weather was just too good to pass up today. plus forecast for next two weeks shows quite a bit cooler.
light rain, overcast (obviously), light wind and TVA was running current at 45000cfs which positions fish nicely and makes eddies, current seams a lot easier to find/read. Water was clear/green with about 2 feet or more of visibility. Water temperature was 55.5°F and has been about that for past few weeks. STeady. waiting a bit on the rain had me on the backside of the cold front. good day to find CURRENT... as current fish are a heck of a lot more willing to play.
Woke up to rain. worked on breakfast, finding proper layers and the heaviest drops to move out.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AL9nZEWeIuHUFFpIBtFQhFVob_Uq5X5rILk3dV5BBQem9mwFCsKHZmAJkMDQGVjTXQI5Hss0YGLpxSbEynQv-BeAonLYxP_4sRWCsrS7G_N5T5XyNMDEtQssEr5cwaTWIyz_HvtZXdSQsS6jxVUsHRFWuU2z=w590-h948-no?authuser=0)
got out on the river and fished the usual suspects: shad imitators. Couple of small, but fat spots jumped on the 3" keitech easy shiner (1/16 ounce ballhead jig) early. got one to 'go' on a shad pattern DT6. Then a big cabin cruiser came through, put up a 3-foot swell and trashed the shoreline (muddy, muddy, muddy). tried to work the mud-line, but no fish.
moved on to a different section of river and kept on tossing the 'finesse' keitech. Bites were steady. Probably swing about 20 over the side today. about even mix of spots and smallies. a few largemouth were in the mix. no giants. all in that 12 -15 inch class.
ran the 1/16 ballhead keitech easy shiner on spinning tackle with an 8# flouro leader. also had a 1/8 ounce ballhead threaded with a keitech fat swing impact 2.8 swimbait.
could use any color I wanted; but the fish were pretty dialed in on the 'sight flash' color. even more than that? needed 'just a touch' of chartreuse added to the tail to really get the commit.
couple of the better fish.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AL9nZEVRVjoJtdEsOs7leVxPFd8pQaNqtrpnA6QU_XzeCb1qJkYA0hegShuewrO0gvJrscvFNIkgQTKC6ibQJ4QyO5bRfp2Rc_-e0r0hPwDdMGmFvAUI8nVj3EvCM_ZTWDaw6FpmQ6Nlz9nhO3esm8ZO_j87=w1921-h856-no?authuser=0)
yoiu can see how I rig and color the bait in this shot
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AL9nZEWPF7NPq6pugS0NJBLNOvrWt2PwZpcFc85vXdyMr5qWUOFskAsdTTdrEJgVQhECFcRCBxzhdkjASai_kJa0-a2DKmeTDary9M5T7i0ZpviG6jxxdpnmZQcyESDby5lwuW_GxNacjDiNm3OwVZnZJDgK=w1920-h784-no?authuser=0)
a little later in the year, will start to rotate in the jig-worm (berkley half-moon head and the 4" max scent flatworm).
CF, congrats on another successful outing. Tks for sharing the trip and those pictures with us also.