The fish of 10,000 casts

[bd]

I have a theory that the only reason the river fisheries get the attention they do is because they are "easy" muskie fishing. I've heard guys from up north gush about our river muskie because they saw a couple fish in a day rather than in a month.

The lake fisheries are just hard for the average angler. Dale Hollow has gotten stocked for decades, but it's a select few who fish it.  Melton Hill gets more attention but it is "easy" too because of the hot hole.

I suspect that if TWRA shifted all their resources away from the rivers and to lakes instead, they would create a few very good, but grossly underutilized fisheries. In turn, that wouldn't draw the money needed to sustain the desired stocking levels over the long term.

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[MikeA]

Bd....you've seen my pics. The river fish are almost never even close to the girth of the great falls ish specifically. I regularly fish with a guy from Nashville who used to guide Minnetonka and got a good share of 50s and when he saw our lake fish he went Whoa. I tell you....you want a promotional body of water? The river ain't it. Good numbers but alot of your serious die hards coming down for t he's winter are going to want to bring their rangers which cant touch Collins. They also want big fat slob musky with a legitimate shot at a 50 or two over a weeks fishing. Center hill can AMD will produce. 50 lb Plus fish...a giant anywhere. Our lakes have produced fish already that rival fish caught anywhere. Why aren't the waters with the best trophy potential being considered more? I speak blatantly of Center Hill...


....God I hate typing on an android....

Because we all know them mean ole Muskies eat all the Bass. How are the tourney guys supposed to pull a female Bass bloated with eggs, off her bed and haul her around the lake doing 70mph in a congested 10 gallon holding tank with 5 other females full of eggs. Then hold her up for the photo shoot just before weighing her, then dumping her down a plastic slide back into the lake 10 miles from where she was trying to reproduce, if the musky eat her first.

[bd]

Good numbers but alot of your serious die hards coming down for t he's winter are going to want to bring their rangers which cant touch Collins. They also want big fat slob musky with a legitimate shot at a 50 or two over a weeks fishing.

Yeah but you're talking about "serious die hards." Thats an elite select subset of the anglers out there - maybe 15 percent and I'm being generous.  I don't know that they are enough to drive the fishery by themselves.

bd

[Travis C.]

Is there a resource to where the fish are found in TN?

You can PM me the info if you wish.

We went down to the VA and tried upstream once but its a long haul for me. We actually almost lost the guy I was with's truck and boat due to the ramp being muddy from high water. Not really the smartest move trying to unload there at that time.

I have only ever seen one on Tim's Ford. That was the year I bought my big boat back around 1996. 

[dbradyh]

Go to google and type in "Where are muskie located in Tennessee".
Then do a google map search cross referenced with information posted on muskie fishing articles and on line muskie sites.

[toddro]

Go to google and type in "Where are muskie located in Tennessee".
Then do a google map search cross referenced with information posted on muskie fishing articles and on line muskie sites.

You make it sound so easy!   

[Travis C.]

Go to google and type in "Where are muskie located in Tennessee".
Then do a google map search cross referenced with information posted on muskie fishing articles and on line muskie sites.

Thanks dbradyh

I was able to find what I was looking for. They are or at least were in a lot more places than I thought. Musky are an interesting fish but I have no real desire to chase them at this point. Too many bass, trout to chase and still have to catch some striped fishes which are all closer.

Musky guys.... The info I found was pretty detailed as to where they were or should be but I seen regarding Tims or Elk?  I am positive that was what we seen. We were fishing in a back pocket and it's tail flipped out of the water with a reddish tent, greenish body with a splotchy pattern. They only way we associated it with a musky was one mounted on the wall in the marina looked similiar.

Were we crazy or seeing things?

[Bfish]

How large?  If small could it be a spotted gar?

[Travis C.]

How large?  If small could it be a spotted gar?

What I remember was the tail would have been 8" tip to tip roughly. But more so, I remember the reddish tint to a greenish body. The tail wasn't rounded like a gar more forked.

[gaspergou]

Woods got a few fingerlings as recently as 1988 and 1991 (see stocking history on the TWRA Region 4 website). I wouldn't spend a lot of time trying for the <0.5% of the fish that are probably left, unless you're there anyway.

[Travis C.]

Woods got a few fingerlings as recently as 1988 and 1991 (see stocking history on the TWRA Region 4 website). I wouldn't spend a lot of time trying for the <0.5% of the fish that are probably left, unless you're there anyway.

I was just trying to figure out if that was the fish we seen back in the early to mid-90's. There is no desire for me to chase those fish. Not only the expense of equipment upgrades, distance between me and them as well as just not knowing anything about muskie.

I am quite content catching bass, trout and maybe striper or carp this year.

[jarrod white]

I agree, there is something about them that kind of gets in your blood. I really like the challenge, and it is a great reward for sure !

                  JW

[Travis C.]

I agree, there is something about them that kind of gets in your blood. I really like the challenge, and it is a great reward for sure !

JW

I don't doubt that one bit. I have seen Water Wolf (for Pike) and it is blood pumping for sure. Feel like it may be similar to fly fishing....once you pick it up it kinda consumes you.

It's just not on my radar yet fly fishing. I have bass fished for years both rec and tournament so I can't wait for late Feb/March to start looking for them on a fly. There are some pockets that house big girls and a meat whistle or slumpbuster bounced by will get crushed. That is one big thing I am wanting this year along with trout and a real run at carp.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgR8DnjwjVI[/youtube]

[jarrod white]

I never doubt the excitement of anything outdoor related. I have done a lot of things involving fishing, hunting or just shooting in general that were an absolute blast and caught my attention right then but just chose other avenues for excitement. It's all fun for sure.

[bd]

In the trolling category, I used to spend some time trolling skipjack under planer boards for stripers.  I haven't done it as much as Mike has, but I've done it some.

That's the most exciting trolling I've done.  You've got to really pay attention to place your planers really close to where the fish hold, without getting so close that the skipjack swims in and snags a tree.  And when a big fish gets close and the skipjack starts jumping around and trying to escape, it's very suspenseful.

Having said that, trolling is fun, but I'd rather be casting on any given day.  When the fish are "on" trolling can be a blast, but on a slow day it's a long, uneventful boat ride.

bd