Fishing Forum

On Saturday I decided to change up the normal plan. In the summer, we always have a "morning bite," but it often dies quickly in low flow conditions. <br /><br />TVA is in a standard summer pattern of cranking up generation in the afternoon to keep your air conditioners running, and we all know fish prefer some good current... so I decided we'd try an afternoon bite with better water flow.<br /><br />Todd Trivette and his Dad, Jerry, have fished with me several times. They were happy to try a new plan, in spite of the heat.<br /><br />Conditions were excellent when we began at 1 pm, and it became quickly apparent that the afternoon plan was a good one. In three relatively short drifts with light tackle we put 21 catfish in the boat, up to 7 or 8 pounds. <br /><br />We decided then it was time to "size up" and see if we could coax a bigger fish bite, in spite of it being prime time for the big cats to be spawning (which means our big fish bite is tough). We never did get a big boy to bite, although we stuck several fish in the 10 - 15 lb. class. We hoped to find a big fish bite at dark, but we got run off one of my favorite spots by a looming thunderstorm and lightning.<br /><br />Regardless, it was a great afternoon fishing. We ended with 32 catfish in the boat. Me and Todd figured we managed a six-pound average, which means we put at least 150 lbs. of fish in the boat... we may have pushed 200. That means life is good and gettin' better every day!<br />