Well it is getting close to October and my semi annual Smallie trip. Ole Nick is not going to be able to go with me this year. He just started a new job and can't get the time off.

Taking a ole buddy that has never been Smallie fishing before.

We will be there from Oct 6-9. I am bringing my fish cooker for an evening fish fry. Any of you local guys want to meet up for some fish, give me a call.

Where do you go.....

Cook all them fish you want big boy. You think Covid 19 was bad? Just wait till you eat some of those toxic waste dump fish out of the river.😳
I wouldn’t eat a fish out of that river if you paid me.🤮

What river are we talking about here? I got enough wrong with me that eating a polluted fish ain't gonna matter.

I have never caught a smallmouth and it's one thing I wanna do before I pass on. Where can I take my little 16' aluminum and have a reasonable chance of not destroying the lower unit, and still catch some fish? I'd like a natural river instead of a lake. I looked at several in TN on the satellite map but they all looked to low to do anything but float. Is there one where I can launch the boat and go upstream?

I think most of the rivers, at least in Middle TN, are better suited for kayaks or canoes. There might possibly be some areas of the Duck River you could fish with a outboard and jon boat, but not sure. I do have an idea if you want to catch some smallmouth in a "river-like" setting from your aluminum boat. You could come to Wilson Lake in northwest AL, put in at Safety Harbor below Wheeler Dam and drive across the lake and go up in Bluewater Creek. Shoals Creek is also nearby. Both of these creeks feed in from the north side of Wilson Lake, are navigable for a distance by motor boat, and contain good populations of smallmouth. You would also be near Pickwick Lake, which has good smallmouth fishing and so much current that it is very much like fishing a river.

As far as I'm aware, smallmouths only thrive in clean water conditions.

Not sure i’d call decatur “clean water conditions”

You’d be surprised.

I've caught them most everywhere. But not numbers

Thanks for all that info. I crossed the Duck river several times on turkey hunting trips, and it looked navigable. I had also studied those creeks on Wilson and thought that at least my AL fishing license would be good there. That would probably be smarter than going to TN. Most everything I've read about smallmouth fishing in AL talked about either catching them at night, or on live bait, and I don't like either idea. Fishing in those creeks sounds more my style.

We will be fishing on Wilson and Pickwick. Mainly Pickwick.

Let us know how you do Barry. Ive been waning to do a 2 day Wilson and Pickwick trip myself.

So how crowded would it be on Wilson on a weekday in October? For those who have fished both, would it likely be more or less than Lay Lake? I guess the uncertain weather scared everyone else off, but I fished Paint creek yesterday on the lower end of Lay and had it entirely to myself. I have never seen that before in over 40 years of fishing it.

I don't expect it to be crowded at all.

You’ll practically be alone pcp

It’s starting to get crowded in fishing season around the dams. Oct15- February

It shouldn't be very crowded at all on a weekday. The pleasure boating crowd starts thinning out after Labor Day. Weekdays in October should be just fishermen, and most of those will be concentrated in the tailrace of the dam. By the way, October is prime time to drift live shad in the tailrace for a chance at a trophy sized smallmouth.

Thanks for all the info, and Elkhunter, I didn't mean to take over your thread. Good luck on your trip. We have decided to go to Wilson in October and fish an afternoon and the next morning. We both just wanna catch one smallmouth, so maybe that will be enough time to land one.

Wilson in October:
1. Catch some shad OR buy some;
2. Launch below Wheeler Dam;
3. Launch boat and motor up to dam;
4. Fish with spinning rod with 6lb. line, #6 hook, small split shot about 1’ above hook;
5. Hook shad through lips, drop straight down over the side of the boat about 7’ deep and drift down about 400 yards;
6. Wash, rinse and repeat.
You’ll catch plenty of smallmouth.

If you have any questions, just watch the other boats (locals) and mimic what they are doing. There will be a few there doing just this.

Lonster

FYI

If they’re running water, and you need that to catch fish, you’ll catch a fish on every drift. Usually only one because by the time you get in in the boat it’s time to motor back up and do it again. You’ll catch lots of drum and catfish too.

It’s fun but I don’t do it too often because it takes me an hour afterwards at the car wash to get all of the shad scales out of my boat, looks like stripper glitter from front to back!

Lonster

If you go to Wheeler Dam - cross your fingers the dang buzzards don't eat the rubber seal off from around your windshield! They destroyed a truck owned by a friend of mine...

Ill be trying this next month. Looking forward to it. Ill let yall know how it goes.

the buzzards are tough. scratched my truck hood and top. looked like all my ex"s took turns with a hand full of keys.

Lonster's advice is spot-on.

If you don't want windshield-eating buzzards attacking your car, you could park at Fisherman's Resort and motor out to the lake.

Good luck, gents.

Thanks for all the great info!

But I gotta say that fishing for bass with live bait has always seemed to me like something similar to shooting a turkey out of a tree.

No doubt that it works, but something just doesn't feel right about it for me. And I've always disliked fishing in a tailrace, or off a pier, or anywhere I am crowded in with a bunch of other fishermen. Plus, I would have no idea of how to go about catching shad.

So instead, our plan is to run way up one of the creeks and bounce a shaky head worm off the rocks. Think that will catch one? Or maybe fish rocky points or banks in the river, if such places exist up there. I can catch spots and red eye without resorting to minners; I'm thinking those smallmouth can't be that different. But maybe we are in for a rude awakening.

So how would I get some shad if it comes down to either that or go home skunked?

Your plan of finesse fishing up the creeks is usually good for at least a few fish. They might not be trophy sized, but you have a very good chance at catching largemouth, smallmouth, spots, and rock bass following that plan. If you want a chance at some big smallies, find the schooling fish and throw a shad imitating swimbait, jerkbait, crankbait, etc. You don't have to use live bait to catch them in the tailrace, you can fish the current edges and seams with artificials and catch them too. You can catch all the threadfin shad you want with a throw net or even a long handled bait dip net around the dam walls, rocks, etc. There are millions of them in the tailrace area. I should add this since someone seeing this thread might decide to come up and fish Wilson or Pickwick and not have any experience fishing around hydroelectric dams: Please use caution fishing the tailrace area. Life jackets are required by law when within 800 feet of the dam. Both Wheeler and Wilson Dams are massive and create huge amounts of current and undertow, and both also have scattered boulders in the tailrace area.

Can’t speak to what they will like on the lakes you’re going to PCP but down here on the Broad River, white flukes/swim baits, Rapala cranks or jerks that resemble a shad, and in-line spinners (silver blade with white skirt) will catch them. Finding eddies and rips between rocks tends to be the best places to hook em, with logs and feeder creeks being a close second. Not sure if that will translate to where you’re going but once you hook the first one with some size to it I think you’ll be glad you chose to chase them.

Thanks again for the info. Cibola, the dangers involved in a tailrace I've never seen before also make me wanna look for a safer way to fish. We will try the other way first, and try to get in the tailrace as a last resort.

Headed to get in line to fish Lay Lake this morning.

How did your trip go?

We are planning to go to Wilson and fish Wednesday and Thursday. We set the date last week and now it looks like a hurricane is gonna center the place while we are trying to fish. Maybe it will run the buzzards away at least.