General question(s) about Dale Hollow Lake

Hey guys, I have never been to dale, so I'm planning a trip sometime next year. As I'm a complete novice to this lake, I had a couple questions for you avid anglers....

What time of the year do you consider the "best", when it comes to this lake ?

I've also considered hiring a guide for my first trip, I know many of you guys frequent the lake, so would anyone have any advice or recommendations as far as guides go ? Any personal experience with any of the guide services down there ?

Any info, as always, is much appreciated.

Thanks in Advance,

James

Any time that it is cold, rainy, snow, and just plain nasty is best for me.

[QUOTE=HawgHunter75;499655]Hey guys, I have never been to dale, so I'm planning a trip sometime next year. As I'm a complete novice to this lake, I had a couple questions for you avid anglers....

What time of the year do you consider the "best", when it comes to this lake ?

I've also considered hiring a guide for my first trip, I know many of you guys frequent the lake, so would anyone have any advice or recommendations as far as guides go ? Any personal experience with any of the guide services down there ?

Any info, as always, is much appreciated.

Thanks in Advance,

James[/QUOTE]

Check out [URL="http://www.smalljaws.com"]www.smalljaws.com[/URL] great information on the site.

[QUOTE=dwhanc00;499657]Check out [URL="http://www.smalljaws.com"]www.smalljaws.com[/URL] great information on the site.[/QUOTE]

Thx dw, found a similar thread to this one, lots of good info in there.

I live bait fish 95% of the time when I'm down there. and have my best success from now until the water gets extremely cold in January or February....Seems like the fish are at their peak when the waters 50-65 degrees....Fair warning though, once you get there and get into them ol' brownfish you'll be hooked....I only went 6-8 times last fall/winter and had 2 40+ fish days and 4 30+ fish days with the average fish being in the 17-18" range with quite a few overs