S L O W

Location: Browns Ferry - Wheeler Lake - Alabama

Time: 6:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Air Temperature: 89 Degrees
Water Temperature: 83-85 Degrees
Lake Level: 555.98'.
Weather Conditions: Calm.  Winds less than 6 mph SSE

I launched again from the house today with the intent of running jugs.  Today I launched them right in front of my house on the flat between the stump row and the channel in about 12 feet of water.  I had cut bait on all the hooks.  I only launched 12 today since they didn't do so good yesterday.

I went up to the nuclear plant to rod and reel fish.  Bite was very slow near the boils by the pipeline.  I only picked up two here today by bouncing bottom with shrimp.

I split my time between fishing the boils, the water intake gates, and running the jugs in between changing spots.  The jugs didn't produce a single fish on the first run.  The intake gates didn't produce any fish today at all.  I caught one nice blue about 8 lbs on my second jug run and also caught a small flathead. 

I picked Jessica up and we rotated through the normal spots again with no luck.  We even tried a bobber over the rocks on the bank to try to see if they were spawning on the rocks, but had no luck there either. 

We ran the jugs a final time and and caught one small blue.  Overall, a very slow day with only 5 fish.

Location: Browns Ferry - Wheeler Lake - Alabama

Time: 6:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Air Temperature: 94 Degrees Hot!!
Water Temperature: 83-85 Degrees
Lake Level: 555.99'.
Weather Conditions: Calm.  Winds less than 6 mph SSE

I had spend the previous week re-tying all my catfish jugs and added 8 more to the fleet, so I was anxious to get some jugs out.  I launched at the house and started off by dropping 20 jugs on the flat just west of Mallard Creek in about 14 feet of water.  I had cut bait on every hook.  I then headed to the nuclear plant to fish my normal spot along the pipeline.  

I was bouncing bottom with shrimp as bait.  Fishing was a bit slow.  I fished about 1.5 hours and pick up 3 catfish.  One was a very nice female blue cat full of eggs.  I'd say she weighted 10-12 lbs.  

I then headed over to run the jugs, but had absolutely ZERO fish or lost bait.  It begin to cross my mind that jug conditions may not be right.  We were on the tail end of a mayfly hatch and some of the catfish were releasing eggs.  They may not be on the flats like normal.  I pulled all the jugs and took them to the north side of the river and launched them in deeper water about 20 ft deep just as an experiment.  I figured the catfish may be moving shallow, but wanted to rule out deep water first.

I returned to rod and reel fishing over by the nuclear plant intake gates and pylons.  I picked up three more nice cats there with one big blue in the boat that probably weighed 10-12 lbs.  I released both of the large fish of the day.

Jessica joined me and we ran the jugs again.  ZERO luck again.  Headed back to the house having caught 6 cats total and kept the 4 that were of a good size to eat.

Jugging with Doug and Douglas

Location: Browns Ferry - Wheeler Lake - Alabama

Time: 8:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Air Temperature: 86 Degrees Hot!!
Water Temperature: 81-85 Degrees
Lake Level: 554.7' - A little more than a foot low.
Weather Conditions: Started calm, choppy by the early afternoon.

Fished with Doug and Douglas Ainsworth for catfish today.  Launched by my house this morning.  Immediately noticed water had dropped.  TVA was pulling water out in preparation of rising waters from all the recent rain from the tropical storm.  

We launched some jugs over on the flats off the point of Mallard creek in 13-14 feet of water.  The idea was to catch the cats on their journey leaving the shallows from their overnight feeding and heading to the channel. Then we headed over to the nuclear plant.  I had fears that we might be dealing with some strong current and that ended up being the case.  I've never seen current so strong in Wheeler Lake.  We had a really tough time keeping in the sweet spot and keeping our line vertical.  We gave it a shot of a couple hours, then decided it wasn't worth the struggle.  Doug did catch one blue cat while bouncing bottom.  We had several other good bites, but just could stay on them in the current.  We were using shrimp and cut shad as bait. We did notice the catfish guide boats appeared to be heading in early.  I think they were struggling, too.  

We decided to run the jugs and regroup with a new plan.  Jugs ended up producing well!  We caught 5 fish off the first float with one being a whopper.  I'd estimate it to weigh in around 20 lbs.  With the success on the first float, we reset the jugs and tied up a couple more and let them soak for another hour.  We ran them the 2nd time  around 1:00.  We only caught one on the 2nd float, so it appeared the fish had made their move, so we called it a day.

Ended up keeping 7 cats.  They dressed to almost 8 lbs of finished fillets.  Looking forward to doing it again!

 

Location: Browns Ferry - Wheeler Lake - Alabama

Time: 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Air Temperature: 92 Degrees Hot!!
Water Temperature: 80-82 Degrees near boils
Lake Level: 555.71’
Weather Conditions: Calm. Very Nice!

Fished the nuclear plant where the discharge water meets the channel like normal. I was bumping bottom with shrimp. Very calm, nice morning, but it turned out  to get very hot. Activity was better in the morning and slowed around lunch. Caught 5 catfish out of the boils. I fished around the pylons and the water gates and picked up one more nice blue cat. I also threw a jig around a log jam and pulled out a couple nice bluegill. Very nice morning.  Channel cat bellies looked to be full of eggs.  Catfishing should pick up and be good in the area for the next month. 

Location: Browns Ferry - Wheeler Lake - Alabama

Time: 4:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Air Temperature: 88 Degrees
Water Temperature: 79 Degrees near boils
Lake Level: 555.74’
Weather Conditions: Fairly Windy

Fished a couple hours after work today. Targeted catfish by bouncing bottom with shrimp. Wind and discharge current combination made it a bit difficult to fish the sweet spot along the drop off. Really just went out to see if the bite in that area had heated up yet. Did OK - caught 2 blue cats. Left early to eat dinner. Still may be a bit early. I think water temp needs a few more degrees to really get good. 

Location: Cedar Creek Reservoir - Alabama

Time: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Air Temperature: 59 degrees AM - 79 degrees afternoon
Water Temperature: 66 - 74 degrees
Lake Level: 581.25' - A bit high for conditions.
Weather Conditions: Moderate Winds from South. Sunny.

Today was a first... I've been crappie fishing for about 25 years and today was the first day I've ever caught my limit (30 fish) of crappie.

I fished same as the past 3-4 trips to Cedar Creek.  Concentrated on the same locations of tree tops, brush piles, log jams, etc on the shallow banks in bays and pockets.  Launched boat on the S.E. ramp by the bridge and started by heading straight out front to the north bay and fished log jams.  Immediately began catching crappie.  Also caught one catfish there in the bay.  Fished with minnows under a bobber about 2' to 4' deep.  Water was high, so it made fishing some of normal spots a bit challenging.  

Moved over to the largest north bay where the other boat ramp is and fished the east pockets.  Caught good fish there too.  Then moved over the the large bay and creek area to the west on the north side of the lake and fished my normal pockets and tree tops and log jams.  Caught good fish there too and one large bluegill.  Then moved out to western most set of bays near the dam.  Caught fish there too on the west side of that bay.  Did not catch anything on the beaver dam, but wind was starting to get up.  

Fished the log jam back in the middle bay by the road on the way back and picked up a couple more fish.  Then headed back towards the truck but decided to stop and fish the first bay that I had started in that morning.  Caught a couple more, but winds were getting up.  Had a conversation with another boat and they made the comment that some people had reported catching good fish to the east of the bridge.  I had never fished over there, but that would likely get me out of the wind.  I had about 25 crappie in the boat at this point and decided to spend the last 30 minutes past the bridge on the south shore to keep out of the wind. 

Started by fishing the log jam, but the area was very shallow.  I had passed up a green tree submerged under the water by the road levee on my way in the area, but decided to fish it on my way out.  Good idea!!  The tree was in 5' of water.  I immediately began catching crappie.  After catching about 5 more, I decided I better stop and count fish.  I had already thrown back the catfish and bluegill, so all the fish in the well were crappie.  I moved fish from the front well to the back and counted.  30 fish on the money!!  It was straight up 5:00, so I packed it in.  I had also thrown back 2-3 short fish today.

An older gentleman nearly 80 years old approached me at the landing and asked me how I did.  He was very surprised when I told him I had caught my limit.  He said, "How did you do that??"  He said him and his wife only caught 1 crappie and a couple bass.    I have been out-fished by these old locals all my life.  It was nice to be the one catching fish for a change! 

I cleaned the fish when I got home.  Ended up with just over 5 lbs of dressed fillets.  Several of the females still had eggs much to my surprise.  Makes me think last year I gave up on the spawn too early and assumed it was over when I should have been fishing tree tops instead of submerged beds and brush.  I suppose you live and learn...

Overall, this was the best day I've ever had crappie fishing.  Sure hope I can repeat it in the future!

 

  

 

 

Location: Cedar Creek Reservoir - Alabama

Time: 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Air Temperature: 54 degrees AM - 75 degrees afternoon
Water Temperature: 70 - 74 degrees
Lake Level: 580.06'
Weather Conditions:  Moderate Winds from W to SW. Mostly Sunny.

Fished for crappie with Jessica today on Cedar Creek.  As I have learned, there is no sense in getting there super early, so we got there about 9:30 AM. Concerned that spawn should already be early, but this year's odd weather patterns suggest conditions are still right for the spawn.

We launched on the north landing in the center of the lake and started our day by heading west to the next large bay.  We kept with the same spawn tactics I've been using over the past couple of successful trips and we concentrated on fishing shallow brush: fallen tree tops, man-made  brush piles, log jams, beaver dams, etc.  We fished in 2' to 6' of water with a bobber and minnows.

Pretty successful immediately on the first top, but wind made it very difficult.  Quickly picked up 2-3 before we had to find better cover from the wind.  The bay by the road produced in the log jams.  Kept "quick fishing" areas and moved on pretty quickly when we didn't have much luck in 10-15 minutes.  Had pretty good success just about everywhere we stopped on the west side.
Late afternoon, we headed to east end of the lake to the north bay where before the bridge.  Continued to pick up a few fish.  Moved to the big bay in the center on our way back to the truck and stopped and fished a couple of new pockets on the east side.  Had success there too!

Ended our day with 20 keeper sized crappie and threw one short back.  Also caught a largemouth and a pumpkin seed.  Overall, very good day!! Looks as if they are still on beds.  Did see a couple dying crappie that suggest they may be spawning out.

Cleaned fish. 3+ lbs of fillets.  Several (5-6) still holding eggs.  Late spawn this season.

 

Location: Bent Pine Pocket - Wheeler Lake - Alabama

Time: 4:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Air Temperature: 60's afternoon
Water Temperature: 64 degrees
Lake Level: 554.28' - A little low for the area
Weather Conditions: Bad Windy - 15+ mph. Partly Sunny.

Fished today with Jessica after work. After having luck this past weekend with crappie in the bushes, I was curious if we could catch any in Bent Pine. It was so windy, we couldn't have fished anywhere else. No crappie today. Lake is still a little low to get into the bay shallows. Did catch a couple of largemouth and 4-5 very big bluegill on jigs. Try again when the water get up.

Location: Cedar Creek Reservoir - Alabama

Time: 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Air Temperature: 55-68 Degrees
Water Temperature: 60-64 degrees
Lake Level: 578.87'
Weather Conditions: Light 0-6 MPH

Took a day off of work and fished solo today.  Water temperature and lake level were perfect.  From experience at Cedar Creek, I've learned the crappie really don't begin to bite until around 9-10 AM, so no since in getting here so early. 

I put in at the east boat landing today and rode down to the west bay and fished the small pockets.  I specifically concentrated on brush today.  I began catching crappie pretty quickly in tree tops with minnows under a bobber in 2' to 6' of water.  I realized after a while that some of the brush I didn't have luck with early in the day was because I was fishing too shallow on my slip float.  I went back over the deep brush fishing deeper (8') and caught some fish.  Most of the larger fish were caught deeper.

The successful pattern today was to catch 2-4 fish in a bush and then move on.  I was very successful in the west bays and pockets.  I picked up 2-4 more in pocked around the big boat landing bay.  I moved east towards the launch and fished the bay near the bridge and pump station on the north shore. I picked up 2-4 more there. 

Finished the day with 24 keeper crappie and threw back 2-4 shorts.  I caught a few yellow bass and largemouth.  Excellent day, perfect conditions!!

I cleaned the fish and ended up with 4 lbs of dressed fillets.  About 2/3 were females and eggs were milky.  Males were colored back with spawn colors.  Eggs seemed to be ready to release.

 

 

Location: Cedar Creek Reservoir - Alabama

Time: 7:45 AM - 5:00 PM
Air Temperature: Cold - 30 degrees in AM - 50 degree high
Water Temperature: 59 Degrees
Lake Level: 578.91
Weather Conditions: 6-8 MPH

Fished with Doug and Douglas Ainsworth today.  We used the same tactics as Doug and I did on 3-30-18, but started on the gravel shore immediately.  It was slow here and the fish were not on the bank like they were a few days ago, but the water also came up about 2 feet.  There is much more water in the bushed and brush now.  

We moved on and fished the north shore back towards the dam and picked up a few in pockets around brush, tree tops, dead snags, beaver dams, and log jams.  We were picking up more fish in the brush than we were last week.  We caught 4-5 more bass and a couple of short crappie.  

We fished 2' to 6' deep in 3' to 8' of water with minnows under a cork.  Ended up keeping 11 crappie total.  Good day.  Fish are either in a pre-spawn or early spawn pattern.  

 

Location: Flint Creek - Wheeler Lake - Alabama

Time: 7 AM - 11 AM
Air Temperature:
Water Temperature: 57 degrees
Lake Level: 554.32'
Weather Conditions: Windy.  9-12 MPH

Zero fish today.  Combination of wind and opposing currents made it very tough.  The water level is still a couple of feet short of where it needs to be to catch fish in here and in the brush. 

Location: Cedar Creek Reservoir - Alabama

Time: 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Air Temperature: 60's
Water Temperature: 59 Degrees
Lake Level: 576.82 - A little lower than desired
Weather Conditions:

Fished with Doug Ainsworth today.  We fished the north coast from the center of the boat landing back to the large bay towards the dam.  We fished brush, tree tops, beds, docks, and gravel banks.  We only picked up one crappie in the bay where we launched the boat on the west bank.  We fished many bays and pockets as a guy at the gas station had described.  We started off slow.

We moved to the big bay westward and continued to fish pockets and brush. We began catching shoal's bass by throwing a minnow up on the ledge and letting it slowly fall over.  We finally picked up a couple crappie in the bay by the west road.  We fished along the north shore of that bay with the gravel bank around the drop off and some dead snags.  We picked up several fish in this area. 

We ended up keeping 8 crappie and threw 2-4 back that were shorts.  Minnows under a bobber 2' to 6' deep in 3' to 8' of water seemed to be the successful trend.  We ended up throwing back about 10 fish total which were a mix between bass and crappie.  Bushes did not produce well.  I believe the water is still just a bit shallow for bushes, but it appears we are in a pre-spawn pattern.  

A man walked in from the road and quickly caught 18 along the gravel bank we were fishing and kept 9.  He said he had did the same earlier in the week, too.  He knew his stuff and threw a small jig on a spinning reel.  

Fishing did not pick up until mid-day.  Much better fishing as the day went on and warmed.  We started using a "Quick Fish" technique.  After 10 minutes with no fish, move on!

Very good day and we learned a lot about the area that will help in the upcoming spawn weeks.

 

 

Terrible at taking notes...and remembering.

Location: 2nd Creek - Wheeler Lake - Alabama

Time:
Air Temperature:
Water Temperature:
Lake Level: 552.44
Weather Conditions:

Didn't take good notes today...

Location: 2nd Creek - Wheeler Lake - Alabama

Time:
Air Temperature: Cold!
Water Temperature: Cold!
Lake Level: 551.5
Weather Conditions:

Fished around the bridge.  Didn't take good notes today...

Location: Shoals Creek - Wilson Lake - Alabama

No fishing to report today, but did re-purpose our Christmas Tree!