How is JJP now days
 

I plan on going fishing Tuesday, taking a second seat for the first time, maybe over around Seven or Vivrett and was wondering what the action was like.

Also is there any grass flats on that lake..? I've yet to see any... or am I just looking in the wrong coves ? TIA

Most of my fish have been in 6-10 feet of water. Water is warming up QUICK

https://www.nashvilleweather.net/graphs24.shtml

here is a good set of graphs you can check before you go out. Mainly the barometer.

No grass flats to fish. I was out on the 11th and caught a bunch of fish up shallow on rock leading out of spawning areas. I would think a good portion of the fish would be offshore by now.

midnight to daylight, hybrids are still killing it.

Thanks for the reports but there has been a change of plans.. Now I'm launching at Long Branch and maybe work cedar creek

Let us know how you do.
If I was going out, I'd be there before sunrise and have a topwater rigged up and some baitfish imitation rigged on another rod. Set the trolling motor on high and cruise the shallow hot spots. After the sun gets up, I'd start dragging some plastics a little deeper. Carolina rig is a favorite on any gravel or roadbeds I can find.
I think I may go out Friday night for a little night fishing but after that, you won't find me anywhere near the lake till after the weekend.
Good Luck.

My most memorable moment was casting a a white spinner off the dock and found I had a shad running along side and then swam around looking for it when I lifted it out of the water. I think it was love at first sight, but not so much for the bass.


I threw White grub on white spinner, white chatter, green pumpkin football jig, chrome rattle trap, red crawfish crank bait, even a rubber minnow with a fluttering curly tail and nothing... a few chasers / roll by's that I noticed.... but nothing. :(


The guy that went with me ? 2 big sunny's and 3 bass, 1 nice 19" on the oddest setup, but basically a jointed minnow.


Yep skunked again...



If that wasn't bad enough, I accidentally hit the trolling motor button and the blades hit the painted gunnel scratching the hell out of it. Then I have this Alba Garcia BC reel that has an attitude... My thumb slipped during a cast... it didn't backlash it didn't just bird nest... Half the spool decided it wanted off at once... :o I just put the rod back in the rod box and didn't bother with it til I got home. I felt like such a rookie today.

Who the hell wants to fish midnight to daylight?

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It's a young people thing, Merv. At your age you need to be sleeping during those hours.

BTW, have you been in hibernation?

I guess people who like to fish topwater for hybrids and CATCH them. The size of the fish has been down a little but the numbers are off the chart.

Shad must be spawning. Happened last weekend in Alabama.
I was on Lake Wilson in Alabama last weekend and at first light I made sure I was near the docks of the marina.
Double bladed white spinner bait running just below the dock floats was the ticket. Several shad trying to hump it but the big bass would come out and hammer it. Low light conditions were best, they would be done by 6:30.

I'm with ya Merv!

I really like my bed at midnight.

Yep, let the youngsters wear it out. I use to do that stuff ... about 30 years ago.:D

I am 53.

Senior Abuse!!! .. <'TK><
 

I have lived in this area since 2011 and have never had the urge to fish at night.
God bless those that like the night bite, I know a couple of them.
And I wouldn't go if they were to invite me to their secret honey hole and guarantee I'd get 50 fish.
Three rules on my boat.....
#1...STAY IN THE BOAT
#2...I DON'T reel in fish (don't care if 8 rods get hit simultaneously, I ain't reelin in one fish).
#3...If we go for lunch, you are NOT ALLOWED to buy my lunch!

Pretty easy rules to follow, huh?

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I'm 35 and want no part of that action. I like catching fish but not during those hours. My Problem is that no matter what time I go to bed my kids get up around 6. I like fishing below center hill at night for browns and walleye but just can't do it anymore.

Makes me happy. There is almost never another fisherman on the lake and that may be the best part. A friend and myself lost count of how many we caught this morning. Never saw another boat or person til about 4:45 am. Had a couple over 10 this morning. They blew the top out of the water. Should be about over for the topwater bite, but I am not complaining.

Crazy thing is I used to bass fish at night to, but I learned close to 30 years ago, the best time for bass on Priest, is the hottest day and from about 9 am to 6 pm. The hotter the better.

At 58 I could handle til midnight anyhow, but my issue is I never seen so many water hazards, floating debris and then I'd need like 500,000 KW of lighting so I can see where I'm going.

OK, so I went back out yesterday to solidify my tan lines, this time at Cordell Hull. I caught a small cat and hung onto a bass and missed a couple more.

I know this sounds stupid, but its hard for me to imagine the river holding bass.. I mean all you ever hear is catching this that and the other and its always at a lake. One thing for sure is there isn't time for fooling around or slow rolls cause the currents is carrying you down stream whether you want to or not.. LOL

Anyhow, the highlight of the day was when I decided to go cast the net for some shad. Of course I leave my phone in the pickup in case I fall in the water. Any how on the 3rd cast I catch 2 alligator gar..! One about 2' long and the 2nd was better than 3' long. I'm like what the hell ? I've never seen one before never mind catch 2 in a cast net. Any how a couple more casts and I literally have half a bucket full, enough to catfish the rest of the yr..

So there you go...

That's awesome that you caught alligator gar. I know at one point TWRA was supposed to stock them on center hill as an effort to reintroduce them to the lake. I caught one a few years back on Guntersville on a frog, nothing big but cool to see.

Here is a post from a well known, conservation minded, long time striper and hybrid guide here in Tennessee.....

Time to think about catch and release mortality. Two out of every three fish you catch and release will die when the water is above 75° which is where we are right now. Two fish per person is the limit. Catching 20 fish with three people means that you probably killed at least half which is four over their limit. Just saying be aware of how many will die when the water is above 75° which is where we are right now. Two fish per person is the limit. Catching 20 fish with three people means that you probably killed at least half which is four over their limit. Just saying be aware.

Even though you don't know me or have never even met me, I know you either just don't like me or hate me. I really don't know why you think you need to call me out or lecture me but you are for sure one person I do not care what you think, but I will reply.

Thank you for telling me the limit, I did not know there was one. Since you didn't mention it, I guess you don't know there is a length limit, it is 15". What a joke. I am personal friends with several game wardens. talk to them all throughout the year. I do my best to follow every law.

For the catch and release thing, I have heard that many times. And, well, I catch them and I release them. I do try to catch them on big enough tackle that it does not take a long time to land them. I rarely, if ever, keep a striper or a hybrid, I don't care to eat them. If I do decide to keep 1 or 2, I have a couple friends who love to eat them.

And, are you telling me, if 3 people catch 20 hybrids, and let them go, they have killed 10? They are over the limit even though they let them go. I believe you need to go to the TWRA and have the law changed to say above 75 degree water temp, you can only CATCH 2 HYBRIDS OR 2 STRIPERS OR ONE OF EACH AND THEN YOU HAVE TO GO HOME. What happens if you are bass fishing and you catch 3 hybrids and let them go while fishing for bass? You are one over the limit. Yes there is a time in the summer on Priest when BIG hybrids, 10 lbs and over will kill a crankbait in 20 -25 feet of water. I have caught them, a bunch of them, in water that the surface temp was in the 80's. I guess I should gotten a ticket for that even though I let all of them go.

Maybe, all fishing should be banned when the temp is over 75 degrees?

If you have a problem with me catching hybrids and letting them go, then get the law changed. Until that happens, when I get lucky and catch them I will.

I apologize for the rant, but this guy has called me names, made fun of me, etc. and sometimes a person just has to say something back.

Oh, my depth finder said the water temp was 75.2 this morning. We caught close to 40 hybrids and let them all go. We were 30 + fish over the limit. I have a couple wardens cell phones if you want to call them.

Went out on JPP last night, launched at 7:40. Had dragging plastics on the brain and that's what we stayed with. Had onesies-twosies here and there till 10 or so, then we got into a few schools. Our best spots were small shale to pea gravel points near main lake. All fish caught between the bridge and Elm Hill. We did catch one here and there off big rock but nothing worth staying for. As the moon got up around midnight, the bite got even better. It took my fried going through 7-8 smallies before he caught the first LM. No big deal, but worth mentioning as we were talking about how you were lucky to find the smallies on JPP years ago. Anyway, we caught them on Texas rigged craws, C-rig baby brush hogs, and the Ned Rig, (which was the most productive for us). Used both sizes of the TRD worm, both finesse and the 4 incher and had great results. Disected each area and focused on finesses presentation and it worked. We were well into double digits for the night. Something I've never had happen though...we started catching hybrids on almost every cast for a while on the dang Ned Rig of all things! I've caught plenty on flukes, top water, and jerkbaits. But never on a plastic stick bait. They were hammering it. Weights were all 5.5# + easily. Ripping drag hard as they tried to run al the way to knoxville. Great fight on 6# line. Wrapped up around 2:30 and it was a perfect beautiful night around 72 degrees. Clear skies, no boats running all over, and just a slight 2-3 mph breeze occasionally.
Thanks for reading

A ned rig at night. I would never have thought that would work well. Always taught you had to have something big that disturbed a lot of water. Need to try it out.


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Thank You for your nice report

Right, that's why I was dragging a Carolina rig and some jigs around.
I am/was of the same school of thought. I was telling my friend that I couldn't understand how, with no appendages, the fish were finding these things. Like fishing with a tootsie roll.
I will have to say that I was fishing it with a lot of nervous action on the bottom but at the most, no more than I would do with a tube jig. I do think the intense action is what caused the increased hybrid hook ups, over LM & SM bite.
When I was on Lake Wilson fishing the Ned Rig, the presentation was 100% different.
Either way, It's one of my new favorite techniques.
Telling myself to stay with it regardless what happens is the hard part, but it paid off eventually.
Just like always...I take 5-7 rods and end up using only one.

20+ years ago I fished JPP about 3 nights a week. My partner used a lot of large bladed spinner baits. I used a 4 in. Slider worm a lot.
The slider produced as many fish and also as many large as the spinner.

More recently (last summer) I fished a few nights with a friend. I used a Ned rig and caught more fish. I finally gave him a Ned rig.

And now we are telling ppl to stop fishing after catching and releasing their limit of fish. Well lol

Who catches limits ? First I have to figure out how to catch them... THEN, I'll decide what to do LOL :p

The bass were great this weekend, from 9 to 21 feet, caught them really good and even had a couple nice fish. Took my friend, who taught me about fishing deeper water for bass, and his son, we quit counting at 40 on Saturday. Fished from 11 am til 5:30 pm. Couple places we would catch a bass on most every cast for a bit. DT 10, 14 and 20 rapalas and a texas rigged worm is what we fished with. We had 15 easy over 15" and a couple in the 4 to 5lb range. Some places they wanted a crankbait and some they wanted the worm more. Sunday was not as good but still caught several bass.

Yesterday was really good to. Even found one school in 24 to 26 feet of water. they were smaller, but there was a bunch of them. Not sure if we caught a legal keeping bass, but sure caught a pile of them.

I fish the old river channel more than anything. Fish were right on the drop or in the channel next to the drop.