Tennessee Boy

It’s definitely a TVA plant. The Army Corps built the dam and manages the lake but TVA built and runs the steam plant. https://www.tva.com/Energy/Our-Power-System/Coal/Gallatin-Fossil-Plant

Well they do from at least one of their coal powered plants. I noticed for the first time about a month ago that the surface temp near the plant was 73 degrees when it had been in the low 60s all day. As I passed the plant going upstream it quickly dropped back down to 62. This was on Old Hickory lake which has the only population of Tilapia in Tennessee. A few fish survive each winter in the warm water around the power plant.

Chattanooga is a great town. In most states you pay the taxes to the state you work in not the state you live in. Tennessee doesn’t have an income tax but makes up for it in sales and property tax. Paying Georgia property tax on your home and Tennessee income tax on your income would be ideal. I’m assuming Georgia doesn’t tax out of state income. As for fishing, you can buy out of state licenses and go where the fish lead you. You’ll be close to many great lakes including some in north Alabama like Guntersville. I’ve had some great trips to Weiss Lake which will be a little ways down I59.

.05 mm diameter braid? Really? I feel like I’m living on the edge when I use 8# PowerPro which is .13mm. I can’t offer much advice because you’re doing something I’ve never done. My concern would be that if the braid diameter is sharper than the knife in your pocket there’s a good chance it will cut through 4# fluorocarbon. Test your knot and line with something in your house that weighs 1 pound. If you can lift it, your line and knot is working as designed. The next question is can you effectively set your drag that low.

I used to catch them all the time as a kid. It was a lot of fun. I think it’s been about 50 years since I last caught one.

I wish you guys would stop talking about the count down Rapalas. Some subjects should not be discussed online.

We anglers tend to WAY over estimate how much impact we have on the bass population. The science shows that fishermen kill a lot of fish but no where near as many as natural mortality kills. For a fish to get bigger, it needs to avoid getting caught but it's far more important that it get plenty to eat and find water that will allow it to thrive. I'm not aware of any evidence that there's lots of state record bass swimming around that are just too smart for anyone to catch. My best chance of catching a state record largemouth is on Lake Chickamauga which is the most heavily pressured lake in the state. Why? because it provides a good environment for the fish to grow big and the TWRA has had a very successful program that introduced Florida strain genetics into the largemouth population.

I once spent around 4 hours trying to get a wire from my console to the bow. I finally got it but wanted to scream several times in the process. With a car you can take the whole thing apart if necessary. I don’t know if it’s even possible to take a boat apart.

I have a 2018 RT188. I installed all of the electronics in the boat which includes running power to 9 things, network cables to 4 things and transducer cables to 3 things. I wish I had some good advice for you. It was a pain running wires and there’s a lot of things I would like to redo. Being an electrician I’m sure you’re a lot better at pulling wires than I am. I’ve done many wiring projects on my boats over the years and pulling wires has always been something I hate. Good luck with your project!

The best lakes around me are the ones with the most tournaments. It's been that way for as long as I remember. The impact of tournament fishing on fish populations has been studied to death. This link will return 2470 links to scholarly journals on the subject of tournaments and their impact on largemouth populations. Looks at the facts. It should make you feel better about your concerns. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C43&q=largemouth+bass+population+tournaments

I spent the first 20 years of my bass fishing life learning the rules of bass behavior and the last 20 years learning that the bass don’t follow the rules. ?

I don’t think you will become an international celebrity by catching the state length record yellow perch. I think it would be cool to hold a record and I don’t fish any secret holes. I’ve caught several lake record yellow bass because no one has claimed the record. ? I will claim it if I ever catch one that’s not laughably small.

The problem is not Forward Facing Sonar it's trolling motors. It's cheating if you don't use a paddle.

https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/10/10/paypal-fine-for-misinformation/

I agree with all comments so far. You may not be doing anything wrong. Doing the wrong thing can keep you from winning a tournament but doing the right thing does not guarantee success. You still have to execute better that the other anglers who have figured them out. That's where time on the water matters the most. If you're on a pattern that can produce one good fish an hour you can win any tournament. It can take several hours to know if you're on that pattern. Knowing when to commit to a plan or look for an alternate approach comes with experience. You also need to get lucky from time to time.

Defense wins championships and Georgia has it. Congratulations to all you Georgia fans.

4:30AM - I’m in my recliner, TV on, ready for the game. Kickoff in 10 hours.

I’m pretty close to 50/50. It varies by time of year and what lake I’m fishing.

Something has changed in the last ten years and I think the Internet is why. There have always been differences in opinion. Some have always looked at the glass and said it was half empty. Others looked at the glass and said it was half full. Today there are people who look at the glass and say it was put there by aliens to control the minds of those that drink from it.

We probably had 60 trick or treaters this year. My wife gives out the candy. My job is to maintain candy quality control. I sample about 1/3 of the candy to make sure it meets our strict standards.? Happy Halloween Everyone!

Agreed. One side thinks that fluorocarbon is the answer to all our prayers. The other side thinks that only monofilament will do.

Kentucky Lake

If we win this game we're almost guaranteed a spot in the playoffs and it's hard to see how Hooker wouldn't be the front runner for the Heisman. There's a lot riding on this game for Tennessee. Georgia has the home field advantage and I think they have the better team but anything can happen on the football field.

The sky just won't stop falling.

Sometimes a bear shows up when you least expect it. I was fishing an t-rig and kept getting annoying little nibbles. I picked up the rod with 6# fluorocarbon leader and a crappie jig to see if I could catch what was nibbling on my bait. That’s when the big smallmouth showed up. ? Lesson learned (again): You should always be loaded for bear when there are bear in the woods.