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.  

Gators Galore! And a Couple Crappie...

Wheeler Lake - Mooresville / Arrowhead Landing

Time: 7:30 AM - 2:00 PM
Air Temperature: 53 - 80 degrees during trip
Water Temperature:
Lake Level: 553.09
Weather Conditions: Sunny. Winds from South 5-10 MPH.

I set out today to see if the crappie had moved in yet with the falling water level and cooler nights.  I mostly failed on the crappie.  Only caught 4 crappie and 3 shell cracker, but still had fun.

I saw 2 or 3 gators that were probably - 5-6 ft long.  I've always heard they were in there, but this is my first time actually seeing.  Very cool!

Covering a Lot of Water

My Dad bought a houseboat and today was moving day.  We had to move it from Birdsong Marina on KY Lake to another marina about 35 nautical north.  This gal hadn't had a real journey in about 10 years.  Water levels were already at winter pool, so there were some tricky spots.  I drove ahead and navigated in a smaller outboard.

It took about 4 hours, but she did great!

Camping Therapy

 

Spotlock = Spot On

Cedar Creek Reservoir

Time: 8:00 AM - 2:30 PM
Air Temperature: 60 - 72 degrees during trip
Water Temperature:
Lake Level: 579.42
Weather Conditions: Mostly sunny, perfect.  Winds  N 6 mph

Today's main goal was to get familiar with my new Ultrex trolling motor, so I set out to go somewhere where I knew there was sunken, deep structure.  I knew I could find these conditions on Cedar Creek and use spotlock to set up and fish deep.  

I was very pleased with how the spotlock worked! This is definitely a game changer.  However, it was a tough day fishing.  I caught 9, six big enough to keep, and also caught 3 bass.  Very, very soft bite today.  Found 3-4 spots holding crappie, but flat out wouldn't bite.  Worked hard for the fish I did catch, but very pleased with my trolling motor.

Minn Kota Ultrex Install

 After many, many months on backorder, my new Ultrex came in and I installed it today.  This thing will be a game changer for the way I fish!

Family Fun - A Little Jug Fishing

Wheeler Lake

Time: 6:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Air Temperature: Low 63 - High 83
Water Temperature: 
Lake Level: 555.22

Weather Conditions: Mostly sunny and clear. Winds ESE- 6-10 MPH.

My wife and son joined me today for some family fun while jug fishing for catfish.  We wanted to give Thomas some introduction to fishing and jug fishing is a simple way to get out and catch some fish easily without any major skills needed.  Todd Whatley had give me some stand-up noodles jugs he built and today was the first day giving them a try.  They worked great and we had an awesome day!

Testing new trim unit and catching catfish

Wheeler Lake - Browns Ferry

Time: 6:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Air Temperature: 66 - 84 degrees during trip
Water Temperature: 87 Degrees
Lake Level: 555.77

Weather Conditions: Mostly sunny and clear. Winds SSW- 7-9 MPH.

I'd like to start out by giving a shout out to Five Star Marine in Port Richey, FL.  I've been having progressing issues with my power trim unit for the past couple years.  After researching it, I found a new unit to be about $1,200.  I was watching a YouTube video on how to remove the trim on my boat and the video mentioned sending their unit off to Five Star for repair.  After doing some research, it was a no brainer.  I shipped my unit off and 10 days later received it back in the mail.  They charge a flat rate, depending on the model, for refurbishing plus whatever parts incurred during the refurb.  In the end.  I was $635 in including shipping and have a unit that is as good as new with a 2 year warranty.  They are excellent if you are in the market for a trim repair.

I headed over to the nuclear plant today for some catfish.  I launched right at daylight and noticed some threadfin popping the water at the the boat ramp (Cowford).  I decided to throw a net a few times and see what I could catch.  l was able to catch a few small shad around the ramp and a few more plus a couple small bluegill under the powerlines.  I brought frozen skipjack and some chicken gizzards too, but fresh bait is always good to have.

Once I got set up, I noticed someone has placed several marker buoys around the pipeline marking the drop off.  I have mixed feelings about this, but it definitely makes sighting the pipeline area easier.

As normal, I dropped down below the pipeline and immediately begin getting hits.  I noticed chicken gizzards we're performing very well.  I tried the live threadfin, but they too weren't doing fantastic.  Nothing today seemed to beat the cut skipjack.  

I putted around the area until about 11:00 and managed 18 blues.  Most were around 6 lbs on the average, but I caught a couple bigger.  It was an excellent morning and my trim performed perfect. 

Chasin' Ghost Crabs

 

Draggin' It Out

Wheeler Lake - Browns Ferry

Time: 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Air Temperature: 76 - 81 degrees during trip
Water Temperature:
Lake Level: 555.81

Weather Conditions: Cloudy, windy. Winds N NE Sustained 8 MPH.

I decided to shake it up some today and try something I seldom do.  I put in at the Elk River landing and rode out to the channel with the intent of fishing deep and trolling/dragging.   I put out two bottom rigs and two suspend rigs and trolled around 0.7-1 MPH.  I started in about 45 FOW, but had no luck.  I could see a very strong thermocline about 35 feet deep and my guess is that was making things challenging.

I tried two more spots, but had no luck.

I finally headed over to the south back where I've had luck with trotlines and trolled about 30 FOW.  I got more bites here than anywhere else, but only landed one catfish weight about 12 lbs.  

Tough day.  I think my mistake was starting off too deep.  Need to brush up on this method and try again maybe when I get my new trolling motor.  

Creek Walking

 

Summer Pattern

Wheeler Lake - Browns Ferry

Time: 6:30 AM - 9:30 AM
Air Temperature: 78 - 87 degrees during trip
Water Temperature:
Lake Level: 555.72

Weather Conditions: Mostly sunny and clear. Winds SE- 5-8 MPH.

Slipped back out there this morning for a repeat of what I did last week.  Same place, same bait, same results.  Caught 17 in 3 hours this morning on chicken gizzards soaked in Kool-aid and cut shad over at the Nuclear Plant.  They've settled into a consistent summer pattern now.

COVID CATS

Wheeler Lake - Browns Ferry

Time: 7:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Air Temperature: 66 - 82 degrees during trip
Water Temperature:
Lake Level: 555.76 

Weather Conditions: Mostly sunny and clear. Winds N-NE- 5-9 MPH.

Well, it finally happened... After two plus years, I finally caught the Rona.  Figured it i was going to sit around, I might as well do it atop a swivel seat! I can't say I felt 100%, but didn't feel bad enough to sit out a fishing trip.

I headed out by my house to the Nuclear Plant this morning.  Fished with chicken gizzards soaked in Kool-aid and cut skipjack from the freezer.  Bounced bottom along the pipeline.  

It got hot and I figured I needed to rest some, so I left at 11:00 AM.  Caught 21 cats this morning.  

Hottest Crappie on the Face of the Earth

Cedar Creek Reservoir

Time: 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Air Temperature: 81 - 95 degrees during trip
Water Temperature: 83 degrees
Lake Level: 580.74
Weather Conditions: Sunny - Hot.  Winds  SSE 5-11 mph.

Last fall at a wedding, Lance and I talked about getting together to fish one day this year.  He came down with the family and after a short discussion, we decided to try something I've never done - Summer Time Crappie.

I must admit, I'm a crappie idealist.  I fish when they are very patternable and predictable.  That's what makes the winter and spring bite so attractive.  I usually catfish all summer long, but crappie have to eat and they can be caught all year long if you know how they behave, where to look, and how to fish them.  I'm definitely not a summer crappie expert, but I was up for the challenge.

It's a long drive out to Cedar Creek, so we didn't get on the water until close to 8:30 AM.  Out of simple curiosity, I started out in a couple shallow spots I normally fish during the spawn.  I didn't expect to get bites, but crappie follow the bait fish and bait fish relate to structure and will go shallow.  However, no bites, as expected.

Pretty quickly, we defaulted back to classic summer approach: Finding fish over submerged structure just off of drop off areas and underwater features.  We set up in 12-14 FOW over some marked structure and turned the LiveScope on.  There were crappie hanging on there like ornaments on a tree.  We went after them with a single pole, single jig approach vertical fishing.  They were particularly suspended in about 8 FOW in and above the structure.  The fish immediately showed interest, but were very finicky to approach and slow to commit to the bite.  However, with a slow presentation and a little patience, we hooked up on the fish. They didn't seem to favor any one color over another.  They were picky in general, but I'd say we caught a fair even amount on white/chartreuse, orange/black, red/chartreuse, and minnow tipped and untipped.  

We fished about 4 marked areas and put about 10 keepers in the boat by lunch. We lost 2-3 top water trying to hoss them into the boat instead of using the net... I knew better, but laziness gets the best of me from time to time 😆.

After lunch, we headed to the far side of the lake to fish some other marked structure, but when we got there, the wind had picked up and shifted in a manner that made vertical jigging next to impossible.  We couldn't hold structure or catch any fish, but the water was super clear and we did identify a lot of sunken tree stumps and structure that we marked for next spring's use.  

We headed back to re-fish our morning spots, but the heat was brutal and the fish had slowed tremendously in the heat of the day.  We pulled about 3 more keepers out and called it a day at 2:30.  

We ended up catching 2 channel cats on jigs too.  We finished the day with 13 keeper crappie and 2 catfish.  Should have had 15-16 keepers had we been using the net.

Although we didn't bring home big numbers, I absolutely would call today a success.  I'd never fished crappie in 95 degree heat and 83 degree water, but we found fish and put fish in the boat and learned a lot in the process.  Lance and I had a great time fishing and catching up.  Hot day, but absolutely worth the effort.  Looking forward to doing it again next spring and I'll definitely be more open to summer crappie in the future.

Bill Dance, The Man, The Legend. Go VOLS! 🟠🏈

 

Fryinstein!

Took a bit of a slow period at work to finally put together that fish cooker I've been planning for the past year.  Amazed at the results!