NickaJack Dam 11-5

[DHaun]

Jerdog and I went below Nickajack Dam this morning from 6:30am-1:30pm. Awesome day to be on the water and I was ready to catch my overdue share of stripers. Started out trolling for whatever would bite and looking for some threadfin. Jerdog early on scored a 16" bass trolling a splatter back bandit. There were a few baitfish flipping and we briefly saw one decent bait ball near the ramp but it dispersed as other boats launched.

After searching a bit more for some bait we gave up and went to the single turbine that was running and I started to spoon jig off the side of it. Felt a few bites, had a couple tug at it and twist off, and then I finally hung about a 5lb channel cat in the back and wrestled him up to the top from 25 ft deep.

After that area slowed down we decided to drift shad lures downstream but the striper were just not in there. We tried our best and made numerous unsuccessful drifts so we decided to move about a bit. I had never fished around the lock discharge and thought there might be something pushed up against the wall so we headed that way and I started to spoon jig again.

After a few minutes Wham! Big Fish...tore off running through the water like a striper, felt like a striper...definitely not a drum this time. It acted mean like a striper and took a bit of drag trying to go deep. This was a heavy fish and we waited a while to see it.

Finally after a few minutes it came up and I thought for sure it was my striper of the day, but given the fact that I have a gift for catching big junkfish we got it up to the boat only to see a bowling ball size carp. It was so funny I just started laughing...Now it might be a junkfish to some but I am happy to have had the fight it dished out...It weighed right at 16 pounds and this thing was so ugly I had to look away to take the hook out of its lips! That's one thing I like about Nickajack you almost always catch something and it might just be big, but the stripers were gone today. We plan on giving it another try next week, maybe they will show back up.

 

[rsimms]

DHaun, that it actually a buffalo. Real close cousin to a carp. However they are highly sought after by the commercial netters. I understand buffalo are frequently used in the manufacture of fish sticks. Bon apetit'

 

[SNUFFY]

GEE DHAUN ....THAT SURE IS AN UGLY FISH.....I HOPE THAT`S A DIGITAL PIC...HATE TO THINK YOU WASTED EXPENSIVE FILM ON THAT THING.............I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN ABOUT FUN TO CATCH ANYTHING THAT BIG..... I CAUGHT A 28 LB YELLOW CAT ABOUT A MONTH AGO ON LOUDON......HIT 3/8 JIG JUST AS I WAS REELING IT UP OFF BOTTOM...LIKE TO JERKED ME IN THE WATER....TOOK 20 MINUTES JUST TO MOVE HIM OFF THE BOTTOM WITH 12LB LINE AND ANOTHER TEN TO GET HIM WHERE I COULD POKE THE JIG OUT......HE WAS UGLY BUT I SWEAR I BELIEVE YOUR IS UGLIERemoPoke

 

[DHaun]

Thanks for the info Richard. Cool...There I go learning something new again - Never caught a Buffalo before and very glad I am not a fish stick consumer...

 

[flip1up]

DHaun, what kind of boat were you guys in? I got there about 12 or 1 and saw a couple boats come and go. Is it a crestliner or something like that? I caught a 17-18 inch spot early next to the wall, man that fish was thick, I think is was pushing 3.5 pounds. I stayed till dark and ended up catching 3 stripers and 1 hybrid, the largest was the hybrid, about 10 or so. Saw 1 caught on top (spook) it was big, it came off near the bank the guy said it was 20+. Your right though they were not in there good. Thats all I got in 6 hours.

 

[DHaun]

flip1up - We were downriver scouting for deep water around 12-1. We came back up about 1:30 to the boils to make 3 final drifts before loading up. We were in Jerdog's boat, which is a V-Hull StarCraft - Honda (pic below). I normally tend to do better around dark myself. What kind of boat were you in? You still catching them on the firetiger storm lure? We might be headed back Monday and or Tuesday night in my boat (18' Brown G3 - Yamaha 90) depending on the generation schedule.

 

[JerDog]

Ya, if you see us...give us a holler!

 

[flip1up]

Yep, I saw you guys when you made your last passes. I was on the bank, red shirt in front of the boils. I caught them on the 5" glow 1oz. weight. Watched a fella catch 3 right next to me. Asked him a few questions, he uses a 2oz. weight on a 3 way swivel with a 1 foot liter, did not get hung one time either, says he will go up to 3oz. when they got all of the turbines cranked up. He was throwing a white fluke with a char. tail. Im going to try his rig next time, I think it will put the bait down in the strike zone quicker and longer. No doubt that most of the fish are right on the bottom.

 

[polo-dog]

Sounds similar to the rig I've been using without the 3 way. It really covers the bottom well.

 

[JerDog]

It makes sense to me that we may not be getting deep enough...There are times of the year where there might be so many fish in there that you can catch them downstream. I think there are not that many in there right now and those that are there are deep and right in front of the boils. Gonna fish them deeper, quicker this week.

 

[DHaun]

Good info flip1up! I agree, the water just below the boils has so much current that it prevents the lure from getting down to where the fish are. I have read about that type of rig used for stripers - Until I get some 3-way swivels I think I am going to try tying the 1oz lure on with a palomar and dropping an additional ounce beneath it to see if I can get down quicker...

 

[flip1up]

DHaun, where did you get the saltwater bait that was in the basses mouth in the picture? Looks good, how heavy is it?

 

[DHaun]

It's a 5" Bunker about 1oz. A bunker (menhaden) is a baitfish they like to eat in the Atlantic. I got some Rainbows on the way for good measure too...

http://www.anglerscenter.com/lures_storm_liveeyeshad.htm