09-10-2011, 09:00 AM
Norman and I started out of Riverpark about 8am in search of smallies. We had concerns, because TVA had reduced the flow from 67K cfs to 47K cfs last night by closing the gates dropping the river level about 2 ft. <br /><br />We fished a lot of place w/o success, but we did get into the fish pretty good in a couple. Just proves to me that smallies are generally unpredictable, at least for me, but when you catch one, you might get several. I was the perfect fishing partner -- run the boat and run the trolling motor and let my partner catch all the fish which Norman just about did. I almost got skunked but for a black bass trifecta, one keeper SM, one beat up LM and a small spot. Norman was hot, he kept catching (and losing) smallies and spots on his secret soft plastic bait. I didn&#39;t catch a fish until he gave me a couple. He front ended me from the back of the boat since I had to point the bow into the current and run the trolling motor (LOL). He started us out with a nice little striper. He caught 2 or 3 keeper and several near keeper smallies and several spots. He caught 5 species of bass (SM, LM, spot, striped and yellow). As far as our pattern, we fished spots where shallow water (10-12 ft.) drops off into deeper water and also stretches of rip-rap dropping off at least to 15ft. All fish released.<br /><br />The following half dozen pix show our best fish. Credit to Norman for suggesting that before we go home, we go back to a place we had fished earlier in the day and that move paid off! A great day on the water with a great fisherman and friend!