Pickwick 9-27-12. Got my Fish'N Fix today!

[Alphahawk]

Started out on the lake side. Due to heavy generation and I guess from some wind the day before....my Smallie point was not accessible. There was about a 5 foot wide pile of driftwood...trash....between me and the lake. Had to move over a little and started casting. For the first 20 minutes or so only caught a couple of 10 inch Smallies. I figured the Gills had to be deep as they had really pulled the lake down. Tied on a 1/32 Double cross jig head and put on a Trout Magnet body...Bison color. It fits the jig head but the collar is a bit too big and you only can catch a few fish before you have to change out the Trout Magnet body. Casted out and counted down 35 seconds.....as I started my retrieve felt the fish....nice chunky 3/4 pound Gill. Caught about 50 of them along with 3 dozen small White Bass. The Whites were closer to shore and so it was take my pick...Gill or White. The picture of the Gill is not the biggest ones I caught. I had some go the pound mark. I was standing in driftwood and was keeping an eye out for "Jake the Snake". Lucky for me he did not show up...LOL. At about 12:30 thought I might pack it in and go home. Decided to try the tail race below dam....glad I did. There was only one truck in the parking lot when I pulled in...I thought this is not good. Took my medium light bass rod spooled with 8# test NanoFil down to the catwalk and started casting with a Crappie Magnet in Killer Klatt color on a 1/8 Double Cross jig head....it matched the thousands of Shad in the water perfectly. First cast...a nice 2# White. From then on it was a battle until I left. I caught 30 Whites all at the 2 pound mark. In between Whites was catching Stripers in I guess the 4 or 5 pound range.....you all can judge but they were nice fish on light tackle. The pics are of separate fish but all of them were same year class. I left because I was cramping up...LOL. The Whites were battling me enough but those Stripers were giving me fits on that tackle in the cool water. Should have stayed until dark but it had been a great day and it was hot on the catwalk. I am pumped now. Just waiting now for the Large Mouth to show on the flats down there. The Whites and Stripers should be thick as cord wood for the next 3 weeks or maybe more.


Regards

[browntrout]

Nice hat there alpha!!!!! Oh the fish arent too bad either.

Roy

[commdd]

Nice!!!

[eaglestrike09]

Another great fishing report!!!
Thanks!!

[Alphahawk]

The Shad are schooling by the 10's of thousands down there. During the next 3 to 4 weeks should be awesome fishing there. Will go back next week and it is about time to check for Crappie at Nickajack.

Regards

[Travis C.]

Nice job Alpha..

I meant to ask you earlier but do you use the same rod/line for the magnets as the trout cranks?

Roy, you may know either of you guys is fine. Was going to get line a Bpro today if its different otherwise I'll leave it the same.

[Alphahawk]

Nice job Alpha..

I meant to ask you earlier but do you use the same rod/line for the magnets as the trout cranks?

Roy, you may know either of you guys is fine. Was going to get line a Bpro today if its different otherwise I'll leave it the same.

I have and those cranks on light line and and light action rod are great. I wish they dove a little deeper in fast water but the colors are great for trout. They also work well for bass. My biggest Brown on one of those was between 5 and 6 pounds. I hate having to remove those kooks from a fish though.....don't want to end up like browntrout and get a hook in me....hate those trebles but it is a necessary evil I guess.


Regards

[Travis C.]

Thanks, save me from buying more line. I will just use the SOS on my reels now.

[Reel Tune]

Looks like you had a blast Alpha.

[Alphahawk]

Looks like you had a blast Alpha.

Yeah it was a lot of fun. Saw the post of you and a friend below Old Hickory in the kayaks. One could do that at Pickwick if you stay over by the wing wall....one question though. When you hook a good size Striper your going to go for a ride downstream....are you able to paddle back up....and I guess that would depend on flow.


Regards

[jad2t]

Man thats an awesome day of fishing! Im surprised the stripers hit crappie magnets, definitely interesting. Id love to fish at Pickwick, you seem to have a lot of success over there but it's quite a long drive from Cookeville. Ill have to go one of these days after I graduate in May and Im done with cookeville forever.

[Alphahawk]

Man thats an awesome day of fishing! Im surprised the stripers hit crappie magnets, definitely interesting. Id love to fish at Pickwick, you seem to have a lot of success over there but it's quite a long drive from Cookeville. Ill have to go one of these days after I graduate in May and Im done with cookeville forever.

Yeah its a long drive even for me. But for me to find those kind of fish I am going to have to drive somewhere. All we have here in Columbia is the Duck and the Williamsport Lakes. Funny you mention that about the Crappie Magnet. When I got to the catwalk there was only one guy on it. When I left there were 6 guys fishing and one of them was fishing for Cats. None of those other guys caught a single Striper or White Bass while I was there. Not that I am a Striper Guru...I am not....but I was fishing with what they wanted. The others were trying to get them to hit with big baits on top water....it wasn't happening. All of the Shad down there are about same size as Crappie Magnet and I was catching those fish about 8 to 10 feet deep. Now I am sure that when the Sun started to go down the fish most likely would have come much closer to the surface....but heck it was 3 hours before sunset. I have big baits...Storm jerk baits....Flukes....and so on and I use them when that is what they are wanting. I learned that lesson many years ago....give them what they want...but had a refresher course about 6 years ago...of all places at Pickwick. I had been catching White Bass down there for years and all I ever needed was a 3 inch curly tail grub....caught tons of them with that. I was fishing next to a man who was getting a White every cast. I was catching nothing...and I mean we were in the same hole.....we were shoulder to shoulder...LOL. I was getting pretty perturbed. He asked me if I wanted a couple of his jigs...I said sure. He had a card of a 1/16 Bass Pro Marabou jigs. It was nice of him to share as he only had a few left. I then started catching a White on every cast. So now I go through all the colors...all the baits...sizes.....to try and find what they want. Hoping to pick tk's brain a little at the Gathering on Striper fishing. I want to learn to catch them when they are in there but are being very selective.

Regards

[MNfisher]

Yeah! Nice work Alpha! Those are the posts from last year that I missed! Looks like I may have to head down there soon! If anyone wants to split gas, let me know!

[jad2t]

Yep, 3 inch curly grubs have been a big producer for me with the white bass. Occasionally I'll catch one on a fluke but those curly tail grubs have been my go to lure for them. I see no reason why they won't destroy crappie magnets as well, as evidenced by your pictures.

One of these days I'll figure out how to nail the stripers like some of us on here can do. I'm about tired of everything else in TN water, being from south Florida I used to fish for redfish, snook, tarpon (only caught 1), peacock bass, and other fish that make your drag scream. After living in TN for so long now, I miss that feeling. That's why I like UL gear so much so even if I catch a 2-3lb trout I'll have that battle on my hands. I went to center hill dam the other night with some lures that I know catch stripers and wound up with all 3 of them at the bottom of "the pond" haha. I want to eventually target stripers more than anything else. More meat and a much more challenging fight.

[nomad60]

Wow, you had one heck of a day there, Alpha! It just doesn't get any better than that, does it? Nice fish, and yeah, that is a nice hat :)
Speaking of stripers, my coworker and I went out on the Cumberland today and right at the corner where the Red River flows into the Cumberland, we watched a guy fishing from shore reel in a nice striper which looked to be around 10 pounds or so. At first we thought he was snagged in the rocks because of the way his rod was bent and how long it took him to reel the fish in but nope, it ended up being a decent striper. Seeing that got me all hopeful and I started throwing crankbaits and flukes, just hoping but nope, I'm still striperless :(.

[Tennesseejugger]

Yep, 3 inch curly grubs have been a big producer for me with the white bass. Occasionally I'll catch one on a fluke but those curly tail grubs have been my go to lure for them. I see no reason why they won't destroy crappie magnets as well, as evidenced by your pictures.

One of these days I'll figure out how to nail the stripers like some of us on here can do. I'm about tired of everything else in TN water, being from south Florida I used to fish for redfish, snook, tarpon (only caught 1), peacock bass, and other fish that make your drag scream. After living in TN for so long now, I miss that feeling. That's why I like UL gear so much so even if I catch a 2-3lb trout I'll have that battle on my hands. I went to center hill dam the other night with some lures that I know catch stripers and wound up with all 3 of them at the bottom of "the pond" haha. I want to eventually target stripers more than anything else. More meat and a much more challenging fight.
I am also from South Fla. graduated from Miami Killian high school, when cold cold weather gets here, you can come with me and I will put you on some 30+ pound stripers.

[jad2t]

I am also from South Fla. graduated from Miami Killian high school, when cold cold weather gets here, you can come with me and I will put you on some 30+ pound stripers.

I don't do well with cold weather.....BUT if there are even 10lb stripers involved you can count me in!

[Alphahawk]

Uh gee guys...I'm sorry I didn't catch any 30 pound Stripers....but oh heck....I had fun anyway.

[nomad60]

I'd be ecstatic if I caught a 5-pound striper.

[Alphahawk]

I'd be ecstatic if I caught a 5-pound striper.

Actually I was ecstatic. Was just being a little facetious...LOL....about the 30 pound fish remark. I am sure all he meant was he could take jad2t fishing and put him on some big fish. But that ain't likely to happen down at Pickwick. While there are some 30 pound fish there and probably even a few that are more than that one just doesn't get into fish that size down there. It is a place to catch numbers...in the 10 to 14 pound range on a regular basis...but a 30 pounder is a big fish there. I caught a 35 pound back in 2004.....was in a boat and it was very early spring. On the tackle I was using a 5 pound Striper is more than I could ask for....gave me lots of fight. In the next 3 weeks I will hit Pickwick hard and will take my spare spool with some 12# test on it as I know there will be days I will get into schools of 10 pound fish.


Regards

[Travis C.]

Picked up some Killer Klatt yesterday at Bpro..first time with that color. Hopefully, fish will be all over them.

[Alphahawk]

Picked up some Killer Klatt yesterday at Bpro..first time with that color. Hopefully, fish will be all over them.

That color really produces for me this time of year. Hope you slay them with with it.

Regards

[jaymon]

Thanks for the report!

[TNtransplant08]

All this talk about trout magnets and crappie magnets has me itching to give it a go. The problem is, I currently don't have any ultralight tackle. I was wondering what are some good, inexpensive rods and reels for this type of fishing?

Also, for the crappie magnets, can you use 4-6lb test or are you still better off with the 2lb test like the trout magnet? How pound test fluro leader should you use for both line classes?

I know these has been discussed before in past threads, but I thought it'd be easier to ask instead of trying to search for it :)

My in-laws are coming down from Wisconsin in December over the holidays. My brother in-law wants to try for crappie and smallies on JPP. Where can I find these fish this time of the year? What colors typically work well? I've not really focused on trying to find crappies, at least not successfully. Most crappies I've caught were by catches while fishing for bass. I'd like to put him on some fish. If that doesn't work out, I'll probably take him below OH dam at one point. That way I can almost for sure put him in on some smallies, sauger, white bass, and skippies. I think he'll get a kick out of the skippies as we don't have them in WI.

Thanks guys!

[Travis C.]

They sell rods and reels through their site.

https://www.troutmagnet.com/store/Fishing-Rods-c-7.html

https://www.troutmagnet.com/store/Spinning-Reels-c-30.html

I'd stick with the 2lb. Not being a homer for them but the SOS line they carry is really good stuff. You'll want the fluorocarbon leader too. I prefer 2lb line / 2lb leader.

[browntrout]

They sell rods and reels through their site.

https://www.troutmagnet.com/store/Fishing-Rods-c-7.html

https://www.troutmagnet.com/store/Spinning-Reels-c-30.html

I'd stick with the 2lb. Not being a homer for them but the SOS line they carry is really good stuff. You'll want the fluorocarbon leader too. I prefer 2lb line / 2lb leader.

I will give a disclaimer on the front end: I am on their Pro Staff.

For the money that is 1 of the best rods that you can buy and if you pair it with that little sedona reel it is an awesome combo. You will have $95 in a rod and reel that you can get a lot of use out of. Also the line is as good as any that you can buy.

If you are just starting to fish the TM i would suggest to start using the 2lb test. You will catch a lot of fish. I would also recommend using the black jig heads over the gold ones. The black ones seem to get a better hook set. ( The gold ones are plated)

Feel free to PM me or Alphahawk and we will be happy to help any way that we can.

Roy

[TNtransplant08]

Thanks Travis and browntrout for your advice! They look like they'll suit my needs. I can't complain about the sedona reels as I've used shimano reels all my life. I used to have a Shimano Spirex 2500 for years that I loved. My only complaint with that reel was that it had quite a bit of backplay, which affected my hookset. I currently have a Sahara 2500 and 3000, which obviously is too large for a ultralight setup. I was possibly looking at the Abu Garcia Cardinal. The reviews on that, overall, has been positive. What are your thoughts on that? I've been using a Abu Garcia Revo STX lowprofile baitcasting reel for two years now and I've enjoyed it.

Travis, where did you find your berkley lighting stick? I used to have a medium Berkley lighting stick, that I bought at Walmart. It was one of my favorite poles, but after years of using Berkley Powerline wore down a grove in the top eyelet (which I no longer use for this reason), thus fraying my line. I don't know if Walmart still sells it. I don't see it on their website. For its price, I was impressed with it.

[Travis C.]

Travis, where did you find your berkley lighting stick? I used to have a medium Berkley lighting stick, that I bought at Walmart. It was one of my favorite poles, but after years of using Berkley Powerline wore down a grove in the top eyelet (which I no longer use for this reason), thus fraying my line. I don't know if Walmart still sells it. I don't see it on their website. For its price, I was impressed with it.

Mine is an old model that my granfather used. It's 6'6" UL action and great for small stuff.