The calendar says it is supposed to be Fall here in East Tennessee, but the warm summer-like temperatures continue and the persistent drought has reduced the water releases at Douglas Dam and kept the water temperatures in the mid-seventies. Also, there is an exceptional amount of weed growth in the river giving the fish some extra cover in which to hide. That did not stop Greg from Farragut and his Uncle Milo visting from Florida from putting the smackdown on a bunch of nice smallies up to 19 in. long.
The fish were scattered, but they fished hard and ended up with a productive day on the water. I really enjoyed guiding them and Greg talked about taking another trip later in the fall and doing another trip in the Spring with Milo for those big pre-spawn smallmouth.