Tennessee River

[Blue Raider Bob]

Enjoying the mild break in the weather. Temps stayed in mid-eighties with next weeks forecast, upper seventies! Put in the river at Bridgeport Alabama but the Eel Grass was so thick along the banks that my only option the way I fish was to head for the bridge pilings at Long Island. Water clarity was terrific and the little ones found the lures often. Caught twenty five spots and smallies but they were mostly newborns. Did have a great big brown one on for a moment until she went airborne. It was a very pleasant day with little traffic. I was able to anchor downstream from the pilings and work them with soft plastics. The 3" Mr. Twister in Bluegill was the winner by far, but the 7" Mr. Twister earthworm caught the larger ones. Got to see the Bridgeport drawbridge raise for the first time. Saw the "Bobby Thompson" pass under, liveried in the "correct colors" of Orange and White! The Bridgeport drawbridge is on the navigation channel which is separated from the main river by Long Island.

[Swamp Girl]

I love bridges that raise. Thanks for the pics, Bob!

[Swamp Girl]

I like seeing the Bobby Thompson too, Bob. When I kayaked the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, I loved seeing the tugs pass. 

 

P. S. - Good job catching all those bass too! And dang it that you lost the big one! How big? For what it's worth, I lost a big one yesterday too. She porpoised and I've found that the bass over 21" over do that instead of jumping because they're too big to tail-dance anymore. 

[TnRiver46]

@ol'crickety, I feel like you should paddle the 652 mile length of the TN! 

[Swamp Girl]

That would be fun, but jeez, Bob, ten hours in the canoe yesterday has me feeling like I'm 92 today. 

[Blue Raider Bob]

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

That would be fun, but jeez, Bob, ten hours in the canoe yesterday has me feeling like I'm 92 today. 

     That's TnRiver46 trying to get you to paddle the Tennessee, not me Katie. He's trying to start some trouble!?

     But if you did......you would have lots of BR friends to fish with between the hills of east Tennessee and the base of the Appalachians in northern Alabama. I took the picture of the "Bobby Thompson" because it was painted up in UT Vol colors and it was venturing into north Alabama. Not sure it got a nice reception other than smiles from me! I did some reading about that drawbridge in Bridgeport as well as the railroad trestle bridge across the main channel on the other side of Long Island. The river was first bridged in 1852! How the heck did they do that in 1852? Amazing. 

[Swamp Girl]

3 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

That's TnRiver46 trying to get you to paddle the Tennessee, not me Katie. He's trying to start some trouble!

 

Ha!

 

3 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

But if you did......you would have lots of BR friends to fish with between the hills of east Tennessee and the base of the Appalachians in northern Alabama.

 

Oooh! Tempting!

 

6 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

The river was first bridged in 1852! How the heck did they do that in 1852? Amazing. 

 

Men who build bridges hit 11 on the Man-O-Meter, which only goes to 10. To understand that 11 score, Audie Murphy himself only scored an 11.2. 

[Blue Raider Bob]

There used to be a swinging bridge over the navigation channel of the river. My reading has revealed that the newer drawbridge was built 93' downriver from the swinging bridge. That means that 93 feet upriver from the current bridge should be a big rubble pile mid channel! I will have the side scan going next trip!

[Kirtley Howe]

Chuck Norris scored a 9 on the Man-O-Meter, so he just stood there and started at it. He then scored a 25.  <G>

[Blue Raider Bob]

20 hours ago, ol&#x27;crickety said:

 

Ha!

 

 

Oooh! Tempting!

 

 

Men who build bridges hit 11 on the Man-O-Meter, which only goes to 10. To understand that 11 score, Audie Murphy himself only scored an 11.2. 

I'm not taking the bridge builder Man-O-Meter test if Audie Murphy only got a 11.2!

I'm afraid of heights AND bullets! I would score a negative number.

[Swamp Girl]

20 hours ago, Kirtley Howe said:

Chuck Norris scored a 9 on the Man-O-Meter, so he just stood there and started at it. He then scored a 25.  <G>

 

Ha! However, Audie Murphy makes even Chuck Norris look soft as the Pillsbury Doughboy. 

11 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Audie Murphy only got a 11.2!

 

^That's^ the all-time record. Second place goes to Jimmy Stewart (10.1), who could have lounged in Hollywood during WWII, but flew dozens of bombing missions over Germany. Jimmy was the embodiment of "walk softly, but carry a big stick."

 

Thanks for the swing bridge photo. 

 

And no, Bob, you don't score "a negative number." I've seen the photos of what you've built. Your pond and floating gazebo and fences and home all took big-time backbone. 

[Kirtley Howe]

I am actually not much of a Chuck Norris fan, but the jokes about him are very funny. I am a giant Jimmy Stewart fan, and have mad respect for him. And Audi Murphy, while in my opinion was not a great actor, he was a full fledged hero and deserved every bit of his accolades. 

[Tennessee Boy]

Trivia question.   
 

How many of these railroad lift bridges are there on the Tennessee River?

[TnRiver46]

One? 

[Tennessee Boy]

13 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

One? 

Well I’m not sure I know the correct answer but I know of 4 of them.  
 

New Johnsonville,  TN

Decatur, AL

Bridgeport, AL

Chattanooga, TN (just below Chickamauga Dam)

 

I know there are two railroad bridges near the UT campus in Knoxville but I don’t think they lift.  I can only think of these 6 railroad bridges that cross the river.

[TnRiver46]

Are there consolation prizes available just for playing??

[galyonj]

2 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I know there are two railroad bridges near the UT campus in Knoxville but I don’t think they lift.

 

Just one time each. Then everybody'll be real mad.

[Tennessee Boy]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Are there consolation prizes available just for playing??

Absolutely,  talk to Glenn about that.

 

I remember as a kid watching a barge going under one of these bridges and having a long discussion with my Dad about what would happen if a train and a barge got there at the same time.  ?