Fishing tip of the week

Fishing Tip of the Week

Tuesday, 24 September 2024 06:34

Current is Key
 by Mike Gerry

Current trumps all and is key to catching fish on the Tennessee River.
There is no doubt in my mind that bass become a by-product of their surroundings and in the case of a river system like the Tennessee river the bass feed when TVA is pulling current!
The key is where do they go when this happens and what generates their activity during the flow of water.

There are many things that moving water does to create activity and make the bass feed, the first thing is current helps create oxygen in the water, the bass generally move from suspending to being more active when there is more oxygen in the water. When it’s hot and the water temperatures are in the high 80’s current is a big game changer.
The next important thing to remember is that current can be created by wind and waves as it deflects the sun and allows the bass to stay more active on sunny windy days.

One of the most important aspects of current is it generally gathers up scattered bait fish into bait balls, as there is safety in numbers for bait fish and as they gather up to hide from the current it puts them in areas together and the bass follow the bait fish constantly. The aspect of current that most don’t realize is that current creates water eddies, and this acts as a whirlpool for bass to stack up around the eddies and ambush bait; this is an ideal location to find a monster sack of fish!

Current also creates movement to the flats as bait will move to these areas and stack up behind bottom structure like stumps and rock or drops on the edges of the flats. Their movement will generally travel on old roadbeds or hard bottom areas as they migrate to the flats during the fall of the year. I also check man-made structures as current will push the fish to the barge tie-ups, bridges, and rock jetty’s and or boat houses especially along main channel areas where the current is more noticeable.
Study the current, check the times on the TVA.gov web site, look for the areas that the fish move to, and you will be more successful when they’re pulling water along your river system.

Captain Mike