Fishin Maniac

Thanks for keeping up on this as I am not a local (wish I was). I have worked with injured baldies in the past and most of them had been shot and acted much the way this one did. I thought my post would have taken care of this easily. I could have picked him up and brought him to a vet here in TN that would have taken excellent care of him but I didn't want him away from his home territory and family (much less explain to "the man" why I was transporting a shot Blad Eagle). Yeah, the numbers are up and the might be off the list, but that is more of a credit to the NW territoties, Alaska, MT, etc. The are still pretty hard to see in this part of the country (in nature, not zoo)and it is a life event the first time you stumble accross one in the wild. I'll call the bird sanc in stl tomorrow and see if they know anything.

Thank You!!! I have pictures and video if anyone wants me to e-mail them.

Just floated the Jacks Fork and came accross an injured Bald Eagle about 1-2 miles below the teachers resort. He couldn't fly. Tried to call ONSR and got a taped message. The eagle would appreciate it if someone could send him some help. He was with a Female and a juvenile male.

Just floated the JF and came accross an injured Bald Eagle about 1-2 miles below the teachers resort. He couldn't fly. Tried to call ONSR and got a taped message. The eagle would appreciate it if someone could send him some help. He was with a Female and a juvenile male.

It also get wider, slower and more shallow below Bay Creek. You'll do alot of paddling if you are in a hurry to get to 2 rivers. Awesome float, though!!!

Any colors/sizes in particular on the hair jigs, tubes and jerkbatis?

Ditto on the 4 days to realy take up this river. You don't want to rush, lots of wildlife, scenery, caves, etc. Prongs to Buck Hollow can be hairy if you don't know what yu're doing.

Another sweet post, thanks Al! I've got cabin fever and now its worse!!! Been on JF latley?

Sounds like a good time. How was the flow & temp? See any floaters? Sorry you missed the deer in action, you should check out

Has anybody been able to float Buck hollow to Bay Creek lately? Looks like the Buck gage is hanging around 1' and around 30 cfs. I want to float this stretch in a couple of weeks w/ no camping gear. What kind of #'s has everyone been catching?

They were everywhere we threw, all day. Must of been some kind of post-spawn/new moon/air pressure combo. I've never seen anything like that. They were just absolutley ravenous. The big ones were in the deeper holes, in general, but we had one big one in particular that was 5 feet from our shored boats while we were taking a much needed break in shallow fast water that was charging my friend who was swimming. My buddy Ed threw out a plastic craw, he nailed it, got off on an awesome jump, went back to the area he was protecting, Ed threw the craw again on a flip cast, hooked him good, fought a while, then he broke the line. It was our last craw that was in decent shape so we wanted it back. Had another rod with a heedon torpedo rigged, threw that he nailed it topwater, again shook the hook on an awesome jump, Ed threw it again ( this is taking place 5 feet from us @ noon remember) and he was charging it but not hitting it for a minute. He then went up with his tail just flappin and hit it like nothing I've ever seen! He wasn't getting off this time. Had a good lip and outer gill hook. Jumped several times and pulled the drag forever. I finally walked out and had to net him before he broke the line and had another lure in him. After we got the heddon out of his mouth Ed reached in with hemostats and retrieved our last plastic craw from his throat and we released him like nothing ever happened. I don't think I'll ever be so lucky again for such a successful trip! I would do anything to protect this fishery. Great Job to all the fine folks who care for this river.

We kept expecting it to slow down during the afternoon but it was steady all day and night. Only the trophies hit at night though on topwater.

Planned on floating prongs to bay creek but prongs was too low (they said). So we floated buck hollow to alley. We absolutley tore em up!!!! Thanks to the guys who replied last week with the lure advice!!! The fishing above bay creek was so ridiculous my buddy and I found ourselves laughing so hard we were crying. We were actually started to try not to catch a fish and were unsucessful, literally fish on every cast!!!! When we caught them other smallies were chasing them and trying to rip the plastic craws out of their mouths. We would ususally catch a smaller one and then the big ones would start fighting with them for the craw hanging from their mouth so we would catch one and the other guy would toss in another craw close by and Bammmm! Below Bay creek was a little slower but nothing to get upset about. There were a few really big holes that we slayed trophies on w top water. The limit is 18 inches but I don't see how anyone could keep such a magnificant creature. We released (and lost)several 20+. Also did a night float that produced some vicious strikes but didn't land anything. We did however have a snake crawl into the boat. Too many stories to tell....WHAT A RIVER!!!!! Please catch and release so we have this forever!!!!!

Thanks for the fast replies everyone. I hope the guy with the illegal stringer got busted. Looking forward to tight line this weekend!!! I'll let you guys know how it went when I get back. If you're planning a Tennessee trip and need some advice or a fishin buddy, drop me a line. Thanks again, Fishin Maniac "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and show him how to catch & release and then give him a jimmy club and tell him were the guy with the fish is" -Ancient Chinese Proverb, Author Unknown

Planning on floating Prongs to Bay creek Memorial weekend. Has any one done this stretch lately? USGS site looks like water level is good but don't want to drag to much. I also see soft plactics are working. What in particular works good on the JF? Colors? What's hitting? Smallmouth, pickerel? Does anyone think there will be ann overabundence of people, noteably morons, on this stretch over Memorial day weekend. Don't mind making new fishing buddies but don't care for the tubers in cutoff jeans. Thanks in an advance for a reply.