"TNCBA Dock Talk - Boone"

Go high or go low...it doesn't matter what you throw!

Spring is behind us in a general sense, even though the weather outside makes me think otherwise...don't let the weather fool you...these fish are moving on instinct and habit and instinct says, get near deep water and feed up before the water temperature gets to high.

The reports out of Boone are saying that the bass that have been guarding fry have mostly moved out, but there is still a decent top water bite...and with a tournament day that is calling for overcast skies that will produce rain and storms...I will have a Spook and buzz-bait on the deck all day long.

During these transition periods I lean myself towards summer time and deep-water areas...as bass move off the beds, they take some time to heal up before they begin to feed. Typically your fish that have moved out deeper have already healed up and they are ready to eat before the summer heat.

The struggle with Boone is that the lake is down so far that many of the points and humps are out of the water so finding the right summer time holes is not as simple as just looking at a map. So start looking at areas where you have caught or seen bass spawning and then just back yourself out to your first deep water area.

So with fish in transition, what do we do...well here is my plan for Saturday, but keep in mind I am going into Boone blind and with no time on the lake:

When I hit the water in the morning, I will have a Spook and a buzz-bait at my feet and I will try to get a quick couple of keepers on top water near channel swings and points. Once that bite slows...which I hope it doesn't...I am going to move out a little deeper on points with a crankbait or something to drag...and I will focus on bluffs with jigs and swimbaits.

I feel like the key tomorrow will be patience...we have eight hours to catch five bass. I am going into this tournament with the mindset of quality over quantity...I want to swing for the fences and have a 15lbs.+ bag, but that also means there is a high likely hood that I will come in with one or two fish as well. The key is think about how you want to approach the day...do want to catch fifty bass no matter the size or key in on 5 big bites. Throwing a jig won't always get you numbers, but typically when they eat it...it is a good one

I wish everyone the best of luck on the lake tomorrow and I hope that you find some big ones!!!

 

 

Boone Lake Fishing Report

Smiths' Report:

This is my update from our Field and Stream Bible Study tonight on Boone. 

Fished from 6:30-9:00pm

Water Temp: Low to Mid 70's

Patterns: Fish are starting to move out onto bluffs, points, and channel swings. Jigs and Crankbaits are producing bites in Summer time areas.

3 keepers out of the group with 7.94 

Few nonkeepers on jig, crainkbait and spinnerbait

Harvey Digs Deeper to Reach New Heights!

Kelsey Harvey - 14 lbs. 2 oz.

     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.

Catches from the Volunteer BFL on Douglas Lake on May 14th, 2016. Finished 36th with 10lbs. 8oz.

Harvey Beats Boone for 2016 TNCBA All-Star Title!

Kelsey Harvey - 2016 TNCBA All-Star Champion

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

Clips from TNCBA members!

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 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!