I have fished the Barren Tailwaters off and on again for a couple years. I had had moderate success throwing live shiners under a float, but it was very "moderate" at that. Well, last May I went to see how the fishing was and came across an older guy who was fishing off the walk-ways. I watched him catch one hybrid after another, and I was amazed! I had never seen anybody catch them like that at the spill way. Needless to say, I made my way over closer to him and we started talking. I was in dis-belief when he said that he was using chicken livers! I couldn't believe it! And sure enough, I watched him pull his chicken liver out of his little container, put it on the hook, and catch another 6 lb hybrid! Long story short, I made a v-line up to the market and bought a thing of chicken livers. Ended up catching more hybrids in that one afternoon than I had caughten there the entire time I had fished there before!
Here is what I was doing with my chicken livers in order to catch those hybrids. First, use 12-14 lb fluro. Second, attach a good size 10-12 treble, and attach a sinker heavy enough to get you down to the bottom, about 8-10" above trebel. This was key, GET ON THE BOTTOM!!! I used those twist on weights cause of their slim shape, helps avoid snagging the bottom rocks. Putting your chicken livers on cotton balls helps dry them out and keep them on your hook better (FYI). The best time to fish this is when they are letting out a good amount of water from the spill way. stand down on the rock shoreline and cast diagonally upward and across the river. You'll feel the weight bouncing along the bottom as it head downstream. KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOUR LINE!!! This is key. The hybrids won't always smash it, sometimes it will be light. You'll lose quite a few hooks and weights doing this, so have plenty with you. IT'S A BLAST THOUGH!!! CAN'T WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN THIS YEAR!!! GOOD LUCK!!!
-Rich
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