TN toobin'

[coldfront]

out on the river today.  man, 40°F sure is cold.  face and hands were soon burnin' on the short run from the ramp at sunrise.

Water temps were 61°F, though.  and if it's not a full moon, it's one day either way.

TVA was generating current at just a little over 41,000 CFS until about noon when they cut it in half... then an hour later back up to 32,000 CFS. 

fishing was slow and meticulous.  preferred bait of the day was the strike king KVD tube (3.5 inch) texas rigged with a 1/8 ounce tungsten bullet weight.  fish this on the big rod and use big hooks because dang these smallmouth have hard mouths and you got to really stick them.

tried straight green pumpkin, but rotated in the green pumpkin with purple flake.  fish ended up showing a STRONG preference for the purple flake.


first cast of the morning, 2-2pot.


next cast a 10 incher...  good start... then it went dead and I really had to slow down and 'scrub rocks'.  bites in  the morning were soft, subtle.  never felt them, just noticed it 'felt different'...  missed a couple as they were n't really taking it in and committing.

Kept working and got into the groove.  bunch of smallmouths today most around 3 pounds, but ranged fro 2-0 to 3-8 (largest)...  pulled somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 smallmouth today.  the bite was not 'on', but i worked hard, focused and ground it out.

here's a sampling of the fish that made it across the gunwale today











stayed cold most of the day.  good day to have layers and winter gear.  managed some sun (vitamin d production)...

great day that really made me focus and clear my mind of everything other than what that tube was doing in about 8 feet of water in relatively strong current.

[Donald Garner]

CF, man congrats on a hard day at the office     Tks for sharing the trip and those pictures with us. 

[SteveTX]

Good looking fishes there CF.