Hey Hall of Fame Family,
I hope you all are warm and dry! The St. Louis area got 8+ inches of rain in the last 24 - 48 hours, and many of the local rivers and creeks have flooded, leaving roadways closed and basements. Paul and I recently got home from our annual week-long fishing bender, and it was a total blast! This is a trip we go on every year, specifically to a new place, solely with the purpose of going fishing. We always camp at a state park on the water, and try to pick as central of a location as possible. We sleep in hammocks, cook on a campfire, and spend as much time on the water as we can. This was our fourth trip; we've previously gone to Sturgeon Bay, WI in 2021, Mille Lacs, MN in 2022, and Toledo Bend, LA in 2023. Paul and I spent this year's trip fishing the Tennessee River and all it's reservoirs and tributaries in northern Alabama and southern Tennessee. We camped on Wheeler Lake at Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville, Alabama. Paul and I both had such a great time, and we did not want to go home when the week came to an end.
On our first day driving down south, we stopped at the Pickwick Dam to fish for a little bit. We didn't catch anything, and decided to continue traveling to our destination. Our campsite was only 6 hours from my house, 3+ hours closer than any other place we've gone on our big trip in the past. Our camp was pretty basic, but it served all our needs. It had power, water, a firepit and grate to cook on, an open area for our tents (aka dry storage), room to park our trailer, and, most importantly, ample pine trees to pitch our hammocks. As a whole, the campsite was very clean, and it felt secure as it was gated. We even had a few furry racoon bandits living in our campsite that tried stealing our food on several occasions. The bathrooms could've used a good cleaning and update, though... Our site was walking distance from Wheeler Lake, and after getting setup and cooking dinner on the first night, we decided to fish. I was throwing a black Lobina Rico popper, and Paul was using a sexy shad spinnerbait. Paul quickly caught a bass, and then I did too. As Paul went to make his next cast, his reel malfunctioned. It was unable to cast and was somehow locked up. I caught another 3 or 4 bass while he was messing with his reel, a Shimano SLX. Paul only brought one rod down to the lake with him, so he had to run back to get another, working combo. I caught 3 more bass while he was gone, the biggest being around 2 lbs. As Paul returned with new gear, I caught one more fish. And then, all of a sudden like someone flipped a switch, someone turned the fishing completely off. Big time, too. On that first evening from the campsite, I caught 9 fish in about 20 minutes, and Paul only caught the one. We fished from the bank for another hour or so, and did not have another bite. We would not catch another fish for the next couple days...
Our first full day was spent on Wheeler Lake. I was stoked to fish from my new Ascend 128X kayak, as this was my first time using it. Check out my review on that boat if you haven't already! We launched from the same spot we fished the evening before, thinking we might have repeat success. Skies were blue, temps were in the 70s with little wind, and there was not a cloud in the sky. We were in for identical conditions to these for the rest of the week, and as you may know, great weather like this isn't great fishing weather. Great for bird watching... We didn't catch a single fish on Wheeler that day after hours of fishing and paddling, so decided to try a completely new location on the lake near the Elk River. We paddled a few more futile miles without catching a fish as the sun went down. My new kayak was noticeably heavier than the other 12T I have, but I won't dive too far into it's specifics, as I talk about them in depth in last week's blog post.
Day two was spent on Wilson Lake, Shoal Creek, specifically. Again, skies were blue, temps were in the 70s with little wind, and there was not a cloud in the sky. At the ramp, Paul and I met a local kayak angler named John who told us about some spots to check out later in the week. We fished with him that morning, but split off by the afternoon. Ironically, we watched John catch the biggest bass we saw that entire week, a 4 lb smallie. It was awesome to see him break his PB, but I couldn't help be jealous, as Paul and I hadn't caught a fish in over 14 hours on the water. That afternoon, I lost a small smallmouth on a crankbait along a retaining wall, and about an hour later, Paul landed his first bass of the day on a jerkbait. Paul's was the only fish we caught in 8 hours, so we bailed on Shoal Creek and headed to the Wheeler Dam. This was in vain, as well, as only snags were biting at the spillway. I lost three or four lures here. Paul and I spent the last couple hours of daylight at another location further up the Elk River. It had no current and little cover in the stretch we were fishing. Paul was able to catch a small spotted bass sitting down in some mud as the sun was setting here, but I had gotten skunked for the second day in a row.
Day three: Guntersville, a lake that lake needs no introduction. We arrived at Town Creek by 8:30 am, a spot John had mentioned to us. Once again, skies were blue, temps were in the 70s with little wind, and there was not a cloud in the sky. As we were launching the kayaks, Paul and I made a decision. We decided to do a 12 mile round trip paddle up Town Creek in the search for a big bass. I loaded down the 128X, with maybe too much gear. The kayak was heavy!! On the journey, we found Guntersville's famous grass mats, tons of cover, large powerlines, and a boulder here or there. We didn't find any big bass, but we did find fish! I caught 3 or 4 from Guntersville, the first fish from my kayak. It felt sooooooo good to catch some after getting skunked for so long! As we were paddling the 6+ miles back, my shoulders were on fire. I kept wanting to see the boat ramp around the next corner, and I was missing my old, smaller and faster kayak. Paul caught a few fish from G'Ville, as well. Nothing big, but it was amazing to not be skunked!
Paul and I took a break from the kayaks on days four and five. Day four was spent on Bear Creek Reservoir, south of Wheeler Lake. We launched my Pelican Bass Raider, with a trolling motor on the front and an old (new to me) Mercury 39 outboard motor on the back. When our grandpa passed away, I inherited his old outboard, which had spend the last 10 or 11 years sitting idle in his shed. I had it fixed up and got it running the week before our trip, and I was so stoked to use it. At first it took a little sweet talking to get running, but once we did, the thing purred! Having that motor really opened up a lot more water to us, and we were able to run up and down Bear Creek with ease. Paul and I each caught a 5 bass bag on Bear Creek Reservoir, finding some reaction bites. Again nothing huge, but it was a win just to catch fish and have that motor. We fished nearby Cedar Creek Reservoir for a couple hours that evening from the Bass Raider, and I only landed one more small fish before the sun went down.
We wanted to use the Bass Raider and outboard motor again on day five. We launched from Second Creek, a ramp close to Joe Wheeler State Park. Unfortunately, neither Paul nor I could not get the outboard to start that day. We spent about 2 hours piddling around near the ramp, trying anything to start the motor. We never did, though, and had to come up with a new plan. I'm not sure why it wouldn't start, as it seemed like the engine was constantly being choked, even if it wasn't. Bummed out and unsure what to do besides go get the kayaks, we went back to the campsite. At this point, we called a major audible. We decided to make the hour and half drive to famous Lynchburg, Tennessee, and not just to fish, either. Fishing had been slow, we were a little down on our gear, and we just wanted to take a little break. We booked a tour at the Jack Daniel's distillery, tasted great whiskey, ate some awesome bbq at the BBQ Caboose, and explored Lynchburg. We fished a small creek that runs through the distillery, as well as a nearby lake without luck, but we were not really there to fish. This little side quest kinda breathed a breath of fresh air into us, and we were putting out good vibes. It was a fun, unplanned little break. Anyway, skies were blue, temps were in the 70s with little wind, and there was not a cloud in the sky again that day.
We brought those good vibes with us into day 6. Paul and I booked an 8 mile float on the Buffalo River with Crazy Horse Outfitters in Tennessee, another spot John told us about. He came in clutch for telling us about this! This was the first true river mission in my new kayak, as the Elk didn't act much like a river. We used our own gear and kayaks; they just dropped us off 8 miles from their campground. Skies were blue, temps were in the 70s with little wind, and there was not a cloud in the sky, so I was expecting more of the same finesse fishing conditions. I, again, might've brought too much gear for this trip. Immediately from the put in spot, Paul and I were catching fish. We each had a bag of bass before we had gone even a quarter mile. The Buffalo River was shallow and rocky, but quick moving with woody cover. On this float, I collected the first of many new scratches on my kayak. The boat didn't handle the shallow, fast water greatly, but it managed. Paul and I caught fish in nearly every spot we fished, catching the most fish we'd caught all week. We doubled up several times, and had no trouble finding both smallmouth and largemouth bass throughout the day. Nothing bigger than 2 lbs, but it was so great to find as many fish as we did. Paul and I completed the 8 miles and made it back to Crazy Horse as the sun was setting. I was not nearly as tired as I was on Guntersville, going downstream helps a lot! This float was honestly the highlight of the trip for me.
Day seven, our last day, was started on Pickwick from the kayaks. We didn't go far from the boat ramp, and only stayed out on the lake for a couple hours. I caught 1 small bass, but the lake didn't seem promising where we were. Again, we had the same weather conditions. By this time we had built mostly a finesse and minimal reaction bite pattern around rock, docks, and cover. We bailed on Pickwick and jumped into Cypress Creek. It was shallow enough to wade, so we did. Paul and I caught 11 rock bass out of one hole, and I caught another smallie along the way, too. We broke for lunch at Cookout before finding bank access along the Tennessee River, itself. I was able to catch 3 more fish on a squarebill from riprap along the river, but Paul unfortunately didn't catch any more fish. We were quite bummed out to break down the camp and head home the next morning.
If you've read this far, thank you! Please use discount code kayakadventure5 on our website for a 5% discount on your entire order during the week that this blog goes live! Effective November 12-26, 2024. We drove home on day eight without fishing. All in all, Paul and I had an amazing time on the Tennessee River. We probably paddled around 30 miles or more all week, as well as putting just a few hours on an old outboard motor. Be sure to check out my full review on that new kayak! The fishing was quite slow at times, but it did improve as the week went on. Lynchburg was a lot of fun, I'd totally go back with a group of friends. The Buffalo River now has a special place in my heart, and I will definitely be back to take a swing at those big Tennessee River system bass! Thanks for reading this meaty blog post, I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading about our experience!
Tight lines,
Erik Hoffman, Hall of Fame Outdoor Co