Nauticman
Well-known member
Ok, so here is a report from Riverpark for those of you who are interested.
I started out Tuesd. before noon fooling around at the floodgates which were still closed. All 4 generators were running putting out about 46K cfs. I caught a keeper spot and crappie there. Then I worked my way down river mostly trying for smallmouth using tube baits and jig/pigs. About 1:00 pm TVA started opening flood gates eventually increasing the flow to 76K cfs. I didn't catch a thing fishing eddies mostly with 15 ft. or so depth.
A boat approached me and kept a respectable distance. As I floated closer to it, the gentleman in it told me that he didn't want to interfere with my fishing, but would I mind taking his picture. I told him I'd be more than glad to. He pulled a beauty of a 6 lb. 4 oz. smallmouth bass out of the live well. I told him I had never broken the 6 lb. barrier for a smallie and congratulated him and told him I was jealous. He said he had caught lots of 5's, but this was his first 6 and he had caught it on a live shiner. I took several pictures with his camera and a couple with mine. His name was Chris. He didn't seem to know much about the CFF. I won't post his picture here for his privacy. If anyone knows him and gets his ok to post the picture, I will. He is a very nice gentleman and the smallie was absolutely a beautiful specimen.
I picked my son (FirstLight) up at 5:15 after he got off work. He hadn't brought any tackle. He picked up my baitcaster which I had rigged with a 1 oz. jig/pig and promptly caught a 19.25 in. smallie and a TARP 20.5 in., 4 lb. 5 oz. smallie. He caught these fish in fast water about 25 ft. deep. We could barely hold our position with my 80 lb. thrust trolling motor. I had used much lighter baits all afternoon in more shallow water and maybe that's why I hadn't caught any smallies. The water temp was a disappointingly low 51 degrees. We released both fish.
The next day (Wedn.), I started fishing mid afternoon and caught a 14 in. smallie near rip-rap on a 1/2 oz. jig/pig. The flow was 77K cfs and the water temp was down to 50. I again picked my son up after work and this time he got skunked and all I landed was 2 big drum (10 lbs. plus). We both missed some strikes and lost a couple of smallies after a few head shakes.
I see where TVA is increasing the flow to about 89K cfs for the next few days. That'll probably close the Riverpark ramp.
I started out Tuesd. before noon fooling around at the floodgates which were still closed. All 4 generators were running putting out about 46K cfs. I caught a keeper spot and crappie there. Then I worked my way down river mostly trying for smallmouth using tube baits and jig/pigs. About 1:00 pm TVA started opening flood gates eventually increasing the flow to 76K cfs. I didn't catch a thing fishing eddies mostly with 15 ft. or so depth.
A boat approached me and kept a respectable distance. As I floated closer to it, the gentleman in it told me that he didn't want to interfere with my fishing, but would I mind taking his picture. I told him I'd be more than glad to. He pulled a beauty of a 6 lb. 4 oz. smallmouth bass out of the live well. I told him I had never broken the 6 lb. barrier for a smallie and congratulated him and told him I was jealous. He said he had caught lots of 5's, but this was his first 6 and he had caught it on a live shiner. I took several pictures with his camera and a couple with mine. His name was Chris. He didn't seem to know much about the CFF. I won't post his picture here for his privacy. If anyone knows him and gets his ok to post the picture, I will. He is a very nice gentleman and the smallie was absolutely a beautiful specimen.
I picked my son (FirstLight) up at 5:15 after he got off work. He hadn't brought any tackle. He picked up my baitcaster which I had rigged with a 1 oz. jig/pig and promptly caught a 19.25 in. smallie and a TARP 20.5 in., 4 lb. 5 oz. smallie. He caught these fish in fast water about 25 ft. deep. We could barely hold our position with my 80 lb. thrust trolling motor. I had used much lighter baits all afternoon in more shallow water and maybe that's why I hadn't caught any smallies. The water temp was a disappointingly low 51 degrees. We released both fish.
The next day (Wedn.), I started fishing mid afternoon and caught a 14 in. smallie near rip-rap on a 1/2 oz. jig/pig. The flow was 77K cfs and the water temp was down to 50. I again picked my son up after work and this time he got skunked and all I landed was 2 big drum (10 lbs. plus). We both missed some strikes and lost a couple of smallies after a few head shakes.
I see where TVA is increasing the flow to about 89K cfs for the next few days. That'll probably close the Riverpark ramp.
