Skipjack

[Atchman2]

Guys, I LOVE watching catfishing videos! All of the local guys do such a great job on them! Kayak Catfish, Catfish Dave, Captain Billie, etc all do a great job. Where I am jealous of them is they always have the best bait! I use chicken sometimes, sometimes bluegill, but I REALLY want to try Skipjack! Is there anyplace besides below the dam to get these creatures?

I live just off of Ebenezer and mostly fish Fort Loudon as it is like 5 minutes from my house. It is mostly about laziness since I can go almost anywhere since I am semi-retired. I've watched some videos and it never seems to work for me.

Maybe I should hire the Scenic City guys to take me on a bait gathering expedition!

 

[WTM]

i catch them under a certain bridge pretty much year round, 60 miles from the nearest dam. dont know why they are there but they are, big ones too. maybe because there is a lot of current there idk.

anyway here are some good tips for freezing them. you have to put them in ice right away:

freezing skip jack

is it ok to freeze these for later cut bait? been catching a blue million of them instead of crappie.

www.tndeer.com

 

[Snowwolfe]

Good topic. I been trying to catch them below the Watts Bar dam for years. Only time I succeeded was when I was tossing a small gold spoon and ended up with a 25 pound striper instead, lol.

 

[Tenntrapper]

Forgive my lack of knowledge about shad...but is this just the regular shad in Loudon? Get over a ft long? And stink?
If so, back in the 80s, we caught them on white flies with a red head. 2 of them, maybe 3-4 ft apart. A lot of times you would catch two at a time.
If this isn't what your talking about.... nevermind...

 

[SEC]

Skipjack like swift current with current seams and breaks. They can be caught anywhere on the TN River but the tailwaters behind the dams is where the mother load is.

 

[Hduke86]

I call them Little Tennessee Tarpons and you can catch them with white foley spoons is the magic bait where I fish for them. They are all over the river but scattered. As mentioned below dams in the swift current is the place. Catching them below Chickamauga dam is easy

 

[Doecrusher]

We always used a double crappie rig with curly tails. If they were in there thick you'd catch two at a time.

 

[Smo]

We would dip shad below below Wilson dam when I was younger, mostly threadfin for baiting jugs.
But at times skipjack would surface along the wall and could be dipped as well..

Otherwise, We would catch them on curly tail grubs on a jig head…
They make great cut bait…

 

[Sako]

Since you live close just go to Big Fish outfitters and buy some... if not, you need to find them and that could be anywhere on the lake not just below the dam... you can see them breaking the surface and start casting a white jig into them and catch them...