Dale Weekend Report

[Bonefish]

My partner and I started out Friday afternoon fishing for crappie. The crappie were stagged thick on any laydown you could find, but you could not get them to look at a minnow. So we started to jig the rest of the afternoon without success. Went in and had some homemade chili and hoped the next day would be better. Water temperature 49 in the shade and 52 in the sun.

Saturday we started out F-N-F on Skull Bluff and by the end of the day we had 6 smallmouth...2 at 2+, 2 at 3+, and 2 at 4+, and 4 Kys from 2 to 3 lbs. And oh yes, not to be forgotten a 25 drum. Water temperature from 51 to 53.

Sunday we started out crappie fishing to see if they were in the mood, but no luck. We road up Sulfur Creek to see what was going on and as the water depth changed from 50 ft to 30 ft, a very interesting thing was observed. There were large schools of big fish stacked in the channel suspended from the bottom to around 10ft off the bottom. Water temperature was from 52 to 54. This is where it gets very interesting. This was around 10 a.m. in the morning when we discovered the fish. I put on a Strata spoon and soon as it hit the bottom...Bam! A 4 lb smallmouth hit it. Boated that one, took its picture and release it. And then my partner had another one on just like it on a Johnson spoon. To make a great day short, we boated at least 30 fish Sunday when stopped counting. A fourth of these fish went around 2+, a half went 3+ lbs and the other fourth went 4+ lbls, that included a 12 lb drum 4 Kys that went 2 to 3 libs and 1 largemouth at 4+ in the mix. Needless to say it was an unbelievable day of fishing. We had a number to come unbuttoned and had our 12 lb test lime broken four times.

Now, I know some you may think we are blowing steam, but that is what happened. As we came in to the dock we talked to a gentleman that asked us if we had done any good, and we said we had had one of those days you only dream about. And then he said that on Saturday those fish were pushing the shad all the way to the bank and they were catching them on crankbaits all afternoon with the same resutls that we had but it was up another creek. They said from Saturday to Sunday they had moved off the banks to the creek channels. These fish were hungry and mean. I have fished for over fifty years but have never caught the quality and numbers of fish as we did yesterday, except in private lakes. I hope you guys don't hold it against me, but that's the way it went down. All the smallmouths, the largemouth and drums were released after pictures were taken. The Kys went in the freezer last night. Merry Christmas to all! My Christmas came a little early.

[smljaw]

WOW!!! We fished Dale out of Star point and caught 10 bass in 2 days. Most came of the fly and a couple on Little George. 2 smallies went 3.8 each... I'm speechless... What a day you guys had!!! My report would be pethetic compared to your report. Good job.

[mhall]

What an awesome report, good job fellas, that's better than any store bought Christmas. What a day, WOW.:7

[Bonefish]

On the way down Friday I noticed on the lunar chart that Saturday, Sunday and Monday are the best times to fish this month. I usually do not pay any attention to the chart because I usually can not go fishing when the lumar table says too. But as it turns out it may be something to it and if it is correct, today before this front comes through maybe it is an unbelievalbe day to fish. The way I see it, by the numbers of fish I graphed yesterday, Dale is healthy and the fishery is something to protect into the future. No other place can you catch smallmouth like this, including Cumberland. I know I got a few strange looks yesterday when I said I released all the smallmouth, but at this time I would not take a one of these beautiful fish out of Dale when I can eat something else like bluegill, spots and crappie. Maybe because others who released their 3 and 4 pounders was the reason my fishing partner and I was able to see such schools of big smallmouth that make a day to remember. So thanks to you guys who released my fish that made my day.

[Smally7]

Did all the fish come off the spoons except the couple in the morning you caught on the fly.

[Bonefish]

Only fished the fly on Saturday. All fish on Sunday were caught in the channel in 30 feet of water just as the break came from 50 to 40 to 30. As long as the water stayed between 25 and 30 feet they were there. If you got of that range of depth, no fish. All fish were caught on the Strata spoon, except my partner was using a Johnson spoon with a red reflection strip. I would catch 3 to his one before he figured he better put on Strata. However, we tried the silver buddy and other minnow jigs and never got a hit on them. Now, I know this sounds a little fishy but that is way it was. I caught drum, spots, one largemouth and all smallmouth on the Strata. I have no idea why they wanted the Strata but they did.

[DRob3382]

was it the standard strata spoon or the bucktail strata spooon ??

[Bonefish]

It was the standard Strata spoon from BPS.

[Smally7]

Bonefish,
When you say channel, do you mean main river channel bends, or main creek channel banks?
Thanks,
Keith

[biggw]

Wtg guys yes you can have days like that sometimes--good job guys :)

[Bonefish]

We were up Sulphur Creek, not the main lake channel. From talking to the other guy that had a similar day on Saturday, the fish were in the same pattern most likely on other areas of the lake. It takes a few days to analyze what might have set up this situation Sunday. It was sunny, a little mist in the sky so the sunlight at times was filtered some. I think the water temperature at 30 feet and the shad activity had a lot to do with it. We graphed a lot of shad in that area so the bass were on a feeding frenzy for sure. Remember that on Saturday they were pushing the shad all the way into the banks in boils and on Sunday they returned to the creek channel, but were still feeding. We had just come off of a bitter cold spell and by Sunday we had a few stable days of warm weather which warmed the creeks up. We saw shad on top of the water at times during the day so the shad activity as good. Why the bass wanted the Strata spoon I think was it has small dimples that collects and reflects light. I thimk the Strata will reflect more light than the Silver Buddy. I have a feeling at that depth the spoon was picking up enough light to attract the bass because they were not hesitating once the spoon hit the bottom. Most likely the Strata spoon immitated the sad they were feeding more than anything else at that time. Both Saturday and Sunday we saw most bass fisherman using jigs on the banks which I don't think produced very well. I used a jig on Friday and Saturday with any hits.

My fishing friends have already accused me of taking the three fish sizes and taking lots of pictures over and over. I told them I wasn't that smart to think of that, so that sort of appeased them for now.

[mhall]

Sounds like Elwoodsmalljaws needs to get him some spoons, LOL. :+