catman529
Well-Known Member
Anyone been there lately? Catching any brown bass since the big fish kill last summer?
Dale hollow smallmouth?
- Thread starter catman529
- Start date
Football Hunter
Well-Known Member
www.smalljaw.com been pretty slow Ive heard,not had a chance to go yet this year
According to smalljaw, it is pretty slow so far this year. I fished up there a couple of weeks ago on Friday pre-fishing for a tournament and fishing a tournament on Saturday. We fished for largemouth the entire time but normally will catch a smallmouth or three while fishing for largemouth. I had one on Friday about 14" chase a floating worm to the boat. It was the only one that I saw all weekend. I don't remember even seeing an under weighed in.
I just got back today from a week long trip there. It was by far the worst spring bite I have ever had on that lake, and a bunch of others that I talked to agreed. The 2 of us caught 50 bass in 6 days, 43 of them being smallmouth. We never had an over, the closest we came was 20", and there were only a couple of those. The water is way up, and the crazy weather we have had this year has messed up the spawn, some fish have spawned out, some are on beds, and some are about to go on beds. I would think that in a week or 2, things might improve some.
catman529
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the info. Will see how the bite is in mid-June.
Zombie Bandit
Well-Known Member
Flat out terrible this spring, and that's no exaggeration. Worst I've seen in the 20 years I've fished it. Hopefully it rebounds in a couple of years. Largemouth fishing is still decent, but the smallmouth are just not there. TWRA shock reports were 40% of normal numbers. When no one can catch them, even with a TWRA shock boat, you know something's not right. Bad thing is that TWRA either doesnt know what's going on or will not tell you anything. Tried multiple times to get an explanation and cant get anyone to give an explanation of how/why it happened or what they are going to do to help with the problem. My guess is the hot spring and summer with no rain and the algae bloom that was on the water last year that did it, but cant get any biological answers or confirmations. All I know is the smallmouth fishing has been terrible since last summer.
