Dale Hollow

[fishfindergeneral]

The daytime smallie action.... http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr36/FishFinderGeneral/b9880161-1.jpg http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr36/FishFinderGeneral/385fddb7-1.jpg http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr36/FishFinderGeneral/dfd3623b.jpg http://www.trolldhl.com

[RiverShoes]

Nice looking fish, looks like the rod behind you in the second picture has something on it too! Hehe

[baxterboy]

Nice fish Dave!

I still need to get back up there to catch my TARP smallie. The one I caught with you in May was only 19.

http://www.fishingtn.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1246&d=1305551771

James

[bd-]

Good to see you are doing well as always, FFG. You seem to have the trolling with downriggers technique nailed like nobody else.

I still have to figure out how to catch those big Dale Hollow Lake rainbows on a flyrod!!! I know they are WAY too deep this time of year, even with a sinking line. But they've got to show up somewhere shallow in the winter, and there's got to be a way to reach them. I've heard of smallmouth fishermen catching trout in the winter on Dale with float 'n fly rigs and occasionally with in-line spinners, so those fish ought to be vulnerable to a fly too.

It would be awesome to finally put together how to target those big trout on the lake when all the tailwaters are in heavy generation and their winter slump. Every time I've gone up there though, I've struck out.

There's got to be someone up there who could help with the learning curve, but I haven't found them yet.

bd

[Travis C.]

Maybe find them in the creeks during winter months sipping on the surface and throw big chronomids off of a 90 degree indicator with really long leader. It would be a pain casting but with a painfully slow retrieve might work.

Worst case you catch some of the big panfish up there.

[bd-]

Oh believe me, Travis, I've looked for trout sipping the surface. I've looked and looked for that. If I ever found them sipping, I could clobber them. I've never spotted trout sipping the surface on Dale Hollow though.

So far, I've mostly fished like you said - indicator, long leader (8 or 9 feet), and nymphs, chironomids, or flies like a clouser foxee dace that are similar to what the float 'n fly fishermen use. I also spent one day with streamers on a sinking line looking for deep water bait, which mostly meant following loons around.

So far, all I've gotten is cold.

Part of the problem is that Dale is about an hour and 45 minutes away from my house, so I only go up there a limited amount. And the more I go up there and get skunked, the less I want to go back.

What I'd like to find is someone who knows how to catch the trout in the winter on spinning gear (not trolling), so at least I know I'm fishing where the fish are. After that I can do R&D on the technique until I've got them dialed in.

bd

[Travis C.]

I like fishing the Obey after October 31st (campground closes). Maybe, one trip I will take my big boat and look around lakeside more. That drive does suck and I am with you on it better show some pay dirt or it will get less traveled.

I believe that first creek on the right (facing upstream) is Horse Creek. Pretty sure one place they stock from is at the marina when they stock the rainbows. You'd think once that happens some fish whether browns or what not would be around.

Would be really cool if those fish ran up feeder creeks sort of like steelhead to spawn.

[Alphahawk]

Maybe find them in the creeks during winter months sipping on the surface and throw big chronomids off of a 90 degree indicator with really long leader. It would be a pain casting but with a painfully slow retrieve might work.

Worst case you catch some of the big panfish up there.

There you have it in a nutshell.

Regards

[Alphahawk]

I like fishing the Obey after October 31st (campground closes). Maybe, one trip I will take my big boat and look around lakeside more. That drive does suck and I am with you on it better show some pay dirt or it will get less traveled.

I believe that first creek on the right (facing upstream) is Horse Creek. Pretty sure one place they stock from is at the marina when they stock the rainbows. You'd think once that happens some fish whether browns or what not would be around.

Would be really cool if those fish ran up feeder creeks sort of like steelhead to spawn.


Take some spinning gear and head to Horse Creek in the dead of winter. The trout are there and good ones at that. I am a spinning guy and while I don't like the drive either I put 40,000 miles a year on my vehicle fishing. Just got into a house instead of an apt so the upcoming purchase of kayak is imminent. Am too old and too fat to walk it anymore. Now as to whether or not I will buy a dry suit is up for discussion...but having flipped in the winter it is no fun...and if you are alone possibly life ending. But it would be tempting to take a kayak up Horse Creek for the trout in the winter.

Regards

[Travis C.]

Cools thanks for the info.

I figured since so many trout are caught throughout the year and especially in summer near the Dam there had to be somewhere close by they went to in winter.

If this helps bd locate some I know he can catch them.

[Alphahawk]

Cools thanks for the info.

I figured since so many trout are caught throughout the year and especially in summer near the Dam there had to be somewhere close by they went to in winter.

If this helps bd locate some I know he can catch them.
While I have a nephew that was a full time Small Mouth guide at Dale Hollow..and only fishes for Small Mouth...Crappie and Walleye...I have another nephew who only fishes for Trout and Small Mouth...LOL. But both know the lake very well and have put me on some good fish there throughout the years. I think if you go to Horse Creek and throw cranks you will be pleasantly surprised at the size Trout you will catch.


Regards

[fishfindergeneral]

You hit the nail right on the head about Horse Creek but only after big rains for big trout. I have told bd about this in the past. Alphahalk, who is your nephew? if you don't mind, maybe I know him.... Here some fish from the weekend..... http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr36/FishFinderGeneral/dfb794c9.jpg http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr36/FishFinderGeneral/5ec0d02c.jpg http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr36/FishFinderGeneral/7e48cadf.jpg http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr36/FishFinderGeneral/7b586ce3.jpg

[fishfindergeneral]

@James, get up a couple friends and give me a call. Right now the big smallies are nailing crank baits... @Rivershoes, that rod is set on a rigger.... @bd , thanks buddy ;)

[Travis C.]

Nice fish Dave. Hope you guys are doing well.

You must have had a pretty busy year so far. I haven't noticed you post as much.

Still planning on the trip for dad. I haven't changed plans it has been harder to get together this year than initially thought.

[fishfindergeneral]

Travis, it has been a great year, thanks for asking. Give me a yell when you get your ducks in a row... check out my summer report on Mike's board or over on fishin.com Tenn. forum...

[Travis C.]

Will do man.

Congrats on the great year I know you're on the short list for being able to say that in 2011.

[bd-]

You hit the nail right on the head about Horse Creek but only after big rains for big trout. I have told bd about this in the past.

I hit Horse Creek last winter around Christmas but struck out. It might have just been a bad couple days. A local I talked to at the marina seemed to think the trout just hadn't moved into the creeks yet. Not sure. Maybe I'll try again this winter. At this point I'd be happy to even locate the small trout - after that I can work on finding the bigger ones.

bd

[Alphahawk]

My nephew is Donnie. He guided out of Hendricks Creek. He is no longer full time but still guides for a few customers that only come once or twice a year and only want him. Would give you his last name but he might not like it and has this thing about the internet anyway...LOL. He had to go back to "real" work to get health care. While he does not Trout fish he knows where they are at. Since Dale Hollow is hard to fish from the bank I have to bum a ride when I go there. I catch most of my Small Mouth at Center Hill walking the banks. When they are in close I take them all on 2# test line...most of my fish run from 18 to 24 inches. I am on the Pro Staff of Trout Magnet and the Small Mouth love that tiny bait. Now when I do go to Dale Hollow I step up in line rating to 4# test...LOL. I get more hook ups there with 6 and 7 pound fish that I need that extra power. While I love catching the Small Mouth at Dale Hollow I go there to get into those monster Bluegill. When people talk of Dale Hollow they think "Small Mouth" but it is one of the premier Bluegill lakes of the South for trophy size Gills.


Regards

[Alphahawk]

You hit the nail right on the head about Horse Creek but only after big rains for big trout. I have told bd about this in the past. Alphahalk, who is your nephew? if you don't mind, maybe I know him.... Here some fish from the weekend..... http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr36/FishFinderGeneral/dfb794c9.jpg http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr36/FishFinderGeneral/5ec0d02c.jpg http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr36/FishFinderGeneral/7e48cadf.jpg http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr36/FishFinderGeneral/7b586ce3.jpg
By the way nice fish and that is a killer Trout!

[baxterboy]

By the way nice fish and that is a killer Trout!


Check out these rainbows www.troutdhl.com (http://www.troutdhl.com) put us on in May. After a few hrs in the cooler rigor mortis had set in so they look a little funny.

http://www.fishingtn.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1244&d=1305082660

[Alphahawk]

Check out these rainbows www.troutdhl.com (http://www.troutdhl.com) put us on in May. After a few hrs in the cooler rigor mortis had set in so they look a little funny.

http://www.fishingtn.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1244&d=1305082660
I am going to assume you were fishing very deep...is that correct?

Regards

[fishfindergeneral]

That depends on the time of year. Before the thermocline sets up they are quite high in the column, after that they head deep.....

[bd-]

Still working on this trout thing... some more scouting attempts on Horse Creek will be in order this winter.

FFG, when you find the trout high in the water column in the cold weather, where do they concentrate? Do they follow bait around, do they relate to channel drops and structure, or are they just scattered?

Also, do you ever see them sipping insect larvae on the surface? That would be a dead giveaway if I could find them doing that but I haven't seen it so far.

bd

[clean air]

Nice fish.I dont trout fish so I cant tell but what does a trout like that weigh?6-7pounds? Good looking fish all of them.

[baxterboy]

Nice fish.I dont trout fish so I cant tell but what does a trout like that weigh?6-7pounds? Good looking fish all of them.

We didn't put them on the scale but I want to say that the biggest rainbows were around 24-25 inches. The girth really impressed me. The rainbows in the lake seemed to be a lot chunkier than river fish.

[clean air]

10yrs ago you would never hear of people catching big trout out of any TN lake.Our waters have come along way.Now they just need to put something in Normandy.Trout or hybrid would be nice.Normandy is full of shad I dont know why it never got stocked with hybrids.20yrs ago muskie was put in woods they should have tried it on Normandy.People still catch a muskie out of there ever so often.It would be nice to chase something big close to home.

[Alphahawk]

10yrs ago you would never hear of people catching big trout out of any TN lake.Our waters have come along way.Now they just need to put something in Normandy.Trout or hybrid would be nice.Normandy is full of shad I dont know why it never got stocked with hybrids.20yrs ago muskie was put in woods they should have tried it on Normandy.People still catch a muskie out of there ever so often.It would be nice to chase something big close to home.

I am not sure Normandy Lake could support Trout year round...I may be mistaken but I don't think it is cold enough. They put Muskie in Laurel Hill years ago and then poisoned the lake to kill only the Muskie...at least that was the plan. They killed all the fish. I was not there but have seen the pics...what a shame. You should have seen the size of the Muskie in there and the lake was doing just fine with the other specie.

Regards

[MNfisher]

Wow!! That is unbelievable! Why kill the muskies! What a waste of money and a good resource!

[Travis C.]

10yrs ago you would never hear of people catching big trout out of any TN lake.Our waters have come along way.Now they just need to put something in Normandy.Trout or hybrid would be nice.Normandy is full of shad I dont know why it never got stocked with hybrids.20yrs ago muskie was put in woods they should have tried it on Normandy.People still catch a muskie out of there ever so often.It would be nice to chase something big close to home.

If I am not mistaken they started stocking Walleye not too long ago and they have taken hold pretty good. It should turn out to be a solid fishery for them.

caption for attatched photo: TWRA biologist Todd St. John with 12-inch walleye taken from Normandy Lake in November(2010).

[Travis C.]

Hey Dave,

Do you know which ramp access they dedicated to D.L. Hayes? I seen something on it a while back but forgot which one.

If any of you are up that way, they have a photo that is actual size of the smallmouth he caught on the sign at which ever ramp it is. The fish is way bigger than you might think.

[bd-]

Travis, I think that might be a 12 pound walleye instead of a 12 inch one. :)

bd

[bd-]

10yrs ago you would never hear of people catching big trout out of any TN lake.Our waters have come along way.Now they just need to put something in Normandy.Trout or hybrid would be nice.Normandy is full of shad I dont know why it never got stocked with hybrids.20yrs ago muskie was put in woods they should have tried it on Normandy.People still catch a muskie out of there ever so often.It would be nice to chase something big close to home.

Dale Hollow has had big trout for as long as I remember. In fact, they used to stock lake trout there too years ago, but over time the lakers weren't doing well so now it's rainbows and browns. You just don't hear about them that often.

Some of the other East TN reservoirs also have stocked trout. Normandy wouldn't be cold enough.

bd

[Travis C.]

Travis, I think that might be a 12 pound walleye instead of a 12 inch one. :)

bd

I kinda thought it looked big. Someone's got it a little mixed up either Vernon S. or the Spring Hill/T Station new paper.

[Travis C.]

Dale Hollow has had big trout for as long as I remember. bd

The tailwater held the state record Rainbow, Brown and Cutthroat trout at the same time several years ago. The Cutthroat was a project I am sure but still is technically on the books.

That whole area lake, tailwater and adjoining Cumberland is incredibly fishy.

[robhal11]

My uncle fished for trout in Dale Hollow in 70's maybe earlier. I never fished with him in lake just in the tailwaters. He said they would catch them right up close to the dam and I think he said he fished at night. He had alot of pictures of big trout, like those Travis has been catching here lately, that he caught on the Caney during generation years ago.

[bd-]

The tailwater held the state record Rainbow, Brown and Cutthroat trout at the same time several years ago. The Cutthroat was a project I am sure but still is technically on the books.


Just to clarify for people who aren't familiar with the area, the tailwater is a totally separate fishery from the lake.

The Dale Hollow tailwater section of the Obey river did indeed hold state records for browns, rainbows, and even a cutthroat at one time. However, you also have to remember that for the most part, the giant rainbows and browns were caught before the impoundment of Cordell Hull Reservoir, or not long thereafter.

Cordell Hull became operational in 1973. Before that time, the Cumberland and the tailwater ran cold enough for trout well into Tennessee. Old timers have told me that back in the 1960s, you could catch big trout from the Cumberland almost all the way into Carthage. There was a time during the impoundment phase of Cordell Hull when they tried to stock it with trout, and I even have an article from an old fishing magazine about guys catching atlantic salmon in Cordell. However, within a few years after impoundment, the stocking programs were aborted because the reservoir became too warm for trout.

The state record fish that came from the Obey almost certainly didn't live their entire lives in the Obey. They were Cumberland tailwater fish that made their way upstream into the Obey.

After the construction of Cordell Hull, the Obey has become a shadow of the river it once was. It's still a nice trout tailwater, but not a place where record-breaking browns and rainbows are likely to be seen.

bd

[clean air]

Yea trout would never make it in Normandy.The walleye have taken hold.The local bass guys hate them.On tourney nites they say thats all they catch and the bass fishing not as good as it used to be.I catch alot of big walleyes every spring but never been able to pattern them in summer.But the spring is awsome for walleye.We used to catch saugeye from Normandy.I just like to hybrid fish and as big as the whites get I always hoped that they would stock hybrids.This past spring was bad cause of all the water.The river stayed high and muddy.Its neat to hear some of the history of our waters.I wonder why they would kill the muskie on L.Hill lake.Thats crazy.Anybody wants to try Normandy for walleye I live in Manchester and know the lake.March and April are my best months.

[Catchingtrout]

Way to go Dave!

[Catchingtrout]

Good to see you are doing well as always, FFG. You seem to have the trolling with downriggers technique nailed like nobody else.

I still have to figure out how to catch those big Dale Hollow Lake rainbows on a flyrod!!! I know they are WAY too deep this time of year, even with a sinking line. But they've got to show up somewhere shallow in the winter, and there's got to be a way to reach them. I've heard of smallmouth fishermen catching trout in the winter on Dale with float 'n fly rigs and occasionally with in-line spinners, so those fish ought to be vulnerable to a fly too.

It would be awesome to finally put together how to target those big trout on the lake when all the tailwaters are in heavy generation and their winter slump. Every time I've gone up there though, I've struck out.

There's got to be someone up there who could help with the learning curve, but I haven't found them yet.

bd

bd, your problem is the Trout aren't Carp. Want to make a trip this December? I can catch a Trout, but those genius Carp elude the heck out of me even when they are bunched up like cows in a wheat field.

[bd-]

Sure, I usually head up to Dale around Christmas time or early January, so we can take a crack at the trout together if you're around. I sure haven't been able to figure them out on my own.

bd

[Travis C.]

Sure, I usually head up to Dale around Christmas time or early January, so we can take a crack at the trout together if you're around. I sure haven't been able to figure them out on my own.

bd

If you guys need a 16ft bass boat to fish from I'll drive and take notes..:D