SUMMARY

Strong thunderstorms with some heavy downpours and higher water have flooded the shoreline brush, providing both color and cover for bass and panfish. Anglers targeting the brush have been doing well on both.

SMALLMOUTH BASS are hitting close to the bottom at 18 to 25 feet on the humps and off points. LARGEMOUTH BASS and SPOTTED BASS are hitting topwater plugs, jerk baits, and watermelon and pumpkin lizards and worms in the shallows, close to the shoreline brush at the break of day. Late afternoons have seen some catches on topwater, also. CRAPPIE catches were good under the lanterns at night, on the Clinch arm above Point 29, especially. STRIPED BASS continues to be good at about 20 feet deep during the morning hours. WALLEYE catches are still slow, but some are being caught at dusk and at night. Some of the walleye which were caught were big fish.

Along the rocky banks where there is flooded brush, SHELLCRACKERS are hitting redworms, crickets, nightcrawlers, and occasionally small crankbaits from Mill Creek to Poor Land Creek. They were in the brush at less than 5-feet deep. BLUEGILL improved on crickets, popping bugs and waxworms. Some of the bluegill caught have been quite large. Bluegill have been popping the surface in the afternoon hours, on shady, rocky banks. CATFISH are in the slab rocks, hitting nightcrawlers fished at about 5 feet deep in the early morning hours.

STRIPED BASS

Fair. 20 to 35-feet. Most have been caught at about the 20-foot depth on live shad or alewife tightlined to 20-feet, occasionally to 35-feet. Live shad/alewife tightlined to 20 to 35-feet in schools of baitfish, or slowly trolled with downriggers. In the breaks, use small jerkbaits, swim baits, or shiners. Lost Creek, Bear Hole, Crooked Creek, and the islands near Hickory Star produced fish. Cove Creek improved a bit at dawn.

LARGEMOUTH & SPOTTED BASS

Good. Surface to 10-feet. Some surface action is still going on for those out at dawn with jerkbaits, buzzbaits and topwater plugs. Topwater action is mainly in the hollows and flooded timber and brush along almost any shoreline. Watermelon/chartreuse, green pumpkin and redbug plastic worms are taking some nice fish on Carolina rigs at 15 to 20 feet. In the rear of the hollows where the water is warmer, near wood structure, plastic and shallow crankbaits have taken some largemouth and a few spotted bass. Bandits, SexyShad, Model-A Bombers in stained areas upriver and in larger creeks such as Sycamore, have done well on spotted bass.

SMALLMOUTH BASS

Moderate. 20 to 25-feet, on the deep humps in mid-lake. Some of the smallmouth caught have come from water which is less than 15-feet deep, but the majority of those fish have been small. ¼ to 3/8th ounce hair jigs, tipped with minnows or plastic grubs, are taking fish on the humps, but so are plastic lizards/worms and jigging spoons. Small crankbaits and jerkbaits, Salty Tube jigs, swim baits or flukes cast to the points, close to brush and wood structure. Redbug, or equivalent color slider worms (or equivalent in 4-inch size) on Shaky Head jigs, on the long points as deep as 25 feet. For live bait fishermen: Large shiners fished with a split shot, but no float, allowing the bait to drift deep along main channel rocks. The best catches have come on 3/8 ounce, or smaller leadhead hair jigs (dark green has been best), tipped with a live minnow and fished slow and steady along the bottom.

CRAPPIE

Moderate to good at night, under lights. 5 to 10-feet deep in brush. In early morning or in stained water, as shallow as 2-feet. Some good crappie are being taken on steep, broken rock main channel banks near flooded trees, at night under lights with tuffy minnows as bait. Tightline or drift lures into deep, main channel brush on the bottom and into shoreline brush on steep banks. On high barometer days, slowly troll or drift tube jigs or hair jigs tipped with minnows along the bottom, near brush. Drop popeye flies or small tube jigs into the submerged tree tops or deep brush. Use medium tuffy minnows or 1-inch tube jigs or 1/32 oz or 1/64 oz popeye flies tightlined into the brush.

WALLEYE

Fair. 18 to 25 feet deep, on the bottom. They’ve been slow to hit, but the quality has been excellent, with fish exceeding 20-inches being caught. At dusk and at night, cast Thundersticks, RedFins or ShadRaps into the flooded timber, at the base of flooded tree trunks. After dark, when walleye are feeding on baitfish near the shoreline, cast Zara Spooks and Pups, Rogues, near flooded timber and brush. Some have been caught on nightcrawlers fished beneath floats, or cast to the brush, near the shoreline. Trolling with spinner/nightcrawler rigs has produced some fish, but it has been slow. Chrome blades with a line of orange beads are working in the clear water sections for those trolling during the daytime. The Loyston Sea section has seen the most walleye caught.

SHELLCRACKER

Near brush and rocky outcroppings from Mill Creek to Lost Creek and Poor Land Creek. In hollows near flats adjacent to deeper water. Nightcrawlers, redworms, waxworms, small spinners, and small crankbaits. Fish live bait under a float, or cast with small splitshot and no float. See the Fishing Regulations booklet for an ID of this fish, or go to www.tnfish.org to see a photo.

BLUEGILL

Good. 5 to 15-feet deep. Crickets, waxworms, BeetleSpins, popping bugs, along steep, shady, rocky banks.

• Bluegill
• Crappie
• Striped Bass
• Largemouth Bass
• Smallmouth Bass
• Walleye