bigdub

Its early, but I'm here!!!!!!

I just fish 1/8th oz in this high water and where ever I am I just cast back up toward the direction of the dam and let it drift and work it back past parallel to the boat. I have never used anything bigger than an 1/8th on Taney, so my knowledge is limited as far as that is concerned. 1/4 seems a little big to me, but I am far from an expert, maybe PM Phil or maybe he'll chime in on the bigger sized jigs if thats what you want to use. Or what the heck, just throw em a while and let us all know how they work out for ya!! Good Luck out there!! THANKS GATOR, there are no words!!

No, that wasn't us Phil, we were out and about pretty early, had to get back home a little sooner than normal. Our jigs might not have been getting all the way down to the bottom everytime along the bank. We were really casting them up stream(or down, whatever is in the direction of the dam LOL) quite a ways, to let them get all the way down before they out ran the boat!! Yeah, I am crossing my fingers on those whites, we had to get on the road, but you guys will have to let us know if you stumble on any more, we'll be back at it again next weekend and I'm already starting to shake a little bit from withdrawls!!

Couldn't resist, went out yesterday morning for a couple drifts, caught quite a few bows, like Phil said, its gotta be white and its gotta be on the bottom, which with the drift being so fast was a bit tricky. Made 3 drifts down to Lookout, caught 13 bows and 2 nice whites (looks like Bill was right) above the island. Those whites were released, so go get them!! Below Lookout was decent, tried to work our jigs along the bluff. No browns, but the bows were plentiful and hit the jigs hard!! Good luck out there!!

Backcountry is an excellent establishment and the people are more than willing to do anything to help you become a better angler!! Fishhand...terrible and classless remarks!!

Nice....thought something had to be up!!!

Is this supposed to be a joke? Scented plastic grubs in the Trophy area....a 5 trout limit, I sure thought it was 4!! A couple "decent" browns, I hope they were over 20"??? Kept another 20" fish the same day after the 5!!!!???? OH MY!! I am far from a conservationist, but......? Hmmm!!

Yep, your probably right. They didn't look like agents, but I didn't know for sure!

I will definately put that number in my phone, they had to have not known the rules, it was way to obvious!! Thanks guys!!

Those guys in the green MDC V bottom were up there no more than a quarter mile upstream and had to have went right past them, maybe they figured they would still be there when they turned around to leave!! I passed em and talked to them for a second and told em it was a slow day, Oh well, they'll get whats coming to then in the end!! What eas really dishearteneing to me was seeing those dead fish around them!

Went out and about this weekend and hit a few spots. Saturday morning was slow and I got soaked LOL. Went back out Saturday evening and it was lightsout on nearly any color jig as long as it was on the bottom. Sunday, a totally different story, one of the slowest days I have ever experienced!! It seemed like no color jig really turned them on, I would catch one, miss a couple and then there was no more interest. I was thowing 3/32oz jigs in every color I had in the box for about 2 hours before I finally admited defeat!! One thing I did see and was wondering if anyone else was out and saw this was a line of three boats anchored off of the deeper water in the trophy area making absolutely no bones about fishing with powerbait!! UNBELIEVABLE!! I saw these guys just destroying they and I though I had lost my touch and much to my shock the had the jars out on the bow of their boats and were just sitting there dunking their bait and drinking. I almost let it go, but I saw 5 dead fish a little ways downstream from where they were sitting and nearly had a fit too myself. I just wanted to rant a little bit and see if anyone else had witnessed this blatant disreguard for the rules, I guess maybe I am just being a little over the top about this but DANG, they could have just parked in the armada of boats at the mouth of Fall Creek and been good to go..OH WELL, off the soap box, I guess if a tree falls in the woods.....!! Good luck out there!!!!!!!

Chesters has AWESOME BURGERS and you can get one pretty much any way under the sun and the lemonade is great, but they sometimes run out LOL and in my opinion the BEST breakfast in town, their pile ups are amazing and the blueberry pancakes are bigger than your face. The all you can eat pan fried chicken on Sundays is also excellent, just be sure and arrive early sometimes they are out by 1. The owner told me they have been scheduled for Diners, Drive Ins and Dives on the Food Channel before the end of the year, but IDK!!!

I was out on Saturday and Sunday from Lookout on down with the water running in the afternoon for a couple of hours. The fishing was decent through the narrows. Threw a 1/80th oz olive jig and float shallow for awhile with mixed results, but the switched to a 3/32 olive/ginger jig and they loved it. Also threw a sculpin with an orange head for awhile with sporatic results. When the water is off I have been catching alot of numbers around the Pole vault pit and around that hole on the bluff side. Hope this helps, if you wanted any more info let me know!! Good luck out there!!!

I have a place just down from there and its Ok in my opinion!! Its a great place to grab a quick lunch, I've never eaten dinner there, but their sandwiches are good. I wouldn't say that it is one of the best places around, but if your in the neighborhood it'll do the trick!!!

It was probably one of the MDC's "new tactics" LOL!!!!!

Hey just finished my first rod build, built a 7' G. Loomis Ultralight and it turned out pretty awesome (didn't break when i hooked a fish LOL)!!! I was wondering, I have been looking at Rainshadow blanks for spinning rods due to the fact that I am looking for a cheaper blank, has anyone had any experience with these or have any suggestions for a cheaper, good quality spinning blank. I think I am now addicted, but don't want to necessarily break the bank!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for your time guys, I think you have a new convert to this awesome craft!!

Personally I prefer my Tracker, but I have been know to fish a little off the beaten path and run into a fewthings LOL, so fiberglass is of no use to me!!!

I know Brett personally and he doesn't need anyone defending him, but I have fished with him on more than one occasion where we were catching fish and people came and stood around, so close that our lines were tangled on one occasion. He brushed it off and said welcome to my world, it happens all the time. Now, those individuals might not be slobs, but they were definately tools and I'm not afraid to say it!! Who does that? i'm not a fly fishing purist by any means, I am a jig fisherman mostly, so I guess I'm a slob to alot of the fly fisherman. I can assure you that he is an incredible guide and a good guy, if you had taken the time to read furthur down in his reports you would have seen that he says a lot of things in jest and jokes around to make the reports more interesting. I'm not speaking for him or trying to pretend I know what he meant, but it is a free country and people can write what they want. And anybody can walk down there and find way MORE than a handfull that fit that description!! I AM A TERRIBLE FLY FISHERMAN, but I do have manners and will do my own thing and stay out of the way LOL!!! WHEW, is it hot in here LOL!! Have a good day all and good luck out there!!

I have caught 2 in the Pothole on seperate occasions both were pretty sizeable and both released, but thats it and it was totally by accident. Not sure if there is aa healthy enough population to waste time fishing specifically for them, but i know there are at least 2 LOL!!! Good Luck!

OK, I want these and now I want a beer LOL!! That is an awesome and fairly environmental friendly idea!!! Totally AWESOME!!

I am strictly artificial and C&R on ALL species of bass. I believe that they are our greatest sportfishing resource and would hate to see anything detrimental happen to the population in any stream, lake or river. However, this is just my opinion and I am not judgemental of anyone doing anything that is within their legal right as angler (although keeping smallies is right on the edge LOL). If you buy the liscense then its up to you to decide how you use it!!

OH MY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL!!

Was up early this morning about 6:30, felt lazy so I started out in front of the condo at Short Creek. Set up on the edge of the hole next to the stump and started fishing a 1/16th Olive/Ginger zig jig. The first two casts were nada and then they turned on, caught 10 on consecutive casts, had a little coffee and headed up to the trophy area. Boated to just below Lookout and worked the bluff bank down until just before the tennis courts with the same jig. Noticed the fish were really swarming but no "real" hits. Switched to a sculpin 1/32 and that was the ticket, fishing was absolutely lights out . Switched color a few times and the color didn't seem to matter, just the size. One thing I did notice was after about 10 fish, they seemed less interested, but once you switched it up, they were right back on again. The weird thing was that they didn't want the jig on the bottom, only about 3 ft deep and to say the takes were light would be an understatement, you had to littlerally watch your jig disappear and the set the hook. Worked down to in front of the Fall creek construction and due to the wind, broke out the jig and float and 5ft deep woth an olive 1/80th and the fishing was great through there. All in all probably boated about 70 fish in just over 3 hours on a variety of different set ups. The fishing seems really good right now, but it is a little more difficult due to the soft takes. Gotta be willing to switch it up periodically and have a jig and float ready when the wind kicks up through there. All in all, nothing huge, a couple pushing 18" but all the rest were 15-16" and still looking fat, healthy and packing alot of fight. One "strange" thing was I kept two silver bullets for my grandmother and when I cleaned them they were FULL of POWERBAIT!!! I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but I kept them just down from Lookout at the begining of the morning, so they either made quite a trek upstream of somebody was being "naughty!!" LOL! Hope this report help, hadn't seen many so I figured I throw in my 2 cents!! Good luck out there!!

Thanks for the tip, I looked at the Cabelas kits and I think that will be a great place for me to start. I didn't even know they offered things like that. In your opinion is a shorter rod easier to build that a longer one or is there not much difference. I usually don't fish anything shorter than 6'6", but would be willing to build a shorter rod until I get better skills if its easier. Thanks for your time guys I really appreciate it!

Hey all, was just wondering if any of you experienced rod builders had any tips for someone just wanting to get started!! Are there any good books or videos you would recomend as well as any other advice would be greatly appreciated. I am just interested in building my own spinning rods for jigs. I have dificulty finding a jig rod that is perfect and I am hoping I can make a few that I really like everything about. This is something I have been wanting to get into for some time and have recently been blessed with enough free time(maybe) to pursue it furthur. Thank you for your time and good luck out there!!