Sauger Claus camento visit today

[TNBronzeback]

Hit the river after a late start. Water wasnt dirty, but its not quite "old hickory" clear yet either and she was cranking. Cordell Hull pushing 30k and Old Hickory pulling 31-32k.
Not too many logs, but the leaves in the water column were horrible.
Went to old faithful and even with the higher water temps it still produced very nicely. They were odd biters today. Not really short strikes, but light strikes. They prefered it just dragging along bottom with very short hops.
Ended up boating 17, lost probably justnas many hit, rolled a few heavy fish and brought home 4. some were as thick as footballs while others were kinda slim. The water temp needs to drop to get em feeding hot and heavy!
fished some new water today but with the heavy flow and river layout, it was just too fast and swirling to fish, but i think its gonna be hot when it slows to about 20k.
All in all, great day to be back on the river.
Also, no white bass yet which was kinda odd, but i guess if the water still isnt just right, they wont be there! lol

[Reel Tune]

Thanks for the great report

[XxthejuicexX]

Very nice trip! I'm ready to go when it gets good :)

[TNBronzeback]

Thanks!
the best i can tell, and this is just my opinion as im in no way a sauger expert so i could be entirely wrong here, but im thinking its like other spawning species.....the males have showed up first with the current temps to make preparations and the females will be along when the water temp drops another 5-10 degress and stays that way for a while. Temp in the morning was 52. It got up to 54.X in the afternoon.
Im ready to pull a beast of a sauger out of that river.....4-5 pounds would do just nice!
What i dont know is where the big girls are at right now.
Are they individual nomads just roaming down river or if they school up and move up in bigger groups.

[Heiny57]

We want pictures. :)

[skillet]

I think you're nuts being in that swift of water trying to fish!! Lol. I've tried fishing the dam in 20-24k, may have been more, and thought I was gonna sink my boat and die!!!! I didn't have much if any control of where the boat was going. And it's not like we were in a jon boat. We were in my 16ftbass boat. Not a big boat but a lot better than a tin can. Lol We were literally scared for our lives and got out of there. I'm wanting to fish the river but, me personally, won't risk it like that. I would like to know what kind of boat you have and how you fish that. I am planning on trying to fish it from the bank this week for smallies and may try my hand at sauger.

[TNBronzeback]

I think you're nuts being in that swift of water trying to fish!! Lol. I've tried fishing the dam in 20-24k, may have been more, and thought I was gonna sink my boat and die!!!! I didn't have much if any control of where the boat was going. And it's not like we were in a jon boat. We were in my 16ftbass boat. Not a big boat but a lot better than a tin can. Lol We were literally scared for our lives and got out of there. I'm wanting to fish the river but, me personally, won't risk it like that. I would like to know what kind of boat you have and how you fish that. I am planning on trying to fish it from the bank this week for smallies and may try my hand at sauger.
Its actually not that bad. Until this summer, i fished out of a 14' flat bottom jon boat. I took that below old hickory several times with flow rates between 25-30k. I dont feel there is anything unsafe about that much flow. Wasnt easy in that boat, but it worked. With high flow, its so much easier to fish where the river is wider for a good long stretch especially after a hard bend cause there is usually a deeper hole there. Avoid hard bends and bottle neck areas. Current gets all swirly, fast and crazy. Too hard to fish that stuff.
Now im in an 18' Deep V Alumacraft. On thier worst day, Tennessee waters cant get too rough for it.
If you want to put some saugers on the deck consistantly, youve gotta have good flow. 19k like today is ideal, but they were dropping the river level and the fish were scattered.
Im not expert on anything by no means, but if you want to fish the river for walleye, sauger even bass at some times of the year, do your reseach and learn all you can about Vertical Jigging. In my opinion, its hands down the best method for putting fish in the boat in a river.
if youve got a boat i can give ya some pointers

[skillet]

Maybe my problem is that I fish too close to the dam. On that day I talked about I went down to the old hickory green bridge and almost got pushed into a pillar. Had to fire my big engine to keep from it. Then got up around the dam and really freaked out. Maybe at some point down river the water does calm down and is manageable, but not at the dam. I have fished down around the neelys bend ramp but that's as far as I went and up into the mouth of that other river right across from it. Water was pushing pretty good that day too just not near as much as it has been here lately

I'll take any pointers you want to give. I'm always learning and trying to figure out new species. This fall, my attention has been on crappie. But I do want to find some sauger/walleye too.

I primarily bass fish, but that has become a little monotonous and boring. Don't get me wrong, I love it and love to have a few in a skillet, but as I've gotten older I'm wanting to expand my horizons and do more.

[skillet]

You said yesterday they were flowing only 19k. Ive been watching the TVA app pretty hard and I haven't seen anything below 30k since the beginning of the month when they opened the spillways. I have pictures from that day, and it reminded me of the May flood. Scary stuff. So my question for you is, where do you get your flow information from?? Am I reading it wrong somehow??

[TNBronzeback]

You said yesterday they were flowing only 19k. Ive been watching the TVA app pretty hard and I haven't seen anything below 30k since the beginning of the month when they opened the spillways. I have pictures from that day, and it reminded me of the May flood. Scary stuff. So my question for you is, where do you get your flow information from?? Am I reading it wrong somehow??
Your info is for Old Hickory dam and the flow coming out of it....ive been fishing above the dam, way way above the dam, which would make my flow from cordell hull dam which was pushing out 18-19k depending on the exact hour. I get my flow charts from the app. Now thats not to say they dont adjust that over the course of the day.
Its safe fishing below those 2 dams at 30k. You just need to increase your leadhead size. Some places below cordell hull dam ive had to use close to 2oz of lead to stay vertical where i was fishing.
Im in no way calling myself an expert jigger, but over years of fishiing the Detroit and St. Clair rivers in michigan, you develop the skillset to adjust to any situation. Just like any other technique to fishing really. Focus on one method and you really fine tune your skills to better put yourself in a position to hook up with more fish.
If your seriously interested in learning how to vertical the river i will gladly take ya. Ya just gotta have the right equipment for it so its enjoyable, cause it can be taxing on your arm....non-stop up and down all day long, fishing the same hole for an extended amount of time to be sure youve exhausted every bite you can scrape out of it, then ya reel up, motor on and do it all over again. Lol.
Its really not THAT dull, i change it up when i fish directly below a dam.
The big key about sauger that alot of people dont take into consideration, is that they rarely are in an "aggressive" feeding mode where they just crush everything in site. You have to aggitate them enough to where they have to hit, they cant stand it.
Example, i fished yesterday, another boat was there too....they said they were there for a little while already and only got 1 short fish.....i boated a keeper within 5 minutes of fishing, they took off and i got another keeper and several shorts fishing in the same spots they just left from. Again, im not saying im some fish wisperer or something, but i can say with confidence, not cockiness that im damn good at my chosen technique.
But, even i have my goose egg days where i can boat a fish.....lol.

[hotwielen65]

Its been several years since I focused on fishing for Sauger other than below CH dam. The reason I started fishing exclusively below the dam was due to water color. I have found that for me anyway muddy water killed the bite. Before I went fishing the dam I had a stretch of river that had some deep holes. I would fish each hole to the point I would think I should have left a half hour ago, then I would pick one up then a second and on very lucky occasions a limit in less time than I spent beating the bottom to a pulp with my jig. I have also hit the holes catching only a couple shorts at each using every color in the box, then I would change up to just holding the jig about a foot or less off the bottom keeping it still and started catching shorts with keepers mixed in. They are challenging to say the least, I went out with a guide who said he caught Sauger like most people catch bluegill during the spawn. We worked hard all day and caught 2 keepers, he didn't have much to say at the end of the day and did give me back some of my money which I would have probably refused had he not bragged so hard.

Good luck to all,

Ray

[TNBronzeback]

Its been several years since I focused on fishing for Sauger other than below CH dam. The reason I started fishing exclusively below the dam was due to water color. I have found that for me anyway muddy water killed the bite. Before I went fishing the dam I had a stretch of river that had some deep holes. I would fish each hole to the point I would think I should have left a half hour ago, then I would pick one up then a second and on very lucky occasions a limit in less time than I spent beating the bottom to a pulp with my jig. I have also hit the holes catching only a couple shorts at each using every color in the box, then I would change up to just holding the jig about a foot or less off the bottom keeping it still and started catching shorts with keepers mixed in. They are challenging to say the least, I went out with a guide who said he caught Sauger like most people catch bluegill during the spawn. We worked hard all day and caught 2 keepers, he didn't have much to say at the end of the day and did give me back some of my money which I would have probably refused had he not bragged so hard.

Good luck to all,

Ray

Your exactly right, my best spot during a normal cold winter doesnt get good till about 10:00am, after the sun is up and driving them fish out of thier low light areas into the deeper water. But yeah, even with that being my best spot, it on occasion has given up nothing but a handful of shorts. Those fish are constantly moving and thier feeding habits and moods change constantly all day long.
But man when you figure it out, its a great time to be had.
The dams certainly produce and attract alot of fish and i fish them on occasion, i just try my best to avoid them when possible due to the amount of action they get, they can get a little crowded when the fishing is good. But i love fishing em, its a constant learning experience to say the least.

[TnCreekMaster]

Maybe my problem is that I fish too close to the dam. On that day I talked about I went down to the old hickory green bridge and almost got pushed into a pillar. Had to fire my big engine to keep from it. Then got up around the dam and really freaked out. Maybe at some point down river the water does calm down and is manageable, but not at the dam. I have fished down around the neelys bend ramp but that's as far as I went and up into the mouth of that other river right across from it. Water was pushing pretty good that day too just not near as much as it has been here lately

I'll take any pointers you want to give. I'm always learning and trying to figure out new species. This fall, my attention has been on crappie. But I do want to find some sauger/walleye too.

I primarily bass fish, but that has become a little monotonous and boring. Don't get me wrong, I love it and love to have a few in a skillet, but as I've gotten older I'm wanting to expand my horizons and do more.

When there flowing like they have been you'll still see the current all the way down to ashland city. Ive had a couple close calls myself, when they are running that much water the river is another animal with eddys and whirlpools everywhere makes running on plane like your on ice sliding all around. Definitely want to stay away from the channel buoys they will suck you right into them. Saw someone drifting once below oh and they did just that got to close and big metal buoy went right under there boat.

[TNBronzeback]

When there flowing like they have been you'll still see the current all the way down to ashland city. Ive had a couple close calls myself, when they are running that much water the river is another animal with eddys and whirlpools everywhere makes running on plane like your on ice sliding all around. Definitely want to stay away from the channel buoys they will suck you right into them. Saw someone drifting once below oh and they did just that got to close and big metal buoy went right under there boat.
Thats a fact! feels exactly like your on ice.
Always, always always wear your life jacket with the kill switch tether hooked up. When running the big motor i wear my standard buckle up life jacket as opposed to my pull cord inflatable.

[tsuggs]

great report and info,wish I lived closer to those spots.Jack salmon is mighty tasty!

[skillet]

Ok, this makes much more sense now. You're fishing a wide space that makes 30k flow much slower and say below old hick dam. Am I right on that?? We primarily fish the Cumberland below old hickory dam which is narrow and makes 30k really hard to handle in my opinion. But I'm open to try it with someone like yourself that knows how to handle that kind of flow and water. .

I'd like to meet up and fish with ya one day, and learn from ya. And I'll extend the invitation on my end as well. I've done some vertical jigging, not a complete newb. Lol I love fishing new areas. In your neck of the woods on old hickory would most definitely be a change. Kind of like fishing a new lake. We will most definitely have to set up a trip. I appreciate the invite









Your info is for Old Hickory dam and the flow coming out of it....ive been fishing above the dam, way way above the dam, which would make my flow from cordell hull dam which was pushing out 18-19k depending on the exact hour. I get my flow charts from the app. Now thats not to say they dont adjust that over the course of the day.
Its safe fishing below those 2 dams at 30k. You just need to increase your leadhead size. Some places below cordell hull dam ive had to use close to 2oz of lead to stay vertical where i was fishing.
Im in no way calling myself an expert jigger, but over years of fishiing the Detroit and St. Clair rivers in michigan, you develop the skillset to adjust to any situation. Just like any other technique to fishing really. Focus on one method and you really fine tune your skills to better put yourself in a position to hook up with more fish.
If your seriously interested in learning how to vertical the river i will gladly take ya. Ya just gotta have the right equipment for it so its enjoyable, cause it can be taxing on your arm....non-stop up and down all day long, fishing the same hole for an extended amount of time to be sure youve exhausted every bite you can scrape out of it, then ya reel up, motor on and do it all over again. Lol.
Its really not THAT dull, i change it up when i fish directly below a dam.
The big key about sauger that alot of people dont take into consideration, is that they rarely are in an "aggressive" feeding mode where they just crush everything in site. You have to aggitate them enough to where they have to hit, they cant stand it.
Example, i fished yesterday, another boat was there too....they said they were there for a little while already and only got 1 short fish.....i boated a keeper within 5 minutes of fishing, they took off and i got another keeper and several shorts fishing in the same spots they just left from. Again, im not saying im some fish wisperer or something, but i can say with confidence, not cockiness that im damn good at my chosen technique.
But, even i have my goose egg days where i can boat a fish.....lol.

[Alphahawk]

Ok, this makes much more sense now. You're fishing a wide space that makes 30k flow much slower and say below old hick dam. Am I right on that?? We primarily fish the Cumberland below old hickory dam which is narrow and makes 30k really hard to handle in my opinion. But I'm open to try it with someone like yourself that knows how to handle that kind of flow and water. .

I'd like to meet up and fish with ya one day, and learn from ya. And I'll extend the invitation on my end as well. I've done some vertical jigging, not a complete newb. Lol I love fishing new areas. In your neck of the woods on old hickory would most definitely be a change. Kind of like fishing a new lake. We will most definitely have to set up a trip. I appreciate the invite

You are correct. I fish Pickwick a lot with an output of 80-90 thousand CFS with no problems at all. That is the generator output. If the gates are open the output can be from 100 to 200 thousand CFS...and with the gates open you can't fish it....Pickwick is very wide so 80 thousand CFS is not a problem.


Regards

[jaystaler88]

When do you all reckon we can start seeing the white bass? I'll be in Cheatham and below the Cheatham Dam a few miles. I understand we need some cold weather...thoughts?

[TNBronzeback]

When do you all reckon we can start seeing the white bass? I'll be in Cheatham and below the Cheatham Dam a few miles. I understand we need some cold weather...thoughts?

with this warm winter thus far, its gonna be a little while with some colder temps to bring them back to their normal patterns for this time of year.
ive usually start getting into them below old hickory by late february/early march. ive ran into so small scattered schools sauger fishing, but no big schools of them.
Maybe a stupid question, but all this water dumping into the river from the rain, is it even "cold" rain water to help drop the temps or was it just tepid rain water?
we hope for warm spring rains to warm up the lakes, i can hope for cold winter rains to drop the temps! LOL
Even the extended forecast doesnt look promising for cold weather.

[skillet]

I can tell you for a fact,as of Saturday, old hickory water temps have been the same for almost the whole month of December which is 56-59* throughout the day. It's bad that we are calling and wishing for cold weather and water. Lol I have just kept steady on a fall pattern and it's paid pretty well for crappie and bass.