TnRiver46

I wish it would go back to late 80s early 90s where we had to watch the tournament on TV to see who won. Kind of like all other sports! I don't own a computer........

Sounds like you won't need this tip anymore but when canoe fishing solo, don't sit in the back seat. The front seat is way closer to the middle and will balance it out waaaay better. I stand up in mine and push pole upstream through some unbelievably shallow shoals. All the weight is on the push pole and allows crazy shallow draft. As for the car topping, all fishermen should drive a pickup truck! Or any red blooded american man for that reason (as I type this from my work van hahaha). I can pick up my girlfriend's sit on top kayak and literally throw it into the bed of my truck. One ratchet strap or truckers hitch in a rope and off to the river !!!

@fissure_man, slave culture? Whoa whoa whoa back this train up a little . As a fishing guide I have never been whipped and always been compensated. My understanding of slavery was that there was no payment, not sure how gratuity is a slave tradition

They are trickier than they should be

Hm, maybe it's different on the rivers with dams. I don't know, I'm not going down there !!! It just seems the fish can be caught extra deep in winter and rarely below 25-30 in summer. We have zero natural lakes, with the exception of reelfoot out west. And I think it's about 5 feet deep max haha

Wind at 10 mph or above, kayak. Wind below 10, canoe. I can put way more stuff in wide open space in my canoe. And I can walk around and get to it, mine is an alumacraft and easy to stand it. I don’t like having to reach back behind me to get tackle in a kayak but I would still choose it on a windy day. I like Sit on top kayak for summer and cockpit kayak for winter . I maybe just maybe have too many boats??

I was in Gatlinburg Thursday and Friday for the state chapter of the wildlife society meeting and there was traffic, even on rainy weekdays in winter . Had to park 2/3 mile from the conference haha. Nothing like summer though

Without the traffic????? You must have went in the winter

HEavy rain again so I left the boat in the carport, but thanks to @Bluebasser86’s bladed jig I got a fish right away. I set out two catfish rods and then picked up the bladed jig and threw it under the neighbors dock, caught a little pale largemouth on the first throw! (Note the water color in the picture below my elbow) It was raining awfully hard so I quit casting and took advantage of soft ground and did some unprofessional drainage work with a shovel around the foundation. No success on the catfish lines, they were out for probably 4 hours

I usually troll them trying to tickle the bottom in 18-19 ft. Lots of guys get the boat up against the bank and grind it all the way back

I can rent you one on tellico! Especially if you are handy with drywall and flooring and water diversion

As a man who deals with opossums for a living, that is definitely not what we have here haha.

You can eat groundhog, as long as you don’t make a stew

With a side dish of W!

Ouch!!!!

Gotcha thanks. The French broad has all those species

Barleys is indeed a massive place and the parking near it under the bridge is free and pretty big. It only gets completely full when the late night crowd arrives. A lot of parking downtown should be free on weekends and after 6 on weekdays.

Hopefully not like last time!! If it ain't too much trouble..... Haha

I've heard tale of people video game fishing with a damiki and catching fish down that deep on some tributary lakes. They do it in winter when the water is about 47-50 degrees top to bottom and the fish roam around following alewives. In summer, the water stratifies and that deep water is cold and nearly void of oxygen

Well there are dozens of places in market square, the ones are open for breakfast are probably tupelo honey, tomato head, and cafe 4. Old City Java is also nearby. I have eaten at tomato head and tupelo honey, they are both tasty, maybe around 10-20 bucks. I have never personally been to cafe 4 except for concerts but I've heard it is excellent. There's a place called honeybee coffee over on my side of the river (never been in) just across the gay st bridge but it would probably require transportation from downtown, it's probably 1.5 miles away. Everyone in my neighborhood seems to like it

Im down if I don't have to work! I can't believe I've never heard of Pete's coffee shop but I know market square very well, only about 3 miles from my front door. The market square parking garage is usually my favorite for accessing that area .

Excellent advice, but what’s a mature river?? An old one? They say the French broad river (and nolichucky and maybe little Tennessee) are older than the Appalachian mountains because they flow from Carolina back through the mountains into Tennessee.

Oh man I got totally duped!!!! I read the second or third reply about a blockbuster and I was about to ask him where in the &@“$((@@ can you find one of those??? Then I saw 2006 on the post

They are biting from what I hear but there’s a crap load of logs floating around . Keep your taters peeled!

The river is crazy right now! I crossed below the dam at work and it looked like Godzilla was emerging from the water