Big Fish Workout

Wheeler Lake - Browns Ferry

Time: 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Air Temperature: 28 - 39 during trip
Water Temperature: 48 Degrees
Lake Level: 555.5

Weather Conditions: Clear, sunny. Cool. Winds N-NW 5-8 MPH.

I set out once again today to see if the striped bass had moved in and they had not... But the beautiful think about striped bass gear and setup is it will also catch cats just the same.  

I fished the nuclear plant along the pipeline using my livescope to find the fish and the spotlock to set up over them.  No striped bass, but the big cats were loving the jumbo shiners as live bait.  I quickly caught one cat weighing about pounds and then afterwards, it was GAME ON!!

My next fish was 30 lbs and the next two weighed 25 lbs each.  With 4 fish in the boat, I was at nearly 90 lbs.  I was the only boat on the water until a catfish guide came and parked about 30 yards away.  They never caught a fish, but was about to get a good show.

The next fish was HUGE.  I had a big fish hit me hard and I immediately knew it was over 40 lbs.  I couldn't gain any line on it and it keep spooling drag so hard the bolts in my reel were getting loose.  I don't know how long the fight was, but probably 10-15 minutes before I got the fish to surface.  I keep a big net, but this fish was going to be a struggle to net.  I managed to get it in the net, but the webbing was snapping like crazy around the net ring as I lifted it in.  BOOM - 57# fish in the boat!  This is my 2nd largest ever caught on rod and reel.

I managed two more decent fish to end the day with 7 total weighing somewhere just over 150 lbs total.  I'd never had a day where I caught this many large fish consistently.  Pulled in about 4 drum today as well. What a day!!

Big Wind, Big Waves, a Little Nauseous.

Wheeler Lake - Browns Ferry

Time: 8:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Air Temperature: 32 - 37 during trip
Water Temperature: 
Lake Level: 552.23

Weather Conditions: Cold, windy, extremely cloudy. Winds N-NE- 15 MPH. Very tough conditions.

I set out today to see if the striped bass had moved in.  They have not... I was fishing jumbo shiners along the pipeline and using the spotlock to hold me.  Incredibly windy.  Caught 4-5 cats and 4-5 drum.  Very rough wind and waves to the point I was actually getting seasick.  But the spotlock trolling motor held me spot on.  

Strippers - Round 2

Wheeler Lake - Browns Ferry

Time: 8:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Air Temperature: 20 - 29 degrees during trip
Water Temperature: Cold, barely above freezing
Lake Level: 552.72 

Weather Conditions: Mostly Sunny. Winds North- 5-13 MPH.

After having such a great time last weekend, Kevin and I headed back out for a repeat of our last trip.

Overall, today was almost a carbon copy of last weekend.  Today, the current was a bit tougher, and the wind kicked up at times making it very difficult to stay in position.

We caught a few bass and a couple cats, but it was definitely slower than last weekend.  The highlight of the trip by far was Kevin's flathead catfish.  It weighed 41 lbs and was tagged in the dorsal fin!  First time in my life seeing a tagged fish in the wild.  Very cool.  

We had a blast and definitely will get out again soon.

FINALLY Learning How to Fish for Hybrids and Strippers

 Wheeler Lake - Browns Ferry

Time: 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Air Temperature: 21 - 43 degrees during trip
Water Temperature: Cold, barely above freezing
Lake Level: 552.03
Weather Conditions: Sunny. Winds North- North East 2-10 MPH.

For many, many years, I've wanted to learn how to catch Hybrid and Stripped Bass, but just never knew how to get started and never had anyone to show me.  I've had never taken the time to learn on my own via trial and error as I always just targeted something familiar.  Well, one day recently I asked my friend Kevin if he'd show me how and he was all in.  

We launched around 7:30 from Cowford and rode down to the nuclear plant.  It was COLD!  Kevin had stopped at the bait shop in Tanner and picked out some very large shiners/bass minnows.  It was so cold, that the minnow bucket was frozen nearly solid already.  My wet feet were freezing to the deck.  

Kevin showed me how to rig.  I was very surprised to see that it was really just a deviation of a Carolina rig with a 3 oz egg sinker rigged to slip against a swivel.  We tied a two-foot leader with a regular shank hook on and that is all it took.  Kevin explained that we'd let it drop to bottom and reel up a couple feet and fish as vertical as the current would allow and adjust as we found the fish.  

We fished the current break along the drop off around the pipeline near the green buoy and all the way down to the four steel posts around the boils.  We used the fish finder to find local groups of fish and then used the spot lock on the trolling motor to set up over the targets.  Now that we were all ready, we dropped line.  

And BOOM! Fish on!

Kevin got a massive hit almost immediately.  I was amazed and the strength of this fish.  It took off like a torpedo and peeled like off quick!  It put up one heck of a fight and after a couple minutes, we put the first fish in the boat.  

I washed Kevin repeat and put a couple more in the boat.  He reeled in a 24 lbs monster and had another one over 20 lbs pretty soon thereafter.

Now that I'd seen a round or two, I was ready for my turn and soon got a good hit.  I've never fought a fish in freshwater that fights quite like these bass.  Amazingly strong and fast with little to no quit in them.

We had a great day and put somewhere around 7-9 bass in the boat along with a couple stray drum and catfish.  What an amazing day learning a new species.

Big shout out to Kevin for teaching me the ropes and I can't wait to try it again!

Eve of Christmas Eve

Wheeler Lake - Mooresville / Arrowhead Landing

Time: 7:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Air Temperature: 28 - 61 degrees during trip
Water Temperature:
Lake Level: 551.57
Weather Conditions: Sunny. Winds North- North East 2-12 MPH.

Returned to Arrowhead today on a solo Christmas vacation trip.  Glad I did!

Early in, the fish wouldn't touch a jig.  Had early success fishing minnows under a bobber and caught consistently.  As it warmed up, I was determined to get them to hit jigs on the Livescope.  I tried all my trusty colors, but couldn't get them to commit.  I could seem them come inspect my jig, then move on.  Finally I put on a white tube body with chartreuse skirt and tipped it with a minnow.  Bingo.  

I fished this way from lunch onwards as the wind picked up with great success.  I ended up getting into some skipjack, too, so I put 9 in the live well for future catfish bait.  

Caught 60 total crappie today with 15 keepers.  Caught another 9 or so bluegill, bass, etc.  Ended the day with right around 90 total fish caught.  Excellent day.  

2021 Catfish Kickoff

Wheeler Lake - Browns Ferry

Time: 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Air Temperature: 53 - 67 degrees during trip
Water Temperature: 77 Degrees
Lake Level: 507.27
Weather Conditions: Mostly Cloudy.  Clearing mid-day. Winds N-NW 9-10 mph sustained.

I've put up my long crappie rods for the summer and converted the boat over to a catfish slayer.  Today was my first 2021 day targeting catfish.  I thawed out some gizzard shad for the poles and some old threadfin to float some jugs and launched this morning at Cowford.  We had a cold front push through yesterday and it was cold for a late May day.  The cloud cover and north wind didn't help the temperature.

I dropped 6 jugs in from on my neighborhood and went down past the nuclear plant boils where the secondary channel spits and dropped 7 more.  I moved down past the powerline island and dropped 7 more there and then returned to the nuclear plant to drop my pole.

I attempted the livesocope today targeting catfish, but I can't say it made a difference like it does with crappie.  I concentrated on the pipeline dropoff near the green buoy.  I caught 3 nice fish on my first 3 passes.  I hung around bouncing bottom with cut gizzard shad and picked up another one before heading back to check jugs.

I caught a couple fish on the first jug drop, but only caught one total out of the other 14 jugs.  I decided to pick up these jugs. I headed back to the nuclear plant and gave it another go.  I wasn't having much luck near the green buoy, so I move to the middle of the channel near the dropoff and hit a good honey hole.  I picked up 2-3 more here.  

Around 11, I decided to call it an early day and pick up the remaining jugs.  The wind never really let up and it was pretty difficult to hold position.  The weather was clearing, but I needed to get back to the house and clean fish.  I picked up another could on the first jug drop and headed home.

It was an excellent start to my catfish season.  I ended up catching 12 and keeping 10 for the freezer. 3 of the 4 channel cats were still holding eggs, so the spawn is still active. One fish was slightly over 10 lbs and I threw it back.  Most were good eating size.  Will hit it again in another week or two and start running trotlines soon.

2021 Cedar Creek Guys Trip

Cedar Creek Reservoir Guys Trip
April 15 - 18, 2021

Daniel McGovern
Ronny Watkins
Eric Watkins

We started what I hope is a new tradition this year.  Back around Christmas, I pitched an idea to have a spring crappie fishing trip to my dad and brother-in-law and they were all it.  We coordinated a few days vacation in mid-April centered around the spawn and made it a plan.

Dad came up on Wednesday afternoon and we did some grocery shopping a packing.  Daniel came up on Thursday morning and we hit the road for a 11:30 AM target time.

April 15 2021

We booked a cabin from BCDA Elliott Branch (http://www.bearcreeklakes.com/elliott-branch.html) and checked in right on time.  This was my first time dealing with the BCDA cabins and I was a little nervous about the location and amenities, but once we got there, we realized it was the perfect setup.  The cabins are very nice and had absolutely everything we needed.  We got everything unpacked and settled in and made some sandwiches and prepared to hit the water. 

We stopped by CJ's and got some tuffies and made it to Britton Bridge landing at 1:00 PM.  We set about to fish my normal places and techniques starting with the south side of the bank near the boat landing.  The temperature was in the mid 60's with a high of 67 and the winds were about 10 MPH from the N/NW.  It was sunny and beautiful and the water temperature was around 68 in the shallows.  We began floating tuffies under a bobber in the shallows and BOOM! crappie on the 1st cast! 

We fished heavy around the landing, levee, pumphouse, and on the blow down past the bridge all evening and had a solid day.  We finished with 29 crappie caught with 14 being keepers.  We also caught a bluegill, rock bass, and largemouth.  Very good day considering we launched a 1:00.

We headed back to the cabin and I cleaned fish while Daniel and Dad cooked dinner.  Daniel made some smash burgers and hot dogs that rocked.  After dinner, we were all exhausted and hit the sack early.

April 16 2021

We were all up around 6 AM and cooked sausage, biscuits, and eggs for breakfast.  We headed back out shortly after 7:00AM on Friday and started off with the same tactics as the day before.  However, the temperature had dropped substantially overnight and a cold front was blowing in.  The water temperature dropped about 5 degrees overnight with the lows getting down into the 40's and cloud cover set in for the entire day.  The high was only about 64 degrees.  This made our tactics from the day before much less effective.  We pulled a couple out of the shallows, but it started off very slow.  The fish we were catching were also much smaller.  We moved around a great deal and the fish were scattered.  We caught a few early, but went into a tremendous dry spell through the middle of the day.  

It was pretty obvious that the fish had pull back some from the shallows.  We couldn't find them in the deeper blowdowns on the bank either.  By middle afternoon, we decided to change our approach entirely and we found some submerged structure in the little bay where I normally fish with the blowdown past the bridge.  This structure was completely submerged in about 8-12 FOW.  We set up the Livescope and switched over to jigs.  The crappie started hitting immediately!  It seemed the key to the colder weather with the cold front moving in.  

We ended the day with 16 crappie caught and 10 keepers.  Daniel caught one bluegill big enough to keep.  We also caught 2 largemouth and one rock bass. While it was much slower, we still had a great time and had a good game plan ready for Saturday morning.

We went back to the cabin and I cleaned fish again while Dad and Daniel cooked.  We fried some of the fish we caught from the previously day and was absolutely stuffed! 

April 17 2021

We got up about 6:30AM and cooked another fabulous breakfast - deer tenderloin, sausage, biscuits, and eggs.  We hit the water shortly after 7:30AM and started the day with a plan to fish deeper water and fully submerged structure.  This day was much like the previous with heavy cloud cover and highs in the mid 60's.  The water temperature never recovered and stayed around 63 to 64 degrees.  

We started out were we finished the previous day past the bridge fishing structure in 8-12 FOW with jigs and we were immediately getting bites.  We pulled several out but overall, the size of the fish was very small.  We motored around the mouths of the bays and coves scanning and marking structure.  

We were all amazed that every single submerged structure spot we marked and fished held crappie.  We probably did this 10 different times and caught fish every time.  However, all fish coming out of deep structure were very small.  We realized later in the afternoon while fishing out towards the dam end of the lake that the small fish must be immature and would not move up to spawn.  Therefore, they had no need to leave the deeper structure.  

This would be our final afternoon of fishing, so we hit up the boat docks and some of the most promising shallow spots and managed to pull in a few keepers.  The bigger fish wanted to be shallow, but the wind got up to around 10 MPH NW and the combination of the cooler water and the muddy, windy wave action made shallows tough.  Still, we had a much more successful day that the previous since we had come into it with a better game plan.  We ended the day with 22 crappie, but only 4 keepers. Daniel also caught a nice channel catfish under the boat docks and we kept that one too.  

We headed back to the cabin and I cleaned fish while Dad and Daniel cooked.  Daniel cooked some killer ribeye steaks on charcoal.  

April 18 2021

Week took Sunday as a day of rest and cooked a good sausage, egg, and toast breakfast and packed up and got ready for checkout.  Overall, I believe we caught 65 crappie with 28 of them keepers.  We also had a mixed bag of other fish (bluegill, largemouth, rock bass, catfish). We had an outstanding time and a much needed break.  I can't wait to hit it again next year.