Couple things I have found this week, the smallmouth bite has been somewhat slower.  It's not that they haven't been feeding, it's due to the storm fronts and the hot water.  You have to consistently be making changes with the depth that you are fishing during the heat of the summer.   I have been catching a few fish 30-34 feet and I feel the reason is all due to water temp.  I have been fishing a lot of black/red combinations on the jig and crawl worms preferably black w/red pinchers.  I... Read more...

For you night fisherman, this week I have found some 17-18" smallmouth bass holding in grass beds depth range been around 18-20 feet.  The colors I am using are black/blue, black/red and black/green.  These colors are being used with jigs, I still prefer 1/4oz hair jigs and a little tip I got this week from another fishing buddy got me on a decent bite using strawberry worms texas rigged on rock walls in the creeks.  I am putting the boat in around 35 feet of water toward with bluff and wo... Read more...

This week I have found some nice smallies the last 30 minutes of daylight on top water on clay points. Bait of choice is PopR's and top water stick baits with prop.  Night time black and blue and solid black 1/4oz hair jigs with Green Pumpkin super chuck jr trailers.  I have had some nice largemouth and some smallmouth using shakey head jigs with sweetbeaver trailers, color choice Green Pumpkin and Black with Blue flake.  Most of my fish have been coming off of the edges of main lake point... Read more...

Due to the heat, I have noticed our smallmouth are making a true summer pattern.  I have had nice fish a little bit deeper on some live bait and using swim baits with a deeper presentation during the midday.  Early morning and late afternoon I have found fish moving up to the 12 to 14 feet range and some of my larger fish are coming out of deeper water.  The night bite is getting started fish are coming off of shakey heads with plastic trailers prefered dark colors and hair jigs 1/4oz.  W... Read more...

Now that the water temperature is running in the low 70's and the water level is falling, I have found that most of the smallmouth that I have caught are holding on the outside edges of willows and submerged bushes, approx 4-12 feet deep.  My bait of choice is still swim baits prefered color white or pearl white.  If you are fishing stained water edges use a touch of chartreuse dip on the tail or light colored spinner baits on the bright clear days and darker spinner baits on the cloudy and... Read more...

One of the things that is hard to do as a night fisherman is get stuck in a rut of the same ol color.  One of the things I try to do is be open minded about changing colors with the moon.  My normal night pattern has always been dark baits on a dark night and lighter baits on light night.  It doesn't take a whole lot of color change to make a difference.  The last couple trips has been a little harder to get the bite started, you can ask my clients about how difficult it can be to get the bi... Read more...

I was very proud to have this father and his two sons getting to experience some night time jig fishing on Dale Hollow.  The bite has been fair but it is never as good as we would like for it to be.  The folks in this picture showed me some dedication to the sport of learning ways to catch smallmouth bass for their first adventure at night.  These young men will carry our sport into the future and I am sure they will teach others so they can enjoy smallmouth fishing as I do.... Read more...

Me and my family and friends are going to miss a great person and one of the best fisherman I have ever been in the boat with.  With the passing of James "Coby" Hayes we will miss the friendship and all the knowledge that he has shared with us.  Anyone who has fished with me and my guide service can say they have fished with "Coby" Hayes.  Coby has been featured in many magazine articles and been in the spot light and has been historic with his accomplishments that most people will never know... Read more...

I have always enjoyed junk fishing and what I mean by that is getting one of those days that I like to try different methods and different baits.  Most anglers relate to the Carolina rig as a largemouth technique and that is definately a fact.  I took a time last year in August and rigged a Carolina rod looking for some big Green fish and that I found.  A super good friend of my Mr. James "Coby" Hayes introduced me to a Gene Luru crawl that I got down at the Dale Hollow One Stop, color Electr... Read more...

This week has been a new experience for several of my clients.  This lady shows off what Dale Hollow can do at night.  Congratulations, nice fish.... Read more...

The recent cool weather hasn't kept the black lights from shining on the hollow.  The past few fishing trips has been good to fair, but never as good as you would like.  Most of the fish have been coming from about 28 to 30 feet on the black jig.  I have been staying on the main lake points and getting some decent fish on humps at the edge of weed beds next to deep water.  I have had some great customers in the past couple weeks that have picked up the jig bite really well.  You can go to m... Read more...

It was an honor to be involved with this adventure and I thought it was a great thing that a father and son took this type of trip.  We feel very privligded in TN & KY to get the opportunity to share the lake and our wonderful fish with the whole country.  The recognition that Jeff & Taylor received, from local news stations to national media, helped people everywhere see what a beautiful lake Dale Hollow is.It's unfortunate that we couldn't hook up the night they got in be... Read more...

Welcome fishing partners.  Thanks for participating with my web site.  I will be trying to post accurate fishing information for you each week based off of my trips during the week.  I have started night fishing and also doing late afternoon and early morning trips.  The jig bite at night has been good using black 1/4 oz punisher jigs with a green pumpkin Zoom super chunk jr. The neat thing has been that I have been catching nice smallies and walleye in the same areas approx 13 - 15 feet de... Read more...