Summer Yak Tribe Tournament Week 2 Update

The second week of the Yak Tribe tournament got off to a better start for me than week one did. I pulled a double header on Tuesday. During the morning hours, I hit Watts Bar to do some trolling and drifting. I continued on with the same setup that I ended last week with which was half my lines baited with half to whole skipjack and the other half baited with fist size chunks. There wasn't much current when I first got on the water so I did some trolling along a drop-off and then moved downstream to fish a point. I didn't hook into any big fish but I did manage to catch another 23" blue for the slot portion of the tournament.

As the morning moved on, the current picked up and I was able to switch from trolling to drifting. I moved downstream to fish an area where I have caught some bigger fish recently but there were some local fishing guides anchored down when I got there. I decided to move on further downstream and drift along a main channel ledge. I caught a few dink blues but none were the size I needed for my slot fish. 

I was on my way back to the car when I noticed the fishing guides had moved on from the area that I had initially wanted to fish. I decided to make a couple passes along each side of the ledge and I am glad I did. No big fish took the bait but I did finish off my slot fish by catching two that were right at the 24" mark. 

I went home for an afternoon nap and decided to head back out at dark. I fished an area a few miles upstream from my morning session. My plan was to do some drifting with live bluegill along a bar where I had caught a lot of big fish in the past. I made two passes through that area but only caught 3 fish so I decided to head upstream from where I launched to drift along a ledge. The move paid off. I caught a few more fish including a 38" blue.

The following night wasn't as eventful as the previous. As the sun set, I got anchored down at a creek mouth with an old submerged bridge. This is another one of those big fish or bust type places and unfortunately on this night it was a bust. I tossed out 4 large baits but only caught two small blues. I did anchor on a couple more areas before calling it a night but didn't hook up with any fish at those locations. 

Friday night was the main event for me. I got to the launch around 9pm and made a long run upstream. The area I fished is what I consider a no man's land for kayak fishing. It is right in the middle of two launch sites and takes a minimum of 45 minutes to reach from either location. I decided to launch from the site downstream and drift and troll my way back to the car. After drifting around a river bend with no action, I came to an area where an old creek ran into the main channel before the area was flooded to create the reservoir. I hooked into a nice flathead there. It was an awesome fight and was big enough to qualify as a TARP. I continued to drift along that ledge as I made my way back to the launch catching a few other blue cats here and there. At midnight, TVA shut the current off and I was forced to troll the rest of the way. As usual, the bite shut down when the current stopped but I was able to catch a couple more fish including this beast of a blue cat which also qualified for a TARP award. It was a fun night and I had the river completely to myself as I didn't see another person on the water the entire time I was out there.

There is still two weeks left in this tournament so anything can happen. Right now, I feel like I am in a pretty good shape though.