This past week I had the chance to share my boat with Tom and Richard Kieffer. They wanted to find some of pool 10’s bass action and with the help of BFT’s Paddletails and BFT’s own Precision Jigs.
We started out fishing early in the morning trying to beat the heat we knew would be coming in by noon. The rods we used today were, St.Croix medium action Avid’s and the line we used was Berkley’s Sensation Solar in 8 pound test. I have been adding Pflueger reels to my rods and the guys could really tell the difference between them and the other reels I have. The Pflueger reel is very very smooth. We were pitching 1/8 oz and 3/16oz Precision jigs rigged with the 3.25" paddletail, all colors were catching fish but the Catalpa Orange/Chart Tail was the hottest was electric blue pearl tail in a close second.
Walleyes, sheepies, largemouth, smallies and even a stripper all took the paddletail and smacked it hard. We were mostly working rock piles and closing dams up and down the main channel. Current breaks behind the rock piles seemed to hold the most fish for us this morning, but the bigger fish were working the shallow fronts of the closing dams.
Pitching up above the structure and letting the current sweep the offering across the rocks was the most successful presentation. Casting the paddletail on top of the closing dam or tight to shore and swimming them back to the boat a foot under the water was another way we picked up some fish…
The day came to an end way to quick but we caught lots of fish and a dandy smallie just shy of 20 inches (19 7/8") that was caught by Richard and he did a fantastic job of getting him to the boat for a quick picture and back into the water.
Hey Dave nice report.
Say you ever Carolina rig those paddle tails?
Hey Vandy
,
I never tried that yet, I really don’t loose many jigs/PT’s running light jigs but I should try it some tome to slow things down even more, or are you talking , not using a slip weight at all ?
Great report, and some fine looking fish! I have a question though…… not being a river rat, so I’m not too familiar with the terminalogy…….. what is a “closing dam”? Anything like a wingdam?
I haven’t had alot of time to experiment..been targeting some deep water edges.
But I would think a small weight carolina rigged would give you a little different action.
Now that you mention just a hook like I do with my flukes and such this might be a deadly set up for the striper’s when they run.
A wing damn is usually on the main channel to deflect the current to the center of the channel or to just keep it flowing with out washing the shorline away.
Closing damns are usually put on side channels or cuts to keep the flow in the main channel at very low water levels.
They are both usually made of the same materials though rock and wood.
Thanks for the report Dave. The catalpa orange/chart tail color is great for bass.
Gotta love it for smallies. 
Thanks, Bill
On Pool 10 there are several back channel cuts off from the main channel. The Corps tries to slow the flow back into these back sloughs by running rock across the entrances to them. Fish Magnets
Nice report Dave. The paddletails were very good in Canada on our trip. I will be ordering some more in the near future.
Thats great to hear Steve
I have had several people report a great bite on the PT’s up in Canada also…
Glad they worked
now get your butt over here and fish with me again
Thanks for the info, guys! Learning more about the river everyday. I just hope my boater knows these little tricks on Saturday!