Hillbilly Bennett

Any of the 3 months you are going will be good. I live in KY and when I fish Dale I usually stay on the KY side. 90% of the lake is in TN but as was mentioned above, all of the lake holds fish. Wisdom Dock in Albany, KY has some awesome lodging right on the dock. You can rent floating hotel rooms and pull your boat right up to your door. That’s where I always stay. They should be up fairly shallow and however you like to fish should work. Dale Hs some awesome Largemouth, Smallmouth and Spotted bass fishing and that’s one of my favorite things about Dale, you never know what species you are going to catch.

An Ocho is an excellent stickbait. I throw it on a shakeyhead more than I do anything else with it but I do fish it weightless if I’m in a lake that is pressured. Something about that 8 sided worm will draw strikes when conventional stick worms won’t.

As many people on this post have said, I think the reason that largemouth are more popular than smallmouth is that they are more widely spread around the US. Largemouth can live in virtually any type of water and any type of water temp that there is in The lower 48 states. I love to catch largemouth bass and in my area all of the lakes have a high population of them, but if I have to choose Smallmouth are my favorite fish to catch. The acrobatic jumps of the smallies and strong fight they put up makes catching them very fun. Not to mention what could be more fun than floating ir wading a river out in the boondocks and catching tons of bronze backs? There are times when the LMB bite can be very fun too. When you are frog fishing, cranking squarebills or doing something else to draw reaction strikes from largemouth, the experience can rival catching smallies.

My choice is a Senko. I love that lure and hate it at the same time but it’s one thing that I know I can take to a body of water at any time and catch fish on. A wacky rig will catch fish in just about any situation. I’ve even done well fishing it in open water in very cold water on a light jig head or 3/0 gamakatsu finesse hook. Bass just have a hard time not eating something that’s slowly shimmying in their face so a wacky rig is what I’d take in this scenario. I’d have one rigged on a medium action baitcaster with 12 lb test line and one on a 7’0 medium action spinning rod with 8lb fluoro. Water color determines where I start with my lure color. In clear water I’m starting throwing something natural like Baby Bass, In lighter stain I’ll use a green pumpkin or GP chartreuse and in muddy water I’ll use chartreuse, black and blue or just black. It may not be the most exciting way to fish but a Senko will catch fish just about anywhere so that’s what I’d choose in this situation. This ?

No one’s posted on this topic for a while but I stumbled across it so I figured I’d throw my 2 cents in. I picked up one of these crankin rods last spring after I broke the tip off of my Older graphite cranking stick. The Quantum KVD PT is a good cranking stick, especially for squarebills. It has a deep bend but enough backbone to pull fish away from cover and, because I tend to get excited and set the hook a little too hard, the softness of this stick has allowed me to have much better hookups. However I don’t like the softness and lack of sensitivity on glass rods where I need to feel bottom changes and deeper cover so this one doesn’t work too well for that for me.

Thanks for the info A-Jay. I absolutely loved the concept of the Sub-Walk but just haven’t had any luck with it. I may have to dig them back out from the depths of my tackle box and mix them back in my rotation again this fall. On a different note I sent a buddy of mine a link to a long conversation about smallmouth you and @12poundbass had that was loaded with great insight. I’ve been fishing for a while but you have forgotten more about bass fishing than I’ll ever I know!

Dredging up an old topic here y’all. @A-Jay how in the world do you catch fish on the sub walk? I have thrown them until my arm is about to fall off, and I can make them walk underwater, but have never even had a sniff on one. Also, I have had success with the ol Flying Lure. I used to slay them around docks on them but I lost my last one and can’t find anymore.

That is wild! I envy you Tennessee River guys. I know the fishing is good in most of your part of the world but I had no idea that the river itself stayed that cool during the summer. Our rivers here in Eastern KY hit 85+ Pretty quick with the exception of one. It’s a good thing I don’t live down there. First off I could never see myself wearing that ugly orange color ?, second I’d never do anything but fish. Lol

Yeah man, we haven’t quite hit 94 degree water temps yet. It’ll get in the 90s before too long. Best of luck to y’all in the Deep South. Those 110 heat index days are crazy.

It was 94 here in Eastern KY yesterday with a ton of humidity. Prime time for the rivers around here as I rarely fish the lakes from July to early September. Too many jet skis and pleasure boaters, especially this year with everyone in Corona mode. The Smallie’s metabolisms are sky high in the rivers right now so they fight like crazy and I can catch 5x the number of fish compared to the lake during the summer. Also, if the float gets too hot you just bail in the water and wade fish for a little while, just watch out for snakes. It seems that Copperheads are everywhere this year.

I remember wade fishing a very large river with 2 of my friends. We were standing about 15 yards apart and we caught over 2 dozen fish by casting near each other’s legs. We were standing perfectly still on a shoal at the front of a deep hole of water and the smallmouth were using our legs as shade and/or current breaks. One of the craziest fishing experiences I’ve been part of. The key was to not move and make an accurate cast as to not hit your buddy with your lure.

This is me to a T. When I feel that tap I reel the slack out of my line and absolutely lay the lumber to it as soon as there is weight, especially with a jig or anything Texas rigged. My thought is that if a fish hits it and then spits it, I can reel down, feel my lure and give it a little shake to get bit again. Hook sets are free. I try to not miss a fish by getting in a feeling contest with them because I loose more than I win that way. Just my take on this and I’m no pro.

I was honestly looking for something quick I could throw together to put smaller O-Rings on 3 in senkos for a trip to my local river today. I didn’t have time to order a wacky tool or anywhere to pick one up between here and there. Definitely not above buying one but why not save $7 by using junk just lying around?

Love this Idea! It kills me to pay $7 for what a wacky tool is. Gonna give this a try tomorrow.

That’s a great area to fish though. Jordan and Harris are awesome. Only two lake in Your area I’ve been on. NC is an incredible bass fishing state.

I have 2 goals. One is to fish as much as I possibly can and the other is, “To try not to suck.” Lol When I go out I try to catch as many as I can but it definitely messes up the fishing high if I do something dumb, like forgetting to retie after a few fish, and I lose a good one. I guess my main goal is to enjoy fishing as much as I can by doing the things I know how to do on the water as well as I possibly can. Some of my most satisfying days have been days where I was able to grind out 5 bites when the conditions are particularly tough.

The closest lake to me is 4 miles away (Dewey Lake) and it’s not too bad for this region I have an ok lake about 10 miles away (Paintsville Lake) and the lake I fish the most is right at 30 miles from my driveway. (Yatesville Lake) Every year I try to take 5 or 6 trips combined to Chickamagua and/or Guntersville. Chick is a 4 1/2 hour drive and Guntersville is right at 6 but both are well worth the trip. Had to miss our annual March trip this year due to the #%+$ virus that’s wrecking everything but we will get to another one in due time. Stay safe out there and catch some fish!

Something I’ve picked up over my fishing lifespan is that any carbonated soda will actually help slow/stop bleeding in people and in fish. Next time you gill or tongue hook one try pouring a little of your favorite carbonated beverage on it. It will help.

I had fished the Lucky Craft KJ Flat 1.5 squarebills with a lot of success so I decided to try these. They definitely have a different action and profile that bass don’t see a lot. I think that’s why they work so well. I also bought mine off of the guy in Alabama. I’d say you were the guy I was bidding against for those. Lol

Shew, e-bay is my worst enemy/best friend. I have been getting some awesome deals on different lures on e-bay, the only problem is that after a bunch of awesome deals I have spent a bunch of money. Lol I always get pumped for crankin’ in the spring so I tend to go overboard on buying new ones. So far I have picked up the following: River2Sea Biggie Smalls squarebill in a craw pattern-$7.69 A lot of 2 Strike king 4.0 squarebills for $10 One sexy Shad, one Bream A lot of 2 Lucky Craft Flat D-20s in One-Four-One pattern for $12.56 (Shipping-$6.95) Lucky Craft Lightening Pointer 110sp in MS American Shad $4.95 (Shipping-$2.00) A lot of 2 Lucky Craft Flat SR Squarebills White & Gray $9.55 (Shipping $4.95) A lot of 2 Lucky Craft Flat MR in Aurora Bass $14.20 (Shipping $6.95) I’m a sucker for the flat lucky craft cranks, they flat out catch fish and I paid more for the Aurora Bass ones than I wanted but they are extremely hard to find. I’ve gotta get this bait monkey off my back or I may need a 2nd job soon! Just saw this post after posting about the ones I just bought. Lol You will love those Flat Lucky Craft cranks. They are my favorites, hands down.

I just about did this same thing this spring on Chickamagua when I was running to the marina we were staying at. The lake was at winter pool and I though I was in the creek channel, which was only like 5 feet at its deepest, as I was Heading toward Island Cove when I saw a bunch of birds standing In 6 inches of water about 40 yards in front of me. Had to whip it around in a hurry or I’d have been calling Tow Boat US to pull me off of the shoal. Waaaay to close to comfort.

In my teenage days I would Take my dad’s boat to go fish my local lake when he had to work and couldn’t go with me. He has always been super meticulous and incredibly OCD about cleaning his rig. On this particular day he had washed and waxed the bottom of the fiberglass hull and decided that it would be a good idea to take the bunk rails off of the trailer one at a time and wax the parts of the hull that sat on the rails. Fast forward to the ramp, I’ve unhooked the boat from the trailer and I’m backing down the incline to in the water when the boat suddenly breaks loose and starts sliding down the trailer a good 20 yards from the water. I gunned the truck in an effort to keep the boat from landing right in the middle of the ramp. I managed to launch it doing about 30 mph in reverse and only scraped about a 6 inch section on the front of the hull on the ramp but water swamped the back of the boat and the speed at which I hit the water sent the boat about 50 yards from the ramp. Luckily it was summer and I was able to swim out and climb in the boat. Dad wasn’t happy with my explanation of what happened until he went fishing the next day and did the same exact thing. Needless to say he never waxed the hull that well again.

This is a really good read! A friend of mine turned me on to drop shotting for bass on the bed and it absolutely works. He hasn’t discovered the heavier weight aspect yet though. I’ll have send this to him.

I love 6th sense cranks. Thanks bait monkey, now I have to add another color to my tackle box. ? I just hit a clearance sell at Field and Stream too. Loaded up on some Arashi Spin baits, some 360 GT search baits, a few Tokyo rigs and a pile of drop shot stuff. They had Strike King Dream Shots and Jackall Crosstail Shad plastics buy 5 get 5. Im a big fan of the dream shot.

I really like those black magic cranks. How do they work?