TnRiver46

That’s pretty much par for the course on chickamauga, guntersville, Pickwick, and ky lake. @Oregon Native frequents the much quieter lakes

Great job and Great report. Congratulations! Five boats sank??? Oh dear. I don’t fish the river downstream of Sweetwater if the wind is blowing. It’s basically an ocean in the main channel from Chattanooga all the way down if the wind is above 15mph. Kentucky dam is still pushing over 250,000 cfs, here’s a visual of the lake level haha

Going upstream keep the red buoys on the right and green ones on the left. Vice versa going downstream

White bass are showing up in big numbers. Had 4 people in the boat Saturday and Sunday, probably got 75 Saturday and about 60 Sunday. And another 15-20 after work Monday between 3 of us

That's a spotted bass I think, the rows of spots below the lateral line are a good indicator, it usually helps to look for a tooth patch on the tongue as well

Bingo

I would use it to throw ultra light lures. Bass will surprise you with how small of a lure they will hit, especially when it's cold. Like a small rapala countdown

I use stren 100 percent flouro. When the lure gets stuck it's pretty hard to break the 12 lb. Usually it will straighten the hook on a small tube before it breaks. 20 lb power pro, Albright knot, and 12 lb stren leader

Sounds like you should be the one giving us fishing tips!!! Congrats

In late February I suppose I don’t look for things to determine if they are in the prespawn phase, I just assume they are

My goodness gracious throw a saddle on those things and try to go 8 seconds!!! Especially that first one!!

I’m also guilty of catching a bunch of drum on accident, my buddies love to make fun of me about it. I ate a small one, maybe 1lb and it was decent.

I also forgot to mention that sometimes when largemouth are blitzing shad, a lure that looks nothing like the shad will work. Like someone above mentioned a tube, maybe a jig, or even a purple or chartreuse crankbait. Something completely different stands out to the fish. If they are blitzing shad on top over deep water in summer, a Mann’s little George way down deep can get the big ones

I always use a grub that I find laying on the floor of the boat, mostly zoom fat Albert. Or the back half of a trick worm or finesse worm. The hardest thing about swim jigs for me is keeping big drum from eating them

Thanks y’all! I was in a tributary and the water was already 60 degrees

Gotcha thanks

Nice fish @Team9nine, I’m curious as to what tactic your employed to catch these shallow aggressive bass

Got off work a touch early Friday to attempt to go help a buddy who had lost a bunch of stuff in the river the day before. By the time I showed up they had already found everything And were floating downriver. I decided to park near a bridge and stand in the river so I can jump in when they float by. Why not make a few casts while waiting? Caught a nice one with a pumpkin grub, good fight in heavy current

I was also going to say a fluke also. Largemouth Chase shad in coves around here a lot on the surface and can be way too hard to catch. Other times they swallow any lure when they are chasing

It helps to have a fishing pole with the action of a broom handle for that application

Which part o’ Tennessee?

Texas rig is the way to go. Mainly because I never get a bite power fishing

Yes

Great for heavy current and bouncing off rocks. A little sluggish in slow wide open water

X rap has always worked best for me but they are also the most expensive ones I have ever thrown. Surely rogues Work but I haven’t ever had any luck with them. When it comes to floating jerk bait I like cotton Cordell, although I used to have some lures called Excalibur ghost minnow that were good. I’m not sure if they are still manufactured.