Ya Larry the river has come up around a foot and I didn’t try useing a float but will tonight. I didn’t see anyone on the dam yesterday or last night useing cut bait, everybody was useing live bluegills or nightcrawlers for the guys who like fishing channels. Our favorite spot just outside the swift current was taken when we got there and when those guys moved others moved right in, looks like alot of guys know this spots a good one.
I think what happens is when the fish need a rest they know where the slower current is and move there just outside of the swifter water only a few feet away or lay right on the bottom where I also think the slower current is with the faster water coming over the apron from the gates and going over the top of them. Theres a deep pocket right below the end of the apron where the swifter water from the gates goes over the top of them. We fished right on the bottom and maybe only 25′ to 30′ down from the dam and just off the end of the apron most of the time last night, it took 5 to 6 ozs. to hold it on the bottom. The more line you fished with the more the water would lift it and move the sinkers, moveing the bait around and we wanted to avoid snags on the bottom with the rocky limestone bottom so we fished only a short ways down from the handrails. We like fishing the slower water pockets that are between the discharges from between the gates but the swifter water holds flatheads too. The swifter water comes right through the gates and the slower water is caused by the bridge support uprights between the gates where water doesn’t come over the dam. We did try right in the swifter water and right below the dam and we let out less line to stop the drift but it took 6 ozs. to hold it there and the rod tip still bounced.
No one caught any big flatheads on bigger bluegills but did catch smaller ones 20lbs. and less on smaller 2″ to 3″ bluegills and a few channels too. The bigger flatheads are there otherwise we wouldn’t have had those hits on 6″ bluegills leaving a crease on their sides and poping eigther one or both of their eyes out. The eyes were eigther poped out or gone with just that one hit. The real good hit I had, where I had to lunge for my pole, I was fishing right down from the handrail maybe 20′ and right next to the boils where the water was coming over the dam and just below the apron. There was a 6″ difference in water heights where the boils were and the slower water was right next to it because of the uprights of the dam. The flatheads are right in the stronger boils too but its a little easier to fish the slower current seam only a few feet away.
I had two good strikes, one hit a 5′ bluegill so hard it poped its eyes out and I had to litterly lunge forward out of my chair to grab my pole because it was going over the handrails, litterly. I got to talking to the guys there and they thought the flatheads were eigther hitting short or feeling a little reistance of the line and droping the bait, they usually don’t do that but everybody was having the same luck on the way they were biting. All the flatheads caught were caught on smaller bluegills around 2″ too 3″.
Tim hooked into a pretty nice one on a smaller bluegill and brought it up just below the handrail and it got into the backwash that goes upriver against the gates and he couldn’t pull it out. He broke 35 lb. test bearing down on his pole for 15 minutes and still could turn it back downriver so we could slide the net underneath it to net it. After about 10 minutes he was saying, my arms are going to break, The line broke and his upper arms were swelled after he reeled his pole in. He got tired of trying to turn the fish and he pulled real hard trying to bring it out and thats when the line broke. We seen it after it surfaced when it was initially coming up river and it went around 20 lbs. but when it got into the backcurrrent it felt like a 50lber. He said if it would have been a real nice one it would have been a waiting game and he would have won and I think he would have but didn’t want to spend the time trying to get this smaller one out of the backwash.
The bite has changed from a decent subtle hit like it was right befor they spawned to a quick hit now and if they feel resistence now they drop it. Usually a flathead will take the bait and go or mouth it for a little bit then go, maybe tonight they will again hit hard but go with it.
It was around this time last year when I had to lunge for my pole and it also was off the walkway and going over the handrails, the only thing that saved it was the reel hitting the handrail slowing it down. After that happened I tied a piece of small rope around the bottom of the handle and onto the lower handrail to save it from going over incase I was talking to someone. I hooked the fish and he stayed down river for about 5 minutes and about that time I figured he felt the hook and hit the after burners and just took off down river and broke my line, it was a real nice one.
I’m thinking when the pre-spawn is on they hit good but because they are spawing its not a hard quick hit like now shaking the pole making you lunge for the pole, I don’t know forsure whats going on but the hits now are real hard and quick. Except for the ones caught and brought up onto the bridge everybody said that they were hitting it hard quickly but not holding onto it. Were going again tonight and will take the camera to show what the currents like and any rods that are bending. There was about 15 to 18 guys on the dam last night and up until around 11:00 when I went home, sometimes its also a waiting game for flatheads and thats forsure, a guys just got to figure the bite out. Theres also a good ditty pole bite going on right now, I know I’ll have to clean fish for an old friend of mine in the next week or so from his fish holding cage.
