Somebody has been holding back some info!

[CinciVol]

Seagull, That is an amazing fish. Do you do any guiding for stripers? I have a buddy with a boat that we could take below the tailwaters and we'd really like a lesson on how it's done.

In the meantime, I'll keep chasing carp, the other gargantuan warmwater FF target in TN...

[seagull]

I don’t do any guiding, but I’m always happy to share tips..

Get a full sink fly line, I recommend the SA Striper TYPE IV. These lines shoot like crazy; I rarely false cast more than twice. Casting them takes some practice if all you have ever cast are floating lines, especially with a 1/0 streamer and lead eyes.

Put every yard of backing that you can get on your reel. The full sink lines are smaller diameter than the same weight floater, so you can get quite a bit more on the spool. The initial runs can be mind boggling, and getting the fish on the reel can be tricky. Last summer on one of Flat’s 20 pounder, the fish took off and a huge tangle caught on the first guide, and I thought the fish was gone for sure. He reached up and yanked one loop and the whole mess untangled immediately, which was one of the most amazing things I have seen.

If you are drifting in current, let your boat float at the same speed as the current. The result is getting the fly much deeper, And if you hook a good one, try to stay close to it with the boat, chase it as needed, minimizing the amount of line in the water. Two much line iin the water can put a lot of resistance on the tippet, especially the fish makes a sharp turn. There are rock humps below the dam and I have seen line get wrapped around them numerous times

Don’t give up too quickly. Blind casting a 9wt for several hours may not be the most appealing fly fishing technique, but as the picture shows, some nice rewards are possible. You have to be dedicated to chase and catch stripers with a fly rod (or crazy). When we first started flyfishing for them in the late 80’s, a lot of people would ask us what we were fishing for. When we would say stripers, they would laugh or just look at us like we were idiots. Flies should be any streamer that imitates a threadfin shad, tie some sparse for when the generators are off, and some fuller for higher flows. Vary your retrieve speed and depth, and be ready for some excitement.

[Flat Fly n]

Seagull, the professional safety person, forgot to mention a few obvious things about these dams. Be VERY careful around them, especially up by the dam if the water is off and they are gettng even close to generating. Wear your life jacket and be observant if the yellow light comes on by the locks. It will be the most rear end puckering event of your life if you happen to be close to where the water empties from the lock into the dam area. It's like the reverse end of a giant toilet emptying!! I still have cold chills when I think about that day about 10 years ago.

Thank goodness you didn't tell them about the few traditional cheese puffs thrown into the water for good luck!

PS.....bring a BIG net!

[bigpopper]

Nice fish! I've only caught 3-4 pounder on "big poppers" (deer hair frog immitators), and they felt like the wanted to rip my arm off. Can't imagine taking down a 20+ pounder, well i can imagine . Great fighters!

[MadisonBoats]

SEAGULL:
Thanks for the information and for taking the time to share. I learn something every day. I would never have thought you could fish like this...

[CinciVol]

Seagull, Thanks for the detailed info. We may try to FF for some stripers in the next month or so. I can't believe there are fish out there that might make my 8-weight rod seem underpowered!

[Flat Fly n]

They will make your BOAT seem underpowered! LOL!

[truchin]

Guys caught my first turtle at melton hill last monday at 1 am. About 8 lbs...It'a a start!!!
jose