The week started off bad and ended worse for Chunknwind and myself. The weather forecast called for 65 each day and I thought of taking the sunscreen instead of the thermals and probably should have. Good Luck for anyone chasing the Brownfish at Dale today, tomorrow or anytime within the next couple of weeks for they are very difficult to catch at this time (at least for me they are). Pretty much the water temps were 50 starting out and 52-53 as the day progressed at mid lake. The temps up in Wolfe were a degree or so colder and the water is much clearer.
Monday - High Blue Skies, No wind, 65 degrees, fished all day long at the same spots and then some that produced so many for me a couple of weeks ago with NOTHING, NOTTA, ZERO. FNF, Silve Buddy, Hair Jigs, shallow, deep, grass, black shale, points, bluffs, you name it NOTHING. So about 45 minutes before dark I head to my GUARANTEED 100% spot to catch a VERY SMALL fish for a 15" smallie rules this area. We (I) land 4 gigantic (largest being about 9 inches) smallmouths to get the skunk out of the boat for it was stinking pretty bad. All on the fly at about 11 feet with Duck and Red the color. We even saw a houseboat heading up Sulphur Creek.
Tuesday - High Blue Skies, with a little clouds from time to time, and we catch 7 very good quality smallies. All were between 2 and 4 pounds, yes I whipped Netboy again 4-3 and yes I did catch the massive 4 pounder for bragging rights again. All were caught on black shale points and secondary points. It took a bit to get the pattern but then ran it all day and caught pretty much 1 fish per hour or so up to dark. All on FNF, craft hair white and pink about 11 feet deep.
Wednesday - No clouds early but then got clouds about 10am, fished same spots as the day before with same jigs for NOTHING. Different depths from 8 - 18 feet deep on the fly with Duck, Duck/Red, Duck/Charturese, White/Pink, Smoke, Blue, every jig in my boat plus tried vertical jigging in 40-60 feet with tail spinners, no luck. Not a bite anywhere. So off to my GUARANTEED 100% spot to get the skunk out of the boat and NOTHING, NOTTA even with fishing the whole wall when usually the first 1/3 will do for a fish. Gave up and went to Hendricks Creek (see other post about 3sons).
Thursday - Moved 8 miles up river away from all my honey holes with PERFECT conditions, a little wind, NO SUN, cloudy, spitting rain all day long intermittently, and we catch 15 fish total. Yes I doubled Netboy up at 10-5 but he did catch the biggest of the day at about 3 1/2 pounds and yes his 5 would have outweighed my 10 but as my wife says, 2 eyes and a tail equal 1 on the scoreboard. All on the fly but Duck with Blue and Chartreuse.
Friday - Back the boat down the ramp as it is pouring the rain about 6am or so. Netboy gets out and drops a roll of line on the ramp and it rolls under the trailer into the water on my side. I walk my BIG BEHIND down to pick it up as I step into the water about 6 inches deep, my feet go EAST but my head goes WEST. I was going at a pretty good clip to save the roll of line and ended up falling completely on my left shoulder. Bad news when you scale out at 380 hitting the concrete on your shoulder. Netboy rushes over to help me up but I can't get any traction on the Algea or better known as "ICE" so I am laying on my belly with half my body in the lake. I crawl over to the trailer and pick myself up but my arm is pretty much dead. It takes a few to get some feeling in it but that is it. Back to the cabin to change clothes for I am sure I am going fishing. It gets worse and worse as the minutes pass and I can barely lift it much less cast a FNF rod. Trip over and I am not ashamed to admit it, I shed a few tears sitting in the cabin as Cliff packed up my stuff and loaded the truck. Except for my wife, kids,family and Cliff, I absolutely love to FNF fish at Dale Hollow more than anything on this planet. So dis-heartening that the one day you know your buddy Cliff will have a real shot at his first 5 pounder and your BIG A$$ gets hurt. The drive back to Boonville Indiana was the most dissapointing drive I have ever experienced in my fishing career. The clouds, rain and everything said this was the day the Big Girls would be up suspending ready for the fly. Maybe they don't make rainsuits and winter gear for guys my size for a reason, a man my size should not be out doing the things that I try to do.
I am off my soapbox now and will tell all that the lake is still turning over. I am not a turnover specialist but the water way up the Wolfe is MUCH clearer than mid lake and below First Island is still black. Grass floating all around mid lake tells me it is coming off the bottom and the fishing is still not right. When the temps get below 50 and stay there for a good week or so, then, it will be on. I am guessing the 10 of January by the look at the projected forecast. Good Luck to all of you and be careful out there.
Now, for another rant, I learned a lot this week on the water and one thing was keep your Honey Holes to yourself and don't trust anyone with this information. I thought I would give EVERYONE the spot that produced about 30 fish over 3 pounds last winter for me. I ran by this spot for 2 years and NEVER saw a sole fishing it, then the first week of December I find it to my satisfaction and loaded the boat with 2 over 6, 5 over 5, and another 25 or so over 3 pounds. I made the mistake of telling a few people about this spot and when I say a few, I believe the number is 4 to be exact - 3 from this site, and now every person fishes it I think. On no less than 4 occasions the past 7 days on the water, I have been fishing this little cut and a boat has been on full plane coming up Sulphur Creek then clears the point and sees my boat then turns around and goes somewhere else. One of these people was a particular guide on the lake that I thought I could trust but I now have my doubts. I have caught maybe 3 fish off this spot since the end of December 2005 after landing all those good ones over a 10 day period that spanned 3 weeks - Something is up. I think with so much fishing pressure now and then those running up to fish it with me on it tells me that if you have a Honey Hole then keep it to yourself. I learned this the hard way so in keeping with the Christmas spirit, here is Woody's Honey Hole for all to know with exact directions. You will be able to find it very easily. Leave the main lake at Dale Hollow and travel up into Sulphur Creek. You will pass a semi bluff just after passing Divers Rock. At the end of this bluff is a little cut. The North point of this cut has a Tennessee/Kentucky State line sign on it. THis is the cut. Fish the north point starting at the sign about 2 cast out from the bank 10 feet deep with the fly. There is grass all over this point. The point comes out pretty far so move your boat out as you fish the point then up into the cut on the left side it gets a little deeper so cast more up on the bank. Then turn around and fish the South side of the is cut. Deeper water, no grass but there are a bunch of stumps under water. Cast right up to the bank but watch out for you will get hung. When you see it, you will say to yourself that no way are there fish in this spot. My words exactly and this is even more of a reason that there is no way that many people can know about this spot unless people you thought your could trust was not spilling the beans for it is a no nothin bank that gives you no reason to stop and fish. NOW EVERYONE has WOODY'S Dale Hollow Honey hole, good luck for I am done with it. I hope those that spilled the beans will see boats lined up for there turn to fish it every day of the week. ENJOY
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