Dale Hollow Lake 12/21/08

'Tis the season...Float & Fly season that is, and you're probably getting tired of hearing about it, but our job is to report to you what has been working and what we think will work in the upcoming week. Now that doesn't mean that you won't catch fish on a jig or a Silver Buddy this time of year, but when guys tell us they've had 15+ fish consistently on the fly, and we hear about 18+ days, it's pretty hard not to point that out. I've always heard, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Well, float & fly definitely ain't broke yet, so no need to change what's been working. Don't worry jig lovers, we heard that the jig bite was decent too, so we have a few suggestions on that as well.

Lake Stats

Waterlevel: 636.40 MSL - 14.60' below full pool of 651'.
Water Temp: 48 degrees at surface, 48 degrees 10' deep
Clarity: water is pretty clear on the main body, stained in some of the creeks.

Smallmouth

A lot of guys stopping into the Dale Hollow 1 Stop reported some outstanding days of non-stop float & fly action, but then there were others who were a little frustrated because they just couldn't dial them in right away. It was a hard week to put together a pattern with the weather changing so much. The main difference though - depth. If your leader was 10' or shorter, more than likely you fell into the latter category. Everyone that we talked to who was sticking them all day long were at 13' to 14' under the bobber. Color didn't seem to make a difference, but leader length was, and still is the key...

For the rest of the report, including GPS hotspots, visit http://www.DaleHollowFishing.com.