Caney Fork River Report 9-16-11

[Jeffdeg84]

Went to the Caney for a little while this morning, fished from 5:30-7:15am at Happy Hollow. Managed to catch my first whopper Rainbow(whopper for me anyway), it measured just over 23" long. Man what an adrenaline rush it is to catch one like that! I also caught one 16" and a few stockers(one brown). All fish where caught on light spinning tackle, I was throwing an Bass Pro XPS Brown Trout shallow diving crank bait. Not too bad for just under 2 hours of fishing. All fish were released.

All of this being said, the two biggest trout where caught in the very first 20 minutes of the morning when it was still mostly dark outside. I have heard of people night fishing the Caney for trout and I was wondering if this is the best time for catching the bigger trout. I have heard people mention Hells Bend, and catching big trout at night.

Can some of you Caney Fork River Experts please point me in the right direction???

[Wm1miller]

Jeff,
I never actually fished at night, but quite often started fishing about an hour and a half before daylight and almost always caught bigger trout. My largest brown, 21 1/2", was caught in the dark at Happy Hollow.
I now live in Texas and really miss the Caney.http://www.fishingtn.com/images/icons/icon9.gif
Wm

[txnative]

During warmer months, I fish for trout almost exclusively at night. My biggest brown this year went 7.5 lbs. I use minnowbaits in the 4-4.5 inch size and vary my retrieve from super erratic to a ultra slow crawl. From happy up to the dam is best, you just need to get used to wherever you're going before attempting it at night.

Once fall sets on, I stay off the caney to avoid catching browns on redds. There are other fish I chase that make up for the stoppage in trout fishing, and the browns can spawn in peace.


Chris

[Travis C.]

Are you talking about Helm's Bend? If so that is way down river and post Dam repair not a big trout harboring area it once was years ago.

I fish a lot at night on the Caney and sure your chances of catching bigger fish go way up unless fishing highwater during daytime. Its a comfort thing along with a species trait of browns. They become mostly nocturnal after a certain point in their growth. It is usually follows closely to when they make the change over to a high protien meat majority diet. Sure a 28" brown will still snack on bugs just as you might still snack on skittles but its the steak dinner that fills you up.

Rainbows are a little more bug related even when they get bigger. They don't totally leave that niche like the browns do and for some reason I have hard time catching many during night hours.

I would say that maybe that size rainbow at night in shallows would have been due to the time frame we are in. He may have been up looking for something that naturally happens in the fall with the Brown's. I could be totally wrong but just my opinion.

[Jeffdeg84]

Helms Bend must be what they are talking about. I will have to try night fishing sometime. I have been going to the Caney about twice a week for a few months now but I haven't nailed down the correct tactics yet. I will catch 10+ one day and 0 the next using the same bait, with no significant change in water flows, etc. I would love to buy a Jon Boat for floating the Caney so I could cover more water, but for now wading will have to do.
-Jeff

[Alphahawk]

Helms Bend must be what they are talking about. I will have to try night fishing sometime. I have been going to the Caney about twice a week for a few months now but I haven't nailed down the correct tactics yet. I will catch 10+ one day and 0 the next using the same bait, with no significant change in water flows, etc. I would love to buy a Jon Boat for floating the Caney so I could cover more water, but for now wading will have to do.
-Jeff


Some day if you would like to meet at the Caney when there is no generation I can show you a technique that on most days will net you 50 to 100 Trout. All of us who use the Trout Magnet have those days on a regular basis....now there have been days when I caught nothing but those are few and far between. Now if you are a Fly Guy you might not want to use UL spinning tackle.....but there is rumor that a Mini Magnet is coming out...in the 1/80 to 1/100 range. I don't know but I did hear of it. A 23 inch Rainbow is a good fish anywhere...and very good on the Caney. I catch a lot of those but it is on Trout Cranks when they are generating....and I am lucky enough to be in a boat drifting. My biggest Rainbow wading was 20 inches...but in heavy water those are common. A lot of folks who have not fished the Caney when they are generating do not realize how good a fishery it is.

[Alphahawk]

My bad...I see you do use spinning gear..then some 2# test line and a fluorocarbon leader and some Trout Magnets and you will be catching a lot of Trout.

[Jeffdeg84]

AlphaHawk,
I was reading this forum a week or so ago about those trout magnets on here, and I went to the website and watched all of those videos on to use them. I plan to make that purchase. Should I buy the big kit or just one of the smaller ones? I have to admit, that kit looked pretty impressive!

[Alphahawk]

AlphaHawk,
I was reading this forum a week or so ago about those trout magnets on here, and I went to the website and watched all of those videos on to use them. I plan to make that purchase. Should I buy the big kit or just one of the smaller ones? I have to admit, that kit looked pretty impressive!

The Boat Kit is a good place to start. One color I would get that the kit does not have is Black/Gold or "Bison" as it is named. Watch the videos and they tell you all you need to know. That is the way I started. It is such a simple system..why did I not think of it...LOL. I fish 5 to 6 days a week 52 weeks out of the year. I am an avid light line guy and I catch a lot of fish....and I will tell you without the Trout Magnet I would not be so successful. Yesterday I had several Bass Boats come under that bridge I was fishing for Bass at Nickajack and wanted to know "What are you catching those on". I told them and they had never heard of the Crappie Magnet. I then had a family come under there in their new Bass boat and there was a 12 year old kid with them. He was fishing with 4# test line and he asked me and I told him and I fixed up a package of Crappie Magnets and Trout Magnets and tossed them to his father. He put one on and started catching fish. The Crappie Magnet is just a larger version of the Trout Magnet. I love to see folks catch fish..but especially kids. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Sore Lip'Em All

[Jeffdeg84]

The Boat Kit is a good place to start. One color I would get that the kit does not have is Black/Gold or "Bison" as it is named. Watch the videos and they tell you all you need to know. That is the way I started. It is such a simple system..why did I not think of it...LOL. I fish 5 to 6 days a week 52 weeks out of the year. I am an avid light line guy and I catch a lot of fish....and I will tell you without the Trout Magnet I would not be so successful. Yesterday I had several Bass Boats come under that bridge I was fishing for Bass at Nickajack and wanted to know "What are you catching those on". I told them and they had never heard of the Crappie Magnet. I then had a family come under there in their new Bass boat and there was a 12 year old kid with them. He was fishing with 4# test line and he asked me and I told him and I fixed up a package of Crappie Magnets and Trout Magnets and tossed them to his father. He put one on and started catching fish. The Crappie Magnet is just a larger version of the Trout Magnet. I love to see folks catch fish..but especially kids. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Sore Lip'Em All

Thanks for all the information, you guys have been really helpful. I just made the Trout Magnet purchase, I will let ya know how I do with it. Thank again!
-Jeff

[TNtransplant08]

Alphahawk~I noticed that you said you have used the trout magnet in the boils below dams to catch panfish. Whats your techique in the boils, such as how deep below the bobber do you typically put the bait and do you just through it right in the middle and let it swirl around in there?

Thanks in advance.

[Alphahawk]

Alphahawk~I noticed that you said you have used the trout magnet in the boils below dams to catch panfish. Whats your techique in the boils, such as how deep below the bobber do you typically put the bait and do you just through it right in the middle and let it swirl around in there?

Thanks in advance.

I mostly do this at Pickwick..but I know it used to be done at Wilson with great success until they put a fence up after 9-11. I have found out recently..courtesy of Clean Air..that it is the same at Nickajack. I do not throw right in the boils...although I have tried it and have caught them....I get close to a boil and put it in the swirling part that would be called a cutback. But it is also great right on the bank close to the dam or down river......where there is swirling current....and I mean they can be right on the bank in 2 feet of that swirling water and I have sometimes caught them as deep as only 6 inches and then others it is deep just enough to get it into or above the rocks. You can also do good using the Twitch method if the cutback is big enough. This is a Spring time and early Summer happening...most of the time. But I will start doing it at Pickwick.....and now Nickajack...around 1 April. As you know that will depend on the water temps after Winter. You will be shocked at how many and how big these Bluegill will be. It was an 80 year old man that showed me how to do it 5 years ago. He was so old he had to crawl down the rip-rap on his hands and knees. The water was really high...that is another thing...the higher the water is in Spring the more there are and the bigger they are. He did it with Crickets but the TM works just as good. It would have to happen at OH too but I have noticed I get much bigger Bluegill at Pickwick than at OH and Percy. Barkley is great for this also. You can do this below any dam that is going into a lake known for big Bluegill. I did it a lot at Pickwick the last 2 weeks or so but depending on which generator..and that would be anywhere...you really need that swirling cut back....I don't know why but they hang in there. I assume it is for food because the ones I caught a couple of weeks back at Pickwick were all fat and regurgitating minnows. Yet in the Spring they are in there feeding on something else....maybe insects..larvae...something. Let me know if I can be of any other assitance.



Regards

[Travis C.]

Thanks for all the information, you guys have been really helpful. I just made the Trout Magnet purchase, I will let ya know how I do with it. Thank again!
-Jeff

Trout Mangets are the real deal. To obtain max results don't skimp on the setup. What I mean about that is don't think you can get by with 6lb line and have same results. With your drag set correctly and the right rod you can handle big fish on 2lb test.

[Alphahawk]

Trout Mangets are the real deal. To obtain max results don't skimp on the setup. What I mean about that is don't think you can get by with 6lb line and have same results. With your drag set correctly and the right rod you can handle big fish on 2lb test.

You are absolutely correct about that! When I first started using the TM I would do away with the 2# test and go to 4# test...then I lost a lot of casting distance and wanted that back. Then I switched to a 3# test and while I did not lose as many fish I still wanted more casting distance...so back to 2# test...LOL. I finally got the hang of fishing with 2# test and have landed Stripers as big as 10# in the current below Pickwick. Now I was not fishing for Stripers but you never know when a big fish will hit the TM. The first year I took my son to our Small Mouth spot...after he had started fishing the Trout Magnet....he fished all Spring and lost so many big Smallies...then I remember the day he finally got his first one in...a 4 pound fish. He was grinning from ear to ear. Now he gets just about all of them in. This Spring at our spot...which we only got to fish a few days because it was flooded out.....he landed 12 in one day...and these were all 4 to 5 pound fish. I think I posted his pic of the big Brown he caught on the Caney on here and it was a very heavy fish. But yes the line makes the system work. The Trout Magnet falls so slowly fish just tear it up.

[bd-]

Alphahawk, if you ever want to go fishing, I'd love to see how the trout magnets work in the hands of someone who really knows how to use them. My personal interest is really in fly fishing and I don't really do much spin fishing myself, but I have folks in my boat from time to time who spin fish, and it's always good to have plenty of tools in the toolbox.

bd

[Alphahawk]

Alphahawk, if you ever want to go fishing, I'd love to see how the trout magnets work in the hands of someone who really knows how to use them. My personal interest is really in fly fishing and I don't really do much spin fishing myself, but I have folks in my boat from time to time who spin fish, and it's always good to have plenty of tools in the toolbox.

bd


Sure and I understand about you being mostly a Fly Guy. The last time I fly fished was 40 years ago. I was fishing in a farm pond and hooked a huge Large Mouth..and proceeded to break my Uncles Aberocombie and Fitch fly rod. He had bought it about 24 years before that. I am sure it would have been a valuable collectable today. Needless to say he was upset. Check your PM..there will be something that might be of interest to you.


Regards

[Travis C.]

Alphahawk, if you ever want to go fishing, I'd love to see how the trout magnets work in the hands of someone who really knows how to use them. My personal interest is really in fly fishing and I don't really do much spin fishing myself, but I have folks in my boat from time to time who spin fish, and it's always good to have plenty of tools in the toolbox.

bd

bd, depending on how true to fly fishing you want to be these can be fished from a fly rod no problem. A trout magnet is on a 1/64oz jig head (.44 grams). A BB Shot is .56 grams for comparison purpose.

Light tippet around a 7x + dead drift = killer.

[bd-]

I was just talking by PM with Alphahawk about the same thing, Travis. These days, I get most of my fun out of fishing flies I tie myself, so I don't know that the mini-trout magnets are really my "thing," but they do sound like a very effective lure for the folks who are into fishing that way.

bd

[Travis C.]

I was just talking by PM with Alphahawk about the same thing, Travis. These days, I get most of my fun out of fishing flies I tie myself, so I don't know that the mini-trout magnets are really my "thing," but they do sound like a very effective lure for the folks who are into fishing that way.

bd

I totally understand and if I could tie better would lean more that way. But unfortunately my extent is only to zebra midges but at least they are effective.

Here is another very similiar to the trout magnet system but an alternative that I have used with people who don't fly fish. Take a med-light spin rig with no heavier than 4lb line and set it up like this: 1" foam cylinder crappie slip float, BB shot above tippet knot, fluoro tippet to depth you are fishing, fly of choice or two.

With the right rod you can cast this pretty far and the setup will catch fish. It also helps eliminate the problem most fly fishermen have when they leave the Caney on low catch rates or fishless and that is the drag free drift.