Guided striper trip this morning on the TN river

[richg99]

Had a great five hours with my BIL and guide https://www.Meltonhillbill.com

If you get up this way, he knows his stuff. We caught four and lost two more that broke the lines.

Two "small" ones at 17 and 18 lbs. and two larger fish at 37 and 40 lbs.

Great fun and not too expensive...Other than having to rise at 2 a.m. to meet him at 4:45 (Central time)...it was a fine trip.

richg99

 

[TNtroller]

Good deal. :LOL2:

 

[Johnny]

W O W !!

 

[AllOutdoors]

Very nice Rich!

 

[Abraham]

Well done Rich. Looks like you had a blast!

 

[Jim]

awesome! nice job!

 

[Kismet]

GREAT fish, but I dunno...

At 2 A.M., the fish would have to wake me up to get itself caught.

 

[Wyatt]

I'm usually up at 3am every Saturday to prepare for my daylong adventure so whats an hour earlier lol.

Great looking fish! Looks like a fun time!

 

[richg99]

I usually get up at 5 or 6 a.m. pretty much every day.

We are 30 miles from the Eastern Time zone. The guide said we will start at 6 a.m. Whoops, he is Eastern and I am Central. The launch was an hour or so from where I live. Then, he changed it a bit to 5:45 Eastern...

I got up at 2 ( too early for me) and we left my place at 3:15.

Still dark when we started fishing....

Not my choice...but..it was worth it!

richg99

 

[Fire1386]

Nice, looks like those would put up a pretty good battle....

 

[wmk0002]

Care to offer some more specifics? Like what part of the river you were on and what you were using for bait?

The best striper place near me is the Tennessee River in the tailwaters of the Guntersville dam. Seen lots of pictures of 40+ pounders pulled from there but never tried to catch them myself.

 

[richg99]

Specifics...Well, the guide has sworn me to secrecy...but......

It is no secret that fishing below nearly any dam around Knoxville holds the promise of big stripers. We were NOT up tight to the dam, but rather down-river about a mile.

Bait was neat. We caught our own skipjacks, and then used them for bait. We hooked them with light-weight spinning rods with jigs on the lines. This is nothing new as I read about it on the Chattanooga fishing forum fairly often.

The guide even cut up the wasted / nearly-dead skipjacks and threw a big head out on a hook. It settled to the bottom and after a short while we had a nearly 4 foot long catfish hit it. The catfish was lost next to the boat, as the net was busy bringing my 40 lb. striper at the time. Another two or three-foot long cat was boated, all on the dead skipjack.

It was a fun fishing experience. I have engaged the same guide for another half day trip in mid-June. Since the spawn will be long over by then, I am sure we will fish another way, or at least, another spot.

richg99

 

[wmk0002]

Specifics...Well, the guide has sworn me to secrecy...but......

It is no secret that fishing below nearly any dam around Knoxville holds the promise of big stripers. We were NOT up tight to the dam, but rather down-river about a mile.

Bait was neat. We caught our own skipjacks, and then used them for bait. We hooked them with light-weight spinning rods with jigs on the lines. This is nothing new as I read about it on the Chattanooga fishing forum fairly often.

The guide even cut up the wasted / nearly-dead skipjacks and threw a big head out on a hook. It settled to the bottom and after a short while we had a nearly 4 foot long catfish hit it. The catfish was lost next to the boat, as the net was busy bringing my 40 lb. striper at the time. Another two or three-foot long cat was boated, all on the dead skipjack.

It was a fun fishing experience. I have engaged the same guide for another half day trip in mid-June. Since the spawn will be long over by then, I am sure we will fish another way, or at least, another spot.

richg99

Thanks! That is some good information. Like I mentioned I have never really targeted stripe but would really like to sometime. I haven't had much luck finding good articles/videos on the common techniques though.

Report back after you go after them again! Good luck!

 

[richg99]

Where are you WMK? There is a spot near Knoxville that I read about that is supposed to hold them. I may give it a go myself some day. richg99

 

[wmk0002]

Where are you WMK? There is a spot near Knoxville that I read about that is supposed to hold them. I may give it a go myself some day. richg99

North Alabama. My home lake is guntersville but have pretty easy access to number of other reservoirs on the Tennessee river as well.

 

[richg99]

OK...Just thought if we were closer, we might hit a dam together. Too far, I guess.
richg99