good as last night, but was good enough to keep your interest. 1/4 Pro Series Finesse was doing the job again. fished from dark to 10:30 and ended up with 7 keeps. too bad we are going to have three cold nights. bo

been catching a few both day and night. did make a trip down to tucker hollow too. fished daytime and caught some nice ones, but it took a while to figure out where the biters were. son't know for sure what the one in the night pic weighed, but it was 25" long. where you get i bite seems to change everyday. have caught them on just about every type of terrain there is from flats to sheer bluffs and from enough water to cover them to 25 ft. just have to go out without any pre-conceived idea of how to catch them and try a variety of stuff. i will say that when you do find some, they are grouped up. bo