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I took my grandson fishing on the Bar a couple of weeks ago looking for schooling fish. Didn't find any busting shad. He did get to catch a few nice ones (2 lb smallie, 2 lb 13 oz hybrid).

Hey guys! So I fish the holston river system mostly. My favorite fish to catch is the striped bass. In located in the tri cities area. I was reading the post on home bait tanks when I decided to join the crew!

Be careful about temperature change from the lake to the tank. More than about 5 degrees is harmful. After you net the bait, I usually put them into a bucket of water for a few minutes. Then lift them out of the water into the tank. Do not dump the slime and scales into the tank. Filters, keep your filters clean. When they first go in, check about every 10 minutes. After they purge and quit sliming, check less frequently.

Fished Norris in the morning. Limit then had to stop because the fish were not going back.

My first suggestion is to start a daily log of each fishing trip because the striped bass migration repeats annually with minor changes. History of the striped bass migration in Tennessee has become much more common knowledge since the beginning of the stocking programs back in the mid 60’s. There was no Striped Bass Clubs, no TV shows, no guides, no internet, no or poor fish finders, no books or articles on fresh water striped bass. Other change continues to develop that make the striped bass fishery different than 25 years ago like the change in seasonal draw downs, warm water discharge, & flow requirements by TVA, the introduction of alewife, the presence of huge flocks of gulls that were not migrating through in past winters, and the abundance of anglers now on the water trying to catch these big game fish. The striped bass will continue to seek the same conditions and knowing them will make finding them easier. The juvenile striped bass (less than 20 inches, or 4 pounds) will have different requirements so the conditions we talk about are for larger adults. Here is some of the more important requirement to target striped bass in any river or body of water. 1. WATER TEMPERATURE has a fairly wide range. The middle of the range is 57 degrees and the comfort range is plus or minus 15 degrees. Water temperature out of the comfort range the bite becomes slower and can kill the adults starting on the high end at + 15 degrees. 2. SPAWN SEASON is driven by length of day, and water temperature that starts as early as mid April and can last until June. The spawn takes place mostly at night when the water temperature reaches 62 to 66 degrees. The pre spawn staging takes place where there is lots of water inflow like natural rivers or multiple large creeks flowing into the same large cove. As the water temperature climbs above 70 degrees the striped bass having completed the spawn begin to seek cool water refuge. 3. FORAGE FISH is important for all game fish, but can fall to 3rd in the reasons stripers are at that location at that time. 4. DISSOLVED OXYGEN or the lack of it in the late summer large reservoirs is another migration driver for the striped bass. This sample will work on all rivers, & large reservoirs to target striped bass. The winter pattern for the striper starts around November as they follow the largest easiest to target forage fish schools out of the coves and rivers back downstream to mid and lower lake. Watch for warm water discharge influence. The forage fish seek the warmest water available and the striped bass gather into large schools to feed often pushing the bait to the surface where the gulls also feed. As the spring spawn approaches the striped bass move back upstream to stage just downstream of the major rivers and in the large coves with lots of inflowing water and bait is always abundant there also. After the spawn the water temperature starts to become an issue and the striped bass looks for a refuge in cooler water comfort range moving gradually downstream. In the late summer large schools of striped bass are often stressed by being trapped in small areas where lack of dissolved oxygen and high water temperature is nearly out of their comfort range. This is when the catch and release mortality is at its highest. By late September the cooler nights and lake turnover has started to release the stripers

James and I went fishing again today. We boated many (20) of these today, not what we were looking for. It was however a great day out with a friend fishing, thanks James for the ride. It makes me want to sing so here goes. I don't want to work I want to bang on the drum all day I don't want to play I just want to bang on the drum all day.

Excellent question.1st off i would wait on replies from guys(and gals) who have been here longer.there are a substantial amount of transplants here as well as " born ,n bred" ...i to am a recent transplant. My advice is GOOGLE EARTH..start local then work your way out.you need to tell the members more info : your town do you own a boat, your favorite species, do you have kids( thats huge,want to get them out as well !) What tackle do you have ( we can help there)...more details and youll get set in the right direction.my personal recomendation...pick a pond river or res. and go look! Been doing it non stop since i got here in august. Obed river,calfkiller river, meadow creek, cumberland mountain state park( nice lake,tons of shore acess bathrooms very kid friendly) center hill dam ( again kid friendly bathrooms easy parking lots of fish) ...on & on....good luck.have fun,your in the right place...explore.

I agree there carbontex from smooth drag are great! Dawn is really helpful too. I recommend a little bit of Cal's drag grease. There is a reason the website is smooth drag.com Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

Hello my name name is Westley Ramsey I'm from Chatsworth Georgia (30 min from Chattanooga) I like to fish saltwater and freshwater. For fresh I like Carter's, Lanier the small creeks back in the woods and Watts bar. I prefer to be catching stripers but large mouth and trout are good too. I currently own a Reel Repair Business called Ramsey Reel Repair. Always looking for a new fishing hole and looking forward to hearing y'all's stories. For salt I like Port St Joe and Mexico Beach Florida catching shark and mackerel. Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

Darn, that 5’ Redfin might scare all the strippers away!

Each line has some good and poor qualities. Each place you fish has some needs that are different so MY needs for CHEROKEE is live bait down lines fluorocarbon 15 with terminal 10 or 12 pound. I also use some bottom fishing poles that have 20 pound mono with fluorocarbon leader (mono don't sink). I also use some 80 braid to troll and cast artificial with.

If your tap water is processed, it will probably have chlorine, that will kill minnows fast! When I try to keep minnows, I always get local creek water & change it often. Also, a battery or electric aerator keeps oxygenating the water. A pinch of cornmeal every 2 days, OR replacing the water containing microbodies that the minnows feed on,, helps. Finally, don't use ice cubes, use frozen cola plastic bottles of ice when those minnows starts surfacing. dada 10-24-18 7:41 PM

You can't go wrong with 65 to 70 degree water. I do not like tap water. All your other info is good.

That is interesting when I was there a week and a half ago we had 68 on the surface mid fifties was like 35 down. If the Calderwood was generating that means wAter is coming from 180+ feet from the bottom which is ice water. When I was at Calderwood talking to some anglers camping they were complaining the water being to cold with all the generation going in. That is what they were claiming. We put our feet inthe water at Calderwood and it was numbing. Did you shoot the temp with your fishhawk?

Welcome to the sisterhood of fish slayers!

Ecox, can you post a Crappie article similar to the above?? Just kidding, good info, even I can comprehend. Thanks

Seems like you have it covered but if not just let me know & I will.

I will be the first to brag on Dada's planer boards. I have water bugz and a set of the yellow board( cant remember brand) and Dada's boards do just as good. Take him up on his offer if u can then just duplicate what he has. Its really a very simple design.

There’s a guy out in Colorado, I think his name is Paul Roberts, that studies this extensively. The bass can see any line, he says they perceive it all as one unit. The one unit moves differently depending upon DIAMETER of line, not necessarily breaking strength. He also explains it a lot better than me on several YouTube videos. But anyhow the bass has two reactions: go toward the lure or go away from it. Sometimes a splash runs them off, sometimes incorrect diameter does. It can also be the trolling motor or a bird or a shadow, too many variables to say for sure. but match the correct diameter of line to the weight of your lure and you’re already in the ballpark. From there it’s day to day fine tuning . I also heard a scuba diver say braid makes a weird loud sound underwater , similar to the sound it makes going through rod guides

It's not rocket science LOL Weekends are extremely busy as this is a vacation destination. BASS and FLW both come here often and lots of people that follow the tours fish/vacation here. East TN has a large population. Smoky Mt National Park is the most visited park in the system. Really want to see a circus---The Chick on Saturday morning in spring. On Douglas and Cherokee the 3hr local tournaments are every night. 10-50 boats. Would think it's that way on most other lakes in East Tn Weekends for the leisurely fishing crowd should be avoided. It's public water and the jet ski, pleasure boater and even the wake board boats have a right to use the lakes. I have to remind myself of that on days I fish a derby LOL. Hopefully you'll fit in here and enjoy all the good things of living in TN. Personally., I love it.

Ahhhhh. That kind of food plot. My bad

This explains all the squirrels I see hitchhiking on Norris Freeway. I have stopped several times and picked them up. I ask where they are heading and they always tell me back to Dave’s place. I guess you don’t want me dropping them off anymore?

Ok,...lets have a vote ,how many of ya,ll want to see the wench on her wedding day in a wedding dress holding a shotgun? Tek, we honeymooned on saranac, saw Mojo Nixon in a little bar in town, he was the official musician for the US olympic ski team,came up and did a solo show ,sick...needless to say, my brand new bride had to drive home to the hotel that nite....a hair to much liquid fun.ill never live that one down. ...

Found this video on youtube and thought it was pretty insane...Skip to 1:10 if you just want to see the schools of fish. Enjoy! :eek:[video=youtube;zv8HXFJDX2g]