angst, Riverpark, LM, SM, Spot, Panfish, 5/1/2011, Adam

[FishNews]

<br /> 5/1/2011 <br /> Time of day 5pm to 9:30pm<br /> Chattanooga Riverpark <br /> Flow 51,000 to 51,800 cfs. Gates spilling. <br /> Water color was a little brownish but not really “muddy” <br /> <br /> <br /> Panfish, Spots, LM, SM, Gar. <br /> <br /> <br /> Since several reported a good morning I headed out in the evening with my buddy Adam and went to the riverpark despite the flow being a bit higher that the wind being a little frisky. <br /> Our usual haunt above the ramp on river right was not working as good as the rip rap downstream. Going higher up to try to chill in the slower eddy water below the lock and N. Chick mouth there is a bunch of what we dubbed “doodoo foam” on the water that was pretty gross. <br /> The rip rap and rocky banks downstream were working well for mostly panfish and rock bass of nice size on a mix of crappie jigs and crappie jigs plus a beetle spin style spinner added. Bass wern't really going for this setup but a monster gar sure did. Managed to get the gar to the net where Adam masterfully scooped him up only for it to be too big for the net and it also masterfully slipped right out of it but was kind enough to chomp the line and leave my lure in the net. <br /> A small T rig plastic salamander Adam was throwing was working well to target the bass and weed out the panfish. <br /> Right before dark the bass started really tearing up a bright Bobby Garland on a 1/8th oz jig on deeper rock and rip rap banks. Hits were coming a mix of really tight on the bank and about 8ft off the bank. <br /> The bite seemed to simmer down at full dark.