TNCBA anglers visited Douglas Lake this weekend to compete in the third stop of the BFL Volunteer Division. Most of the bass had already made their way to their summer haunts on Douglas' deep points and ledges. Bites were fairly numerous, but the key was finding the 3 to 4 lbs. class of fish. There were 100 boats that competed and several anglers brought limits in the 6 to 8 lbs. range to the scales. Anglers threw Carolina-Rigs and large Shaky Head Worms on deep points and ledges to catch their bass. On the boater side of competition Cody Dison finished in 36th with a 10 lbs. 8 oz. bag that was anchored by a 5 lbs. 5 oz. kicker. His finish moved him up ten positions to 34th in AOY points. Ryan Pope put together a limit of Douglas Lake bass for 6 lbs. 12 oz. and a 74th place finish. Pope's finish moved him to 69th in AOY points. On the co-angler side of the tournament Kelsey Harvey brought the right kind of bass to the scales with a five bass limit that weighed 14 lbs. 2 oz. and earned him second place overall, his highest finish in BFL competition. Harvey's second place finish moved him up to 4th in AOY points. The next stop for the Volunteer Division will be Cherokee Lake on June 4th.
Harvey Beats Boone for 2016 TNCBA All-Star Title!
Kelsey Harvey put together a mixed bag of largemouth and smallmouth on a finicky, post-spawn, Boone Lake. Kelsey utilized a crankbait and finesse tube to bring three fish to the scales, totaling 6.36 lbs. Ryan Pope finished second with the Ned Rig as his go to and put together a catch that weighed 5.03 lbs. Cody Dison finished third with 4.89 lbs. and Steve Legg finished fourth with 3.50 lbs.
TNCBA - Smith Clips
The TNCBA is all about sharing our adventures on the water...whether they be from one of our recent tournaments, or just a day on the lake...it is always fun to see what other TNCBA members are up to on the lake!
*Thanks Smiths, for sharing your pics and clips.
TNCBA On The Water : How-To "Finesse Tubes and Power Fishing the Post-Spawn"
"Power Fishing the Post Spawn"
"Finesse Tubes"
TNCBA at the Non-Typical!
This past Saturday several TNCBA anglers competed in the Non-Typical Ministries event on South Holston Lake. Anglers were greeted by a cold front and cool winds throughout the day. Ryan Pope put together a solid limit that hit the scales at 12.81 lbs. Kelsey Harvey soloed the day and was on the right quality of smallmouth. Harvey brought four fish to the scales for 12.33 lbs. Keith and Cody Dison had a limit of five bass, but they could never find the size. Their five bass weighed in at 10.71 lbs. Kelsey was able to get away from the worm bite and entice his bass with a finesse tube. The remaining TNCBA anglers caught their fish and green pumpkin finesse worms. Other TNCBA members at the event included Billy and Angela Smith, and Allen Jackson and Reg Edwards. The next Non-Typical event will be May 7th on Douglas.
"Beyond the Scales - TNCBA #3 Douglas"
The 2016 season is off to a hot start, as is apparent from the chart below. Both the total weight and the number of fish caught has steadily increased over the course of the first three tournaments. We have seen winning team weights at 20 pounds or more for each event.
TNCBA at the Scales '16
So as we leave Douglas in the rear view mirror, we need to reflect in order to learn. This new column, "Beyond the Scales," is going to be a complete 180 from the "Dock Talk" article that is on here before our tournaments. The goal is to breakdown the lake and improve our skills based on our experiences.
My mindset as I launched the boat was that the bass would be in less than three feet of water or less, and many would be on the beds. Throughout the day I actually saw few fish cruising the shallows and I never saw a single bass on the bed. I caught my early morning fish on reaction baits, such as chatterbaits, swim jigs, and a floating worm, but as soon as the sun got up that bite died. Now some anglers were able to locate bass on a rattle trap throughout the day, but it seemed that you had to be around roaming groups of bait for the lipless crankbait bite to work.
Once the morning bite died I moved from my first area and picked up a carolina rig. I caught my first bass on the rig within ten minutes of picking it up and I quickly noticed that the fish was out deeper. Throughout the day almost all of my fish came deeper than they had during practice and the water temperature everywhere that I went was two degrees cooler on average.
After fishing our second area I moved to my third area that was a deep, main lake, limestone wall. I picked apart the main lake wall with a 1/4 oz. Spot Remover head and a green pumpkin worm. I was able to upgrade all but one of my bass on this main lake wall. Most of the fish came in five to ten feet of water. From this point on I rotated through my three locations for the remainder of the day.
*Final Thoughts:
Even though we had consistently warm days, the nights were to cold for the bass to commit to the shallows. The buck bass would move up to work beds in the warm sun, but the bigger bass held off a little deeper. The main thing that I think I would have changed from Douglas is that I would have backed further off from the same areas and thrown the carolina rig and worm deeper, say 7-12 feet. I still think the deeper bite was dying off and the shallow bite with some adjustments could have produced a fifteen to twenty pound bag. Overall it was a great day and the spawn in only going to get better!
TNCBA #3 - RAW Video Clips
Thanks for all the video clips, TNCBA Anglers!
Vandyke and Rutherford Dominate Douglas!
Mike Vandyke - 8.95 lbs.
Mike Vandyke and Fred Rutherford soldiered through high pressure conditions to put together a solid bag of Douglas Lake bass. Vandyke and Rutherford utilized a Carolina Rig to pick apart spawning areas in the Swan's region of the lake. Rutherford methodically put together an 11 lbs. catch of the course of the day that anchored their team weight.While Rutherford's weight anchored their team catch...it was Vandyke's last minute heroics, catching a 4.61 lbs. largemouth in the final minutes of his day, that put Vandyke and Rutherford on top of the team standings with 19.95 lbs.
Congratulations to your TNCBA #3 - Douglas Lake Winners, Mike Vandyke and Fred Rutherford!
*Robert Chatman edged Fred Rutherford out by two tenths of a pound to take the individual win with 11.70 lbs.!
Fred Rutherford - 11.50 lbs.
Robert Chatman - 11.70 lbs.
Fishing Report / "TNCBA Dock Talk - Douglas"
In this week's edition of dock talk, I am going to start of with the fishing report and then we will discuss game planning.
Douglas Report 4/14:
Time: 6:30am - 7:30pm
Weather Conditions: 48 degrees at launch with overcast skies. Cloud cover dissipated around noon and then cloud back up around four in the afternoon. The high temperature for the day was 75 degrees. Wind was 5-10 out of the the NE.
Water Conditions: Water temp at launch was 60.5 degrees and by the end of the day the water temperature was up to 65 degrees. The water temp was about two degrees cooler from Indian Creek on up the river. On the main lake and in most pockets the water clarity was 2-3'. Trash is heavy on main lake and small pockets from Dandridge to Swan's.
Day Breakdown: Over the course of the day (keep in mind 13 hour day) we caught 27 bass with 25 being keepers. Average bass was 2.5 - 3 lbs. We caught bass on ten different baits, but 3/4 of our fish came on soft plastics that were Carolina Rigged or Texas Rigged. Green Pumpkin and Watermelon Red Flake were our go to colors. We caught an even amount of fish in the backs of creeks as we did near the main lake. We focused on river rock in creeks and pockets and limestone out on the main lake. The depth range was 0 - 8'. We are using about a 10 - 12" leader on the C-Rig.
"TNCBA Dock Talk - Douglas"
Alright, here...we...go! It is finally that time of year where you launch the boat and have 20 different rod and reel combos strung across the the deck of the boat and on any cast there is the chance of that big girl that just moved up tightening your line. The shallows are alive with buck bass and the big girls aren't far behind.
We learned two important things yesterday...first of all...tree vs. fiberglass, tree always wins...second...crappie fisherman are the most cut-throat and diehard fisherman for about one month out of the year. Don't worry about a bass tournament holding you up at the ramp this Saturday, the first Crappie fisherman will arrive long before any tournament angler even wakes up.
When we look at the reports we see the A-Rig catching them two weeks ago...the main lake playing a role last weekend...but in my opinion the spawn is getting ready to explode in the mid lake area. We saw several bass cruising and even pairing up in the shallows on Thursday. While fishing main lake areas will be productive this Saturday, I am going to keep my mind towards those spawning areas. The big girls are just sitting out a little deeper, waiting to commit.
We have had three very consistent days of sun and warm temperatures...the barometric pressure is high right now but stable.
I expect the bite to be good from about 7am - 12pm and then slack off as the pressure peaks from 12pm - 2:30pm.
Over the last couple years of spending more time on the water and paying more attention to tournament results, I have changed my mindset to understand that our lake are loaded with thousands of fish. If you catch a couple moving through an area, I promise you those are not the only two there...there are probably dozens of them there...especially this time of year.
And remember...just because there wasn't anybody home on that spawning area when you last fished it...five may have moved up in the last hour...re-check areas that you have confidence in over the course of the day.
When we launch in the morning...I will have two carolina rigged lizzards in different colors...a texas rigged worm...a wacky rigged dinger...a chatter bait...and a rattle trap on the deck of the boat. I will fish areas very thoroughly and multiple times throughout the day.
Get your mind right before this one...there is going to be trash...there are going to be lots of other boats...but ultimately, there are going to be fish caught...
AND FISH CATCHING IS FUN...I LIKE IT ALOT!!!!
Bed Fishing Basics
Here is a interesting video of spawning bass interacting with different baits. There is a good chance that bass will be on the beds this weekend when we visit Douglas, so have some soft plastics of different shapes and colors in your tackle box.