John's Journal...
Entry 167,
Day 5
SECRETS OF THE TAILRACE WITH JERRY CROOK
Largemouth And Sauger In A Tailrace
EDITOR'S
NOTE: Jerry Crook, of Gardendale, Alabama, a veteran
Tennessee River angler, has more than 22 years of fishing experience.
Crook operates Tailrace Guide Service, which focuses on live-bait fishing
and provides anglers with the opportunity to catch several species of
fish in a days outing. Wheeler, Wilson and Pickwick lakes on the Tennessee
River in northwest Alabama has the furthermost range of smallmouth bass
in Alabama. Wheeler Dam tailrace is one of the most well-known smallmouth
areas in the nation with the Alabama state record for smallmouth caught
here weighing 10 pounds, 8 ounces. This week, Crook will tell us his secrets
for fishing the tailrace that will work in tailraces across the nation
for a wide variety of fish.
QUESTION: Where are you finding the largemouth in the
tailrace and how are you catching them?
ANSWER: Largemouth are not the predominant fish up here on the Tennessee
River. They tend to get up here late in May. In this particular tailrace
below Wheeler, the largemouth tend to gather up off of the end of what
we call the No. 11 turbine, which is the one on the far left if you are
below the dam facing it.
QUESTION:
That would be the last turbine below any tailrace?
ANSWER: Right. They tend to get in the slack water and congregate around
the wing walls. The best area to catch largemouth is between the corner
of the dam at No. 11 and the top of the island there, which is 200 yards
below the dam. You can get a good top-water bite in that stretch of water
from the end of May through the end of July. There are quite a few more
smallmouth below this dam than there are largemouth. You want to fish
the farthermost edge of the current, and if TVA has the end turbines on,
the fishing gets even better.
QUESTION: With what are you going to use to fish for
largemouth?
ANSWER: I'll either drift a minnow, or I'll throw a top-water bait. My
favorite top-water baits up here are the PRADCO bone-colored Jumping Minnow
and the shiner-colored Rebel Pop-R. Those two baits seem to work better
than anything else.
QUESTION:
What about crankbaits?
ANSWER: You'll have a difficult time making that crankbait work right
in that current. I would opt for another good top-water bait, like a fluke.
I just don't think a crankbait is a great choice for that.
QUESTION: One other fish that is in this tailrace is
the sauger. When do you sauger fish, where do you find the sauger and
how do you catch them?
ANSWER: Sauger are a cold-water fish and can be found in the dead of winter
-- the worse the day, the better the bite. The top spots are below Wheeler
Dam and at the base of most dams on the Tennessee River chain, usually
on the lock walls. The sauger will get up right next to the doors at the
locks. The ladders along the lock walls are productive places to fish
for sauger. You usually can catch those fish by vertical jigging, popping
a jig off the bottom, putting minnows on the bottom and waiting for a
bite that way.
QUESTION: If you are vertical jigging, what are you using?
ANSWER: Usually a 1/4- to 1/2-ounce jig with a brightly-colored hair tail.
People around here like bright chartreuse, orange and red jigs. They'll
put a chartreuse curly-tail grub on the end of the jig, and they'll tip
it with a live minnow.
QUESTION:
How many sauger do you usually catch?
ANSWER: The limit is 10 fish per day. If you meet the 10-fish limit, you've
had a pretty good day.
QUESTION: What size sauger will you catch?
ANSWER: Our sauger in this section of the Tennessee River aren't as big
as some in other locations. Guntersville produces some bigger sauger,
but below Wheeler Dam, if you catch a sauger that weighs more than 2-1/2
pounds, you're lucky.
For more information on fishing the tailrace, contact
Jerry Crook at 1128 Meadow Drive, Gardendale, Alabama 35071 or call him
at (home) 205-608-0933 or (cell) 205-243-6198. You can visit his website
at www.alabamaoutdoors.net.
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