Gallatin steam plant

Originally Posted by agelesssone

Do you guys fish up in the channel near the plant or more toward the mouth of the inlet. I've not been there yet, just looked at it on Google Earth today. Which is the intake (1st bay)and which is the discharge (2nd bay)?
I guess I'll figure it out when I go there on Thursday, huh?

The discharge is at the Steam plant end.

[Jim]

Originally Posted by agelesssone

Do you guys fish up in the channel near the plant or more toward the mouth of the inlet. I've not been there yet, just looked at it on Google Earth today. Which is the intake (1st bay)and which is the discharge (2nd bay)?
I guess I'll figure it out when I go there on Thursday, huh?

Tennesseejugger is correct. Here is a pic I posted a few winters back as we discuss the Gallatin Steam Plant all winter every year



The entrance to the steam plant canal is a bit tricky. Very shallow on both sides and the island that marked the downstream side is almost completely gone. There was a stake with a life preserver mark last time I was out, but I doubt that will last long.

Fishing seems to have been slow this year in comparison to the past few winters. (Especially slow for me as I have only been a few times)

Hopefully the colder weather will get them biting.

Good Luck,
Jim

[nofish]

this has been my 1st year going. i was sick last year i couldn't go cause i didn't have a trolling motor and all of you guys were posting pictures of big rockfish all of the time. everytime i've been i've caught fish and usually almost every species, but no rockfish. i take that back, my 1st trip my buddy caught 1 close to 5lbs. for the rockfish to get thick in there it has to get cold and stay cold right?

[txnative]

Not neccesarily, nofish. It makes the fishing better due to the threadfin shad being forced to find a thermal refuge, which in turn draws in skippies, then the big stripers move in. However, stripers have a tendency to repeat past behaviors, as evidenced by their anadromous lifestyle in their natural, salty habitat, and they will return to past feeding areas when conditions dictate (i.e: colder water/shorter days). They may not hang around as long as they would if the colder water forced threadies & skippies to utilize the GSP's warmer water, but they'll pop in from time to time.

This said, with the winter being so mild, your best chance at a large striper will be during ideal conditions (low light, LOW BOAT TRAFFIC, pre-front, slight wind, and a little light rain). If the fishing gods don't provide this "perfect storm," then be on the water as often as possible to up your odds that some big fish will move in while you're there to catch them. A good, hard-freeze spell will definitely help, especially if it stays cloudy for a few days, but with winter over half done, I wouldn't wait for one before going.


Chris

[agelesssone]

Made my first trip to the GSP discharge canal today. Met a nice guy at Skippers and followed him down river. He told me and showed me the rockpile near the entrance to the canal. The metal stake/rod is still there, the rocks are above water and someone has tied an old life preserver to it.

I fished jerkbaits,caught a keeper crappie on that, had a crappie rig off the side of the boat, caught two small catfish on that, threw a big white hairjig with white twistertail, caught a 17 inch sauger on that. Caught a couple yellow bass and one small smallie. Kept me busy trying and tying different baits while moving up and down the canal. i saw a couple of guys catch skipjacks, presumably for striper bait. Two guys were anchored fishing for stripers with skippies. When I left, they hadn't caught anything yet.
Saw one small largemouth caught.
A nice day on the water. I'll try again tomorrow just for grins.

[Jim]

Adding to what txnative said, the rockfish can show up any time. The presence of lots of skipjack definitely improves the odds of a big one. The smaller ones 3 to 8 lbs move in and out much more frequently.

While prime conditions help, I have seen blitzes of big rockfish when there were a crazy amount of boats in the channel. Most people are not rigged for the big ones, but a bunch get caught any how. That said, my biggest rockfish was during a snow storm just after dark. I had rockfish fever at that time

It seems like the big fish move into the canal as a group and then roam around eating everything for a while and then leave again. If you are fishing when they are there, it is not that hard to get hit. That said, the wait between rockfish schools can be a long one and it is hard not to fish for everything else.

When I first started fishing the steam plant a lot, I fished skipjack, then crappie, then bass, then catfish, then stripe (white bass) before really targeting big rockfish. When I started rockfishing, I would fish for everything else while waiting. I missed a lot of big fish that way. Now if I really want a big fish, I will fish for nothing else. Much more hit or miss, but great fun when you hit

I had a great fall on the rockfish, so now I am really interested in some eating fish. My next trip will focus on crappie, white bass, and sauger. But I will definitely have a big rig ready to go, if conditions looks good for the big ones.

Anyone have a report on eating size fish at the steam plant?

Jim

[Jim]

Thanks for the report agelesssone,

Sounds like you had a good trip and I am glad someone showed you how to get in and out of the canal. That is really the only tricky part.

Good to hear that so many different species are biting. I will be super happy if the sauger move in. Good eating right there.

Best of luck at GSP from the rest of the winter,
Jim

[Tnfishinrookie]

Went tonite, still slow fishing, bait fish everywhere but thats about it

[agelesssone]

Me and txnative fished the steam plant from about 1 til 7 PM yesterday.
TX was lighting up the bass and drum. Caught shad for bait, casting and drifting, baitfish everywhere.
Only striper caught was about 13 inches. No sauger or walleyes or even catfish.Very low boat traffic, but the front moved in, skies cleared up and fish stopped biting. Stayed til well after dark. One boat was leaving the dock to go to the steam plant at 8:30 PM. Wonder how he did?

[Jim]

I fished the Steam Plant yesterday evening also. Went after work from 4:30 to 10 pm. It was a beautiful evening to fish with no wind.

Fishing was slow for me also. I only caught one good fish and that was a 15lb flathead catfish. Other than that, it was drum and small catfish. Missed several sauger as the bait came back all cut up from their teeth.

I will say compared to past years, there is very little bait (shad) and few skipjack in the steam plant canal right now. There are plenty of shad to be netted, but it is not jammed full like past years.

I think I talked to agelesssone and txnative. I was in the Basstracker with the LED lights on it. The lights on the boat make it a super easy and safe to fish after dark. I got a pic of the boat at the ramp at Flipper’s with the lights on.



The boat has a bunch more lights then are turned on in the pic, including bright LED headlights, green lights for attracting bait, and more red lights in the interior. Most were off, but you can see the blue for lighting up the shore and UV (purple) for make your fishing line glow. A big plus is that other boats can see me and don’t run so close.

Jim

[nofish]

Originally Posted by agelesssone

Me and txnative fished the steam plant from about 1 til 7 PM yesterday.
TX was lighting up the bass and drum. Caught shad for bait, casting and drifting, baitfish everywhere.
Only striper caught was about 13 inches. No sauger or walleyes or even catfish.Very low boat traffic, but the front moved in, skies cleared up and fish stopped biting. Stayed til well after dark. One boat was leaving the dock to go to the steam plant at 8:30 PM. Wonder how he did?

If you were at flipper's that was me and my brother-in-law. We just caught about 6 bluegill, several small drum, 2 keeper crappie, and about 4 small crappies. We stayed until about 4:30 this morning.

[agelesssone]

Hi nofish,
That was me and txnative in the parking lot when you launched. I was wondering how you did out there. You guys are TUFF! launching at 8:30 at night and staying til 4:30 AM!! I'm impressed, sorry you didn't catch more.

And Jim, I absolutley love the way you've got that boat lit up. You are right, you can see that thing a mile away when you've got all your lights on. I'd like to see it in the daylight to see how you have everything rigged up. Where did you buy the lights? I was at Basspro today and they had diddly squat in the way of LED's.

Well, I guess txnative takes the prize for the biggest and most fish yesterday. He only outfished me about 5-1....ok 6-1. He definitely knows what he is doing there and from what I saw of the photos he has, about anywhere else he fishes.

Tx, thanks for teaching me some new tricks out there. Let's get together and do it again when you can get an early quit.

[nofish]

Originally Posted by Jim

I fished the Steam Plant yesterday evening also. Went after work from 4:30 to 10 pm. It was a beautiful evening to fish with no wind.

Fishing was slow for me also. I only caught one good fish and that was a 15lb flathead catfish. Other than that, it was drum and small catfish. Missed several sauger as the bait came back all cut up from their teeth.

I will say compared to past years, there is very little bait (shad) and few skipjack in the steam plant canal right now. There are plenty of shad to be netted, but it is not jammed full like past years.

I think I talked to agelesssone and txnative. I was in the Basstracker with the LED lights on it. The lights on the boat make it a super easy and safe to fish after dark. I got a pic of the boat at the ramp at Flipper’s with the lights on.



The boat has a bunch more lights then are turned on in the pic, including bright LED headlights, green lights for attracting bait, and more red lights in the interior. Most were off, but you can see the blue for lighting up the shore and UV (purple) for make your fishing line glow. A big plus is that other boats can see me and don’t run so close.

Jim

We saw your boat in the canal last night and man those lights look wicked in the dark.!.! You never have to worry about not being seen. Do those run off their on battery? At night time I have a hard time telling exactly how close I am to something unless I have a light shining directly on it, but I didn't have that problem with your boat. GOOD JOB!!! Very unique and very cool to look at. Also it could be mistaken for a police boat which makes it that much cooler in my book.

There was 1 other boat there last night and when they were coming out of the canal i guess they saw someone's jug go underwater and they asked if it was mine. Did you have a jug in the water? I stayed fishing in that spot for about another hour and never saw it surface.

[txnative]

Jim,

It was Ageless and me. Sorry on the luck, we share your pain. Nice looking set-up, though. Ageless was talking about getting forward facing lights for his rig. I'm trying again in the morning.

Nofish,

Me and ageless were loading out around 7:30, we saw two guys getting ready to launch. I assume that was you. Next time, feel free to say hey if you see me. I wear a black under armour cap and am usually in a blue kayak, unless someone needs a partner in their boat.


Chris

[nofish]

Originally Posted by txnative

Jim,

It was Ageless and me. Sorry on the luck, we share your pain. Nice looking set-up, though. Ageless was talking about getting forward facing lights for his rig. I'm trying again in the morning.

Nofish,

Me and ageless were loading out around 7:30, we saw two guys getting ready to launch. I assume that was you. Next time, feel free to say hey if you see me. I wear a black under armour cap and am usually in a blue kayak, unless someone needs a partner in their boat.


Chris

Ok I'll definitely say hi next time I see you. I think ya'll might be good luck because that was the 1st time in a long time that my boat fired up on the 1st crank. Congratulations on your catch.