rsimms, Nickajack (Riverpark), Cats & Bluegill, 5-19-2010, The Hillman's

[FishNews]

I had a fun morning with John Hillman and his grandson's, Michael and Hudson. Bad start however... as we motored away from the ramp almost immediately my motor ground to a halt, hung in a gill net. I was shocked! emoEek It took a while to cut it away from my prop... and to cut free one of the sturgeon the TWRA and the Aquarium recently released. Fortunately the sturgeon appear to be in good shape and swam off in a hurry. I called TWRA immediately. Jarod Coxey was just walking into the courtroom for some cases but said he'd get there as quick as he could.<br /><br />On to fishing... I made the Hillman's start on catfish. It took a while to find the right seam, and the boys were getting bored, but we finally scored on a nice double they had fun reeling in. But then they were ready to chase some bull bream.<br /><br />Again, it took a little while to find the sweet spot, but once we did the boy's were whackin' 'em. emoFish <br /><br />A lot of small fish today, but the boy's managed to come up with 15 big bulls along with one 12-inch crappie and some assorted rock bass and redbreasts. They loved it.<br /><br />As we were leaving officer Coxey and a partner showed up to check the net. It turns out it was only the partial remains of a full net (unmarked of course). It contained a few drum, catfish and the remains of two paddlefish (no game fish). It's only a guess, but my theory is that someone snuck in close to the Dam overnight and illegally dropped some nets (It's illegal to place nets within 1,000 yards of a Dam). TVA has been dropping to zero generation overnight and that's when the illegal guys are most liable to sneak in. They had cut away the bodies of the two paddlefish, most likely to retrieve eggs. For whatever reason... because nets were so tangled and/or they feared discovery... they apparently dropped the remains of that net by the ramp when they took out. No telling how long the endangered sturgeon had been in it... I'm just glad it appeared to swim off in good shape. Good part is TWRA knows now and will surely be "spot checking." If anybody else ever spots unusual, middle-of-the-night boat activity near the Dam during zero generation, probably a good idea to report it.<br />