SpurHunter, Riverpark, Mixed with surprise fish!, 10-17-12, WLG

[FishNews]

<br /> Wade said he needed skips for the freezer and was going below the dam after work. I opted to join in for the work (fun). <br /> <br /> We hit the water about 5:30ish and tied up in the trash gate to throw into the discharge with Carolina rigged Foley spoons. I was secretly hoping for bigger fish, with the ruse of skippies on the menu. TVA was pushing 44k, that’s a LOT of water. <br /> <br /> Wade picked up a white bass, and I was struggling to find the right weight, drift, etc when I felt a tug near the wing wall and it was ON. The fish ran up the trash gate a few feet than back down before running over in front if the turbins, by this point Im freaking out thinking my 10 test in this current and this big of a fish is not going to hold up. I was telling Wade, “if it gets in front of the boil, its gonna get ugly in a hurry!” No sooner had I uttered the words and the run was on….down past the wing wall and screaming down river towards Mocc Bend. I yelled we needed to chase it, well except we were tied up and I had forgotten my knife in my work clothes…Wade runs a knife up to me as Im starting to see the spool and I slash the rope! Problem is that was just one side of the rope tied to the boat, quick thinking I slashed again and Wade was on the gas gunning it down river. We caught up to it down by the rock pile and fought for a while as it made a couple runs here and yonder. The whole time I had been thinking, a fish this strong, gotta be a pig rockfish. Im getting excited about the possibility of my PB rock….when I see it come up and it’s a paddlefish. LOL <br /> <br /> Into the boat it comes and I realize my fears of the light leader were realized, the spoon was gone, but my egg sinker had in fact tangled with another anglers catfish 3-way swivel rig that was around its tail. How it all hung on with the pressure it was putting on my rig I’ll never understand. I always enjoy catching these fish, they are just too cool. <br /> <br /> After that we anchored south of the wing in on the seam and got to work. A white bass for me, then a drum, just for Dickey, before I got frustrated about the catch rate, and switched over to the popping cork rig. I told Wade, if the skips are here, I will bring them up….first cast, 2 seconds in and a giant skip slams my rig and it just got better, crazier and wild from here on out. It was split pretty even between skips and white bass all evening, and we moved closer to the tip of the wall later in the evening, right on cue for the place to just explode for about 30 minutes. It was a fish every single cast including an 18” rockfish. <br /> <br /> As usual we were goofing off more than we should have and lost 8-10 skips at the boat because of it. No matter, we fish for fun, and if you cant have fun doing this, find a new hobby. <br /> <br />