Does anyone know what the current water temps are on  below Wheeler or Wilson?? what does the water temp need to get to for things to really get crankin for the smallmouth.  Im gonna try to get back below Wheeler this weekend.  Thinking about the hump next to the island if the current is right.

Natural

Not exactly, but below Pickwick the surface temperature is 82 degrees, down 10 from just a couple of weeks ago. The smallmouth fishing will begin to pick-up when temperatures drop below 75. The best fishing is 45-55 degrees (late October through February).

I'm still striper fishing. This weekend I'll be below Wilson and will post an update on this thread with exact temperatures.

RW, there are 2 tournaments launching from McFarland this weekend. One of them is over 200 boats. You may want to launch from the TVA Rockpile ramp on the Colbert Co. side, the one closest to the dam, if you weren't already planning to launch there. Just a heads up.

Water temp was 81 degrees on Pickwick below Wilson dam on Wed morning...

Trip cancelled.

I'm pond fishing this weekend.    :-[

RW?  How are you doing your striper fishing.  what are you using and which end of the lake are you on???  Im headed below Wheeler tomorrow and would try the stripers if I had some idea what to try?  for years we have caught them on top water just below the tower but never really caught the really big ones.  Could you pass along some tips and tactics.