Hamilton hiding his lunker

I jumped in the boat with Skylar Hamilton right after he caught his big largemouth this morning. He has caught only a 12-inch spotted bass since I got onboard. Hamilton hasn't deemed me a bad luck charm yet. He's glad to have someone to talk to, he says, because he didn't have a marshal today.

 

But I haven't been able to get Hamilton to show me the big one – the one he says is "definitely the biggest bass I've ever caught in my life." I've gotten a peek at it, and it's a giant, but Hamilton doesn't want to risk pulling it out of the livewell.

 

He's caught everything today on a 10-inch plum, ribbontail Berkley Power Worm. Hamilton is fishing the mouth of a creek, just down from the takeoff spot. He could troll back to the check-in site if he had too. This creek is running muddy and there's a definite color line where the creek water meets the Nickajack Lake water.

 

The TVA is gradually bumping up the flow from Chickamauga Dam, which was completely shut off at 5 a.m. today. It has increased from 6,532 cubic feet per second at 7 a.m. to 13,740 at 8 a.m. to 19,996 at 9 a.m.

 

Hamilton is gradually working his  way through some other baits now, like a big swimbait, a jig and at this moment a Reaction Innovations Beaver on a shaky head.