Skipjacks

[agelesssone]

Me and Salty just wanted to get our strings stretched a bit today so we hit Old Hickory for some skipjack action.

Conservative estimate. ...we caught about 100. Brought 50 lbs to Walker's bait shop in Hendersonville.

We were catching fish on almost every cast, getting multiple hits on every retrieve. Had a whole lot of fun doing it.

I woke up this morning feeling very jubilant for some reason. I figured I needed something to bring me "down" a bit so I thought "HEY! I'll invite Salty to go fishing with me! He's the best buzz killer I know!

Yup, next to SAMBOLIE, Salty is the best!

[bates19]

Looks like a hell of a day! Where on OH were you finding them? And what were you fishing with?


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[Alphahawk]

Well I'm glad you caught a bunch of fish and had a lot of fun.....but I bet that live well is a mess now.....LOL.


Regards


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[agelesssone]

OH YEAH! That live well was nasty! As was the rest of the boat. We were slinging skippies all over the boat. The best ones were when we'd haul one overboard and flop it in the livewell and it would self release into the livewell. Had a bunch of those.

Of course we had a bunch that MISSED the livewell and flopped all over the boat.

We had mini tournaments. The first one was 1 minute, the second was 8 minutes the third was 12 minutes, and I believe and the last one lasted about 15 minutes. It was wild and frantic. We'd hook up and lose them right at the boat,a and fling the baits back out as fast as we could. Pure pandemonium most of the time.

http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/agelesssone/media/skippyspoon_zps09004bbe.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

[tkwalker]

Originally Posted by agelesssone

OH YEAH! That live well was nasty! As was the rest of the boat. We were slinging skippies all over the boat. The best ones were when we'd haul one overboard and flop it in the livewell and it would self release into the livewell. Had a bunch of those.

Of course we had a bunch that MISSED the livewell and flopped all over the boat.

We had mini tournaments. The first one was 1 minute, the second was 8 minutes the third was 12 minutes, and I believe and the last one lasted about 15 minutes. It was wild and frantic. We'd hook up and lose them right at the boat,a and fling the baits back out as fast as we could. Pure pandemonium most of the time.

http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/agelesssone/media/skippyspoon_zps09004bbe.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

LOL !! They are fun ... "Tennessee Tarpon" And believe it or not a relief for a guide party after no action from 4 hours of fishing ... Going back to the Dam for bait was sometimes the high light of the day ... <'TK>< PS. I still think I hold the state record ... But never pursued it ....

[Paul31]

Originally Posted by tkwalker

"Tennessee Tarpon"

. Thats funny. I named them OH Tarpon last time i went fishing with my buddy. They jump and have tuff mouths. There a blast to catch tho.

[CatFishChaser]

The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission announced that changes will be made to the state’s skip jack fishing regulations during its monthly meeting Friday at Reel foot Lake State Park.
The TFWC voted for new regulations on Skip jack herring, this change should not affect recreational catfish anglers who use skipjack herring for bait.
As of March 1st 2013 anglers will be limited to 100 skipjack per day, where in the past there has not been a creel limit and anglers could keep as many as they wanted.
The Tennessee and Cumberland rivers has some of the most robust skip jack populations in the south east and is widely known for their huge size, some reaching in excess of 3 lbs. Some anglers will also refer to them as Tennessee Tarpon!
We spoke with Frank Fiss, Assistant chief of fisheries on this issue and he stated upon receiving many reports that anglers where coming to Tennessee waters and exploiting the common bait fish for profit, so the TFWC was prompted to do some studies on this issue and the impact it has on the fishery for the last couple of years.
“It probably will not affect recreational anglers at all”, Fiss said. However he stated many anglers would travel long distances from different states to gather their skip jack to freeze them for later use and that is why the TFWC decided on 100 per day per angler instead of the 50 a day that was originally proposed.

[Halli]

I fished Old Hickory Sunday (h2o = 56') and did not find the LM so started looking for crappie.
Only found a couple here and there with all 9"< but as I worked the bluffs the Threadfin shad were holding tight to rocks in sunlight with
Skippies hammering them for hours.
I caught tons of Skippies with a trout mag and really had a great time
then started catching white bass size rockfish but the damn Skippies kept
taking my bait every other cast haha.

[chrisntab]

Where can you catch some skipjack at around OH dam from bank?