LBL or JPP for hybrids

[brewer88]

So after seeing all the hybrids post I've decided to try fishing for them the first time this weekend! I live in clarksville so JPP and Kentucky Lake are about the same distance for me: which would be better to learn hybrids on? any tips much appreciated!


Also for anyone interested: fished cheatham dam last weekend and caught about 10 eating size cats, right up near the dam on skipjack. lots of gar still in there, had 3 or 4 on a 5" jerkbait, that was fun. skips are still there up close to the current.

[FloatNFish]

Does Kentucky lake have hybrids?

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by FloatNFish

Does Kentucky lake have hybrids?

The simple answer is yes.

Regards


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[FloatNFish]

Originally Posted by Alphahawk

The simple answer is yes.

Regards


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Haha. Fair enough.

Rather, are hybrids stocked in KY lake?

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by FloatNFish

Haha. Fair enough.

Rather, are hybrids stocked in KY lake?

Wasn't trying to give a smart answer. KY Lake starts below Pickwick Dam.....so technically they are in KY Lake. They are thick below dam and down river for quite a ways.....and are stocked there. I used to live in West TN and fished below Pickwick Dam a lot. I would just assume they have to go all the way up to KY Lake Dam. How prevalent they are in the so called main body of the lake...from Paris on up....I don't know.


Regards

[FloatNFish]

Originally Posted by Alphahawk

Wasn't trying to give a smart answer. KY Lake starts below Pickwick Dam.....so technically they are in KY Lake. They are thick below dam and down river for quite a ways.....and are stocked there. I used to live in West TN and fished below Pickwick Dam a lot. I would just assume they have to go all the way up to KY Lake Dam. How prevalent they are in the so called main body of the lake...from Paris on up....I don't know.


Regards

Thanks Alpha!

[Reel Tune]

Thanks Alpha, I didn't know that. Having Percy Priest in your backyard is a blessing.

Finding hybrids is another thing. They are usually deep by now with the bait, and they roam, they will come up at times and feed. Find bait, and hybrids shouldn't be far.

[brewer88]

Update: I ended up fishing kentucky lake near Byrd bay yesterday and caught a ton of what I think were just regular white bass? (they were all small, around 1lb) Im still learning the difference between yellow, white and hybrid

We started off fishing some ledges at 16ft of water and caught a couple, but around 7pm we found a nice flat at 3ft and the water was just exploding with them, anything small and white with a spinner would produce a fish every cast. again, all small. Some largemouths mixed in, ill try and get the pics from my buddy.

Are white bass any good to eat?

(also, thanks for the info so far, maybe ill try JPP next)

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by brewer88

Update: I ended up fishing kentucky lake near Byrd bay yesterday and caught a ton of what I think were just regular white bass? (they were all small, around 1lb) Im still learning the difference between yellow, white and hybrid

We started off fishing some ledges at 16ft of water and caught a couple, but around 7pm we found a nice flat at 3ft and the water was just exploding with them, anything small and white with a spinner would produce a fish every cast. again, all small. Some largemouths mixed in, ill try and get the pics from my buddy.

Are white bass any good to eat?

(also, thanks for the info so far, maybe ill try JPP next)

Sounds like white bass to me. As for eating them....I love them. Many will tell you they are not fit to eat. I prefer them over just about any other fresh water fish. However I believe if you don't get rid of the red meat in them they are not fit to eat. At Pickwick they have big white bass....I only keep the big ones as when I filet and cut ALL the red meat out you don't wind up with much meat from a one pound white. It is a little more work but to me it is worth it. There are a few who prefer to eat them with the red meat left in them......but man that has a strong fishy taste....and smell to it.

Regards


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[agelesssone]

Once the thermocline sets up, the hybrids and stripers will be in the top 20 feet of water.
I always look for fish holding 14-18 ft deep, they will be the active ones, then I slow troll at .6-.8 MPH with planer boards off the side, two rods straight down (4-6 Oz of weight), and two baits straight back on balloons, greater than 75 ft back, with only one #4 splitshot. All baits are set around the 15 ft depth.
It can get very hectic when you hit a school of hungry fish. Three times I have had five fish at one time, one time with four fish on and multiple times with doubles and triples.
AND! I have also trolled for HOURS without a bite!
One evening I trolled around Seven Points for FOUR HOURS, marking plenty of fish, and caught one small 3 lb hybrid.
Some days you can't buy a bite and other days you can't keep them off your lines.
Probably the best day I had was 14 fish in 90 minutes. I finally just had enough and quit at 5:30 PM which was prime time that day. Hate to think how many I could have caught had I continued.

[XxthejuicexX]

Merv, do you have a small outboard for trolling or do you use the actual Trolling motor?

[agelesssone]

Originally Posted by XxthejuicexX

Merv, do you have a small outboard for trolling or do you use the actual Trolling motor?

Juice, to get down that slow, I have to use my MinnKota Terrova 112# thrust trolling motor. The outboard will only get me down to 2.7 MPH.
When fishing live bait, I want to go .6-.8 MPH.

The Terrova is like having a first mate to run the boat while I put out lines, take fish off lines, etc.

I just added another set of rod holders to my boat so I'll be fishing 10 rods the next time I go out. Ya gotta come out with me some day.

My number is on my website, nsahvillefishingguides.com. Give me a call.

[XxthejuicexX]

Originally Posted by agelesssone

Juice, to get down that slow, I have to use my MinnKota Terrova 112# thrust trolling motor. The outboard will only get me down to 2.7 MPH.
When fishing live bait, I want to go .6-.8 MPH.

The Terrova is like having a first mate to run the boat while I put out lines, take fish off lines, etc.

I just added another set of rod holders to my boat so I'll be fishing 10 rods the next time I go out. Ya gotta come out with me some day.

My number is on my website, nsahvillefishingguides.com. Give me a call.

Will do. I remember trolling with my grandfather and us using the big merc. We caught fish but I never enjoyed it. Those Terrova are pretty sweet! I watched Al Linder fish for crappie with one with it going from spot to spot automatically, pretty awesome.

[aero320]

Originally Posted by brewer88

Update: I ended up fishing kentucky lake near Byrd bay yesterday and caught a ton of what I think were just regular white bass? (they were all small, around 1lb) Im still learning the difference between yellow, white and hybrid

We started off fishing some ledges at 16ft of water and caught a couple, but around 7pm we found a nice flat at 3ft and the water was just exploding with them, anything small and white with a spinner would produce a fish every cast. again, all small. Some largemouths mixed in, ill try and get the pics from my buddy.

Are white bass any good to eat?

(also, thanks for the info so far, maybe ill try JPP next)

Brewer88,

The yellow bass are easy to identify because they are yellow colored. To determine whether a fish is a Hybrid or White Bass, look at the small patch on the top of the tongue. If it has a small split in the middle (actually two small patches) it is a Hybrid. If the patch is a single shape, it is a White Bass.

I would go to JPP for Hybrids, I grew up on Kentucky Lake and it is a HUGE body of water. It is hard enough to find them on JPP sometimes!

[eksfish]

The auto pilot feature on my Terrova is a huge benefit. Allows me to fish out of the back of the boat tending baits and lines, in my IMHO it is only second to a good depth finder for Hybrid fishing. I troll u-rigs with my big motor but use two 5 gallon buckets to slow the boat to 2.5. Not real fuel efficient works fine.

Pay attention to the advise you get from agelessone and areo those guys are good.