kayak & catfish

[GO-OKFISHIN]

Originally Posted by Adough

I'd follow the Harpeth close to the Cumberland. There are also some wildlife reserves around the area the two rivers meet. I would be pretty sure they would be good spots too.

There are lots of big cats in the Harpeth. Stop by Finchs Country Store in Peagram on Hwy 70 and look at some of the pictures. There used to an older lady that wore out the big cats on the Harpeth.

[txnative]

Fishing below large dams is a bit too daunting for me right now. On a river, lake, stream, my risks come in small bursts and are usually avoidable with a little precaution. Below a dam, the danger is constant. Even when doing everything perfectly, a weird surge or rogue boil can dump me, and then i'm at the mercy of the current. I may try below oh dam if the flows drop drastically, but even then i may try to stay downriver a bit.

I'm not very familiar with the tn river system, but from i've read/heard, it seems to be a top catfish destination. How do dams compare to those on the cumbie ? If there are large slackwater areas near fish-holding current, i may look more into it.


Chris

Originally Posted by txnative

R'shoes,
I have a 12' mainstream kingfish. It's a sit-on-top style 'yak. There is a molded recession behind the cockpit that will hold a 5 gal bucket or milk crate. There are 2 molded rod holders just aft of the seat, but i use on to hold my anchor and the other to hold my lip-grip landing tool. I have a milk crate that i've added 4 vertical rod holders and 2 holders for my fly rods, all are made with pvc and feature slots to accomodate spinning or baitcasting rods and have rod-keepers on them. I also mounted a stern-light to the rear of the crate.

I keep the crate on the yak with bungee cords hooked to riveted eyelets. The cords are run thru the crate to create pockets to hold various tools, scale, measuring board, pliers, etc. The crate comes off un seconds to ease transportation. I also have 2 adjustable rod holders to allow trolling or using downlines, they're mounted near the forward end of the cockpit so i can monitor my rods while trolling/drifting and are easy to reach when a fish strikes. My depthfinder is mounted at the forward end of the cockpit, dead center. The transducer is directly beneath it inside the yak and is marine gooped to the hull so it can shoot thru the hull. Battery is a small 12v sla battery, all cords are ran thru a small hole under the display screen.

Stripped down, only the rod holder mounts and depthfinder mounts are left, weight is only 44 lbs.


BD, TravisC,

Thanks for the info! I will put them into practice next weekend.


Chris

Man, that sounds like a pretty well thought out setup... Think you could post some pictures of it?

[txnative]

There are some pics in the "gsp on 1/2/11" thread. Go to my user info, select threads started by me, the gsp thread is there.


Chris

[Travis C.]

Originally Posted by txnative

There are some pics in the "gsp on 1/2/11" thread. Go to my user info, select threads started by me, the gsp thread is there.


Chris

http://www.fishingtn.com/showthread.php?t=3882

[txnative]

Thanks, Travis. As i've just demonstrated, i'm good at rigging a kayak, but completely in the dark when it comes to computers

I have not seen all the dams on the TNriver or Cumberland but I think the TN river dams are bigger and release more water than those on the Cumberland. Not all are bigger but I think most are.The TN river dams operate just like the cumberland so some days will be heavy flow and lite flow or no flow.Like I said the big fish really start feeding when the water is moving.I wouldnt waste my time fishing with no flow.As with any dams that are releasing there will be fast moving sections and areas with slack water near the current.Below Nick dam the area below the dam is very wide and the current stays to one side of the river.I am sure that when the dam is generating there are fish on the side with no current but the most fish will be in or near the moving water.Be very careful if you fish the yak below one of the big river dams!

Even in areas below a dam where there is slack water this would still be very dangerous in a kayak. Outside of the main current you will have currents swirling back towards the face of the dam that can pull even a larger bass boat up against the face of the dan really quick. Also you should be very aware of where the outlets are for the lock system because they can put out a large amount of water with large waves really quickly. There will also be the wake from barges, tugs or any other large boats using the locks and not many places to get out of it.
If anyone is really determined to go below a major dam in a kayak or even a bass boat I would suggest that you try to go atleast once with someone who is experienced and can kind of show you the ropes of it.
Do y'all agree with me on this one?

[txnative]

I agree completely, turkeyhunter. I know oh dam intimately, and yet i'm still not comfortable to fish it from a kayak with more than 5500 cfs coming thru. I am gonna try the areas bd & travisc recommended. I can concentrate on the fishing since i don't have to worry about the current.