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THE IMPORTANCE OF BOAT INSURANCE
Embarking on the open water is an exhilarating experience, flled with the promise of adventure and relaxation. Whether you’re a seasoned sailor or a weekend cruiser, protecting your vessel with proper insurance is not just a choice—it’s a necessity. Explore the reasons why every boat owner should prioritize boat insurance for a worry-free voyage.
Unpredictable waters
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Damage and injury
Accidents on the water can result in damage to other boats, docks, or even injuries to passengers. Boat insurance offers liability coverage, which can pay for damages or injuries you’re liable for while boating, up to specifed limits, and lawsuit costs if you’re sued. This includes damage you cause to another watercraft or if someone on or near your boat is injured and you’re found to be legally responsible.
Theft and vandalism
Unfortunately, boat theft and vandalism are realities that boat owners face. Boat insurance has comprehensive and collision coverage that can protect you against events outside of your control, including theft and vandalism.
Incurred medical payments
Accidents on the water may lead to injuries for you or your passengers. Boat insurance offers a range of optional medical payments coverage limits, helping to cover medical expenses if you are in an accident or someone is hurt on your boat, regardless of fault.
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If you fnanced the purchase of your boat, most lenders require insurance coverage to protect their investment. Having boat insurance not only fulflls these requirements but also gives you peace of mind knowing that your fnancial interests are safeguarded.
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FATHER’S DAY: THE PERFECT TIME TO FISH WITH YOUR KIDS
THATCH MAGUIRE, EDITOR AT LARGE
Father’s Day is one of the best opportunities to take your kid !shing.
It’s a celebration of the powerful bond forged when dads pass down the timehonored tradition of !shing, a tradition that stretches back thousands of years. While !shing once put food on the table out of necessity, today it still feeds something deep within us. at ancient connection to the water lives on in every angler, whether they realize it or not.
Inviting your son or daughter to !sh on Father’s Day regardless of their age makes a timeless statement. It bridges distance, mends di erences, and rea rms love in a way few other gestures can. Even if the day ends without a single bite, the act of !shing together creates a bond that words can’t express. It’s not about the catch. It’s about the connection.
ere are countless lessons a father might teach a child, but carving out time to share a quiet day on the water—free from the noise and distractions of modern life is one of the most meaningful. By saying, “Let’s !sh together today,” you’re also saying, “Let me share who I am with you.” And that’s a gi no one forgets.
Don’t have a son or daughter? No problem. Take any kid !shing this Father’s Day. Whether it’s a neighbor, a niece or nephew, or a friend’s child, the impact is the same. You’re passing on something real, something rooted in tradition, and something that could change a young life forever.
KINGFISHING
ON A SHOESTRING BUDGET
By Capt. Steve ompson
Targeting king!sh during their annual migration season o Florida’s east coast is a predictable event that coincides with the annual migration patterns of the Atlantic stock of king!sh. During the summer, anytime from midMay through August, when the water is warm enough for the kings to stick around, we all have a great chance of catching a tournament class king!sh, at almost anyplace we decide to !sh.
King!sh can be caught anywhere from the mouth of an inlet, on out to 200 foot depths, and that means that almost any seaworthy vessel can, and does, go a er these !sh during the “mostly calm” summer days.
Everyone has heard about the GJKT tournament winner that Fred Morrow caught at the tips of the north rocks, or Bob Johnson on his Traveler who won the aggregate, with two nice !sh, also right o the beach. What do these teams have in common? ey won in small boats with very little overhead, with very short runs to their !shing grounds. But they did their homework and had a plan, and went straight to where they were going to !sh. Because let’s face it, the small boater isn’t going to run all over the ocean chasing !sh that have already been caught. And those are not the only examples, this same scenario takes place every year
in tournaments up and down the Atlantic coast.
Another way to !sh on a budget is to not get caught up in the latest and greatest gear. Sure, you need quality equipment, but one can good used reels from friends, who are upgrading, or from yard sales or even at swap meets at your local o shore club.
As far as rods go, if you know what “feel” you like on your rods, you can !nd o name rods at sidewalk tent sales at your local tackle store, that perform as well as a custom rod, for a fraction of the cost!
To avoid buying that expensive bait, become pro!cient with a cast net! Kings get fat and happy on a steady diet of “pogies”, or menhaden found along our beaches. You need a heavy fast sinking net to have all the bait you want for a day’s !shing. No pogies, you say? Don’t worry, many king!sh over the years, have fallen to other baits than just a pogy. A pound of shrimp on tournament day could very well be a day saver. Croakers are great king baits, as well as blue runners and blue!sh. Ribbon!sh can also be used but are best caught a few days before and brined so they are easily trolled. If you like !shing the Party Grounds always have some sabikis on board. ese are small feathers on small hooks on a special rig that will catch fresh sardines and cigar minnows on most of the o shore reefs and wrecks.
Don’t be intimidated when you sign up to !sh any tournament. You have the same chance to catch a tournament winning king!sh as the next guy. And you do not have to drop big bucks to do so. Just do your homework, pre-!sh as much as possible and, come tournament day, have a plan and stick to it…and we’ll see you at the weigh scales!
Capt. Steve ompson is Chairman of Jacksonville Marine Charities / Greater Jacksonville King sh Tournament and a 40-year successful veteran of competitive king sh tournaments all over the Southeast. Contact him at (904) 251-3011 or email: gjkt@king shtournament.com.
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Greenlight to A Deep Dive Without Going in the Red
Every year in Basel, Switzerland, the world’s best-known luxury watchmakers gather to display their new timepieces. It’s a great event for spotting timepieces that standout–– in performance and in personality. We saw one impossible to ignore: a precision dive watch with an arresting green dial. But we also saw the five-figure price tag and knew we could bring our customers that exact same precision and stand out appeal for a whole lot less. The Stauer Evergreen Diver is that timepiece.
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Green On Your Wrist AND In Your Pocket. You could pay an awful lot elsewhere for this verdant virtuoso, but the majority of the cost is in the big designer name upcharge. We think those guys are all wet. This is how you own a top-of-the-line dive watch without helping pay for some marketing guy’s yacht.
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SMOKY MOUNTAINS NORTH CAROLINA/ SOUTH CAROLINA/GEORGIA
Ole Split Jaw & the St. Patrick’s Day Giant
By Phillip Hutcheson
How trout fishing gets ingrained in us fishermen is always an interesting story. In my case, finding my way back to trout fishing and then learning how to chase trophy brown trout is more what I am here to entertain you with. It started on the Chattahoochee River in 1986 on a kids fishing day. That day, my only fish was a four pound, 20 in rainbow trout and it has always stuck with me.
In 2005 my father was diagnosed with early onset dementia and I put the rod down for twelve years. My life was at a different point, filled with building a career and lots of travel. By 2017 I had a wellestablished career and had recently built a lab and training facility near the Hooch, as it is known. I started venturing down to the river after work and eventually ran into Alex Green as he was floating past me on the river. After a conversation about a recent large brown trout he caught, he offered me the opportunity to hop on the boat.
We fished together a good bit as I was learning how predatory giant brown trout operate in the most pressured brown trout fishery in the southeast. One day, as we were floating back through an area with a blue tube used for stocking, Godzilla showed up. Godzilla is a double kyped brown trout that was as thick as your thigh and probably in the 33-35 inch range and Alex had brought him out! He chased up and hit Alex’s presentation and the fight was...no, it wasn’t. Sadly, he’d thrown the hook and disappeared back into the deep emerald waters.
After seeing that size and quality of fish, it changed me. I became obsessed with anything I could learn about strategies for streamer fishing and jerk baits and how predatory fish respond. Alex also shared something more valuable, in my opinion, than the latest greatest bait. He shared this mentality: ”If you treat chasing big browns on the Hooch like musky fishing, you will be able to have success on the river.” So that became my mentality. I threw myself headlong into every opportunity to fish for browns whether it was wading or with Alex on his 14ft jon boat. What I did not realize was happening was that I had begun a size progression, which I have identified that anglers go through when learning how to trophy hunt.
I noticed as I fished, the size of my kicker fish would get larger, sometimes trip to trip, sometimes it would take a lil longer. Regardless,
over the months I fished til Ole Split Jaw showed up. I saw looking back at photos how the size of the fish increased. The week prior, fishing with Alex, we had fished an evening session and I caught a nice 19 in, hook-jawed male.
The Saturday evening before, Alex and I spoke about the conditions for Sunday, March 12th. The weather was setting up with a typical late winter pattern in north Georgia. Temps were in the low 40’s and there was a light rain off and on that was moving through, and due to the lake being higher than normal, we would have to deal with some higher than normal water. We decided to fish at sunrise and launch from McGinnis Ferry boat ramp. This was a wise decision on our part as we would find out.
Days like that when trophy fish show up it is an interesting feeling you do not expect. As Alex and I ran up all the way to the bridge at Highway 20, dodging the rain, we decided to stop and start our drift from there. In those days, it was a paddle and bumping the motor for positioning, and doing this we worked our way down, with Alex consistently picking up browns out of timber along the way. I was not having near the luck Alex was. In fact, I was starting to get rather frustrated as I had only caught two fish to his near ten. He had caught some beautiful fish too! A couple of fat hens that were healthy and recovering from post spawn in the 16 to 18 inch range. My fish were not much larger than stockers though. I was beginning to question what I was doing. I kept thinking back to the mentality though…
As we rounded a bend, there is a creek river-left (facing downstream) with a small bar that links to a prominent rock shelf, which extends out two thirds of the way across the river. There is a good open chute riverright, which creates a big eddie towards river-left due to the rock shelf. There was an old blue tube, as I had mentioned before, and as we floated over I decided to cast.
In the light rain I punched a cast upstream over towards the chute we floated through. I had a bit of a tangle, which caused a longer pause on my retrieve, but I immediately got a nice flow going, got the retrieve back to the boat and cast back out, this time closer to the blue tube and the bank.
The emerald green water had some color to it, but I could see the flash of my lure under the water. Jerk...jerk…pause...jerk…jerk…pause…jerk… jerk—GOLDEN FLASH!!! All of the sudden my rod doubled over and the line started dancing upstream as he started digging deep. I knew I had a good fish on but I had absolutely no idea what I was dealing with. This guy was strong and digging deep as he tried to stay deep. “Alex, this is a GOOD fish!!!”, as I turned to see him grabbing the net. He reminded me to stay cool and that wherever I pull the rod tip, the fish should follow.
I started working the rod tip downstream opposing his bulldogging and allowing me to get him out of the current and into the eddie. I was gaining, I was winning. Then he would pull and dig and fear would flash through my brain. Another golden flash closer to the boat, which gave us a great idea of how big the fish was, as I was leading him towards the net. “Alright dude, he’s got one more run in him.” Alex said, as he came up to the surface, finally giving us a good idea of the fish’s size. I swung the rod up and over towards upstream and lifted his head while Alex dipped the net under him. I let out a primal scream of excitement that I did not know
Fly Fishing The Tallulah River in Georgia
By James Marsh
Fly fishing the Tallulah River is more about its small tributary streams than the river itself. The creation of Lake Burton slowed down the flow of much of the river. It begins in North Carolina and proceeds through four lakes before reaching the Chattooga River about sixty miles away.
The upper section of the Tallulah River has about five miles of public access. This area lies above Lake Burton and extends up to the North Carolina state line. It has both wild rainbow and brown trout but is still stocked with additional fish. This section of the river is medium size, averaging about twenty to thirty feet wide.
The uppermost tributary is the Coleman River which begins in the Coleman River Wildlife Management Area. U.S. Highway 70 crosses the river above Lake Burton near Clayton. Its headwaters begin in the Nantahala Wilderness Area as a very small stream. Fly fishing the Coleman River is best from its confluence with the Tallulah River upstream to the Coleman River Scenic Area. There is only a small section of public water above there because it flows through some private property sections. The stream also becomes very small. The Coleman River isn’t stocked. It has a population of wild rainbow and some wild brown trout. Native brook trout are in its headwaters. The lower section can be accessed from Forest Service Road 70.
The next downstream tributary of the Tallulah River is Moccasin Creek, but it flows into the upper part of Lake Burton rather than the actual river. It begins in the Lake Burton Wildlife Management Area.
A fish hatchery is located on the stream just outside of the Wildlife Management Area. The stream is dammed to get use of its water and then flows through Moccasin Creek State Park and on into Lake Burton. Anglers that fish the state park must be under 12 years of age or older than 65. This part of the creek is heavily stocked with larger trout.
The stream within the Lake Burton Wildlife Management Area can be accessed via the Hemlock Falls Trail. Above an area of water falls, Moccasin Creek contains wild rainbow and brown trout and there are some below the falls where the stream flows through a gorge. The stream flows through a valley. This is a very nice area to fish but requires a little effort to reach.
The next tributary that enters Lake Burton from the Wildlife Area a mile farther down the lake is Wildcat Creek. Fly fishing Wildcat Creek is a little different than fly fishing Moccasin Creek, but Wildcat Creek is stocked. It’s heavily fished by the bait guys. The best option to fish this stream is to fish up near where the stream enters the Tray Mountain Wilderness Area. There are more wild trout than stockers upstream and, of course, less bait fishermen. This area can be accessed via Forest Service Road 26-1. It follows along the creek, but of course that only makes it easier for others to access. This stream is capable of being a very good wild trout stream if it was managed properly.
All in all, the Tallulah River still has some good fly fishing opportunities if you pick and choose the exact locations to fish. Fly fishing the Tallulah River can be a lot of fun if you do that.
JAW continued from page 2
I had in me! Ole Split Jaw had finally come to the net!
As Alex began unhooking him, I was looking at his jaw and noticed that it was split just to the right of the tongue all the way up to the end of his hooked jaw. It gave him a strange split jaw look similar to the Predator. The injury had healed pretty well from what we could tell and he was strong and vigorous in the net.
I was astounded by what had happened. I had finally broken the 24 in mark on the Chattahoochee river with a brown trout. He was perfect and gorgeous despite his noticeable wound. He was a bright gold that faded to a bronze-brown color with red spots down in the gold, fading to mahogany spots then to black spots as they climbed his back to his dorsal fin. We snapped some photos and sent him on his way back home, hopefully wiser on what not to eat and upset that he was fooled again. I was floating on cloud nine at that point!
The hard work had paid off and I was super excited about Ole Split Jaw. I reached out to the Georgia DNR & spoke with a biologist with whom I shared photos of the fish and injury. To the best of their idea, they thought that he had been caught and put on a stringer that was punctured through his jaw skin. He more than likely alligator rolled until his jaw split open and he swam off. Little did I know that was just the beginning of one of the best weeks of trout fishing I have had.
As word got out locally about the fish, Alex and I kept talking about how good the conditions had been and if we could link up again and fish. Had to ride that wave while we could. The next time it worked out was St. Patrick’s Day. We finally had shorter work days and lengthening daylight which allowed us time to get out. This time the weather was completely different though.
St. Patrick’s Day greeted us with nearly blue bird conditions that afternoon. Temps had come up to the high 50’s with the whispers of spring on the warm breezes we were catching. We ended up meeting and launching at Medlock Bridge boat ramp about 4pm. Again we had slight
color to the water and a nice flow to deal with, but overall the water was emerald green and perfect. We ran up towards a large bend in the river, with a shoal and rock, and started floating back from there. Once again, Alex started out pretty hot catching a couple of nice browns back to back as we transitioned from the shoals to timber along the bank. I had only picked up a stocker rainbow that was beat up and missing scales, not sure if he was a victim of the hatchery or a giant brown chasing him. Either way he was my only fish.
We floated down past the bridge and I finally picked up a brown that was around 14 in coming off a small bar at a creek mouth. Meanwhile, Alex was doing great numbers wise, being in double digits with the browns. Me, well I managed to get hung up so deep Alex and I had to switch positions so I was on the motor and he could dip his long arms underwater to get my presentation freed up.
As we floated, there was a stretch we came to with some boulders in it. They create very noticeable boils in the water and rainbow trout like to hang around due to the structure and grass beds. Hence, if you have stocker rainbow trout, giant brown trout will not be far behind some of their favorite forage.
We passed the boulder river-left (downstream) and due to the orientation of the boat, the bow was upstream. I decided to cast an angled cast up above the boulder so that it would come off the boulder and around the corner. In my mind I thought it would be the perfect ambush spot for a brown trout. And all of the sudden I had one of the hardest hits I have ever had fishing!
This fish absolutely hit my lure with the force of a freight train being dropped out of a tornado. It was violent and with such force that he hooked himself well. The fight was on. He started dogging and pulling deep, going down for the root balls in the area. I reeled and kept switching the direction of my rod tip trying to keep him from digging down to a root ball.
He finally came up to the surface and as he did, I yelled out, “He’s death rolling!!! He’s death rolling!!! He’s gonna break me off soon!!!” I was tense as he was spinning in the line on the surface. Thankfully I was able to use this to my advantage and skate him over and Alex came in with the net scoop that was perfect!
As he lay there in the net on the bottom of the boat, I was in awe. I was shaking and I let out another primal scream of happiness! This was a truly magnificent specimen of a Chattahoochee river brown trout. He had a double kyped upper and lower jaw with a funky knob on the end of the lower hook jaw. The blue blush on his cheek, which is common in brown trout, went from behind his eye, down his cheek and gill plate and even extended part of the way down his body. He had a deeper golden side that faded to a light brown up on his back with red and mahogany spots starting two thirds down his body and again fading to black at the top. He was perfection as the apex predator in that section of river and he had room to grow at 26.5in.
Once again, with excited and shaking hands, I picked the brown up and got a couple of pics and then filmed a short release video, exclaiming, “YES!!!” as he swam out of sight with power and quickness. Then I knew that I had really found my absolute favorite type of fishing in the world! And I have taken what I have learned and successfully caught trophy browns nationwide, passing the knowledge along so others may learn and repeat my success.
The 35 miles of trout waters below Buford dam are some of the toughest, most highly pressured, and sadly, most poorly maintained rivers in the country. There is a lot of hope and good momentum with Trout Unlimited’s success with the Crayfish creek project, which was a collaboration between many partners on the river. It has opened a lot of eyes to how we can help the river.
My outlook is that I want to catch browns and the other fishes in the river & help others catch these fishes as well, so people can see how awesome the fishery can be and how beautiful our browns are here. The Hooch was once considered on par with the White river in the 80’s, could it return to those glory days? I am not sure, but I do believe if you would like to come chase these fish, you may not want to stop. Ole Split Jaw is still out there, let’s go chase him!
The Walleye Chop
By Ronnie Parris
Hey folks! I hope all is well with you and yours. Yeah, it’s that time again. The mercury in that ol’ thermometer is getting up there, and the temperature in those fish is rising too. This can be a great time to be on the water as long as conditions are right. What I mean by that, is you’re gonna have to have a few things go your way.
First, it’s so important to be on the water either at first light or last couple hours of daylight, as your water temperature heats up fast, as does the jet ski and wake board crowd, and this can sure put a damper on the bite. But one of the best things you can have on the water now is a good breeze. I’ve heard folks up north call it a walleye chop, but whatever you want to call it,
Fontana Lake Fishing Guides – Ronnie Parris, Owner & Head Guide LAKE, CREEK & RIVER FISHING • FLY FISHING • CAMPING We
a breeze really sparks the fish to feed.
Over the years I’ve noticed a few things associated with the breeze. Number one is that fish tend to stack up on the side of the lake that the breeze is blowing to. Now the reason for this, I’ve heard a lot of fishermen say, is that the breeze pushes bait, and that’s true in a way, but not like you might think. Do I think the breeze pushes minnows? Not really, but I do think it pushes zooplankton and other microorganisms, which minnows feed on, so in turn, your fish are gonna stack up in these areas, too.
Another scenario where the wind is a big advantage is where it blows against clay bank, causing the water to be stained, which gives bigger fish an ambush position for the baitfish passing by. I also think the breeze tends to oxygenate the surface water and this can cause fish to feed more aggressively.
This can be an awesome time to catch a mixed bag of fish, as they will tend to hold in different depths. For this reason I usually troll downriggers and planner boards this time of year. I also look for any place holding a little colder water, as the fish will definitely be holding there.
As I stated before, this is the time of year a lot of players are gonna be on the water, so use extreme caution. You may encounter some folks driving rental boats with little to no experience or lake etiquette, so let’s all look out for each other and have a safe, enjoyable trip on the water. As always, take a kid fishing!
Ronnie Parris is owner and head guide of Smoky Mountain Outdoors UnlimitedFontana Lake Fishing Guides, headquartered in Bryson City, NC, 488-9711.
Fishing with a Stick
By Capt. Cefus McRae, Nuts & Bolts of Fishing Series
In a very literal sense, we fish with sticks. Rods, even with the high tech composites used today are still basically...sticks. A couple hundred years ago our forefathers used a stick, some twine and a crude hook to catch dinner. Our grandfathers, and many of us, used cane poles with a bobber and a worm to catch bream on a farm pond. Fast forward and we’re still using essentially the same contraptions; albeit with much fancier technology and paint jobs.
I still carry a stick on my boat, most of the time. This stick is in the form of a cut-down pool cue. I cut the skinny end off, leaving a stick about four feet long. It has a rubber cap on the thick end, and some days it’s one of the best fish catching tools on the boat.
Fish have lateral lines that help them ‘see’, especially in murky water and at night. These sensing organs detect vibrations, pressure gradients and movement in their vicinity. Schooling bait fish create vortices as they move through the water, and gamefish can sense this as an opportunity for an easy meal.
Now for a little bit of physics. Low frequency sound waves move better and farther through the water than high frequency sound waves. So a low ‘thud’ can be sensed by fish at great distances. My fish stick can produce those low frequencies by tapping it on the deck of the boat. The Wide Open II has a spot on the deck just to the right of the helm that, when tapped with the rubber end of the pool cue, produces a nice low
thump. Don’t ask me why, but fish will come to that noise. Maybe it’s curiosity, maybe they think it’s a bunch of their buddies feasting, or maybe they think it’s a big school of bait frolicking in the water. Whatever the reason, I can do some deckdrumming and after a few minutes, if there’s any fish in the general vicinity, my sonar will light up.
Another school of thought relates to stocked fish. Many of our southern impoundments have stocked bass, stripers, and hybrids. Those fish were raised at a hatchery with lots of noise. Feed trucks, doors slamming, and feed buckets banging against the hatchery raceways. And usually those noises happen around feeding time. Make sense?
Cobia and red drum are naturally curious critters, and they will come to a methodical, low thumping too. It’s worked for me on more than one occasion.
Now this doesn’t always work. Some days, no matter what you do, fish just won’t bite. But when the bite slows down, and I know I’m in a fishy spot, a little deck-drumming can turn it back on. It certainly can’t hurt. After all, if they ain’t biting now, what’s the harm?
So make your own drumming stick, find the sweet spot on your boat’s deck, and start making some music that will have the fish dancing to get on your hook.
Tight lines and calm seas. Capt. Cefus McRae
Cosby Area Reopened as Park Completes Major Culvert Replacement
GATLINBURG, Tenn.— Great Smoky Mountains National Park has reopened the Cosby Area following the construction of a new culvert under Cosby Entrance Road.
The road opened today as the park completed this stage of the Cosby Entrance Road rehabilitation. Single lane closures will be in place on the Cosby Entrance Road through June. Visitors should plan for potential delays.
The park replaced two 14-foot culverts at Rock Creek that were in poor condition with a new, 25-foot culvert. This will allow for better water flow and decrease any buildup of debris in an area that has seen significant
floods. The culvert has an open bottom that allows for aquatic species passage along the natural creek bottom.
The full road rehabilitation will include the following:
• Milling and paving of the road and the picnic area and trailhead parking lots.
• Addition of two new handicap accessible parking spaces.
• Ditch and shoulder improvements.
• New road signs.
• Replacement of the Rock Creek culvert.
The rehabilitation is expected to be completed in June. The project was funded by recreation fee revenue as well as funding from the Federal Lands Transportation Program.
The Cosby Campground and Picnic Area are currently closed and will open when operational capacity allows.
Please refer to the park’s Current Conditions webpage for the latest information on road conditions throughout the park.
CAPTAIN JIM DURHAM FISHING
KY / TN FISHING REPORT
Date of Report: June 2025
Greetings to my readers! I hope that the world finds you and your family doing well!
STRIPER FUN GUIDE SERVICE ON THE LAUREL DAM TRACE
The Laurel River Dam Trace is located in the Daniel Boone National Forest. We fish for stripers in the “cold” trace waters that flow out of the Laurel Lake Dam for a mile then into the Cumberland River! This area is located only 25 minutes from Corbin KY, 20 minutes north of Jellico TN and only 55 minutes south of Lexington KY. We run 3 boats there. Limits are caught frequently, with some 30 to 40 fish days as well (catch and release is allowed)! Prime season is June, July and August!
STRIPER FUN GUIDE SERVICE ON THE CUMBERLAND RIVER
Captain Jim’s StriperFun Guide Service Cumberland River Adventures fishes in the Cumberland River for several reasons.
• First, the stripers are much larger in the Cumberland River system than other freshwater arears. There is an average of over 15 stripers caught annually in excess of 50 pounds and 40-pound fish are not uncommon. The smallest fish we generally catch daily is over 3 feet long! These fish mostly eat high protein rainbow trout, large gizzard shad and skip jack and also fight the current all day, making them much heavier and stronger than “lake” fish.
• TN allows the use of rainbow trout as bait and we catch large
gizzard shad in the allowed creeks and use them in the KY waters. We use 1 to 3 pound bait.
When a big river striper comes after a large bait, the bait will be tail dancing all over the surface trying to get away. Sometimes the “dance” will last half a minute (as you watch the big predator circling the prey!) until the striper finally gets the big bait then its “kabam”!! The rod gets yanked down and the reel is screaming! We also catch huge fish casting Captain Jim Special (see our website store) Striper Magic “glide” baits and my mini umbrella rigs!
Continued, see KY/TN FISHING REPORT
Fishing for the Future
By David A. Ramsey
As I am writing this, it has now been several months since a “tropical hurricane,” with the benign-sounding name of Helene, ripped across the Southern Appalachian landscape, destroying homes, businesses, infrastructure and, most tragically, precious human lives in many of our beloved mountain communities. Recovery has been steady and strong in some places, yet slow and/or erratic in others.
Just what havoc this catastrophe wreaked on our vital mountain waters and their inhabitants is not yet fully known, therefore, 2025 presents a rare opportunity for mountain fishers to contribute to that critically important body of information and possibly to the restoration and recovery of some of our creeks and rivers. For this reason we have undertaken to conduct a simple survey, the information of which will hopefully prove useful in that effort.
If you would like to participate, simply print several photocopies of the survey from this page and fill one out on each of your mountain stream fishing trips through September 2025. After a form is completed for a trip, just email a copy to me, David Ramsey at: mtnstreamsurvey@ gmail.com or text a photo of each survey to: 423-560-0868. I will then add it to the aggregate of information and promptly forward it to the appropriate fisheries professionals for that area. Survey information WILL NOT be shared with the public. All survey contributors will be updated on survey usage and action plans for related streams.
This is a great chance for those of us who love plying the blue line waters of Western NC and Eastern TN to provide key information to the stewards of those waters for restoration work and/or vital data collection.
2025 Southern Mountain Trout Survey
Blowdowns in and along stream (few, dozens, many dozens)__________________________________________
Degree of stream bed scouring from flood waters (minor, moderate, heavy)______________________________
Degree of steam bank erosion (minor, moderate, heavy)_____________________________________________
Trash and pollution apparent from flooding (minor, moderate, heavy)__________________________________
Apprx. num. of fish seen in stream: Rainbow______Brown_______Brook______ Size range________________
Number of fish caught: Rainbow______Brown_______Brook_______Size range___________Largest________
Apparent health of fish caught_________________________________________________________________
Presence of aquatic insects and other species_____________________________________________________
NOTES: (use additional blank page if needed)
M2025 Big Crappie Bash Results
By Perry Hensley
y tournament partner, Louis Gibson (Slab Happy team member), and I arrived Friday just in time to get in the water for some pre-fishing, although we were hit by rain right out of the gate. No worries though, I instantly hooked into a 1.50lb black crappie on a Renegade hair jig and was pleased to feel the thump. Now a 1.5lb crappie is a respectable fish, but with these anglers, if you’re not in that 2lb range, your chances are slim to none of cashing a check. Don’t let that discourage you because anyone can get a good one now and then.
Tournament day was slow and we could not get on the big fish. Louis managed to get a 1.52 white crappie to the boat and we went to weigh it in just in case but no luck was to be had for us on that day as we caught several fish but never the big one. Being in that tough period between spawn where most have or are spawning, but there’s a chance you can snag a late spawner, gives ya hope and makes for an interesting tournament to say the least. Although we never had that big fish, Louis and I had a blast for the day and a half we were there talking with all the other anglers and meeting new ones.
The Slab Happy team fared well this year again as reigning champions and Slab Happy Team Members, Larue Isom and Jason Grimes Of Jefferson City Tennessee, dominated the 1st and last hours of the tournament and took home a $3000 check. Great job guys!
Never to be out done, the story of the tournament was Joel Nash and Skeeter Hayes of Sparta Tennessee as they weighed in a bruiser 2.27 lb. white crappie and secured themselves the Big Fish Purse of $5000, plus winning an hour which made them $6800 just for fishing.
Special thanks to Andy Lehman of ACC Crappiestix, Matt Xenos and Ray and Jimmy Pratt for all they did to make this year’s event so great.
Next year’s event is scheduled already for the 2026 ACC Big Crappie Bash on Watts Bar, the last Saturday in April, and I look forward to attending that event as well. Be sure to sign up as soon as you can because it is limited to 100 boats and it continues to grow year after year.
As always, May God bless each of you and tight lines!
Perry Hensley Sr.
KY/TN FISHING REPORT continued from page 12
This fishing is not for the faint of heart however! These big fish hit like freight trains, making long powerful runs in the constantly flowing waters of the river! We use large rods, heavy duty reels, 50-pound test line and titanium hooks!
JUNE, JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER ARE GREAT MONTHS TO FISH!
It is great to be alive and be a “free” American! I look forward to seeing all of you this year on the water. Always remember to stop and shake the hand of a person in uniform or wearing garb that shows they are a veteran! Their service is why you speak English, can vote and can enjoy the freedoms you do!
Until next time, blue skies and tight lines!
With full State licensing and insurance, all Captain Jim’s Guide Service guides can take you on a safe, fun and unforgettable fishing adventure!
Check out all of our fishing services as well as our exclusive “online” store at www.striperfun.com or call 931-403-2501 to make reservations today.
GO DEEP(ER)
Tim Barefoot
I’ve written quite a few articles on the tactics I used to catch grouper on the edge and inside the edge with bait in a decoy jig in the past, but now is a good time to push out a little further to see what’s up in the 350 to 500+ foot depth range. !is type shing may require you to change gears on your thought process and/or tackle, but you may be pleasantly surprised with the results.
First o , you will want to use a spinning rod with backbone and a lighter braided line. I’m not going to suggest any tackle manufacturer for rod, reel or line, but the line in the jig is the most important part of this equation. I know this sounds crazy, but you can get away with braid, a small is 20 pound test connected to a short 6-foot shot of uorocarbon leader, and catch the big boys from the deep. When you sh ledges, wrecks and rock homes, you have to use heavier tackle to coerse the grouper and big snapper out of the structure, but in the deep the sh tend to congregate around bait, and there is very little structure out there for them to get you in. !e bait out there consists primarily of squid—the universal bait for all the seven seas of this planet, period. Squid are present at all depths, from the surface at night to their migration back to the deep by day; just ask any sword sh. Ha!
!is deeper water shing may also require a change in electronics. In order to mark the sh and bait you need to have enough power to send the signal and
get a return. You can run all over creation trying to mark sh or bait in vast areas of water, but having the correct electronics will assist in this greatly. Once you start marking the blue-speckled screen on the bottom, you know you’re in squid. I’ve always said it, but when you nd the bait you found the sh. Once you mark the bait, more than likely, it will be squid and it’ll be time to drop in the correct jig.
I’ve made several videos using the 4 ounce (so plastic) Squid Jig, but I’ve also had a 6 oz. size made. A 10 inch mold cra ed squid, trimmed properly, can be very e ective at times. Fish like a champ on the 6 ounce headed down deep. !e jig stays perfectly horizontal and jumps like the 4 ounce, and everything down there sucks it up. I’ll be publishing videos soon on this.
I’ll close with this: nd the bait and you’ll nd the sh...using the correct electronics. Once you nd the bait/ sh, drop in the correct jig that imitates what they eat on a daily basis and you’ll get the bite. And one more very important note. Pay close attention to the MPAs, which are marine protected areas, and seasons you can sh in them. You need to be well informed of where you are when you nish shing and what you could put in the cooler. You have to play by the rules.
Check out Tim Barefoot’s YouTube channel and website, barefootcatsandtackle.com.
CAST LURES IN A MITZI TOURNAMENT 17
EMPTY TANK?
TIPS FROM A PRO
FISHING A BIG WORM
hile there are many ways to target bass, one method consistently stands out— shing with a big worm.
Worm shing may not be the ashiest technique, but it allows you to present your bait from a distance and work it slowly—ideal for tempting big, cautious females that ignore faster presentations.
One of my go-to techniques is casting a Texas-rigged stick bait. It’s a common tactic, but many anglers waste time casting at dead water. I focus on high-percentage areas, such as isolated patches of grass or lily pads. Even when the sh aren’t visible, they o en hold tight to this type of cover. Similar results can be achieved by targeting wood or rock. Make multiple slow retrieves through these areas for best results.
I prefer a larger 6” stick bait in dark colors like black and blue tip. For weights, 1/16 or 1/8 oz keeps the presentation subtle and natural. I recommend 17–20 lb uorocarbon, which o ers strength without sacri cing stealth—braid can be too intrusive here.
To cover more water and locate active sh, I switch to a big speed worm. While it’s a popular technique in Florida, where I predominantly sh, it works well across the country. !e bait’s vibration drives bass crazy, making it an excellent search tool. Once I nd sh with this method, I slow down and ne-tune my approach with other techniques. For stained water, I like darker colors like junebug; for clearer water, I use green pumpkin with ake. Weight ranges from 1/8 to 1/4 oz depending on depth and wind. Fluorocarbon in the 15–17 lb range is ideal here too.
Another e ective presentation is the wacky rig. It’s a more subtle approach and shines in pressured waters. Like with the Texas rig, I cast this bait weightless to isolated cover. I use lighter line and a spinning setup—typically 10–15 lb leader—adjusting based on cover density. In dirty water, I stick to dark colors; in clearer water, I go with more natural tones.
Flipping a worm is another technique I use, especially when there’s a lot of heavy cover. While not as stealthy, ipping allows you to place the bait precisely where other rigs can’t reach. I use large Senko-style baits, braided line, and heavier weights (3/8 to 3/4 oz) to penetrate thick vegetation. It’s perfect for pads, long banks, and heavy wood or grass. !e key is to sh slowly and thoroughly, putting your bait where others haven’t.
Rod and reel setups vary slightly depending on the technique. For most casting and ipping styles, I like a longer rod—around 7’6”— with medium-heavy to heavy action. !e 13 Fishing Omen Series has a few ideal models. I pair these with a high-speed baitcasting reel like the Concept A 7.5:1, which helps pull sh out of thick cover quickly.
For the wacky rig, I downsize to a 7’3” medium-heavy spinning rod. It o ers enough backbone to move sh but also provides the sensitivity and exibility needed when using lighter line. A spinning reel with a smooth drag is crucial. I recommend the 13 Fishing Axum, which o ers the control and power necessary for nesse shing around cover.
!ese worm shing techniques consistently produce. Whether you’re casting to isolated cover, ipping into thick vegetation, or working a speed worm through open water, there’s a big bass out there waiting to bite. I’m excited to put these methods to work—and hope they help you land some giants too.
Tyler Woolcott is a professional tournament angler and guide. Check out his website at www.tylerwoolcott shing.com.
WHY BUY NEW WHEN YOU CAN RENEW?!?
STATE RECORD FISH TITLE BROKEN THREE TIMES THIS YEAR!
For the third time in less than a year, Georgia has a new freshwater !sh state record spotted sun!sh!
Josh Forsythe of Homerville, GA (Clinch County) landed the newest record catch of 0 lb, 13 oz on May 5 from the Suwannee River. is almost 9-inch catch beats the previous state record tie of 0 lb, 12 oz, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD).
“My 5-year-old daughter and I were !shing for bream on one of my favorite rivers, the Suwannee, when I caught this spotted sun!sh,” said Forsythe. “I have been !shing this river for more than 15 years and it is one of my favorite places to !sh for good-sized bream, especially spotted sun!sh. I recommend waiting until river levels are below 4-foot and using top water bugs to catch giants, but a beetle spin or even a cricket or a worm on a cork will work.”
Spotted sun!sh are found in the Ocmulgee, Oconee, Altamaha, Ogeechee, Ochlockonee, Suwannee, St. Mary’s, Satilla and Savannah River basins. When angling for them, WRD recommends using worms, crickets, small spinners, ies and popping bugs.
“Maybe hearing about that state record tie for spotted sun!sh !red up some folks to land a new record – and we love to see it,” says Scott Robinson, WRD Chief of Fisheries. “Are you the next state record holder? Georgia has the best variety of angling opportunities across the state so Let’s Go Fish Georgia!”
NC CERTIFIES NEW VERMILION SNAPPER RECORD
North Carolina‘s Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries recently established a new state record for Vermilion Snapper (Rhomboplites aurorubens).
Colby Shaw of Newport caught the 7-pound, 4-ounce sh o Morehead City on April 18, 2025. !e previous state record was 6-pounds, 9-ounces landed out of Ocean Isle in 2009.
Shaw was shing in his own vessel, o shore south of Beaufort Inlet when the sh struck his cut bait. Shaw made quick work of reeling in his state record sh, landing it using his Shimano rod and reel with 65-pound braid.
Shaw’s sh measured 23.5-inches fork
to the fork in the tail) and had a 17-inch
sheries sta at the Morehead City Headquarters
!e
Division of Marine Fisheries.
Bill Dance Signature Lakes O er Impactful Improvements to Tennessee’s Fishing Waters
By David Haggard & Heather Lose
Representatives from Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, and Tennessee State Parks celebrate the ribbon cutting of the Bill Dance Signature Lakes project at the Bassmaster Classic in Knoxville on March 25, along with the project’s namesake. Photo Courtesy of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development:
