Dale Hollow Lake
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Dale Hollow Lake Fishing Reports
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Real Diehl
Bronze Ambassador
4/27/25
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Spring (Spawn)
Technique
Football Jigs
Structure
Humps
Forage
Crawfish
Water Temperature
65°
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Spring (Spawn)
Technique
Spinnerbaits
Structure
Flooded Brush
Forage
Shad
Water Temperature
68°
Bassmaster Kayak event - spawn into post spawn... smallmouth and largemouth moving on flats by flooded timber. When skies got sunny the SV-3 Spinnerbait was the ticket.
Real Diehl
Bronze Ambassador
4/24/25
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Spring (Spawn)
Technique
Bladed Jigs
Structure
Points
Forage
Alewife
Water Temperature
65°
If the night is warm and stable, smallmouth are pushed up moving and chasing bait on points in the morning and then moving to 10-12 ft for spawning purposes. Largemouth are intermingled. Be aggressive early and pivot as the day transitions. There are some largemouth shallow all day; however they can be tricky to find.
Species
Largemouth BassSeason
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Texas Rigs (Worming)
Structure
Points
Forage
Shad
Water Temperature
74°
Fished rocked points and banks with timber, most of the largemouth was laying pretty close to the bank.
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Winter
Technique
Hard Jerkbaits
Structure
Boulders
Forage
Shad
I double dipped in two kayak bass fishing tournaments on Dale Hollow in early December 2021. Every bass I caught was over 18"! During practice I caught a good fish on a spro rkcrawler in phantom craw colors cranking large rock banks. Come tournament day, I caught my two first fish on one giant boulder with a finesse jig. I didn't get another bite until several hours later when I found a group of smallies schooling. I ended up catching my biggest fish of the tournament (and personal best) 20.5" smallmouth in 40ft of water on a topwater walking bait! I ended up hooking into another fish in that same area on some steeper banks with a matte shad vision 110+1. I stayed trying to catch more smallmouth from that school for about 45 more minutes but there wasn't enough time to catch my last keeper. I ended up getting 1st place and big bass for one tournament (3fish limit) and 10th out of 98 anglers with just 4 fish for the other tournament. It was an absolute blast catching those big tank smallies!
Species
Largemouth BassSeason
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Hard Jerkbaits
Structure
Humps
Forage
Shad
had a day out on dale hollow for close to 20 lbs. caught them from daylight to dark on a jerkbait and had an early morning bite on a spook. Key was to have a mega bass vision 110 in your hand at all times.
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Spoons
Structure
Ledges
Forage
Alewife
Water Temperature
72°
Largemouth came cranking ledge with rock crawler but bigger smallie came on ledges while on baitfish
Species
WalleyeSeason
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Crankbaits 13'+
Structure
River Channels
Walleye are being caught at night while casting crankbaits fishing channel banks in 10 feet of water
Species
CrappieSeason
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Live Bait Rigs
Structure
Brush Piles
Crappie are being caught around grass and sunken brush in 10 feet of water. Some crappie are being caught of night using lights using minnows
