Tennessee River fishermen get jubilant every time late-winter/early spring fronts swell the big river and cause the Tennessee River Authority to open floodgates on dams throughout the system.

Opening the floodgates of the dams opens the floodgates to fabulous smallmouth action from Fort Loudoun Lake, near Knoxville, to all the way to the lower end of Kentucky Lake. Fish feed aggressively in highly predictable locations, hitting Bomber Model As and Rebel Deep Wee-Rs with jolting power.

Most veteran smallmouth fishermen agree that with or without flood conditions, the pre-spawn time period offers the best opportunity of the year to catch really big smallmouth bass. Strong currents, defined eddies and heavy stain at the same time only increase an angler’s odds of hooking a giant.

In the tailwaters of the big dams that impound the Tennessee River, anglers drift along seams in the current. Some bump YUM Wounded Mega Tubes along the bottom as they drift. Others cast Samurai Shads rigged on ½-ounce leadheads and swim them quickly through eddies behind boulders and on the back sides of islands and rockpiles.

When floodgate are open, significant current commonly stretches from one end of a lake to another. That creates hotspots over humps, points, gravel bars and ledges throughout the lakes. The key is that a feature must have good current washing over it and must create some type of eddy.

Assuming stained water, which is the norm under flood conditions, many smallmouth veterans favor small medium-running crankbaits like Bomber 5As and 6As or Rebel Deep Wee-Rs.

Some anglers prefer the ultra-wide wobble of a Cotton Cordell Baby Wiggle ‘O’ for working swift, stained water because the big pulse of the bait help bass hone in on it.

If the water is really stained and swift, the fish sometimes will move into cuts along bluff banks that the current sweeps near or to the tops of very shallow bars. Those conditions call for an ultra-shallow crankbait like a Bomber Fat Free Shallow or Heddon Swim’n Image.

Whatever the crankbait style, one common denominator is a fast presentation. The fish pile up in current breaks and ambush prey that gets swept past in the current. They are accustomed to seeing food moving downstream in a hurry, and they stay ready to react.

Anglers typically hold a short cast’s distance downstream of the structure and cast past the break. The bait needs to be cranked down and kicking the bottom by the time it reaches the break. Depending on the nature of the break and the strength of the current, anglers may cast directly upstream or quarter casts both upstream and cross-current.

FLOOD-CONDITION COLORS

Bomber Model A – red/black back, homer

Rebel Wee-R – red craw, chartreuse/black back

YUM Wounded Mega Tube – wounded melon neon, wounded shad

YUM Samurai Shad – glow chartreuse, seasick disco minnow

Cotton Cordell Wiggle ‘O’ – hot craw bug, Bengal tiger

Bomber Fat Free Shallow – Dance’s fire tiger

Heddon Swim’n Image – fire tiger