"TNCBA Dock Talk - Patrick Henry Pond!"

During the early hours of tomorrow morning we will idle our way out on to Patrick Henry with one thing on our mind...HOW MUCH LONGER TILL WE EAT!?

I know it is hard to focus, but try to reign yourself in and focus on your fishing...what am I saying...go on and think about food...it is probably the only thing that is going to keep me going...

Patrick Henry is a lake that has trophy bass, but in my opinion, it may be one of the hardest lakes in the area to pattern. Water levels act almost like a tidal fishery with rises and falls of two to four feet on some occasions and the typically cold waters that flow from the base of Boone Dam, can have fish a month or so behind that of other local lakes.

With all that said think simple and keep a positive attitude tomorrow. Although we are in the heat of the Summer I will be fishing shallow cover, instead of deep structure. What is the difference between structure and cover though...glad you asked...when discussing structure we are talking about the lake bottom's contour...humps, points, ledges, etc. Typically with the heat of the Summer, this is where bass will gravitate, but there isn't a good contour chart of Patrick Henry and I don't know the lake well enough to go out graphing for points and humps that aren't on a map...so I will be fishing cover...cover refers to objects that bass can hide under, around, or in...trees, rocks, docks, etc.

During the Summer months, bass will use these pieces of cover for shade so tomorrow's weather will hinder a little of what I am doing. The morning calls for overcast skies and maybe some rain. When the day is sunny and bright, bass will get very tight to the cover for its shade, but cloud cover will cause the to roam. So what to do...I will still be pitching a jig to laydowns, but I will be sure to be throwing a squarebill crankbait as I move from one piece of cover to the next. I will have a black and blue jig on before daylight to create a larger profile. Then I will switch to a natural green pumpkin during the day.

If you find yourself fishing cover tomorrow, be sure to make several cast to the cover. During our practice on Thursday I made eight pitches to one piece of cover before getting bit...so annoy the fire out of them. Remember to keep thinking..."THREE BITES"...that is all it takes tomorrow. I think between 8 and 9 lbs. will win the individual competition tomorrow and somewhere around 13 lbs, will win the team side of our tournament.

FISH TILL THE LAST MINUTE!

I will see you all on the water in the morning!!!

Thursday Fishing Report - Patrick Henry

Water Conditions:     The water was in the upper 70's to lower 80's throughout the lower end of the lake. The lake has a slight stain to it and visibility of 2'-3'. There was decent current due to the rains that we have seen.

Weather Conditions:     The night before we had several lines of storms push through. The morning started of in the 60's and never rose above 75 degrees while we were on the water. The sky was overcast all morning with showers moving through all day. The wind was calm during the morning and then picked up to 10-15mph around 10am.

Fishing Notes:     We started the day off down the lake pitching a black and blue jig into lay downs and picked up two keepers before daybreak. Once it was light out we began throwing topwater and had a solid fish blowup on a buzzbait, but didn't take it. The shad spawn that was happening during the last report was over on the lower end of the lake. Other than the blowup on the buzzbait, we didn't have any other topwater action. We then started focusing on rock banks and docks with squarebill crankbaits and spinnerbaits and flukes. We had one keeper slap at a squarebill off the end of a dock and then caught a few short fish on a squarebill crankbait throughout the day. After focusing on docks and rocky banks, we moved back to laydowns and picked up one more keeper on a green pumpkin jig. Towards the end of our day threw worms on bluffs with nothing to show for it.

All in all we had three keepers on the day, but the bite was slow. Our quality fish have come on jigs the last two times out with smaller fish eating crankbaits. Laydowns have been key and the docks that we have gotten bit on were stationary.

Picnic Tournament this Saturday!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Fourth of July...

Picnic Tournament this Saturday!

Location: Patrick Henry Lake (Warrior's Path State Park)
 

Time: 5 am - 11 am (Honor Start)
 

Limits: 3 fish/angler   (12in. Spots and Largemouth / 18in. Smallmouth)
 

Format: AOY Points
 

Picnic to follow weigh-in!
 

Location: Pavillion #3 (see map below)
 

Time: 12pm - TBD
 

Need to Bring: Side and/or dessert and a drink
 

Dison's - Bringing Grill and Condiments
 

Crockett and Oiler - Bringing Paper Products and Flatware
 

Harvey's - Bringing Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, and Buns

***If you have a set of cornhole boards or other lawn games, please feel free to bring them.***

TNCBA "On the Water How-To : Frog Fishing 101"

Some frog fishing basics for members of the Tennessee Christian Bass Anglers. TNCBA "On the Water How-To" is a series designed to educate anglers about different techniques.

Early Patrick Henry Report...6/27

Green Pumpkin 1/2oz. Flipping Jig

Time:     5am - 11am

Water Temperature:     80 degrees (down lake) / 65 degrees (up lake)

Water Conditions:     Slight Stain (down lake) / Clear (up lake)

Breakdown:     The morning started off very slow, but as we neared daybreak we caught a couple short fish on a small brown and orange jig...fishing bluffs. We then moved into a small cut down lake and noticed that a shad spawn was occurring around the rock and rip-rap. We had a couple blow ups on top, but no takers. The water temperature down the lake was in the 80's. After the sun got up, we ran way up the lake until we found good current and grass. We never got any bites up that way even though the current was flowing and I think it may have been the fact that the water temperature was in the mid 60's. We finally made our way back down the lake around 10am. At this point we had not had a bite in about four hours. We started keying on thick lay down areas where they were in the sun with a 1/2 oz. flipping jig in green pumpkin with a Pit Boss Chunk. We put three keepers in the boat in about 30 minutes and called it a day.

We are little less than two weeks out from the picnic tournament on Patrick Henry, but my initial thought is that a slow and very methodical approach will produce better quality and the shad spawn may be the key to getting a couple keepers early.

I will be out on the water a couple more times over the next week, so check back for more reports in the future!

Green Pumpkin 1/2oz. Flipping Jig

Gotta Communicate...Team Fishing Fail

Getting tripped up and falling to the bottom of the boat while trying to get a fish in is a first for me. Sometimes you just gotta laugh!

Hunter and Fletcher Shryock - 496 Films

Fletcher and I was able to meet up in the lonestar state in between our tournament schedules to have some fun on Lake Fork. The fish were moving offshore everyday and we spent a lot of time idling and graphing with our lowrance units to find the schools.

Vandyke Cranks His Way to Individual Title, Harvey's Hold Off Field for Team Win

Rain fell and the wind blew as the TNCBA anglers launched their boats for the first night tournament of the year on South Holston Lake. 

With cooler temperatures and cloudier conditions than previous days, anglers looked to take advantage of an evening bite before the darkness set in for the night. Team Harvey was the team to capitalize in the wind landing two keepers on a jerkbait. The Harvey's would add to their total later in the night with a worn and tube...they would bring five fish to the scales totaling 11.67 lbs., but two dead fish would cost them two pounds and give them a final total of 9.67 lbs. 

Bob Harvey - 5.96 lbs. 

Kelsey Harvey - 3.80 lbs. 

Mike Vandyke stuck with his go-to bait, a crankbait, throughout the night. Mike grinded a Rapala DT crankbait along the bottom to amass 8.72 lbs. that was anchored by a 4.02 lbs. smallmouth which also claimed big fish for the tournament. 

Mike Vandyke - 8.72 lbs. 

Next, the Tennessee Christian Bass Anglers will adventure to Patrick Henry Lake for their picnic tournament at Warriors Path State Park. 

"TNCBA Dock Talk - South Holston Night"

Come over to the dark side they said...it will be fun they said...night fishing is the best...said no one ever!

I understand that night fishing is a necessary evil during these hot summer months, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I prefer my nights be spent with my eyes closed and my head on a pillow. Well, that's enough about my thoughts...so lets dive into our first night tournament of the year.

As the water temperatures creep into the mid 80's, the amount of oxygen in the water near the surface is at an all time low for the year. Heat and low oxygen content also means a slower metabolism. Bass do not feed as regularly during these summer months so it is very important to key in on the feeding times...typically early morning and middle of the night.

With the surface temperatures in the 80's bass migrate to deeper water where they find cooler and more oxygen rich locations. Bass are in search of areas where they can move from shallow to deep and vice versa, quickly. This makes bluffs and long points ideal...and bass are migrators similar to birds...so they return to the same locations each year. Focus on the same areas where you have located bass during the winter or early spring. Also keep in mind that these bass will move up and down through out the night as they feed, so return to areas to check periodically.

So lets finish up by talking about tackle...you have your norms...a jig, a worm, a tube...those are staples of night fishing. Move slow and methodically and cover areas where you have located fish...but...don't for a second think that a bass will not eat a moving bait. Crankbaits and Spinnerbaits can be killer during the night...so mix it up as you go. Colors differ based on the amount of light you will have reflected by the Moon. When there is a New Moon or cloud cover...resulting in little or no light...you want to use black and blues or darker colors. Dark colors create a better profile for the fish to focus on in the water. With a Full Moon you will want to use red and white or brighter colors that will reflect as much of the light as possible.

I will start my night in a creek hoping to locate largemouth that are feeding just before the Sun goes down. Once the night sets in we will begin rotating points and bluffs. I will switch up between a crankbait, spinnerbait, and jig. Patience will be key though as I expect the best bite to happen between 1am and 4am.

Other than some warm clothes...it is always a good idea to bring a sleeping bag and pillow...ZzzzzzZzzzzz!

See you on the Water!

South Holston Fishing Report Tuesday Night...

Time-     7:30pm to 10:30pm

Conditions-     Air temp was 90 degrees when we got on the water and quickly cooled into the low 80's as the sun went down. The water is very clear 5'+ of visibility. The water temperature was hovering around 82 and 84 degrees. The water was at full pull, but is falling. There was a lite breeze and it got dark a little after nine. 

Report-     We started out in a creek down the lake and had two on a buzzbait (white) around dusk as the sun was setting. We then moved out onto a secondary point moving out of the creek and caught one on finesse worm (green pumpkin).  Finally, we moved back down towards Ob Knob to a main lake bluff and caught four on a small finesse jig (brown and orange). Watson's carries them in those small bins on the bottom of the shelves where the jigs are. Out of those seven only two were keepers.

Thoughts-     The creeks will play a role if you want to aim at finding a keeper largemouth before it gets dark. I feel that the first four to five hours will be slow as usual unless this cool snap turns them on. The big girls will move up on the points and bluffs later in the night during the 1am-4am period. We saw a lot of people from the Tuesday night rodeo fishing long points and off-shore humps.  Staying patient will be key!

*Crockett Report from Tuesday Night:

We caught 3 or 4 last night. One on a crankbait before dark in a creek, a couple on a purple and brown tube, and one one a red hair jig. Fish seemed to bite better down lake.