Show and Tell

Wheeler Lake - Mooresville / Arrowhead Landing

Time: 7:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Air Temperature: 28 - 47 degrees during trip
Water Temperature: 
Lake Level: 551.49
Weather Conditions: Mostly Cloudy. Winds North 6 MPH.

Kevin and I took to the water today.  I wanted to demo the livescope with him as he's been thinking about getting one.  I think he's sold 😆.We fished a 1/2 day.  Struggled with jigs early, but minnows under a cork did fairly well.  Never did find a great color combination on jigs.  We fished tree tops, stumps, and bushes.  We didn't keep count today.  I think we probably caught 50-60 crappie total, but they were very short.  We struggled to keep anything with size and only had 3 keepers at lunch.  Still was a great day.  Didn't take any pictures today...

Back on the Crappie

Wheeler Lake - Mooresville / Arrowhead Landing

Time: 7:15 AM - 1:45 PM
Air Temperature: 32 - 57 degrees during trip
Water Temperature: 
Lake Level: 551.84
Weather Conditions: Sunny. Winds variable 3-13 mph.  Rough.

It was nice to get back on the water today.  I targeted tree tops on the drop offs this morning.  I didn't have a ton of luck on jigs or Livescope today, but the Livescope help me target the correct depth to fish with minnows and a bobber.  I had the best luck fishing suspended about 5 feet deep under a the cork.  

The fish were biting excellent, but were short.  That's not a bad thing - it means we will have some good fishing in the upcoming next couple years.  I ended up catching 45 by myself with 17 being big enough to keep.  Lots of bluegill species, warmouths, etc today as well.  I also got into a school of skipjack and caught 10 of them big enough to keep.  I keep everyone I can and freeze them for future catfish bait. 

When I got home, my wife reminded me that she is the greatest in the world.  She surprised me with a cordless Bubba Blade for filleting.  I gave it a test run and it was awesome!

It was a good day and nice to be back on the winter crappie.

Testing New Gear

 Wheeler Lake - Browns Ferry

Time: 6:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Air Temperature: 35 - 59 degrees during trip
Water Temperature: 
Lake Level: 552.23
Weather Conditions: Sunny, Cool. Light and variable, 0-5 MPH

For the first time in many, many years, I finally invested in some new rods for catfishing.  I bought a set of the new Ugly Stik Catfish USCACATSPEC802MH rods.  These are two piece 8 ft rods in a medium heavy action.  They are rated for 3 oz of weight and 30 lbs test (I'm running 80 lbs braid, but the diameter is similar to 30 lbs mono).  These have the long trigger handle and are my exactly what I've been looking for in a rugged, versatile rod for vertical fishing.  I have them paired with left handed Abu Garcia 5501C3 and 6501C3 reels.

First impression is they are very nice.  They feel good, are well balanced, and handle the reel, weight, and line all very well.  I took them out this morning for a try and begin catching fish quickly.

I was using frozen skip jack and picked up 8 cats along the pipeline drop off.  The rods felt good and handled the fish well.  Could have caught many more, but was trying to get off the water by lunch.  Had a great day and pleased with the new gear.