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I prefer to Smoke Trout, they are just hard to keep lit.

Go to Chilhowee for Perch. I picked up 5 of them last Friday whilst trolling for Rainbows and Smallmouths. From the main ramp upstream to Tabcat Creek is where you'll find 'em. The lake has been overrun with 'em since they filled the lake back up.

Took Grandson & his son to Walters Bridge -Douglas on 9-1-19. Water high & 79 degrees. Only got 1 bass & a drum. Loaded up & then went to Melton for perch. Water 76 degrees. Couldn't find any! The fish are still waiting for a drop in waters & temp drop. dada 9-3-19 8:44 AM

While getting boat situated, in parking area, a fellow boater pulled up beside us. Just him and me up there fighting the heat LOL See him a lot and we shoot the bull a bit. Said he had 7 crappie on fly/minnow combo but they were short of keep size. The pipeline area. Not breaking any secrets here, he doesn't care. But he did catch em.

Alewife are catchable under the lights with cast net. Fishing is still good at Cherokee dam. The no fishing zone (July 15 to Sept. 15) is history for the year. You should be able to find fish in front of the dam good. Good luck and tell us about it.

I was thinking 8-4 to give guys some extra time coming in from out of town

I've been getting to know Santeetlah better the past several years. It's full of humps. It scares me to run a ball much deeper than 40 feet. I bet the best Trout bite is at 50 feet about now....??? Last time I was at Santeetlah a couple of months back, you needed to be down at 40 feet to get many Trout strikes. I caught more Bass than Trout on my last two trips there. Santeetlah has no "refrigerated" tailwaters upstream. It's most certainly remains very warm. Chilhowee is easy to fish. There's no humps of any consequence. You don't have to fish deep, 5-20 feet is the strike zone. Somebody who doesn't use or have downriggers could win. The Trout probably average as large as Santeetlah now....??? They'll average bigger when it comes all the way back from the draw-down. Spoons aren't necessarily the best lures. Hoochies and little plugs fish very well. Rainbows jump more in Chilhowee than Trout lakes that have hot tops and the fish are very deep in the hot months. Due to the abundance of baitfish, I think that Rainbows from Chilhowee average more weight per inch of length than most, if not all, of the region's Trout lakes.

Chillhowee, Cheoah and calderwoods trout are fire red and are the best tasting rainbows I’ve ever had. That constant cold water flow does something to the flavor along with a diet not all that heavy in shad or alewife. Here is chillhowee bows in lemon garlic butter topped with capers. Will easily pass as a 5 star meal at a fine dine.

Georgia State is going up against Furman who is coached by former Maryville coach George quarrels who many thought should have coached Tennessee . Schiano probably makes coffee in new England like butch does at bama. He went 2-14 in Tampa

Water level is 986.18 and with all the pulling of water the Leadvale area is best for us. But I only get a few hrs a week until I get my tub back on water. It's rather slow but it'll get better i hope

Some rain would improve the fishing in Chilhowee and the upstream lakes between it and Fontana. The amount of water TVA is releasing from Fontana is what it takes to drop the lake about half a foot a day. If we get some substantial rain in the coming weeks, they'll have enough water to generate 18-24 hours a day. That would likely mean morning generation probably. They tend to cease generating between midnight and 6 a.m. if they're not going 24-7. Until we get a heavier flow, the hot afternoons are gonna be the best time to fish most days. The Bass and Trout don't wanna chase the shad minnows till they get the current advantage they rely upon. The generating is seldom starting before 11 a.m. lately. Here's another Friday fish. That one looks well fed and was. It liked Shad but had a hoochie for dessert.

I looked at his TV show for about 15 minutes on Sunday. His grammar is crooked. Every time that he should say did, he says done. He comes off as hillbilly Uncle Fester to me. I'd like to see him put a lightbulb in his mouth and see what happens. If it lights up maybe he can coach....???

I was at Chilhowee Friday for the afternoon so I'd be there when they were generating. It was hot but I caught a variety of fish. I landed 3 of the 6 Rainbows I hooked.....the biggest ones keep jumping and getting away! I'll be back and get 'em in the end. I caught 4 or 5 Perch, a Largemouth, and a frisky 16" Smallmouth. All the Rainbows had 30 or more little 1-1.5 inch Shad Minnows in their gullets. I caught more fish on a green hoochie than the other lures, including the Smallmouth. Maybe the fish get so tired of gorging on the minnows that a hoochie looks like dessert....???

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We have fished calfkiller from monterey down to sparta.1 time,did well.next time your down that way take 5 stop in France cemetary and say thankyou to captain Champ Ferguson for his unbelievable sacrifice.very quiet,serene small civil war cemetary.what happened to his family is inexcusable.

Took a drive today to look at a launch and check out a bait shop.A&B taxidermy ( and bait) no longer sells bait.poor guy was.always at the end of the route and getting week old minnows....losing his ass.taxidermy only now.20 minutes north of cookeville.saw fineshed ,ducks,deer, fish ,semi and just started.pretty impressed.small shop.anyway new lake Livingston city lake .60 acres.no gas motors,water quality good...city supply.quiet out in the sticks.cows and quail all i heard...loaded up on gills and shellcrackers.ran out of worms.couldve caught 50.beat up launch gravel but itll fly.basically went to look at the launch...had to fish as well.sat in our fishing chairs under shade trees and inadvertantly pulled off a decent day.

I know smallmouth definitely plan their days according to TVA

Alright, noted for next time, thanks! I'm going to hit up Harrison Park tomorrow morning, will practice some more there.

Youre welcome,good luck.one more thing sometimes a slip float will lay over on its side instead of going under.that coud be a crappie bite or your set to deep and the weight/ hook are on the bottom.just adjust the knot in increments till the float sits upright.....youtube,just type in your interest.wealth of info on video there.

Slide line through the little black knot tube,slide knot off towards the rof tip.slide black tube off,discard.titen the knot eough so it ts moveable but stays in place.plastic bead next is optional.float,1 weight about 12"" above hook,tie on hook.the loose knot ends may hang up in your guides while casting,if it is a constant issue,titen it down as much as possible and trim the loose ends.i prefer to leave yhem long so i can retiten the knot.you can even reel it onto the spool for fishing deeper than your rod length.

Oh boy,where to start? Learn(practice) the clinch knot and the palomar knot.wet the knot before you cinch it down.glad to hear your rigs gave you no problems.close the bail by hand,not turning the handle that will help cut down on line twist.read up on slip floats these will allow you to fish much deeper than a clip on bobber.cant go wrong with minnows...look at my post from yesterday.i,ll attach some pics of our slip floats and rigs tomorrow.sorry i missed your initial post.

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STRIPED BASS SEASONAL HABBITS & MIGRATIONS Jan. 12, 2011 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 and 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 adults. Here is some of the more important requirement to target striped bass. 1. WATER TEMPERATURE and 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 the striped bass eat is important but falls 3rd in the reasons they are at that location at that time. 4. DISSOLVED OXYGEN or the lack of it in the late summer is another migration driver for the striped bass. This sample will work on all 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. 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 & mixing has started to release the stripers from their trap to go anywhere they want so they begin to search for the huge schools of forage fish again in the head waters of large coves and upper rivers to complete the cycle back to the winter pattern.