Tims Ford 8-25-2011

Tim's Ford 8-25-2011

You can view all pic's on my web site. Good friend Terry Hicks and I put the boat in at daylight on Tim's and wound up having a fairly good 3 1/2 hours before the sun got high and things died down. We started out throwing a Rapala Skitter Walk www.rapala.com and I only had 1 bite in the first hour which I didn't land. We then moved to an area where there had been a lot of bait, changed to a #8 Rapala X Rap in Sliver and Blue and Olive Green to match the size of the shad and we never looked back. We caught and released 15 or more Smallmouth with the largest pictured above. All caught on Sufix 8lb Pro Mix Mono. www.sufix.com We also caught a bonus Hybrid on a Luhr-Jensen Krocodile Spoon www.luhrjensen.com Terry and I was trying to remember if we lost 3 or 4 good fish as well....not sure. I could blame the lack of memory on either the sun or we both had a senior moments. Either way they were good heavy fish. After things died down we ran the opposite direction to a long cove where we caught 5 or 6 White Bass (Not Pictured) trolling crankbaits. 11:30 boat back on the trailer, air conditioner on and headed to the house. 1:30pm nap on the couch. I will be back on the water more as we head into fall.....and will post what I have. Until next week, be safe, don't take chances on the water and watch out for carless boaters over thge up coming holiday. Rick www.tennesseebassguides.com

[TennHawk]

Can you suggest a couple of creeks to fish at Tim's? It is such a big lake with about a zillion creeks and coves. Not looking for your best spots, just a place to start from State Park ramp. Thank you.

Bill Hawkins

[Reel Tune]

Great fish. I've been wondering what determines the coloring on a smallmouth? I've seen some really dark, and some with beautiful markings from the rivers in NE Tennessee, and most of the ones you are catching are a little more dull in color.

Is it the water temps?
Depth the fish are located?
Color of the water?
Forage?
Oxygen levels of the water?
Or just genetics?
River vs Lake fish

Just curious

[txnative]

All smallies share the barred coloration. I've caught little creek smallies and have watched their coloration go from a solid golden-olive to a distinctly marked appearance while removing the hook from their mouth. I think stress plays a big part. Similar to a sailfish "lighting up" with bright blue marks during feeding (used to confuse prey, which are sensitive to blue-green color spectrum) and appearing a uniform black when landed. All fish do this. Some are better at adapting color for camo purposes, and one of the best in freshwater is the rock bass (black perch, red-eye).

Depth also plays a role, due to exposure to sunlight. Most of the deepwater largemouth i catch are pretty blandly colored, while shallow water fish are more visibly marked. This is just my opinion, but the same phenemon occurs in clear water bass (darker markings) vs murky water fish (paler markings), so i'm assuming the exposure to higher light levels play a role.

Being marked probably has ambush/concealment advantages, too. A highly marked fish in clear water benefits from a broken-up silohuette against grass, weeds, etc which grow better in clearer water whereas a bland fish can use murky water alone as concealment.


Chris

[thehick176]

I have caught good smallies before in our night tourneys on Old Hickory. Alot of them are that bland olive color when they are put in the livewell to be brought back to weigh-in. But when you pull them out after the tourney is over, they are marked up beautifully. This holds true for the ones i catch shallow AND deep. FYI: all smallmouth i have caught during tourneys have been released alive and well as they are my absolute favorite fish to pursue

[Reel Tune]

So possibly stress? The ones I've caught in NE TN were marked up nice and dark, but I don't know why they would be stressed, the only way to get where we fish is by a Jet Boat, or kayak. I've only seen one other kayak, and one other jet and it's the same people. All the ones I've caught locally were all bland river or reservoir, none have been put in a livewell all are released immediately where they were caught.

[txnative]

Yeah, although stress isn't all bad. A smallie busting shad is stressed, sonce it is exerting more energy than normal, but i'm sure it isn't complaining about it, lol. The stresd we often see causing the marks to darken is from the fight, but no matter how healthy it seems upon release, a smallie in a livewell is stressed, but usually ok after release.

Next time you catch a bland smalljaw, remove the hook and hold.the fish (in water, of course). You'll see the marks appear and can release a healthy fish, giving you yet another cool thing to admire about the scrappiest bass there is.


Chris

Bill: Check Out Lost Creek-rays Branch-anderton Branch....look For Bait.........rick

[TennHawk]

Thanks for your response Rick. I will let you know how it went. Going tomorrow.

Bill