Today is the first day of what should be several days of stable weather this week according to the forecast. Highs in the seventies and low eighties with no rain in sight and clear skies. For a long time I have heard from other fishermen and guides that the third day of consistent weather even if the weather is less than favorable is the day when the fish really turn on. I have found this to be true over the many years that I have been fishing for smallmouth bass and I will find out if this fishing “Old Wives Tale” will prove itself to be true in a couple of days. Speaking of stability, TVA has forecast that they will be running an average of 16,000 cfs from Douglas Dam during those three days. This could also be a positive contributing factor of how good the bite could be during mid-week. Enough of forecasting of what the future bite could or should be because frankly it probably just boils down to a flip of the coin anyway. The fishing today was slower than the smackdown I had on Saturday with Pete and Ben. But if everyday was like that it would certainly take the challenge out of catching river smallies. I had lamented over the past couple of weeks that the smallies over twenty inches had all but disappeared. Ben did catch a football on Saturday that was 20 ½ in. long, but besides that fish it had been a while since I hoisted one of those rare twenties over the side of the boat. But that trend would finally change today. After catching fourteen smallies with the majority of them in the sixteen to seventeen inch range I hit pay dirt with back to back twenty-one plus inch fish. The first one was 21 ¼ in. and weighed 4 lb. 5oz. The second fish was 21 ½ in. and weighed 4 lb. 2 oz. Both fish were on the thin side to be that long and not weigh a lot more. They may be post spawn females that are starting to show up and feed after they have recovered from the rigors of spawning, but that is mere speculation on my part. The picture of those two fish are included with this report. I am looking forward to the fishing for the rest of the week and my hope is that stability and consistency with the weather and water conditions will win the day.
River Smallie Adventures Fishing Report April 30, 2018
