Interesting Tennessee Law

[Travis C.]

How many of you know that you can't have at any one (1) time more than (2) times the day's bag or creel limit of any wild animal, wild bird, water fowl or gamefish.

TCA 70-4-204
§ 70-4-204. Cold storage; crimes and offenses

That means that stock pile of the last years worth of crappie is illegal in your freezer guys.. Let everyone know when the fish fry's are gonna start. Sure would hate to start naming names around here to the TWRA. :D

[MNfisher]

MN has that same law, I was wondering if TN had one.

[Brian37075]

How long has this law been on the books?

[Alphahawk]

Long long time.



Regards

[Transplanted Sportsman]

sadly I don't think I have something to hide here, frozen or otherwise!! my last few fishing trips had sucked MAJORLY including last week to Nickajack, I need some help to break this law!!!:D
In great need of advise right now, please more experienced members what I'm I doing wrong?? fishing Alpha's ultralight setup with 2 lb line, TM bison, and many other proven baits, float, no float, tried shallow, tried mid dephts, tried deep, sunny days, cloudy days, wind, no wind, you name I've done but still, very little to show for!! any ideas?? all kind of advice is welcome at this point!!

[Travis C.]

sadly I don't think I have something to hide here, frozen or otherwise!! my last few fishing trips had sucked MAJORLY including last week to Nickajack, I need some help to break this law!!!:D
In great need of advise right now, please more experienced members what I'm I doing wrong?? fishing Alpha's ultralight setup with 2 lb line, TM bison, and many other proven baits, float, no float, tried shallow, tried mid dephts, tried deep, sunny days, cloudy days, wind, no wind, you name I've done but still, very little to show for!! any ideas?? all kind of advice is welcome at this point!!

Take up golf..? :D


Just kidding. Usually its just bad voodoo I call it or some say a cold streak. Go to a creek, catch bunch of always willing fish and that will set things straight then head back to Nickajack.

[Alphahawk]

sadly I don't think I have something to hide here, frozen or otherwise!! my last few fishing trips had sucked MAJORLY including last week to Nickajack, I need some help to break this law!!!:D
In great need of advise right now, please more experienced members what I'm I doing wrong?? fishing Alpha's ultralight setup with 2 lb line, TM bison, and many other proven baits, float, no float, tried shallow, tried mid dephts, tried deep, sunny days, cloudy days, wind, no wind, you name I've done but still, very little to show for!! any ideas?? all kind of advice is welcome at this point!!

PM me and lets try to get together.



Regards

[Transplanted Sportsman]

Alphahawk: PM me and lets try to get together.



Regards

Thanks Alpha!!

[nomad60]

PM me and lets try to get together.



Regards

Or, let him watch me fish. After watching my keystone cops antics and me throwing everything including the kitchen sink, he'll be feeling like KVD :D

[Transplanted Sportsman]

Take up golf..? :D


Just kidding. Usually its just bad voodoo I call it or some say a cold streak. Go to a creek, catch bunch of always willing fish and that will set things straight then head back to Nickajack.

Travis not to keen of golf!!, at this point I'm willing to give creek fishing a shot just to feel a tug at the end of my line!!

[Transplanted Sportsman]

Or, let him watch me fish. After watching my keystone cops antics and me throwing everything including the kitchen sink, he'll be feeling like KVD :D

Nomad I'm not quite sure I know what all this means Lol!! but I think last week I almost trew my 10 year old nephew overboard to see if there was any fish in our location and cut on the anoyying a little bit!! lol!!

[nomad60]

In other words, if you think your luck is bad, come watch me in action. River fishing is kicking my butt so far.

[Transplanted Sportsman]

In other words, if you think your luck is bad, come watch me in action. River fishing is kicking my butt so far.

OK I got you!, any kind of fishing is kicking my butt so far, maybe I should go turkey hunting instead!!:D

[vincent]

OK I got you!, any kind of fishing is kicking my butt so far, maybe I should go turkey hunting instead!!:D


I too have been trying TM last two weekends, trying to learn. And am getting skunked big time. I caught the two smallest largemouth ever though on TM. Tried many locations, tried many colors, no luck even when a guy next to me was catching Crappies on minnows. Anyways, this week onwards, am going back to my old school stuff - suspending shiners. And hopefully, the gills start showing up and I'll have some fun on my UL 2lb line.

[Travis C.]

I don't know what to say about these fishless TM outings. It's almost folklore...

Where are you all fishing?

Alpha may be a better resource but in my experiences with trout magnets (especially if your using Bison and the correct line setup) the problem may be in the retrieve speed as in you're not reeling as slow as you think. I have a pretty strong belief in the TM's that if there are any fish around and you crawl it along the bottom they will bite. When I retrieve them it's painfully slow in order to stay as close to the bottome as possible.

Not saying there aren't days that fish just won't bite but in the general population of an area there are some that will on those days. I'd be willing to bet that if fishings bad in your initial spot within two moves after that you'd catch something on the same body of water.

[antilibrarian]

I was out yesterday below the dam at Percy and caught 1 'gill and 10+ stripey bass thingys. All on Alpha's TM. I have found that an incredibly slow retrieve and a rather energetic (quick, not hard) jerking on the rod tip was what was getting the hits. I had the same experince last Friday out at Montgomery Bell SP, although the fish were all 'gills except for two smallies. The one smallie was a bit bigger than I would have expected. The fellow next to me was chuckling at my 4'6" UL pole bent over in a P shape!

I figured out the right speed by watching a chartreuse TM in the clear water at MBSP. The fish there seem to prefer darker colors (tannin from all the trees around the lakes?) so I wasn't too worried about a hit while I figured it out.

[Transplanted Sportsman]

Travis, the last few trips have not been entirely fishless, last Sunday at Nickajack was very crowded people lining the banks of the bay I fished and boats everywhere, both nearby ramps were full, so my positive side says too much fishing pressure, but I caught one good size Crappie (about 13 in), 3 or 4 small bluegills and a very small lm bass, I'm retriving it at a very slow pace, twiching it here and there, getting hung and loosing a few jigs here and there as well, most of the time I'm casting a 1/64 with a small split shot about 14 in up the jig or a 1/32 jig from about 15 yards from my Riverhawk parallel towards the bank, every piece of cover, wood, rock, culvert etc gets special care to be fished toroughly but so far to no avail, and it has been the same every weekend, first at Center hill, week after that at Normandy and later Bedford lake, so at this point I'm getting a little discouraged, but I will hang in there!! I know that at one point I get the missing piece that will help me unravel this mistery called fishing!!

[Alphahawk]

Travis is spot on about the "cadence". We call it twitching. You have to find out the depth of the fish. If you start a retrieve on a Trout Magnet as soon as it hits the water it will stay only about 6 inches under the surface. It is certainly not the Holly Grail of fishing lures....but if crappie...Gills....white bass....smallies.....and trout are around, it will catch lots of them....especially this time of year. My nephew was a full time smallie and crappie guide for several years.....and good at it. He poo pooed the TM for years.....wouldn't try it. Well now that he has started using it after I took him to Nickajack he won't put it down. Been sending me texts with pics of crappie and shell cracker for a week now. It is not for everyone....a lot of folks can't make the move to 2# test line. If you fish for largemouth it does not catch them like dozens of other baits do. If you fish for Striper it certainly is no good there with 2# test line. It is just another tool to use to catch certain fish....and it is very good at catching those fish. It is the only lure that is readily available for spin fisherman that is that small....unless you go to a fly shop...at least that I know about. If anyone knows of a great UL bait tell me....I want to try it. I have some Wooly Bugs that were made by a fly shop out west. They are tied on a tungsten bead and only weigh about 1/48 of an ounce. They catch the fire out of fish....but I guard them like gold. They cost me a buck fifty each! So I cant be buying a lot of them as much as I fish. I am constantly buying UL baits and trying them. I just bought 60 bucks worth of UL cranks. So I will keep trying baits and when I fish an UL bait that outperforms the Trout Magnet I will quit fishing it....but I have been looking for years and have not found that bait yet. I have given away a lot of Trout Magnets....and Crappie Magnets. I paid for 95% of them. It is only recently I was given samples to give out. I just like to see people catch fish. So if you see me out and want to try a color I may have I will be more than happy to help you out....or help you in any way I can. Hey...until it gets hot...which it is here I think....I carry a 20,000 yard of 2# test line in my car in the cooler and will fill up someone's reel with it if they want to try it....but that is the only fill up they get. Sore Lip'Em All! I'm going to try to sore lip some crappie tomorrow.


Regards

[Alphahawk]

Travis, the last few trips have not been entirely fishless, last Sunday at Nickajack was very crowded people lining the banks of the bay I fished and boats everywhere, both nearby ramps were full, so my positive side says too much fishing pressure, but I caught one good size Crappie (about 13 in), 3 or 4 small bluegills and a very small lm bass, I'm retriving it at a very slow pace, twiching it here and there, getting hung and loosing a few jigs here and there as well, most of the time I'm casting a 1/64 with a small split shot about 14 in up the jig or a 1/32 jig from about 15 yards from my Riverhawk parallel towards the bank, every piece of cover, wood, rock, culvert etc gets special care to be fished toroughly but so far to no avail, and it has been the same every weekend, first at Center hill, week after that at Normandy and later Bedford lake, so at this point I'm getting a little discouraged, but I will hang in there!! I know that at one point I get the missing piece that will help me unravel this mistery called fishing!!

browntrout fished Center Hill Saturday. He is very proficient with the TM...nothing....not even a Pumpkin Seed. He even tried the Caney...nothing. My guys that live at Nickajack told me Sunday was not too good but Monday was killer. I have made several trips to Williamsport and not had a hit. To me the water is just not quite right for Gills in a lot of places and the crappie bite has been a little finicky with the weather also.


Regards

[MNfisher]

I'm retriving it at a very slow pace, twiching it here and there,

When I fish the TM. It is a constant VERY slow reel and constant twitch. Very fast small twitches. Like alpha says, it's a cadence, once you figure it out, it is hard not to do it. I tried to teach my wife last night, she couldn't get the hang of it.

I was bank fishing JPP last night, cast after cast with flukes, topwaters, crappie mags, rooster tails, no bites. Grabbed the TM rod. White bass, yellow bass, and a few hybrid. Got a bite every cast! Went back to fluke, nothing, back to TM, game on.

That bait will get non active fish to eat a lot of the times once you get the twitch down.

[Transplanted Sportsman]

I guess I have to see it live in action to see what is that I'm doing different, I do let the bait sink a few seconds before the fist twich is made, these are very short and sharp but I do not do a constant twiching, I would let it sink a bit depending on depth and then start to reel it in and I would twich the rod 5 or 6 times before the TM gets boatside.
Alpha, despite the large crowd last Sunday at Nickajack I seen very few people catch fish, I guess I was a day early this time, My UL set up is a 7' 6" Micro lite rod from bass pro and a Shimano Sienna reel as I heard you like this reel, it is filled up with 4 lb mono but i have a 2 foot section of two lb fluorocarbon on the bussiness end.
MN fisher, I'm sold on the TM despite the fact that it has not made epic catches (yet) last year around October I had a day on the water that it outfised live bait (minows and worms) two to one on the three colors I tried (bison, bulldog and the purple redemption) caught a bout a dozen spots at Normandy about 16 solid gills (palm sized) and half dozen Crappies in the 12-16 inch range, on this Ul setup, best day on the water for me!! but these days I can count with one hand lol!!!
but it will do it one of these days;)!!!

[MNfisher]

it is filled up with 4 lb mono but i have a 2 foot section of two lb fluorocarbon on the bussiness end.

I honestly believe having 2 lb test on the entire reel gives you better feel, control and gives the TM better action as well. But just my opinion. I didn't want a full spool of 2 lb line either at first. Now I will never go back to 4 after trying it.

[Travis C.]

On the first cast into a spot I count it down all the way to the bottom. That way I have an idea of how to work the water column after that first cast. My "twitches" aren't what you would think it is. All I do is shake my wrist a little more less a quiver like you would shaking a new rod to see how it feels. Couple that with a slooooooow steady retrieve and that is about it. Sometimes I won't even do that much just retrieve it but only on the Caney will I actually twitch a good pop because the trout really seem to respond.

I have the reel with 2lb line as well.

[Transplanted Sportsman]

allright guys you win!! I will do just that and fill the reel with 2 lb line and give a try to the "Travis twiches" just shaking the wrist and a very ultra slow retrieve and see what happens! and then try to adjust to the actual conditions and what the fish want for the day.
any idea what is the fall rate for the 1/64 with a size b split shot and the 1/32 jig heads???
guys I certainly appreciate all the advice, I hope I can report soon with some better catches and maybe some pics, thank you!!

[MNfisher]

All I do is shake my wrist a little more less a quiver like you would shaking a new rod to see how it feels. Couple that with a slooooooow steady retrieve and that is about.

This is identical to what I do. Travis just describes it better!

[agelesssone]

Fished my little deep woods lake yesterday where we hammered big gills last week. Very slow and low catch rate. We caught about fifty gills, not near as many as last week, and they were, on average, smaller.
The ticks, however, were abundant! I removed about a dozen while fishing, and another seven when I undressed. Time for deet if you are heading to the woods!

[Alphahawk]

Fished my little deep woods lake yesterday where we hammered big gills last week. Very slow and low catch rate. We caught about fifty gills, not near as many as last week, and they were, on average, smaller.
The ticks, however, were abundant! I removed about a dozen while fishing, and another seven when I undressed. Time for deet if you are heading to the woods!

Good bunch of fish! I haven't had to deal with ticks in years....and hope I never get into them again. Haven't forgot about fishing trip....Williamsport is just not ready for the Gill bite and bass have slowed.



Regards

[Mike Anderson]

Going to have to try the TM someday. Alpha if you ever need some flies tied let me know, I'd be happy to tie them up for you. Even better I could show you how to do it yourself and ruin you for life.

[browntrout]

Going to have to try the TM someday. Alpha if you ever need some flies tied let me know, I'd be happy to tie them up for you. Even better I could show you how to do it yourself and ruin you for life.

Mike,
If you used the TM they would never let you back into Cumberland Transit again. You would be ostracized like the rest of us "baitchuckers".

Roy

[Travis C.]

This is identical to what I do. Travis just describes it better!

:p

Sportsman, I'd love to take the credit for my twitches but I am afraid that goes further back than I do. LOL...

[ALANRAYG2]

How many of you know that you can't have at any one (1) time more than (2) times the day's bag or creel limit of any wild animal, wild bird, water fowl or gamefish.

TCA 70-4-204
§ 70-4-204. Cold storage; crimes and offenses

That means that stock pile of the last years worth of crappie is illegal in your freezer guys.. Let everyone know when the fish fry's are gonna start. Sure would hate to start naming names around here to the TWRA. :D


I try to stay below the possession limit on crappie. Lets see....Me the wife and 3 grandkids.........how many fish fillets am I allowed? I don't think I can fit that many in the freezer. Ohio had the daily limit and the possession was twice the daily limit.

[vincent]

On the first cast into a spot I count it down all the way to the bottom. That way I have an idea of how to work the water column after that first cast. My "twitches" aren't what you would think it is. All I do is shake my wrist a little more less a quiver like you would shaking a new rod to see how it feels. Couple that with a slooooooow steady retrieve and that is about it. Sometimes I won't even do that much just retrieve it but only on the Caney will I actually twitch a good pop because the trout really seem to respond.

I have the reel with 2lb line as well.

I will try this over the weekend to see how it works. I'm sure it's something wrong with my set up or retrieve. I have a 2lb line on UL rod, and a split shot some 10" above the hook which is the black one that came with TM box. Oh, and I used a small swivel too. Not sure if that's needed. I cast and wait for quite some time to sink. My retrieve is not super slow as everyone mentioned.

Thanks for all the tips Alpha, Travis and Mike. I will still keep trying TM when I am free - while waiting for a bite on my shiners. And good luck to others too. Can't wait for the bite to start...

[Alphahawk]

Going to have to try the TM someday. Alpha if you ever need some flies tied let me know, I'd be happy to tie them up for you. Even better I could show you how to do it yourself and ruin you for life.

Thanks Mike...I appreciate that and may take you up on it.


Regards

[jad2t]

I've known about this and think it's absurd. What's wrong with a man stocking up his freezer during the spring and early summer to provide for his family for several months?

How do they actually obtain a warrant to knock on your door and say "We're here to search through your freezer?"

[Alphahawk]

I've known about this and think it's absurd. What's wrong with a man stocking up his freezer during the spring and early summer to provide for his family for several months?

How do they actually obtain a warrant to knock on your door and say "We're here to search through your freezer?"

I am pretty sure TWRA does not need a warrant.



Regards

[MNfisher]

How do they actually obtain a warrant to knock on your door and say "We're here to search through your freezer?"

If they have reason to believe you have more in your freezer than the limit, they can come in and check it.

I know people in MN who have had their freezers checked.

[nomad60]

So you guys are saying that if a person catches a limit of crappie on Monday, cleans them and freezes them, then does the same again the next 2 days, they'd be in violation of the laws?

[MNfisher]

So you guys are saying that if a person catches a limit of crappie on Monday, cleans them and freezes them, then does the same again the next 2 days, they'd be in violation of the laws?

Yes sir! At least that is the rule in MN.

[nomad60]

I don't get it. I could understand it if you're camping out at a lake and you're catching your limit, cleaning/freezing them and going back for more (in order to bypass the daily limits). But if I'm understanding this right, a person can't catch their limit of fish on consecutive days in order to have a big old fish fry for a party or whatever...I could be wrong but I can't see this law as being something that's actively enforced.

[agelesssone]

Different states have different rules. Indiana, Tennessee, Illinois all have this rule. Kentucky doesn't count the fish you have in you freezer as part of the possession limit.

I don't know of anyone ever being busted for having over the limit in their freezer but, the law being the law, it is conceivable if someone had a beef with someone they could make a phone call and possibly cause a problem.

Doubtful that it would happen though.

[creeksmallie]

I do not believe they can hold this one up in court unless they get you on another violation. How do they know where you caught the fish?Limits are different and size limits are different.
They do not require you to leave a square inch of skin on your fillet so how easy is it to tell which is a bluegill and which is a Red Ear.
This is one fo those laws that they can use if they catch you poaching I believe. You would seriously have to get on the bad side of a Game Warden to have them just check your freezer.

[robhal11]

Back in the 60's and early 70's I had 2 retired uncles that would camp below the dam at center hill for a month at a time and fish every day. When I was there several times, TWRA would come by and check their coolers, and the officer said that was how he understood this law you are talking about. Not about what you have at your home in the freezer. It is interesting though. I going to ask a friend to ask Ed Carter to explain it.

[bfish]

I don't get it. I could understand it if you're camping out at a lake and you're catching your limit, cleaning/freezing them and going back for more ..... What difference does it make if you are camping out or live nearby?

I've known about this and think it's absurd. What's wrong with a man stocking up his freezer during the spring and early summer to provide for his family for several months? I can have 120-150 crappie legal here in East TN depending on if the wife gets a license or not (2 of the 3 kids have lifetime, the 3rd gets his next year). That is more than reasonable number of fish to have. Besides, why not learn to catch them the rest of the year? I know I can go out and catch them in the summer, fall, and most of the time in the winter (and fresh is so much better than frozen).