Got in a nice morning Sat 6/19. Wind was up but not bad down on the river itself. The river was relatively crowded with two tournaments going on, but most of those guys went straight to the bluffs above McCracken Bridge and fished back toward the main lake. I ran all the way to where the river split with a big gravel bar and drifted back with the current. Morning tally was 8 largemouths, with one nice 16" that went back in. Most of the rest were 12-13 inch standard issue river bass. In addition to the bass, I also caught four channel cats (I guess they were channels...the skin had a slightly yellow tint along the belly, and they had a few spots like a rainbow trout), with one being up around 4-5 lbs. I kept that one and gave it to a grandfather, son, and grandson combo who were fishing along the same stretch. The unusual thing was that every fish I caught came on plastic worms...bass and cats. I was watching the tournament guys flip in the logjams and throw spinner baits to the bank, and they were not having much success. Most were back in the main lake by 9 am. The plastic worms were the new Gulp brand by Berkley in watermelon 7" turtleback style, and the 7" Junebug style with a 1/8 oz bullet weight and rigged Texas style. Most of the bass were caught very close to the vertical walls of the bluffs, and the cats were in behind large boulders on the down current side where you would normally expect to find a largemouth hiding. I also lost two largemouths that would have been pretty decent fish. The first was a little bigger than the 16" one , but the second one was a real bear. I actually saw it come out of the water after a minnow and put a watermelon worm right on top of it. When it took the worm, I set the hook, but could not move it. The fish was already in brush, and wrapped the 10# line around a limb and broke off...guess that has never happened to any of you guys, though. Overall it was a real fun trip.
If you ever go to PdT to fish the river, be very aware of extremely shallow areas that will rearrange your lower end, and of underwater snags that extend from the bank out to almost mid-stream. I pointed one of those snags out to a pair of fishermen in a small jon boat with an electric motor on back, and they still hit it. No damage, but in a bigger boat going at speed it might have been a different story. If you decide to give it a try, drop me a note and I will try to describe where the bad spots are.
We're on a mission from God.
Jake & Elwood Blue
