A Change in Tactics Pays Dividends

Location: Cedar Creek Reservoir - Alabama

Time: 10:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Air Temperature: 83 degrees high.
Water Temperature: 68 - 72.5 degrees
Lake Level: 581.76’ - Perfect level and conditions.
Weather Conditions: Calm. Sunny.

Got a late start and didn't get to the lake until mid morning.  Fished mostly around the Britton Bridge area today.  Concentrated on the bay by the pump house, cyprus trees, some bushes on the east side of the road way levee, and a tree top in a southern inlet to the east of the bridge.

I started my morning in with minnows under a slip bobber in the cyprus trees, but only caught one.  Fishing was slow.  I moved to a tree top in an inlet and caught one more.  At this point, about an hour and a half had passed and I decided to swap tactics entirely.  Conditions were perfect, so I had to find something that the crappie liked.

I swapped over to my 11' jig pole and tied on a 1/8 oz jig head with a red and chartreuse tube skirt.  I was trying to go ultralight so it would fall slowly  and be more sensitive.  I begin vertical jigging with this single pole, single jig in the tree top and... SUCCESS!  I immediately began getting strong hits in 3-5 FOW and started hauling the crappie in.  I proceeded to catch about 10-12 out of the same tree top.

After this area slowed, I moved down to some bushes on the east side of the road way where I had success in 2018.  Immediately, they began pounding the jig and I pulled 5-6 more out of this bush.  I then moved over to the pump house bay and jigged the log jams.  Same successful results as I pulled another 6-8 out of this area.

After the pump house bay, I went back to the tree tops and started over.  About 2:00, overcast conditions began to blow in and the fishing shut off like a light switch.  I tried switching back to the minnows and went down to the dam end of the lake, but nothing work.  The day was done.

I ended the day having exclusively caught crappie.  I pulled 27 out of the water but only 19 were big enough to keep.  I'll take it! Overall, this was an excellent day and showed that sometimes a change in tactics really pays off.  I cleaned the fish and they dressed to about 4 lbs.  About 60% were males, but this was an improvement that suggested more females were beginning to move into the shallows compared to the prior week.

We made fish tacos for dinner!

Thomas's First Time on the Water and Daddy's First Trotlines in nearly 20 years

Location: Wheeler Lake - Cowford/Swan Creek Area - Alabama

Time: 7:00 AM - 8:30 PM
Air Temperature: 58 degrees AM
Water Temperature: 62 - 67 degrees
Lake Level: 554.91' - 97,667 cfps - A little heavy on current, but level is correct for this time of year.
Weather Conditions: Calm. Sunny.


Decided to take the 50+ 2-3" bluegill I caught this week in minnow traps and do a trial run of my new trotlines with nothing but live bait.  Jessica and Thomas helped me to put a 50 hook line just east of the Cowford boat launch in about 9-10 FOW.  We put the line between the channel and the feeding flats in hopes of targeting flathead catfish with the live bait.  We placed it about 6 pm on Saturday and ran the line out and came back to bait it in the water. This was Thomas's first time out on the water! 

I came back out this morning (Sunday) by myself to run the line.  On hook number 2, I had my first fish! Although I didn't catch any flatheads, I did haul in 4 channels and one nice blue.  My line did get snagged on something pretty solid around 20 hooks in.  I did have to cut and re-tie, but that is just part of it.  Hooks 20-30 seemed to do the best.  Lots of empty hooks.  I think the bluegill got off the line rather than catfish throwing the hooks.  I think I ended up with about 20 lbs of fish.  They made a nice mess once filleted!.  These new lines are nice and I can't wait to run them again.

COVID Crappie

Location: Cedar Creek Reservoir - Alabama

Time: 7:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Air Temperature: 58 degrees AM - 75 degrees afternoon
Water Temperature: 62 - 67 degrees
Lake Level: 582.63' - Very high for conditions, starting to clear.
Weather Conditions: Light winds to Calm. Sunny.

Day two of my 2020 COVID crappie season 😂.  I ran minnow traps all week to try to stock up bait just in case.  I tried several creeks around the house and even let the traps soak for a couple days in the swampy pond beside my work location in Hartselle.  Only caught 4-5 creek chubs, but caught 50+ small bluegill around 2-3" long.  Also caught two crawfish and one bullhead catfish.  After all the effort, I was able to buy minnows in Hartselle on Thursday afternoon.  I think the bluegill are a little big for the crappie, so I will save them for a trotline.

I fished bushes exclusively with minnows under a bobber.  The lake was very busy, but most people were spider rigging.  Fishing was slower that my last trip.  I only caught 3 crappie, but all were big enough to keep.  I caught 5 largemouth and 1 yellow bass.  Going to let it settle down a couple days and see if the water will drop a little.  I will try again on Monday.

Kicking Off 2020 Spring Crappie Season

Location: Cedar Creek Reservoir - Alabama

Time: 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Air Temperature: 70 degrees AM - 82 degrees afternoon
Water Temperature: 68 - 72 degrees
Lake Level: 582.12' - Very high for conditions and muddy.
Weather Conditions: Moderate Winds from South,SW 10-16 MPH . Sunny to overcast.

Today was my first day on the water for spring crappie.  I figured it may be a bit early but the 80+ degree weather this week had me itching to give it a try.  I launched at Britton Bridge and fished log jams, tree tops, cyprus trees, and bushes all in about 3ft to 8ft of water.  My main goal today was to see if the fish had moved into the bushes. 

I picked up a good mixed bag today with 1 white bass, 7 yellow bass, 6 largemouth bass, and 6 crappie.  Only 3 of the crappie were big enough to keep. All fish were caught on minnows under a bobber. My first crappie of the season was a beautiful black nose.

It seems all but one of the crappie were males and were just beginning to move up in the shallows.  I think we are a week plus before the shallow fishing gets good.  The surprise of the day was finding the live cyprus trees in 3-5ft of water and finding fish holding to them on the north bank east of Britton bridge.  I will definitely be back to this area.

I cleaned the 3 keeper crappie and we ate them for dinner.  Sure was nice to enjoy fresh fish again!

Lazy Jugs...

Location: Wheeler Lake
Time: 11:00 AM - 3 PM

I've been gearing up for spring fishing season.  I took all my crappie rods apart and lubed them and soaked the spools in hot water to release line memory.  I needed to retie all the lines and figured I might as well launch the boat at the house and float some jugs while I drifted along tying rods.

I didn't catch but one catfish, but sure did enjoy floating around and I did get all my crappie rods tied and ready to go.

My favorite fishing buddy!

March 19, 2020

My favorite fishing buddy! 

BUILDING NEW TROTLINES FROM SCRATCH!

March 1st - 15th, 2020

BUILDING NEW TROTLINES FROM SCRATCH!

Some time around 1978, my dad, Ronny Watkins, picked up a Memphis Net & Twine catalog, ordered supplies, and built a set of trotlines with a couple of friends. I have great memories from when I was a kid running those same lines. This month, Doug, Douglas, Daniel, and my Dad helped me assemble four new lines that I too ordered supplies from Memphis Net & Twine. We had a great time assembling these and truly respect this as a lost art. My boy even got in on the action! Looking forward to many years and memories with these new lines.

If you are in the market for supplies, check out Memphis Net & Twine.

Below is a list of supplies and techniques we used.  This was enough material for 4 new lines (two 50 hook lines and two 100 hook lines):

• 12 Spools of TWB-60 Braided Nylon Twine Size 60
• 1 Spool of TWB-12 Braided Nylon Twine Size 12
• 2 CSW - 6/0 Champion Swivels, 12 count per bag (24 total purchased)
• 4 CSW - 1/0 Champion Swivels, 100 count per bag (400 total purchased)
• 7 - L198 - 5/0 Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp Big Eye offset trotline hooks, 50 count per box (350 total purchased)
• 34 SB5 PVC Sponge Floats 3-1/2" Dia x 1-1/2 thick.
• Custom made dog tags for line identifications (Amazon)
• 5 jump boxes - 16" x 16" x 5-1/2" deep.  Constructed from poplar 1 x 6 board for sides and 1/4" maple plywood for bottoms.  Stained and triple coated with clear coat.   

6/0 swivels used for each free end and for joining ends together when splicing main line.  1/0 swivels used for hook float and hook stagings.  Size 60 twine used for main line. Size 12 twine used for float and hook stagings.  Floats at the beginning and end of the line and after every 10 hooks.  Hook stagings cut to 20" to give approximately 10" of drop when tied.  Float stagings cut to 56" to give about 24" of height when tied. Approximately 20 feet of free line on each end.  Hooks staged about 8-9 feet apart.  100 hook lines end up being about 950 feet long and 50 hook lines end up being about 500 feet long

Location: 2nd Creek, Wheeler Lake

Time: 7:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Air Temperature:
Water Temperature: 
Lake Level: 
Weather Conditions:

Didn’t take very good notes today. Started out my day fishing underneath the bridge for crappie with minnows and jigs but didn’t have any luck. I moved on to some of my brush piles and fished vertically and also didn’t have any luck. I looked at some deep water felled timber and still couldn’t find the fish. I tried spider rigging some flats and a couple locations and couldn’t even get a bite. Finally at the end of the day I went back to the bridge in fished vertically and caught one bluegill and six drum. Absolutely nothing to brag about, but at least I didn’t get skunked.

First Day Back Since My Son Was Born

Location: Shoals Creek, Wilson Lake

Time: 6:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Air Temperature: 36F on Arrival, warmed to about 59F
Water Temperature:
Lake Level: 506.57 ft - Still operating at summer pool.
Weather Conditions: Calm to slight E wind


Today was a good day - Today was the first day I've been back on the water since my son was born in May. I've spent my downtime since January with my wife and then my son upon his arrival. I can't wait until he is old enough to get out there with me. However, today was nice and although I didn't break any fishing records, I had a great day on the water.

I went to Shoals Creek on Wilson Lake today. It's sort of my "old trusty" when I don't have much time to plan or get creative. I set out to try to pick up some crappie.

I hit my normal spots this morning and started out under the bridge. However, other than a few bites, there was no real action in any of my spots.

As the temperature picked up and the sun came out, I decided to try out my new bimini top that I recently installed. You can find more information about it on AMAZON. I must say it was pretty easy to install and I am very pleased with it.

Before heading back home, I decided to give the bridge another try. This time, I decided to fish on bottom vs suspension. This finally produced fish, although no crappie today.

Using minnows on a bottom hook and a black/chartreuse curly tail jig on a top hook, I managed to pick up 12 fish under the bridge pretty quickly. I used the Lowrance unit to specifically target bridge columns holding fish. I pick up around 3 bluegill, 2 drum, 2 catfish, and the balance was a mix of white and yellow bass. I had a lot of fun and even pulled a double with a white and yellow bass combination.

I can't wait to get out there again!

And So The Adventure Begins...

And So The Adventure Begins...

Location: Shoals Creek, Wilson Lake

Time: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Air Temperature: High of 70 Degrees
Water Temperature: 49 Degrees
Lake Level: 505.14 ft - Pretty normal for the time of year.
Weather Conditions: Calm to slight S-SE wind

I was joined by Todd Whatley today.  We set out to target crappie primarily.  We launched off of the Shoals Creek ramp @ HWY 72 and talked to a guy that was leaving as we were putting in.  He said he had caught 10 but it was pretty slow-go.  He did say he had caught 21 the day before.  His main tactic was fishing suspended under the bridge.

When we launched, the bridge was covered up in boat traffic, so we headed out to deeper water structure.  We fished all the normal places and saw good fish holding structure, but struggled to get anything to bite.  We fished anywhere from 16' to 45' deep today.  We ended up catching two crappie in deep water holding structure around 32' to 44' deep.  It was very odd as I've never caught crappie that deep before.  We fished the old railroad bridge on our way back in and caught one small blue cat.  The fish we caught today were all on minnows, none on jigs.

Overall, fishing was slow, but it was a beautiful day and great company.  I think we could have done a little better, but traffic and fishing pressure was very high since it was the first pretty day in a long time.  I'm ready to go back...