05-22-2009, 09:00 AM
Mike and I headed to the Riverpark about 1030 or so this morning and got a surprise. Actually two. First, the Southern Belle had for some reason, decided to dock at the Riverpark dock, which was extremely odd. It had 2/3 of the ramp blocked. Kids were filing off and getting into buses that had pulled up. I talked to the park ranger and he said that TVA had stopped all flow, and that had left the Belle grounded. They were trying to contact TVA to get water flowing again. It was really weird to see no current, and this huge boat grounded. I saw Dickey&#39;s truck there also, but never saw him on the water. We got launched but I was kinda nervous about doing it so close to the Belle with her engines running. Putting the boat on the trailer was interesting too, as the Belle was still grounded when we got back in.<br /><br />Fishing wise, it was an ok day. In the two hours we fished, we caught 23 spots, a channel cat, bunch of bluegill, although none of real size, and Mike ended the day with a big ole drum on 4lb test line and light tackle. Flow had started back up when we were leaving and I am sure the bite picked up too. Great day to be on the water. All fish were caught on tubes, and spinners.