i made a trip to Tennessee to visit my parents. For years we used to go to Dale Hollow. The last few trips we have been fishing a reservoir that dale dumps into called Cordell Hull. Yesterday 12/3/2016 I caught my personal best largemouth. This lake has lots of rock like Dale Hollow but is not quite as deep. I was fishing a jig off of some rock near a small bridge and had a good bite. At first I thought it was a big cat or drum. I was wrong. It came to the top and showed itself. It was the largest bass i have ever had hooked. Luckilly we got it in the boat. The bass was 8lbs 10 oz. and 24.5 inches long. What an amazing day. After a few pics we put her back. This was a great day to spend with my dad and brother.
What a great looking largemouth! When I first looked at the picture and seen the rocks and saw the road above I thought you were on Alum and thought Whoa! Lol! Great catch! Congrats!
For a little perspective about how special that fish is consider this- the largest fish ever caught during a Major League Fishing event is Bobby Lane's 8lb 5oz largemouth he caught in Shreveport, LA.
No we have not caught better numbers but that lake sure has been good to me. I tend to fish it in the cold weather periods like december or march. I would be willing to bet april and may would be better for numbers. But honestly i have not explored the lake much. Basically i have fished 2 coves. There are some big fish in there.
We have struggled at dale too. I find the hull to be easier to fish. Its not as deep in most places. As for Dale, i hear the mid to upper part of the lake has better numbers of fish. We have always fished the lower end. I have been itching to fish dale based on the results from blf's and all the big largemouth that comes in. Lots of grass in the upper end from what i hear.
There's a ton of grass at Dale. I've spent most of my time in the mid section. Back in 2012 there was a Smallmouth kill. In the spring of 2013, I ended up on Dale during the largemouth spawn, and couldn't believe the number of big largemouth that were shallow. The lake was flooded so the bass were literally in the forest, but the water was crystal clear, even up in the trees. It was surreal running the boat through the trees with canopy overhead. We caught a handful of decent largemouth, but they were tough with the spawn. A local claimed to have caught a dozen four and five pounders one day with floating pink and white worms under willows. I don't even own a pack of floating worms. I'm not familiar with recent bfl results at Dale, does the largemouth population seem to have exploded?
Man, you need to grab a couple bags of floating worms. I use the Zoom Trick worm in merthiolate red or bubblegum. Fished with a 2/0 hook, they are deadly after the spawn and most of the summer long.
From the results i have seen. It usually takes 20 plus lbs to win and the top 15 or so are not far behind. A lot of A-rig fish from what i have read over the grass. It seems the largemouth have been doing well. I need to give dale another try. I have done well with the A-rig at cordell too.
Dale is a beautiful lake. It's just so hard to find the fish. For a fishing trip, I'd rather drive to Erie, or even Kentucky Lake. For vacation with fishing mixed in, Dale is very relaxing.
Going to Belews Lake tomorrow. It's a very deep, clear lake. Has both largemouth and spotted bass. Steam plant discharge keeps water 58f to 64f all winter long. Fish school shad all winter, but it can be a hit or miss lake. The fish there grow fast, but rarely live over ten years. Few largemouth get over 6 pounds, spots up to four. But it can be fun. After the ten inches of snow last weekend, it'll be good to get back out. We had three 65 degree days and got rid of the snow, cooled off to 50 today, expecting clouds and 60 tomorrow.
We got into the spots today. No schoolers, the skies stayed clear til later so we fished deeper. Got them on Scroungers and Speedcraws, Carolina rigged. Caught six apiece. Here's a couple of the better ones.
We got into the spots today. No schoolers, the skies stayed clear til later so we fished deeper. Got them on Scroungers and Speedcraws, Carolina rigged. Caught six apiece. Here's a couple of the better ones.
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I've seen videos of guys crappie fishing those warm discharge lakes. How's the crappie fishing in that particular one. I'd love to have something like that here local!
Oh an marshal that is a giant well done
There are some good crappie in Belews. A fella on my NC site caught 15 a week ago, one pushed three pounds. But if you ever come down here to crappie fish, I would suggest Lake Jordan. Crappie are found in abundant numbers in all of our lakes, but Jordan has some of the biggest I've ever seen. Two pounders are not rare, and the lake record is four pounds eight ounces.
Thanks, and recently, we've found out they are not spots at all, but their larger look alike relative, the Alabama bass. Both are invasive in our waters. Found out a 13 pound five ounce bass was taken in a tourney on Jordan lake last weekend on a Carolina rigged Ultra vibe Speedcraw. Man, that's a beast..
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