Crow Terminator
Well-Known Member
I started the day off early and made a run to Melton Hill. Per the TVA water release schedule, they were going to be running 1 generator from 8 to 10 and then turning both on. What this translates to is a heck of a lot of moving water when they turn 2 on. 1 is not so bad, but fast and strong enough that you can't fish right at the dam unless you are throwing a brick. I was up to 4 oz weight and it wasn't even slowing down lol Anyway, I backed off from the dam and went down stream to approx the Dangerous Water sign. There, the water was a bit slower and there is a point that serves as a current break. It was there that there was quite a bit of topwater action going on. I made my way into it thinking they were white bass but they were rockfish instead. And they didn't want anything I had. I was throwing a Foley Spoon and swimbait. The guy down from me was throwing a 4 inch Rage Tail and we were both throwing right into the busting fish and at one point, they were 10 feet out from me. It was then I saw what they were chasing...HUGE baitfish in the 8 to 10 inch range. These fish were 10-15 pounders, so not giants but did not seem to be interested in anything smaller than what they were chasing. They came up numerous times and I think everybody there was throwing into them and nobody caught a single fish. Kinda depressing. This continued up to around 9 o clock and then quit. I fished til they turned that 2nd generator on and then left. I just didn't have anything that I could think of, that they would have hit. The only things I had that were that large, were some big Red Fins and in the strong current, I didn't think they would do right. Kinda wish I would have at least tried them now.
Came home, did some work around the house, and dad called wanting to know if I wanted to go to Watts Bar in the evening. Sure!
We went to the lake portion of it, around Hornsby Hollow. Bass fished some areas that dad had been catching some decent size fish in this year...and the skunk rode with us the whole time. I told him it was because I was the world's worse fisherman, and couldn't even catch a fish in some massive breaking action nearly at my feet.
We were actually heading back to the ramp to call it quits when we spotted some topwater action going on. We went over to them and saw it was white bass going crazy. I caught a few on my Foley Spoon but they just didn't seem to want that thing like they normally do, as there were several times I threw it right into the boils and didn't even get bit. I didn't have a spinning rod with me, just my bait casters but I managed to find a 1/2 oz rooster tail in my striper fishing box, and tied that thing on. I was able to cast it seemingly 100 yards anywhere I needed to go. Which came in handy when they would come up way over from us. This was the ticket for sure. For probably the better part of an hour, we caught white bass and wipers until it got dark. They were still busting on top when we left. I have no idea how many I actually caught but I can tell you my hands are cut all to pieces from dorsal fins and sharp gill plates. I missed as many as I caught, as the 1/2 oz was just a tick too big for some of them. They would flat out freight train it. When they would go down and not be on top, the side imaging sonar would tell us where they were in relation to the boat, and I caught several by jigging my rooster tail up and down like a spoon when they were down deeper. I had some smaller spinners and spoons, but my bait casting rods were too stiff to throw them far. I may try to go back some more this week, and I will have a spinning rod with me, with a #3 size Black Fury spinner on it just waiting on the breaks to crank up.
Came home, did some work around the house, and dad called wanting to know if I wanted to go to Watts Bar in the evening. Sure!
We went to the lake portion of it, around Hornsby Hollow. Bass fished some areas that dad had been catching some decent size fish in this year...and the skunk rode with us the whole time. I told him it was because I was the world's worse fisherman, and couldn't even catch a fish in some massive breaking action nearly at my feet.
We were actually heading back to the ramp to call it quits when we spotted some topwater action going on. We went over to them and saw it was white bass going crazy. I caught a few on my Foley Spoon but they just didn't seem to want that thing like they normally do, as there were several times I threw it right into the boils and didn't even get bit. I didn't have a spinning rod with me, just my bait casters but I managed to find a 1/2 oz rooster tail in my striper fishing box, and tied that thing on. I was able to cast it seemingly 100 yards anywhere I needed to go. Which came in handy when they would come up way over from us. This was the ticket for sure. For probably the better part of an hour, we caught white bass and wipers until it got dark. They were still busting on top when we left. I have no idea how many I actually caught but I can tell you my hands are cut all to pieces from dorsal fins and sharp gill plates. I missed as many as I caught, as the 1/2 oz was just a tick too big for some of them. They would flat out freight train it. When they would go down and not be on top, the side imaging sonar would tell us where they were in relation to the boat, and I caught several by jigging my rooster tail up and down like a spoon when they were down deeper. I had some smaller spinners and spoons, but my bait casting rods were too stiff to throw them far. I may try to go back some more this week, and I will have a spinning rod with me, with a #3 size Black Fury spinner on it just waiting on the breaks to crank up.
