Dale Hollow Fish Kill

[GeoFisher]

So, what has changed so much that a 5 or 6 or 7 is nearly unheard of at Dale.....

[thebassman30]

well for me, it's been more like 4-5 years since we could see a 21 on a regular basis. But the easy answer IMO is they have died and these big old river fish can't compete for food with young 16-20" reservoir fish. Dale just doesn't have the water quality to sustain the food chain like it did at the beginning. Now, if we could somehow drain taylorsville into Dale then we'd have something. These lakes are at opposite ends of the spectrum in nearly every way: water temp fluctuation, fertility, forage base, etc.

Still, I think it's very well managed and while I don't think I'm going to catch a 6+, I'm very happy with the quantity and quality of the 3-4's we have.

[18RangerZ520L]

I'm to the point of "trophy" hunting a 6#+ smallie..... I've been on Dale many times when it's been "on fire" and don't get me wrong, it's a blast catching a bunch of 2.8# - 4.8# smallies, I just think the probability/potential for a 6#+ smallie is greater at other lakes close by...... I'd trade quantity for one single 6#+ any day. I'm going to focus my efforts elsewhere this winter/spring.... Other than when I go up north to the Great Lakes to chase smallies, I think the potential to get a 6#+ is greater at other lakes close by..........

I also have noticed a difference (in a bad way) in the fishing since the big fish kill at Dale.

Just my .02.....

Still, I think it's very well managed and while I don't think I'm going to catch a 6+, I'm very happy with the quantity and quality of the 3-4's we have.

[mhall]

I had the one we all dream of on at the Big C last spring. The one in my avatar is 5.4 and I caught it and another right at 5 almost back to back. Went about another 100 feet and got slammed.............Awe dang it, has to be Striper please don't take my pointer I thought. That is what went though my mind until this brwon beast came up in the water column enough for me to see it and turn sideways............Guys I won't throw numbers at you because I know what you all will think...You know the here we go stuff, lol.

It ripped the back treble and ''SPLIT RING'' off the back of the pointer. How does that even happen and yes I swear I nearly cried. I have fished my entire life to hook this fish and it finally happened and it tore the split ring and treble or WORKED it off I have no idea. I just know it was gone and so was my dream. My best guess was 24 to 25 inches and yes I saw it REAL GOOD. The girth was amazing and like I said I had just got that 5.4 and it was 21 inch and change but it SWAMPED that fish.

Just wanted to share my nightmare I guess, it haunts me today.....

Has anybody else other than me on planet earth ever lost the treble and split ring on a fish. It can only happen to me..............SIGH

[GeoFisher]

It ripped the back treble and ''SPLIT RING'' off the back of the pointer. How does that even happen and yes I swear I nearly cried.

I had a big largemouth at KY lake destroy a sammy knockoff. It pulled the front and back treble out of the dang bait.

It was a foggy morning, and we were locked into the bay we launched from because of the pea soup. I headed to a known "go to" spot, and started throwing the sammy. Twitch Twitch Twitch, Twitch.....Pause..........twitch twitch......Next thing I see is what looks like a toilet flush. The vortex in the middle of that bait being gulped down was CRAZY.

I FELT the fish, and then PUT the wood to her. She stripped about 30 yards of line, and then it went limp. I was sure she broke me off. Oh well.

When I reeled back in and felt a little weight, I realized that she just came unbuttoned, and I was going through my mind to all the things I could have done better.

Once I got the bait back to the boat and saw the hooks missing, I really felt bad. I knew that bait was on its last leg, but I simply didn't want to spend the jack to replace it.

To this day, I wish I had.

I don't know how big that fish was...but it was BIG.....

Later,

Geo

[mhall]

I had a big largemouth at KY lake destroy a sammy knockoff. It pulled the front and back treble out of the dang bait.

It was a foggy morning, and we were locked into the bay we launched from because of the pea soup. I headed to a known "go to" spot, and started throwing the sammy. Twitch Twitch Twitch, Twitch.....Pause..........twitch twitch......Next thing I see is what looks like a toilet flush. The vortex in the middle of that bait being gulped down was CRAZY.

I FELT the fish, and then PUT the wood to her. She stripped about 30 yards of line, and then it went limp. I was sure she broke me off. Oh well.

When I reeled back in and felt a little weight, I realized that she just came unbuttoned, and I was going through my mind to all the things I could have done better.

Once I got the bait back to the boat and saw the hooks missing, I really felt bad. I knew that bait was on its last leg, but I simply didn't want to spend the jack to replace it.

To this day, I wish I had.

I don't know how big that fish was...but it was BIG.....

Later,

Geo

Cool story, I love the stories and well told btw. Ya know the mystery of it all and how it unfolds is a big part of the experience for me. It hurts so dang bad to lose fish like that though you just don't get many bites like that.

I inspected and changed out most of the rest of my Pointer split rings and some other baits as well with better ones. You would think for a 20 dollar bait they would put good split rings on the hooks...

[barkleyhawggitter]

Remove the Slot and there would be tourneys there all through the normal season, and a **** ton of winter tourneys there too.

You can regularly catch a 20lb sack of smallies on that lake using a standard 15 inch size limit.......

Yea, LEAVE the slot..........

I just spent three days on dale and caught a ton of 3 to 4 1/2 pound smallies. I like the slot and the fact that it keeps the big tourneys off the lake. we had the lake to ourselves for three days including last Saturday, not one other boat was ever in the same creek we were fishing at the time.

[Fishin is life]

My friend caught a 6 on Dale about 3 years ago and it amazed me how much bigger/wider it was than the 4 1/2-5lbers were used to seeing there. I would have bet the fish was going to go 7 until we put her on the scales. It looked like a big brown dinner plate coming up in that clear water. Last year on cumberland i hooked what i assumed to be a striper, and id still love to think it was except i saw it go by the boat one time and it wasnt silver, it was bronze. I didnt get a good look at it, but ive landed more than enough 5's on Dale to know it was big. I never slowed it down coming past the boat, and once it got to the other side my line just went limp. With a spinning rod im not sure i ever even got a hook in her, she may have just had ahold of the bait

when he caught the 6 we nearly took it to Ricks houseboat to see if he had a better set of scales but i didnt want to bother him

[Fishin is life]

The fish are still biting at dale by the way. While not as good as last weekend we still had an enjoyable day yesterday

[Fishin is life]

A couple more

[thebassman30]

I'm to the point of "trophy" hunting a 6#+ smallie..... I've been on Dale many times when it's been "on fire" and don't get me wrong, it's a blast catching a bunch of 2.8# - 4.8# smallies, I just think the probability/potential for a 6#+ smallie is greater at other lakes close by...... I'd trade quantity for one single 6#+ any day. I'm going to focus my efforts elsewhere this winter/spring.... Other than when I go up north to the Great Lakes to chase smallies, I think the potential to get a 6#+ is greater at other lakes close by..........

I also have noticed a difference (in a bad way) in the fishing since the big fish kill at Dale.

Just my .02.....

Then u need to head to Laurel. Another option might be below the pickwick dam in the early spring.

[thebassman30]

If any of you subscribe to MLF extended cast where u have access to the video library, in 2013, during one of the sudden death rounds (there's only two of them) on Chitaqua Lake, NY... Greg Hackney flipped up a 6 lb 14 oz smallie out of a foot of water. It's still the biggest bass caught on MLF to date...I think! They have had some more recent ones in FL so perhaps Takahiro or Bobby Lane might have got a Larry to top that one....but it was a beast!