Sometimes they don't cooperate...

Wheeler Lake - Browns Ferry

Time: 7:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Air Temperature: 52 - 59 during trip
Water Temperature: 
Lake Level: 551.74

Weather Conditions: Overcast, cool. Winds SSW 3-8 MPH.

Nick Bates and I set out today to see if we could catch some stripped bass or catfish on live bait.  We put in at Cowford and set out for the Nuclear Plant.  We set up with spotlock and targeted some fish with large shiners suspended off the bottom.  Little to no luck.  Fish had lockjaw.  Managed a couple drum and this decent flathead.

We headed down toward the bluffs across from the Elk River mouth to try to mix it up.  Nothing.  Moved to a creek mouth and found some suspended structure and switched over to crappie.  A couple bites, but no fish in the boat.  

Sometimes they don't cooperate.  

Highlight of the day was coming across a wrecked boat.  They had a bad day...

Oldies but goodies..

Found these from my childhood while scrolling through photos today.  Thought I'd drop them here to share.

My personal best catfish on rod and reel - 62 lbs Flathead. My dad and I around January 1997?
I would have been a bout 12 years old.  We caught this in KY lake on a single minnow at Danville under the old Grainery ruins after a day of slow sauger fishing.

My sister and cousin next to the fish.  My sister was about 4 ft tall, almost exactly the size as the fish

Stringer full of crappie and white bass my dad and I caught in Big Sandy, TN at the spillway.
We were wading in chest waders in the eddies beside the road and casting jigs. 
This would have been March or April around 1999 or 2000

Tote full of catfish.  We probably caught these on a trotline.  Probably around 1998 or 1999.
KY Lake, Big Sandy, TN

Unbelievable trotline haul from me, my dad, and Matthew Belyew.
We caught all of these on 2-3 lines (200-300 hooks).  The next several photos are of this day. 
I believe we caught over 100 ft weighing over 300 lbs total.  
This would have been 2001 or 2002 most likely. KY Lake, Big Sandy, TN.

Cooler of crappie caught in Big Sandy, TN. Around March or April 2002?

Back after a month break...

Wheeler Lake - Mooresville / Arrowhead Landing

Time: 7:45 AM - 2:30 PM
Air Temperature: 40 - 52 degrees during trip
Water Temperature: 51 degrees
Lake Level: 551.86
Weather Conditions: Partly cloudy. Winds from E-SE 7 MPH.

Between traveling for work, Christmas holiday, and family vacation, I had not been on the water for a month so I was excited to get back out today.  I went out searching for crappie.

It was a little slow today.  I picked up couple out of various places, but struggled until around lunch to find any schooled up in any sort of concentration.  I caught a couple on a minnow under a bobber, but for the most part, my best luck was with a white and chartreuse tube jig tipped with a minnow.  I couldn't catch much actually in the blown down tree tops, but found them on fully suspended structure in 8-12 FOW.

I caught a streak around 12-1 o'clock but it was short lived.  A little slow, but I managed to catch 15 and 4-5 bluegill too.  Still had a great day on the water.

No Fishing Today...

 

Winter Blues

Wheeler Lake - Browns Ferry

Time: 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Air Temperature: 43 - 46 during trip
Water Temperature: 
Lake Level: 555.04

Weather Conditions: Raining, cool. Winds E 7 MPH.

I went out today to try to repeat my catfish catch from two days prior and did just that, except fish were a slightly smaller. Weather was crumby, but fishing was great.  

I fished the same place with the same tactics (livescope, spotlock, live jumbo shiners suspended) and got the same result.  Another excellent day.  Biggest fish were 20 and 21 lbs.  I caught about 7 nice cats and a couple drum.  I was using leftover shiners from last trip and ended up running out around lunch.  Just for giggles, I tied on a white 6" saltwater swimbait to see what would happen... And caught a nice cat 😂!

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.  

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!