TnRiver46

I've always been told you do more harm than good trying to get that out of there. If I can't get the hook out I just bite the line and let him keep it. They can pass a hook

@scaleface, those are all stud smallmouth but that one on the top!!!! Holy crap

I got my degree in wildlife and fisheries management and the one thing that the professors constantly stressed when referring to "habitat" was the importance of food. In reality you could probably use the terms "habitat" and "food" interchangeably. Mammals, birds, fish, and pretty much everything make food their #1 priority. Sure they need shelter and reproduction as well, but they look for those in place near available food. The only exceptions I can come up with are maybe a buck during the rut or a salmon in freshwater, they forget about food temporarily

I think I'm pretty lousy, thus I don't fish tournaments.

19' is my favorite!!!! Funny you would say that

When Alabama loses we all win. I am a lifelong Tennessee fan and alumnist and you will never see me cheer for another SEC team unless it's Tennessee. It doesn't do me any good when our opponents win championships. I have never understood people rooting for other teams that are in their conference. Take the last decade for example. Alabama has dominated and everyone else in the conference has suffered because The more championships Alabama wins the better players they stock pile. I suppose Auburn has done OK but everyone else is firing coaches left and right

I use powerbait liquid. You can smell your bait and tell if it needs reapplied. Had the same $5 bottle for 6 months

Hmmm. My strength is keeping the lure in the water longer than most people. Sure does increase the odds

Weightless is good when the muck is Gobbing on the bullet weight

That same thing happens around here a lot. I don't see it too often but a lot of fellow fishermen say you can see largemouth flying through the air but can't get them to bite anything. Most of the frenzies I see are white bass and they aren't nearly as picky as largemouth

Wow small world. My girlfriend grew up in Henry county. New Bavaria I guess, in a corn patch. they mainly fish catfish there from what I understand but I have heard about that walleye run. I took a picture of the independence dam (?) last time I was up there

Anywhere near the defiance, OH or maumee river?

Ditto

Got 3" in Knoxville!!!!! Pretty cool

Imagine where the fish you get at the grocery store or restaurants came from.......... I'll take a local river fish over store bought any day

Gotcha

Senko Senko and more Senko. weedless and weightless. It can be a topwater a jerkbait or a do-nothing bait

I would love to see some here in East tenn but I'm not getting my hopes up, we got basically zero last year (maybe a dusting or two). My favorite part about the whole thing in the south is that all the shoppers buy up all the most perishable of food items. You would think they would buy stuff with a longer shelf life. If you are truly preparing for a snowstorm, might want to get cans of soup or meat instead of milk and bread.

Nice bass. You really like the inside of that bend or point there!!! I can't blame you either!

Enjoy it while you can!!!! EPA shut down all the hot holes on the Tennessee river. They are now lukewarm holes. But it still draws in fish

I suppose it all depends on the frequency and volume of fish they stock. Normally I would say they can be most anywhere, they love riffles and rapids. it's usually not too difficult too work your way upstream and cast everywhere along the way. Trout always face upstream so approach them from below, although that's not 100% necessary. If they don't stock a whole lot or very frequently, then I would fish as close to where they stock them as possible Looking at that photo I would fish the fastest riffles first, then that log, then everything else

I thought that was tree bark when I first looked at the photo!

The I caught a couple trout yesterday in 8,000 cubic feet/second. With the boat in neutral I think I was moving downstream almost 3 mph. Basically the river was 9-14 ft deep and moving super fast. by comparison I'm guessing that river in the photo is moving at a maximum of 1,000 cfs, probably less than 500. Flowing water is a conveyer belt of food to a rainbow trout, they Can sit effortlessly in heavy current and pick out food items. The key to catching them is to cast and cast and cast and cover water keep your eyes peeled, you can usually see them or see them surfacing. If there is a decent population of trout in there, one will eventually follow a spoon or spinner

That's a cool looking river, if there are stocked trout in there you can catch them no matter how cold it gets. They like it cold and they like those rooster tails you bought

I would retire for the year if that happened to me!