Now that mid winter is in full swing, we should have a standard winter pattern on Dale Hollow. We all know that it hasn't seemed like winter yet because our water temps are still running 49-51 degree average on the lake. The month of February will be affected if we get any snow fall which will significantly drop water temps. The Float n' Fly bite has been stable for quite some time. I have been using duck feather flies with Baby Blue and Chartreuse in color and flies with the Purp... Read more...

We will be having higher water conditions throughout our winter months due to the excess rain. The core has stated that they will be holding a higher level this winter. I expect the smallmouth will be in the backs of the creeks following the shad movement which is controlled by water temp. The main contributing factor to that temp is determined by rain fall whether it is a warm or cold rain. Live bait such as shad and shiners will be a consistent bait choice for most anglers. For the artificial ... Read more...

Now that our water temps are high 50's to low 60 degree range the shad has started working toward the creeks which will make it somewhat easier to establish patterns for the bass. There has been activity already with the float n' fly method during low light conditions or on shady banks. Jigs, 1/4oz hair or rubber skirted football head jigs will continue to be good during these periods. I have had good success using camo. Punisher hair jigs with Green Pumpkin trailers. Texas riggin... Read more...

Fall fishing is getting underway now with the cooling of the water temp.  I am finding 69 to 71 degree surface temp.  That has created a more stable fall pattern.  I feel the next few weeks will maintain this trend of using jigs throughout the entire day and other bait choices have been, some swim baits, spinner baits and shad raps.  With the water clarity we have on Dale Hollow, the colors that I am using on these lures have been Watermelon/Red flake, Green Pumpkin and the Peanut Butter ... Read more...

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Current conditions on Dale Hollow, the water temp is running 78 to 80 degrees, which has moved the fish a little more shallow than they were in the past few weeks. You can mix up your fishing a little bit with day and night techniques; both periods are productive, especially early morning, late afternoon and after dark. Baits of choice are the Olive and Orange Punisher hair jigs during the day. I have been using Green Pumpkin and Red trailers. During the night time I am using Brown and Orange... Read more...

A few tips for fishing the hot weather conditions on Dale Hollow Lake.  I have found that the spinner baits and jig bite has been fair for the past couple of weeks.  You will have a decent night of 8 to 10 decent fish.  Some of the nights 2 - 5 fish. It is really important to continue fishing slow to get your bait down to the depths of 25 to 30 feet.  My colors on spinnerbaits are brown/orange and black/red 3/4 to 1 oz in weight using Colorado blades, nickel blades have been the best this pa... Read more...

Water temp on Dale Hollow is running to mid to high 80's.  We have to start thinking "dog days" of summer in fishing terms.  You can find an early morning bite and late afternoon bite for smallmouth and largemouth.  My recommendations for late July through August is to start thinking about deeper water.  The weed beds are prominent during this time of year and the bass will use the deep weed beds as well as the food source such as minnows and crawfish.  The early morning and evening baits o... Read more...

I am presently fishing mid 60's to upper 60's water temp on Dale Hollow, which is directing me to use more jigs, top water baits on morning bite and cloudy days.  When water temp on Dale Hollow starts reaching this point the trend of the bite starts to move better for real early morning and night time fishing.  Early June has been pretty good until around noon and I have experienced a slight slow down, my bite was increasing later in the afternoon around 3 on into the night time fishing hou... Read more...

Wanted to give an update on what I have found on Dale today.  We are still having a nasty low pressure with a few rain showers and experiencing a pretty rapid drop in water.  I was throwing some jigs today in the backs of creeks and had some success on largemouth and a few spots 3/4 of the way back into creeks.  Did not fish main lake as much, but what time I spent there I stayed with the swim bait, fishing slower and somewhat deeper.  My friends that are still minnow fishing have been doin... Read more...

I wanted to give a quick update on how I have been fishing the high water conditions.  I am still using swim baits and flukes around the flats and around some of the islands with willows.  Several fish came from the 12-15 foot range fishing swim baits slow.  Today I found fish that have spawned and several that have not yet laid out.  Caught some nice post spawn smallies real tight to bushes where the water is just at the tops.  Several friends have told me they are still catching fish on m... Read more...

I feel that once we get past these major storm fronts our fishing will be a lot better.  The majority of our smallmouth have been on bed during this time.  The first couple weeks of May will be good around willows and bushes, still using swim baits and pearl white flukes in the 0 to 10 foot range.  Larger fish can be caught deeper 10-20 feet range, fishing slower to reach that depth.  Some nice fish have been caught on spinner baits using light color and silver willow leaf blades.  Largemou... Read more...

I am trying to give an update for the upcoming week-end and early next week.  We are still having an increase in water due to heavy rains.  We have lots of fish bedding, but still catching decent fish around willows, more so deeper water in front of the willows 10-20 feet deep, using swim baits and white flukes letting them sink deep with slow to moderate action.  Jigs are effective in bushes for largemouth.  Night time walleye are starting to come into play, jerk baits on rock walls and pan... Read more...

Quick update from the past few days of fishing on Dale.  Smallmouth are bedding, but we are still catching some decent fish.  Shallow before the storms.  We have had a substantial water increase due to the rain.  I have found that the fish have move to the 15 -18 feet range.  We have been using swimbaits, spinnerbaits and jerk baits.  Largemouth have been caught flipping bushes with jigs and plastics on a shaky head creature baits and small worms.  I will be giving another report later in... Read more...

Since the  storm on Dale this week, we are extremely windy during the day.  The temp has been running 52 -55 degrees approx.  I have been catching decent fish on spinner baits and swim baits, on windy points and edge of flats.  Live bait is also working, but difficult to fish the flats due to the heavy wind conditions.  I will post later in the week the conditions on what I have found later on, hopefully the windy conditions will subside.  We need some wind, but not to the extreme we have ... Read more...

Just wanted to leave an update with everyone what I have found out about the bite during this cold spell on Dale.  The bite is still good, but I have found that the fish have moved out deeper today especially.  As the sun came out today and later in the evening, I noticed the bite improved.  The water temp was 50 and 51 mid lake, which is a substantial cool down from the warm spell that we had.  This has been the reason the fish I have been catching have moved out in somewhat deeper water 12... Read more...

Dale Hollow keeps improving with the warm weather that we are receiving.  Smallmouth have really moved shallow in the last couple of days, as the sun gets brighter mid day they are making a typical move from shallow to approx 13-15' out on the edges of flats.  Swimbaits and live minnows have been the bait of choice.  I have caught some nice fish Carolina riggin' small plastics, baby brush hogs and tubes, green pumpkin was my color of choice.   We are expecting some rain this week and I wil... Read more...

Dale Hollow Lake is looking up on the positive side after the heavy rains that we have had in the past few days.  We are having some heavy stained water working it's way from the rivers and the back of the creeks to mid lake and migrating toward the dam.  Dale Hollow being a clear reservoir, the mud has a tendency to filter out and become more clear as it makes it's migration with the pull of the water.  Decent large mouth are being caught in the backs of the creeks and decent fish... Read more...

The water temperature has lowered to the low 60's and I have been using live minnows for the past couple of weeks.  The decent fish that I have found are at the depth ranges of 16-25 feet.  I have had a hard time locating shad recently.  If you have live shad, they seem to work a little better, but shinners will be ok.  You can catch a few decent fish on lipless crankbaits such as rattle traps and I have also been using shad pattern swim baits. Some decent fish been caught on silver buddy, ... Read more...