Nauticman
Well-known member
Nauticman, Upper Nickajack, PB 26 lb. Striper, 4/3/13, Alone, later joined by FirstLight
Put in at Riverpark early pm. The flow was 20K cfs and the surface temp was 52. Spent most of my time fishing between the dam and the R/R bridge. At the recommendation of my son (FirstLight) I was going to throw jerk baits all afternoon. Started out with a 16 in. smallie. Wasn't long and I connected with a 15 lb. striper with a bad eye on one side. After I spent eternity getting 3 treble hooks out of his mouth and the net, taking a self portrait and releasing him, I saw some fish busting bait and pitched my jerk bait in there and the battle was on.
The fish headed straight for the one space between R/R bridge piers which has a shallow rock hazard. Check out the "river park info" 4/1/13 post (Yfz45011) and you'll see my pic of a heron sitting on that rock hazard. This post is a great read, because CFF members present lots of good info about water hazards for fishermen in our area.
Anyway, I had visions of busting my $1,600 i pilot trolling motor on that rock and messing up my lower unit. Putting all the strain I could on my open face spinning tackle with 10# flouro and working the 90 HP Yamaha, I managed to steer the fish and the boat between the next 2 piers and into open water below the R/R bridge. We were both exhausted when I netted him, my personal best striper, a 26 pounder beating my previous best by 4 lbs. I thanked it as I released it. I also had thoughts of appreciation for Drumking, Labman and FirstLight for their advice about going after these powerful fighters.
I then caught a grilling size striper that I saved for my son to take home. Pete Jr. joined me after he got off work, but there was no action to be had after that for stripers or smallies, only one drum. TVA kicked the flow up to 32K about that time, maybe that messed us up.
Regards, Nauticman
Put in at Riverpark early pm. The flow was 20K cfs and the surface temp was 52. Spent most of my time fishing between the dam and the R/R bridge. At the recommendation of my son (FirstLight) I was going to throw jerk baits all afternoon. Started out with a 16 in. smallie. Wasn't long and I connected with a 15 lb. striper with a bad eye on one side. After I spent eternity getting 3 treble hooks out of his mouth and the net, taking a self portrait and releasing him, I saw some fish busting bait and pitched my jerk bait in there and the battle was on.
The fish headed straight for the one space between R/R bridge piers which has a shallow rock hazard. Check out the "river park info" 4/1/13 post (Yfz45011) and you'll see my pic of a heron sitting on that rock hazard. This post is a great read, because CFF members present lots of good info about water hazards for fishermen in our area.
Anyway, I had visions of busting my $1,600 i pilot trolling motor on that rock and messing up my lower unit. Putting all the strain I could on my open face spinning tackle with 10# flouro and working the 90 HP Yamaha, I managed to steer the fish and the boat between the next 2 piers and into open water below the R/R bridge. We were both exhausted when I netted him, my personal best striper, a 26 pounder beating my previous best by 4 lbs. I thanked it as I released it. I also had thoughts of appreciation for Drumking, Labman and FirstLight for their advice about going after these powerful fighters.
I then caught a grilling size striper that I saved for my son to take home. Pete Jr. joined me after he got off work, but there was no action to be had after that for stripers or smallies, only one drum. TVA kicked the flow up to 32K about that time, maybe that messed us up.
Regards, Nauticman
