TENNESSEE NEWSOME

4-5 miles to the lake i fish most often

I've been wondering if videos like this would ever surface. Wow! Excellent work Glenn! Very, very helpful. I'm a worm/tube/jig fisherman mostly and haven't given spinnerbaits the honest try that I should be. Can't wait to see these other videos!

Hard to tell, as always with pictures. But that's an awesome, awesome fish. I'll say upper 8's to 9.0. Congrats.

I like using a soft jerkbait when I see bass chasing minnows. One of my favorites is a Bass Assassin (looks like a mini fluke). I tie a Gamakatsu drop shot hook on and nose hook the Bass Assassin - no weight. Throw it out as far as you can on spinning tackle. Jerk and reel, jerk and reel. The jerk is more important than the reel. If it doesn't look like a frantic or wounded bait fish, you're doin something wrong. Be sure the bait isn't moving in a loopty-loop pattern. Try different speeds and techniques. If the fish are extremely active, I like ripping it through the water. Hope this helps.

I used to have the same problem. When I first moved to TN from Florida, I had a terrible time. This advice helped me tremendously. #1. I got a longer rod. I now use a 7' rod when throwing jigs. I also use a heavy football head jig. Football head rolls along rocks easier. #2. Use a higher gear ratio - My baitcaster is a 5.4:1 I believe. #3. Pull the bait along the bottom with the rod as opposed to reeling the jig. When you feel the jig come hit a rock that might cause problems, barely hop it. This is the advice someone told me when I wanted to keep my jigs and t-rigs with weight on the rocky bottom. Good luck. Oh, and if you're in rocks, there's a good chance there's fish!

Excellent advice. I love it when i read something on here and learn. Thanks!

Same here too. Unless it's a big fish that I absolutely don't want to lose, my rod tip goes at least a foot or two in the water.

Dude, that is an awesome, awesome fish! Congrats!!

I should have taken a picture of the boat and equipment we were using too. It just goes to show that you can catch nice fish and have a good time without having to spend 5, 10, 20 grand on a new boat and motor. Those things are nice and certainly give you an advantage, especially if you're fishing a tourney. One day, I'll step up. There's just a lot of people who have the wrong perception. Trust me and JT. You can catch a lot of fish with a leaky 1970 something jon boat that can be thrown in the back of a pickup truck (with just a trolling motor).

I've had the exact same experience here more than once. Just a few weeks ago, I couldn't get a bite to save my life. Fish teasing me all around the boat feeding on mayflies. I threw everything in the box and varied my retrieve.

It may be CMA Music Fest week here in Nashville, but we were on the lake in the early evening last night instead of listening to music. My new fishing buddy who's been fishing for exactly one month, caught this 23 incher last night on J. Percy Priest. Awesome fish for that lake, which gets enormous metropolitan pressure. He was hooked before. Now, he's addicted!

The post by Glen that a few others referred to is a technique that I've been using for a few years. It's excellent advice!! In fact, I had two fish just yesterday that swallowed trick worms on shakey heads. They were deep. I went in from the gills and got both hooks just fine. It looks a lot worse that what it is until you move in from the gills.

That's some good feedback. Thanks a lot. It's contrary to what my gut-reaction was telling me, in that they weren't in that 1-2 feet of water that's up in the brush. I may try going this evening, but I'm not sure if I can even get my aluminum boat back in there. Thanks for the advice!

I fish often in Middle Tennessee where we have been inundated with rain over the past month. The particular reservoir I fish is at least 6' high right now, with water standing in some of the parking lots where you'd normally be driving to launch your boat. In some places, you just launch from the lot itself. The past two times I've been out, I've had terrible results. Very few strikes, very few fish. I can't figure out if the reasons for why I'm not catching fish are because of the extraordinarily high water levels or because of the lower than average water temp (water temp is 67-69 degrees still). Normally, I'd be catching fish this time of year in 4-10 feet of water. Are the fish traveling into these shallow areas where water normally doesn't stand? Or are they sticking to their usual "home" areas? In that case, I should be fishing 10-16 feet of water to compensate for the flooding ... ?? Although the high water has thrown me off, I'm reading reports of other anglers catching fish. I've been doing most of my fishing at night -- maybe that's why I'm not catching them either?? Thanks for the read and your tips.

While it's true that some very defined areas are limited to artificial bait, most streams and rivers in Tennessee are open to fishing with most or all of the baits you mentioned. Even in the Smokies, you'll find places where you can use most anything. Start here to check more. If you know exactly where you're heading, I'd call the TWRA to make sure, in case you're making a long trip in.

I'm soakin all this up like a sponge. In the back of my mind, it seems like I read somewhere that the lake I fish doesn't go through the thermocline cycle...or maybe the lake flips opposite of others. I fish Percy Priest most often where depths of 50-60 foot of water aren't uncommon. If anyone knows thermocline info about it, please chime in. Thanks for the info. This is great information.

I'm in Tennessee where the temps lately have been surging into the mid 90's. In the sun, I heard it was over 100 at the airport today. The oxygen content can't be that great in shallow waters far away from river/creek channels. Am I right to assume that in these hot temperatures, I should stick to areas close to deep water where the O2 content is higher? Last time out about a week ago, the water temp was a blistering 85 degrees. Also, if someone could answer this, it would really clear up something I have wondered for several weeks. How much of a cool off is there from 0-10 feet, 20 feet, 30 feet, etc... We have a number we can call for water temp, and the temperature at 10 feet is almost always within a half degree of the surface water temp. At what point does it really begin to drop, and by how much?

Well, I guess I don't see it that way Wayne. I fish every chance I get, and I never look for good conditions before I go. I fish in the sun, rain, hot, and cold. I'd rather have a rod and reel in my hand than be at a night club, amusement park, water park, shopping mall, etc... The only time I'm preoccupied with analyzing the data is when I'm home. Can't help my own curiosity to know what makes fish tick, why they feed at some times and not others. There's more to it than guess work. And although science wasn't my discipline, some aspects of it are a hobby for me. I was just sharing the results of my findings. When I'm in the boat, I'm ready to catch fish, and I'll go to great lengths to do it. I've caught 198 fish this year, and I'm not going to make excuses for the trips I wasn't successful. I just love fishin!

Several months ago the issue of barometric pressure came up. It's partially why I started keeping a fishing log this year. I use a "Great," "Good," "Fair," "Poor" system. A "Great" trip would be exceedingly above average (lots of fish, very active bite), and a "poor" trip would be considered exceedingly below average (no bites, no action, no fish). Everything in between would be "Good" and "Fair." Unless otherwise indicated, all trips were for bass fishing only. Red entries represent a barometric pressure ranging from 29.90 through 30.10, the preposed optimum fishing condition. Here are the results after 31 fishing trips this year: GREAT (4) 30.03 rising 29.19 falling (trout fishing) 29.71 rising 30.2 rising GOOD (10) 30.06 rising 29.95 rising 29.96 rising 30.15 steady 29.85 rising 30.10 steady (trout fishing) 30.05 rising (trout fishing) 30.00 steady 29.90 rising 30.10 steady FAIR (10) 29.5 steady 30.01 rising 29.99 steady 30.09 steady 29.93 rising 29.91 rising 29.95 rising 29.90 rising 30.3 steady 30.3 falling POOR (7) 30.10 steady 29.85 steady 29.83 rising 29.8 rising 30.05 falling 30.00 rising 30.2 steady So far, there is absolutely no direct correlation between good fishing and a barometer ranging from 29.90 - 30.10. The article "Bass And The Barometer" (http://home.comcast.net/~rkrz/infoarch/fyibarometer.htm) suggests that optimum conditions are between 29.98 and 30.02, a small window of opportunity for sure since pressure can change rapidly. To test if this range is a more accurate parameter for success, I'd have to secure more data than the 31 trips so far. Another reasonable conclusion to draw here is that most of the trips I've made have been made while the barometer is within the 29.90-30.10 range. Twenty of 31 exactly. If anyone else has specific data, please share it. For me, I have serious doubts about pressure having any great effect on fish. That's just the early conclusion I'm drawing so far. But I'm no scientist either.

Sam, you've probably lost any and all ambition to send the PM. If you haven't, I'd greatly appreciate whatever it is that has everyone begging. Besides knowing next to nothing about it (except for the pictures I've seen), I'm scared to throw an exposed hook around all of this TN rock.

Well, I'm scared to death of that second hook that's often loose (or becomes lose). I might very well be able to grab the mouth with no problem, but when she shakes, I'm afraid of that second hook lodging into me. Makes me cringe to even think about it. My dad got stuck by a 4/0 EWG a few years ago with the fish still on the line. The hook broke off in his finger. And like a dummy, he kept fishing instead of going home (he told the doctor the fish were bitin). When he got home, he had a blue streak runnin' up his arm. Maybe I'll give it a shot next time, but not before I put some peroxide and bandaids in the boat!

Most everyone can remember a few days in their fishing lives when they lost a big one. The ones that make ya sick to your stomach. I had one such day yesterday. A few weeks ago, I was complaining about the size of the bass on the local lakes I fish on, but lately I've managed to find some 17 and 18 inchers. So, yesterday, as the sun was going down, I tied on a big crank bait and casted it parallel to the bank and started reelin. On the second cast, I caught a 17.5". But the next cast was one I'll never forget. The bait was right under the boat when she slammed it. Got the fish up to the boat and realized I'd forgot the net, and I was by myself. I'm not too keen on liftin a heavy fish out of the water by its mouth with huge treble hooks in it, so I just stood there thinkin "Now, what?" She laid there for several seconds before giving one last fight. That's when she broke my line. Not knowing she was free to go, she just sat there as if to say, "Catch me now if you can!" She would have been the 160th fish caught this year (93 bass). I'm not gonna guess how big she was, but I know she was a lot bigger than the 22 incher I caught last year. I'm no pro by any means and just love to fish. I have a poor man's rig, but I still fish as much as I possibly can in between sleep and work. So, for me, to lose a fish like that one is a heartbreaker. Guess I'll go out again tomorrow and chase #160.

I'm no professional by any means, but I do fish the upper end often (seven points, cooks, hamilton creek). My go-to bait on JPP has always been 3.5" tubes in pumpkinseed, t-rigged. I love draggin it off ledges and over long points. I've also had a good time with a Bandit 200 series crank (brown crawfish/orange belly). As of last week, they were in 7-10' of water, but I've caught a few deeper too. I suspect they're headed that way due to the warming water. Hope this helps. I'm always open to tips too.

I just went through this a few weeks ago when I flew to Florida to fish with my dad. I called the airline I was flying with as well as the TSA, and both said there was no problem with fish hooks. I took my reels only, and I put the tackle boxes (not the bag) in my Jansport backpack. I stuffed anything I thought I might use in the backpack too. I took the backpack on the plane with me. One thing though. If you take pliers, you'll get stopped everytime. They will want to measure to be sure if they're less than 6". No problems though.

Some of you guys should consider taking up writing fictional short stories. Man! Very creative and detailed. 29.9 - 30.1 I've actually been curious about this range myself. I've had some good days this year when the barometer has held that range for several hours. It's actually what prompted the question to begin with. I've had one day when the fish didn't bite when the barometer was in this range though. Again...no perfect forumla.