Dale Hollow Thur - Sunday

[elnutsmalljaws]

Thursday - Fished from 2am to 5am, nothing no bites, fished lower end with jigs. Fished from 7:30am to DARK with 2 others in the boat, landed 11 fish total, 5 on the fly, 6 on jigs, biggest being a 5 even Greenfish and 4-4 Smallie both on the fly. Water ranged from 47-49 in mid lake, stained color.

Friday - Landed 6 Smallies on the fly early and 1 good 3 1/2+ Smallie on a crankbait by 10am. Ran about 45 miles in all from Lillydale to Hendricks creek and all in between after that. Landed 1 Smallie that went 5-4 on the fly about 2pm on a Shady 60 degree bank, 2 good 3+ Greenfish on a 3/4 Luhr Jensen Crankbait on a hump in 25 feet of water, 4 other Smallies on shallow Crankbait, jerkbait, texas rigged lizard, and Shadrap SR7. Water temps steady all over around 48-49, lower end stained a bit, mid lake stained a bit more and worse Lillydale and above. No pattern, fish scattered caught in shallow grass, deep grass, hump, pea gravel point, main lake island, main lake point. Your guess is as good as mine but did scratch out 13 by myself and I was wishing I had brought the entire tackle arsenal instead of downsizing to certain lures. If I had one, I would have tied on a 1oz C Rig with a 10 inch worm at times. Launched in winter gear, down to T Shirt, pants, and griping that I had wool socks under my winter boots. Wind was howling out of the SW most of the day at 15-?????, with ????? being most of the time, Sunny and downright hot. When I took out, a couple of guys that were taking out as well said they had 15 that day all on a football head jig fishing main lake points 20-30 feet deep in Wolfe River but the majority of them were Spotted Bass if this helps anyone.

Saturday - Met Chunknwind at the ramp at 5:30am, Launched it was 56 degrees and I was in half winter gear with the other half with me just in case. Within the first hour or so, I was in full winter gear. Temp dropped all day long and the wind howled again, 15-????. Chunk lands a 4-4 Smallie on the second cast and I hit a smaller one a few minutes later. We ran and fished pretty much all the way from Lillydale to Indian Creek (next to the dam) in some 2-3 foot rollers at times. Wind hammered us all day long, swirling like it does at the Hollow. Ended up with 7 total, Chunk had the biggest, all on the fly except one suicidal maniac that I caught on a Silver Buddy in 48 feet of water and she hit it on the initial drop. I also had a 13" Rainbow and a 11 1/2 inch Shellcracker both on the fly as well. Tried a bunch of stuff but only the fly worked today. Water temp was pretty much 48-49 all over from mid lake to the dam and clarity was not much different. We ran a good 60 miles today and I had exactly 1 1/2 gallons of gas left in my tank after she was full to start the day.

Sunday - Launched again before dayling in Full Winter Gear, ran to our #1 Honey Hole that has produced 5 fish all over 4lbs within the first 10 or so cast of every morning the past 5 mornings we fished it and we got NOTTA, NOTHING, very dissapointing for it is all down hill from here. The wind picked up a bit and I decided to try a spot that we had never fished together during the prime time. I got the skunk out with one very early on this spot, then Chunk tied it up and then I was downgraded from his "Hero" to just "Human" in his own words. I missed a pulldown all together due to running my mouth and not paying attention, then got broke off by the biggest fish of the day and I knew exactly where when it happened. During our run to spot #1, my FNF leader got tangled up inside the clip of my Silver Buddy about 2 feet above my jig. I knew this and knew it was pinched but being the Stout Professional that I am, or is it a FAT LAZY AMATEUR, I did not re-tie. I knew I needed to but hands too cold and me too lazy. I am a MORAN. I get another pulldown and get 5 good cranks of the reel on her and she spits it. Cliff is now pretty much in shock with statements about "You never miss a fish" "You are just Human" "You know how you feel when you find out that your Hero's are just Human afterall", stuff like this. We move to our last and deciding spot and I catch my 3rd of the day for 5 total in the boat and then I miss another pulldown all together. We fish to the end and Cliff and I are shooting the crap and I see his Woody's home-made bobber is 3 feet under and sinking. I say the following 3 words "Fish Bobber Down" to which Clebo sets the hook with a bunch of slack but his bobber rises to the top again. He says no, and is reeling in the slack to which the rod loads up again and he has now tied the score to 3 apiece and we leave on a tied note. Landed 6 all on the fly, no monsters, but we should have had 10 with at least one good one that I saw before she said NO NO. Overcast, Cloudy and got colder by the second. Took out around noon, loaded up the cabin and came home. Temps were still 48-49 and mid lake was much clearer on Sunday than any other day on the water.

About 42 hours on the water and all I really know is the fish are not in the backs of the creeks, they are not hitting a jerkbait, they will destroy the fly especially from sunup to 10am, and after that you can catch them in any shape or form you want. I literally cast line in Lillydale, Sulphur, Mid Lake around Big Goat, Pusley, Natty Branch, Dale Bend area, Hendricks, Roberts Hollow, First Island, Mitchell Creek, Indian Creek, Kyle Branch, Horse Creek and various humps and ledges in between. Both the Big Green and Big Brownfish of the 4 days were caught within 10 feet of each other on the fly. Not saying they are easy to catch but saying fish are in all stages from deep winter homes, to main lake points to just up inside the creeks. Nothing in the backs of the creeks but a few more degrees of water temps and it will go nuts somewhere somehow but just not for me. Done with Dale until night summer bite starts, until then it is 1 trip to Barren this coming weekend and then 3 trips to the twin lakes in April and first week of May.

Good to meet Aaron, Basscat and Andrew for the first time and to spend time with Mark on the water as well on Thursday. Always good to see my buddy Chunk and spending time in the boat with him is my favorite thing to do on this planet next to spending it with my wife and kids. Good Luck at Dale and hope you catch a big Brownie for me. You will find me there again about the beginning of June heaving my 1oz spinnerbaits at night in hopes of a "Bite".

[Bonefish]

Thanks, Elwood! As always, a great report.

[Swany]

Thanks Elwood for a great report, we are going to try it Wednesday I guess, with all the cold weather dont know if we are wasting our time

[bereabasser]

had some buddies go down yesterday and between the two of them from 12 till dark they boated 33...all were largemouths and spots on jigs

[thebassman30]

Elwood,
It was really special to spend some time with someone who loves it as much as I do. I hope that you and I can jack them really good together sometime soon.
Mark