TnRiver46

Look forward to seeing some of your fish pics and videos

I'm pretty sure Largemouth and smallmouth can't hybridize, a meanmouth is a spotted bass/smallmouth hybrid like bluebasser said

That's a largemouth Here's a meanmouth

Prayers sent

Hard to say on first fish but my guess is white bass. People always say hybrid have broken lines but most white bass also have broken lines

We have a lot of them in the Tennessee river, I think someone weighed in a 19lb limit of them in an FLW tournament. I swear I think it was Scott martin

Throw them against the bank and just let them fall on a tightline with an occasional twitch of the rod tip. Don't be afraid to let them go way down deep, I tie my own because you will lose a lot. A jighead with a Berkley gulp minnow works better than anything

I have caught bass with cut bait but they much prefer it live and wiggling. No knife required just hook him in the mouth. Even after they die they are still effective on a jighead

Whoa whoa whoa. And you said a buzzbait is black magic?

I don't know if I have ever fished a true ned rig but I have been biting plastic worms in half and putting them on jig heads my whole life. Does that count?

please tell me you didn't just release that shad!!!!!! You could have greatly increased you odds by strapping him to your ned rig. Thanks for the post

@38 Super Fan I believe we fish the same lake sometimes (Norris) and float and fly is popular there. I have never caught a bass with this tactic and I have given it more than its fair share of chances. The problem, in my opinion, is the float. I have caught tons of bass with hair jigs, just never with a float. I have two buddies that refuse to throw anything but float and fly on Norris and this winter it wasn't cold enough. They caught a couple here and there but I was catching them chasing shad on top in January

Heck no. I have never bought top of the line anything. Mostly because I can't afford it but I still wouldn't if I could. 20$ poles and purple plastic worms will catch bass

My advice would be try to emulate the small batfish you saw as best you can with what lures you have

well KVD doesn't strike me as a vertical fisherman, which is what everyone (for the most part) was doing well the upper end should be a little muddy and more riverine, where the lower end will be deep and clear. if you want to catch smallies put a little fluke on a jighead and fish the lower end, if you want green ones they will be thicker upriver and eating cranks and maybe jigs. I usually see a lot of kayaks launching at panther creek state park, and I have caught some nice ones around there before. But I suppose they are nomadic and following shad right now so I would say just trust what the screen is telling you, at least for finding baitfish.

bayou boogies, my papaws favorite lure. I think they are still produced by heddon, now called the swimming minnow

I just smear the sunscreen on my hands

Dude, I want to tell you that you are thinking waaaaaay too much about it. But then I read that you caught 13 keepers (+ more fish)!! So instead I will say keep on keeping on! Nice job. I have never paid attention to the tables but maybe I should because I don't know if I have ever caught 13 keepers. Also, to find the answers to all the questions you are pondering, you will have to interrogate a caprtured fish. A lot of people think they know exactly why animals/fish do certain things but in reality we will never know all the answers

I was fishing a tributary lake, although the Tennessee river coming through Knoxville is about the same. Probably a little above 50 degree water temp in Chattanooga and I'm guessing a degree or two warmer down in Alabama. Some coves may be warming up quicker now. It snowed in some parts of East Tennessee Thursday and got town to about 24 degrees Friday morning, the elite series guys just caught the crap out of them anyway on cherokee lake. Of course today it was mid 70s, you know what they say about the weather

Got a couple nice ones yesterday, water temp 48 and super clear. Little bitty fluke on a 1/8oz head did the trick, we tried lots of other stuff to no avail

Most of the places I fish are gin clear, so I'm usually throwing 6-8 lb on tubes/grubs/flies and 10-12 on Texas rigs and jigs. And then there's the zebra mussels (razor clams as my buddy calls them). Once it warms up I can get out the heavy stuff and fish some shallow rivers

With the size of the smallies you are targeting in big time current, any knot would break!!!

+1. Been doing it for a decade and wouldn't care if I ever saw another trout. And I only do it on weekends April-December. I used to love trout fishing Now that's funny

I never tie on any lures until I get to the water and assess the conditions. Obviously some of my rods already have lures on them but I never pre-rig a single thing because you can't force feed the fish. Of course there are exceptions when going to certain destinations you know certain Lures will work regardless of conditions but in general, the plan I come up with the night before is an epic fail. I always have better luck trying a few different places and tactics and seeing what mood the fish are in

Scots/Irish and Swiss here @Way2slow I know some jones around Tuscaloosa county