Early Evening Fishing

[Brian]

What do you like to fish for? You fish from boat or bank? Brian

[bigred]

I fish from my boat out of Elm Hill Marina. I’m a bass man; smallmouth, largemouth, or any other fish with “bass” in its name! I’ll go anywhere on the lake to find the bass. I’ve been told that as the lake cools the stripper will get active up on this end of the lake. Any input would be very helpful.

[bigred]

Brian, any pointers for me?

[Brian]

Sorry BigRed, somehow your post slipped through the crack when I was responding to other ones. I was out today and the bass were busting on the surface everywhere around Hong Kong Island and near the youth camp near Pooles Knob(cove straight across 2nd cut-through coming from Fate Sanders). I do not think that were very large(bigger fish were near Hong Kong Island), but a heck of fun.

You are correct, as the temperature drops the stripers will start feeding on the bait like the bass do. Stripers are not my specialty, but I know they do turn on in the fall, especially near the dam.

Brian

[simplecircuit]

bigred.
You’ll know the stripers and hybrids are running good when you start to see fly fishermen on the park/point at the dam and in the back of Old HIckory cove. In the spring, I know the hybrids and stripers run into Old Hickory cove to feed on spawning gizzard and threadfin shad. You’ll typically see a center console boat or two trolling the length of cove with live bait. We’ve caught them on topwaters [zara spook jr, redfin, jumping minnow – BONE or WHITE colors only]. They’ll also hit rattle traps [chrome w/ blue back] and flukes [again – WHITE only]. Since they move in there in the spring, I assume they move back in the fall to follow the bait. We’ve also caught some closer to winter in the coves on the left side of Hamilton Creek [if you’re running to the back] using small jerkbaits and flukes on a scrounger head [again… WHITE]. The recurring theme here is that they love to eat things that are white. I’m not sure why it is, but they don’t seem to respond to any other colors. I’ve tried to get cute a few times fishing from shore and put on something just a little different than what everyone else is using – variation in color, lure or action… I got lots of short strikes while other guys were hooking up. Once I switched to white… The fish were on. Hope this helps.
j.

ps. my main fishing hours are 4-dark out of elm hill marina. if you just want to catch some bass and don’t care about size, you never have to leave the no wake zone. the whole marina has tons of different structure/cover to fish. shallows in the back of the pockets, channel drops, a hump or two, roadbeds, scattered rock, stumps, etc… then there are the bluffs on both sides on the right side leaving elm hill. the big island that separates the marina from the lake has a long point on the lake side. the channel swings up against the right side of the island when you’re leaving the marina. i really think it’s a good area to try new stuff or just to catch a few fish without spending a lot of time running and burning gas.