My first time at DH

[Flatline]

Why didn't anyone talk me into going to Dale Hollow before ?

I decided to go fishing today and notorious talked me into going to Dale Hollow... He said "What do you have to lose..?" With 4 hrs of sleep behind me I dragged my tracker up there for a new adventure.

Wasn't quite what I thought but I had fun.. found some grass, lots of 8' to 30 foot flats.. loved it. 3 first today, maybe even 4....

Caught my 1st Crappie, about 2 lbs and a nice keeper.
Caught my personal best bass.. 4.65 lbs small mouth AND a 3.5 lb.. plus 2 other about a lb each.

Another first was these guys was caught on a ned rig on a med light spinning real with 6 lb line... I never fished a Ned Rig before or caught anything of size with this Shimano rod.

Speaking of ned rig.. what the hell is it about a 3" stick worm that a bass loves so much ?

The wind started kicking up big time around 11am.. I mean the white caps had white caps.... I wasn't catching anything after a dink SM and the Crappie.. So I decided to hide and shield behind the bluffs.

Folks let me tell you, I didn't fish any different at DH than I do at Center Hill... For me to produce like I did today on a lake that I never fished is a real confidence builder. I can see how Dale Hollow is so popular.. I can't wait to go back

[Texas_Rig]

Nice fish man. Glad you caught some. I need to get up there. I haven’t been fishing at all the last couple weeks. Just a heads up. Neither one of those bass were keepers. You can only keep 2 smallmouth on Dale Hollow and 1 has to be under 16” and 1 has to be over 21”

[Texas_Rig]

Im not 100% sure the big one wasn’t 21” but a fat smallmouth wich yours was that’s over 21” is gonna be over 5lbs

[Schleprock]

I don't understand why they love a Ned rig but they do, caught 18 saturday at DH, every SM came on a Ned rig and every LM came on a bubble gum floating worm

BTW the floating worm bite is about blow up on DH

[SAMBOLIE]

Nice fish. You ain't gotta big to catch fish and you ain't gotta use plow line to bring them to the boat. You may become addicted to light line fishing.
The Ned rig has certainly been my favorite bait since I started using it. Also had lots of success with the old 4 inch Sliders.
I have used a short worm for many years.

[buickfan70]

That was a good day of fishing!

[Flatline]

Originally Posted by Texas_Rig

Nice fish man. Glad you caught some. I need to get up there. I haven’t been fishing at all the last couple weeks. Just a heads up. Neither one of those bass were keepers. You can only keep 2 smallmouth on Dale Hollow and 1 has to be under 16” and 1 has to be over 21”

I carry the TRWA bible with me in the boat to make sure because I'm still learning size, limits and fish identity.. and this is what it says...

• Smallmouth Bass: 2 per day, 16–21 inch PLR.
One fish may be under 16 inches and one
may be over 21 inches. Includes Wolf River
upstream to South Ford Road bridge.

The way I understand the way it is written is I'm only allowed to keep 2 small mouths between 16-21". One may be under sized or one may be over sized. I based my understanding on the fact that the surrounding lakes are 18" min. The key word I'm looking at is "may be" which gives permission to have 1 under sized or over sized.. I will call game warden today and clarify today as I definitely don't want to be a bad sportsman.



For the record, I do practice catch and release in most cases.


I called TWRA office for region 3 and the woman I spoke with couldn't understand the way its written... so she is having the game warden call me.



Anyhow the digital scale said it was 4.65 lbs. Oh and Crappie was 14"... I created ruler under the lid of my live well where I can't lay the fish against.

[rod007]

it is plain as day. You are allowed 1 fish under 16 inches and 1 fish over 21 inches. You can't even put either of those fish in your livewell for a picture later. TWRA "could" write you a ticket just off the picture and the post where you said what size those fish were. Like my dad has always told me "ignorance of the law is no excuse." Great fish by the way, but why keep them?

[Flatline]

Originally Posted by SAMBOLIE

Nice fish. You ain't gotta big to catch fish and you ain't gotta use plow line to bring them to the boat. You may become addicted to light line fishing.
The Ned rig has certainly been my favorite bait since I started using it. Also had lots of success with the old 4 inch Sliders.
I have used a short worm for many years.

I've had that lil 2 pc Shimano for decades... like 35 yrs. (I really had to think about when I bought this rod) I finally had to replace the real last summer after the spools gave up the ghost... replaced it with a castking pontus 2000 with dual drags last summer, which I might add performed beautifully, first time catching anything with this reel... I very impressed with the smooth drag. But yea, I had a blast with this light outfit. That 3.5 lb'r gave the best fight... she was all over the place and took me about 5 mins ??? to reel her in.



You know I've always loved fishing, but never was ever that good at catching. Considering last yr I was still learning how to cast a bait caster, I have to say I have a long way to go, but I'm starting to "getting it"

[rod007]

16-21 inch PLR (Protected Length Range)

[skillet]

Originally Posted by SAMBOLIE

Nice fish. You ain't gotta big to catch fish and you ain't gotta use plow line to bring them to the boat. You may become addicted to light line fishing.
The Ned rig has certainly been my favorite bait since I started using it. Also had lots of success with the old 4 inch Sliders.
I have used a short worm for many years.

Your wife has complained about your short worm for many years too!!!!!!!!😂😂😂


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shaugh]

I've wondered about the Ned rig for many years... then one day I was watching a few small bass along a bank.... goose turds were everywhere along the shore and in the water..... so I threw a few in.... guess what happened ?

I'm pretty sure this is well known..given it's nickname... just not discussed because people don't like to think of their favorite bass that way....

[Alphahawk]

Beautiful fish. Never fished a Ned rig.....but in the spring up there on the flats you can have 50-100 fish days. Here is just one post from spring of 2016....on Trout Magnets and 2# test line. It gets crazy out there if you hit it right. I still get up there from time to time but the older I get the less I want to drive. I used to drive it 5 days a week from Murfreesboro....but age changes things.


Regards

http://www.fishingtn.com/showthread.php?t=11232

[Flatline]

Originally Posted by rod007

16-21 inch PLR (Protected Length Range)

Thank you... I couldn't figure out what it stood for. No other lakes has this and I never fished Hollow before.

[Flatline]

Originally Posted by rod007

it is plain as day. You are allowed 1 fish under 16 inches and 1 fish over 21 inches. You can't even put either of those fish in your livewell for a picture later. TWRA "could" write you a ticket just off the picture and the post where you said what size those fish were. Like my dad has always told me "ignorance of the law is no excuse." Great fish by the way, but why keep them?

I had a cop once tell me that you could walk up to them and tell them you committed a crime and without proof, they couldn't do any thing. Pictures prove nothing unless I had a ruler next to them for reference. In any case you never heard fish stories before ?