Pickwick Tailrace 07-12-2013

[Alphahawk]

Started fishing at 6:00 AM this morning. It started just as I left it yesterday. Started catching 15 inch large mouth just about every cast. Then the whites moved in...some anyway. Caught about 30 of them with most looking like males at or around the 14 inch mark Not the sows I would prefer but fun never the less. Caught about 10 Smallies today...not big fish but fun just the same....most were 11-12 inches. I don't know how many large mouth I caught today.....around 75....there were two forum members that showed just a little after I got there and Sambolie showed up at 9:00 AM......LOL. Was talking to the guys from Hohenwald as I was catching fish and just lost count. They were nice fellas and went up to the lake to fish. The bite slowed down when Sambolie got there..... I asked him if he jinxed me.....LOL. It was nice to see him and I still caught fish just not at that fast pace. We talked and both of us gave it up at about 11:00 AM and spent 30 minutes in the parking lot talking fishing gear and such. All fish were holding just right off the bank....some hitting it just as you would start to lift the jig from the water. I lost one big one just as I had him to the bank. I was using 12# test NanoFil with 12# test P-Line leader. The lure was a Killer Klatt Crappie Magnet on a 1/8 ounce head. Water is still a little stained. There was a guy on the steps that go down to the catwalk.....which is way under water.....catching a striper on every cast until the sun got up enough to take the shadow off the dam wall....then they stopped.......but he caught a bunch of them between 5 and 15 pounds I am guessing from what I could see from where I was at. They will be slowing the water down starting tomorrow....but still will be a lot of flow. It has been a great week of fishing for me....one of the better ones I have had. I will hit it again starting Tuesday. Will spend weekend deciding where to go.


Regards

[Jim]

Wow! That is a great week fishing. I am heading out somewhere in the morning, but 3 1/2 hours to Pickwick is too much even with all the incredible stories.

Hopefully I will find something biting a little closer to home.

Jim

[Alphahawk]

Wow! That is a great week fishing. I am heading out somewhere in the morning, but 3 1/2 hours to Pickwick is too much even with all the incredible stories.

Hopefully I will find something biting a little closer to home.

Jim

I dont blame you Jim. No matter which way I head to fish I have some driving ahead of me. If I lived in and or around Nashville I would be scoping out O H Lake....JPP....and so on. Thank God for Williamsport when I just need some Gill action....LOL.



Regards

[jad2t]

Sounds like you had back to back days of incredible fishing!

[agelesssone]

Awwesome, Randy!

Since you make the drives to fish these places, I'm glad you catch fish like this!

You know a lot of us live vicariously through you, so keep fishing and reporting!

[browntrout]

Alpha's bad days of fishing are better than our good days of fishing. Just ain't right.

Roy

[Alphahawk]

Awwesome, Randy!

Since you make the drives to fish these places, I'm glad you catch fish like this!

You know a lot of us live vicariously through you, so keep fishing and reporting!

Thanks Merv....I'm blessed I can do this. Fishing is pretty much all I do but I guess there is nothing wrong with that. Now I am looking to go to Murfreesboro Outdoors to get this bait that Doug Markham is high on. It is supposed to work great everywhere but does really well in a tail race. He says it is a great trolling bait for crappie....it is called a River Rocker....he is real high on it so I am going to try....always another lure to try...LOL.



Regards

[SAMBOLIE]

Alpha, it was a great day for me. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and my out of the way trip home. Probably 1000 or so miles out of route.
I took Hwy 128 to Hwy 69, through Decaturville on Hwy 100 etc. The river was in campgrounds. Birdsong dock was waay out in the water.

BTW, The River Rocker is not new. For years I have noticed fishermen sitting in them with pole in hand.

Almost forgot, the river was approaching the parking lot at the Botel.

[agelesssone]

Randy, I saw that post of Doug's, so, of course, I had to have some too! I ordered 6 from Cabela's, a coupla sizes and colors.

But, the wife and baby are in Germany now and I'm building a deck on the back of the house (SOLO) AND putting in a new driveway on Monday) so I don't know when I'll get to try the new lures.

Let me know how they work for you as I'm sure I won't have mine till late next week, having just ordered them today.

What town do you live in anyway? Pickwick is a three hour drive for me and I'm busy as a one legged man in an ass kickin contest right now so it's difficult to take the time to go, as much as I'd love to try Pickwick.

[Transplanted Sportsman]

Alpha's bad days of fishing are better than our good days of fishing. Just ain't right.

Roy

A'int that the truth!! great day of fishing again Alpha!, you Sir are the man!!, Pickwick is too long of a drive for me to try this place without the knowledge or experience and come back empty handed, my girlfriend is starting to have doubts on my outings!! Lol!!, one of these days I'll get into them good!!!

[nomad60]

Congrats, Alpha on a great week. You've caught more fish this week than I've probably caught in the last 3 years :)

You should get a camera crew and have your own Saturday morning show :D

[Alphahawk]

Randy, I saw that post of Doug's, so, of course, I had to have some too! I ordered 6 from Cabela's, a coupla sizes and colors.

But, the wife and baby are in Germany now and I'm building a deck on the back of the house (SOLO) AND putting in a new driveway on Monday) so I don't know when I'll get to try the new lures.

Let me know how they work for you as I'm sure I won't have mine till late next week, having just ordered them today.

What town do you live in anyway? Pickwick is a three hour drive for me and I'm busy as a one legged man in an ass kickin contest right now so it's difficult to take the time to go, as much as I'd love to try Pickwick.

Merv I live in Columbia. Maybe later in the summer we can hit a flat down there that a ton of large mouth usually school up and hang around for about 2 weeks and you can kill them on top water....and they are quite chunky fish.


Regards

[chaseasl]

Could you tell what the guy was catching the stripers on?

[Alphahawk]

Could you tell what the guy was catching the stripers on?

No I couldn't see but it was not top water. The stripers at Pickwick are not hard to catch. But as TK has educated me the stripers there are "schoolies". You can catch them there this time of year in the 5 to 14 pound range sometimes all day long. But a 20 pound fish there is a big fish. A 1/2 ounce jig with curly tail...a weighted fluke.....a Storm Wild Eye....just about any bait you throw will get you into them there....when they are there....which they will be as long as the generators are running....they will show up at some point during the day and many times will hang around all day long for weeks at a time. It is the same when they are top water...just throw anything that stays on top.



Regards