Road Trip: Opportunity Knocks

[River Walker]

 Eric,go ahead and take a voluntary lay-off,I need to head down to Falcon in the worst way! Yep,Dale Hollow is an awesome lake-if you like tossing shiners ! Just checked another website earlier,and the bass are on the spawn at Guntersville.I would imagine it's the same over on Wheeler and Pickwick too,no way at KY Lake or Patoka.A report from yesterday at Barkley stated the water temp was right at 50.

[Savage]

At least we won't have to worry about ducking peices of Nitro as they break off if he is behind us on LSC

Good one.  Despite the rumors there is no duct tape.  Moto, you wouldn't have to dodge anything if you didn't follow me all over the lake

Well I'm starting to think that Barkley will be the objective.  hopefully she warms up a bit by April 10th, that's still a couple weeks away.  I'd be happy to see temps in the mid to high 50's, the smallies love to eat jerkbaits at those temps!  So I've heard anyway....

Even if it's just a trip to explore a bit it will be a good time.  I've been to Dale Hollow too and I have to agree that it is a tough bite.  I didn't have any live bait by the way but I was ready to try some dynamite.  My wife told me that she'd rathe drive a couple hundred more miles to avoid another "Dale Hollow Experience" as she called it.  Guntersville still seems too far.......

[Buckeye]

Well RW, I'm still waiting for you to come up with a driving job for me that I can tolerate.  And if they offered, I would accept a voluntary lay-off, as I asked if I could take an extended leave of absence last week.  It was denied. 

Just my opinion, but I'd rather go somewhere that the lake is in prespawn than spawn.  KY Lake in a few weeks would be down right perfect I would imagine.  You might have some of the biggest fish up shallow, and waves of fish waiting to come up.  It could be a good time.

I'd pick a few larger creeks or coves and hammer them.  With KY Lake and Barkley being so big, it can get pretty easy to run your big motor too much.  Tie on a jerkbait, a lipless, and a spinnerbait and search for shallow fish, and when you catch a few slow down and pick that area apart.  As with anywhere, if you catch one in an area, you'll probably catch a ton.

Good luck!

Eric

[motocross269]

Those TN boys seem to do pretty good on Dale Hollow from some of the reports I have seen on BBC....They use alot of light line tactics(Float and Fly) and deep water jigging and spoons....I am sure during the spawn that all changes though...I have seen some pictures of some hog smallies pulled out of Dale Hollow on BBC..I am sure alot of it has to do with "Local" Knowledge and the time of year..I saw Stricker fishing it on Hook and Look and thought it looked like an awesome area...
I guess if I ever consider going down there I better hire a guide for sure...

[McCarter]

Hog Smallies, you say???



McCarter himself

[TCook]

I seen that beast, wasnt that cought on Holston?

[McCarter]

I think so, thats in TN, right? 

[TCook]

Yep in the northeast corner of TN

[River Walker]

What the deal is on Dale Hollow is that the fishing for the giant smallies occurs in mid-winter.The period between November through January is considered best,although February and March can be good too.This is the time that the float-n-fly technique is practiced.During the rest of the year,most people go after largemouth,although there is a brief period in the dead of summer that they night fish for the smallies.The float-n-fly deal is not hard to master,however even attempting finding locations to use this technique is futile without a guide,or some other form of local .This lake has zillions of coves and small creek outlets,countless miles of nothing-looking shoreline and very deep water.To someone unfamiliar with this body of water,believe me,everything looks the same.Local lore has it all you have to do is look for black shale banks,and fish the fly there.Good advice all except for the fact that the whole freaking lake is surrounded by black shale banks! The lake is without question one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever fished,and it's smallmouth fishing does deserve the reputation it has,after all,the 3 largest smallmouth ever caught came from this lake.The downside to all of this is(to me anyways)almost everybody that fishes there-including ALL of the guides,use live shiners-A LOT.That doesn't sit well with me,which is the reason I won't go back there again.Catching 5lb-9lb. smallies from deep water,which is frigid at that time of year,is almost an iron-clad guarantee the fish will die from being deep-hooked.For famous guides to be employing such tactics is horrendous to me.That along with the fact that just last night I went onto the Dale Hollow Fishing website,and lo and behold right on the front page is a picture of an old dude holding a STRINGER!!!!! of 10 largemouth's that went 40 some odd pounds,all destined for the frying pan.Eric you were right,it is different down there!

[Savage]

How big is that toad in the picture?   

[FOB]

If you do go to Kentucky/Barkley, I would suggest staying either in Hardin ( Kentucky side ) or Canton ( Barkley Side ).  This is halfway down, and you can launch either at Kenlake St. Resort Pk. ( Kentucky side ) or Lk. Barkley St. Resort Pk. ( Barkley Side ) off Highway 80/68.  That way you only have to run min. to get to the coves.  I did this before, and it saved me a bunch on gas, and had great fishing as well.  Make sure you drive one time back up LBL to the Dam and eat at the Iron Kettle ( or Iron Skillet, not sure ).  Home cooked food, and great!

Only other lake I would throw in would be Kerr in Virginia.  About 12 hr. drive.

[Mark Modrak]

If you don't want to go too far there is a lake in Northeastern Kentucky called Yatesville lake that is being managed as a trophy lake. Went there a couple of years ago had a good time. Or if you want to make a real vacation out of it you could take a trip down to Bull Shoals in Missouri because the lake is on fire right now, you can catch big spots, smallies and largemouths all in the same areas.You would be close to Branson for the family. There is a great resort to stay at in Diamond City, AR the Diamond City Lakeside Resort (870)422-2668 Katie and Adrian de Silva are the owners and they cater to fishermen and they are so friendly its like staying at a relatives house. You can catch fish in just about all the bays and pockets around the Lead Hill area. Crankbaits, jerkbaits and jigs are working the best.
Branson has all kinds of things to do for the family and its only about 40 minutes from Diamond City.
The only problem your looking at a 15-16 hour drive from Saginaw

[McCarter]

i think it was 8 lbs 13 oz.

McCarter himself

[Buckeye]

Savage, I think looking at your time frame and the driving limitation, you should pack for KY Lake.  I just read a report and the fish are moving up onto the main lake and secondary points.  There are some fissh chasing baitfish on the flats, but it looks like it should be good to go for you in short order. 

In fact, I'm looking at going next weekend myself. 

Eric

[Savage]

Sweet, that's starting to sound a bit better.  I figure I still have 2 full weeks for it to only get better.

Does Kentucky and Barkley have any spots?  I've never caught one so it would be a goal of the trip to get a nice big spot.

[River Walker]

 KY Lake has a very strong population of spots,pretty much anywhere south of the Ohio River will have spotted bass.