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Tennessee trash fishin'
By Troy Basso*

The late December and January weather here leaves much to be desired as a rule. This can cause sudden and very intense outbreaks of the dreaded cabin fever. Now in 30 years of being an outdoorsman I have only found one surefire cure for this condition and that's to get outside and hunt or fish. In the winter there is only one problem with that, what can one fish for and actually catch enough fish to get rid of the cabin fever. Some say crappie and trout were biting, and they very well may have been. I checked the Caney Fork River and they were running the generators a lot since the demand for power is going up as fast as the temperature drops, the Elk River was running zero generators and that's almost as bad as running two. Besides, I had a world class need for a fishing fix. I wanted that insane action where you finally just say enough is enough and go home while they are still biting. Jim Mauries, owner of Fly South, said the skipjack were running below the Gallatin steam plant.

I had to ask myself what in the world is a skipjack? The Skipjack is a member of the herring family. It has one of them fancy names too, Alosa chrysochloris, more common around here is "Tennessee Tarpon". The Skipjack herring is a predatory fish. They travel in large schools and attack schools of smaller baitfish like the threadfin and gizzard shad. Often easy to spot, but hard to catch at times. Skipjack are perhaps the best striper or catfish bait one can use. They reach a size of over twenty inches and over three pounds; the larger fish are generally only good for either big catfish or striper bait. Typical skipjack sizes range from 12 to 18 inches. Skipjack inhabit the mid water section of the water column so top water isn't a great method nor is fishing deep. The state record is a little more than four pounds here in Tennessee, but then again who wants the title of trash fisher extraordinaire? The skipjack inhabits nearly every river system in Tennessee and their tributaries. As a migratory fish, there are distinct "seasons" when they become abundant in certain areas.

Once it gets cold enough to have the shad stacked up is a good time to target them. The skipjack are of the herring family and herring are eaten in places around the world, although I think the skipjack would definitely be an acquired taste (insert nasty, stinky and oily here).

Since I was fresh out of things to do I decided to give it a try. I rigged up my 5 weight Sage rod and grabbed my fly box when it hit me. What does one use to catch a skipjack (Tennessee Tarpon)? Once again had to call Fly South and get some information. Skipjack feed on the small shad that gather in the warm water discharge of the steam plant. No problem there, I sat down and tied up some white and gray clouser minnows and bought some "skipjack" flies from the shop. Now I was ready to go.

The next morning found me at the Gallatin steam plant at ten in the morning, yes that seems late but at six AM it was fourteen degrees so we decided to give the sun time to warm things up. It was cold enough that the fog on the water was really thick and beautiful that morning. The weather was cold but tolerable. Since the skipjack is a trash fish, primarily used for bait by cat fisherman and striper fisherman I really was not ready for the crowd I encountered. Apparently cabin fever was an epidemic because there were 17 boats within eyeshot and it was a Thursday morning. Does anyone work these days? I was surprised to see two other boats of fly fisherman as well. The rest appeared to be folks trying get a live well full of striper or catfish bait. Not to be deterred from my fishing fix we found a spot and anchored the boat. Now, I was using a fly rod and my partner, Matt Smith, was using spinning gear. In the time it took me to rig my rod he had caught six fish. We fished for four and a half hours and caught and landed over one hundred fish. We hooked and lost another fifty or sixty. In the mix were several stripers in the two to five pound class and one hybrid who went right at four pounds. That's the action I was looking for. I wore out two clouser minnows and one striper fly!

Even though a skipjack is far from palatable table fare and considered bait by most, they were the fish of opportunity that day. So when the thermometer dips to below freezing for a couple days and you feel the need to catch some fish, give the "Tennessee Tarpon" a chance. They put up a worthy fight for a fish that generally stays under three pounds.

*Troy Basso is a freelance writer, avid fisherman and instructor for the National Bowhunter Education Program.

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