11/7/05 Below Chick Dam

[G-MAN]

Went fishing Friday night below Chickamauga dam with shinners. Used An Eagle Claw Laser Sharp Circular hook tied on with a palamor knot and a foot leader with a spit shot pinched on. Just like you guys said.
We had a blast. Caught 6 good line ripping stripers, 20 plus pound catfish, 4 plus pound small mouth and even a couple of large shad.
Don't believe we missed a fish. This type of rig worked great. My buddy tied on a larger weight on the bottom of his line, since we weren't getting hung up and seemed to do a little better than myself.

 

[DHaun]

Great Report GMan - Glad you got on some fish! Shiner fishing the Dam is one of my favorite things to do. I always get the large shiners but have thought recently about trying the medium ones. Were you drift fishing the strong current or were you further downstream? Did the stripers hit after it got dark or around dusk?

 

[G-MAN]

We didn't get in the water untill around 9pm. We fished the rough water. We would pull up by the wing wall and continue towards the closest two spill ways, then cast towards the spill ways and drift. our lines would imediately drift to the left of our boat and most of the fish were caught imediately. We would fight the fish and end up in 4 to 5 foot of water and then make our way back up to go at it again. We also fished one of the train trussle supports on the opposite side before we called it a night and I broke off on another good fish.
My partner bought the shinners and I don't know if you would consider them medium or large. They ranged in size from about 3 to 4-1/2 inches.
That was the first time either of us had caught large stripes like this or any other way before. We realy enjoyed it.
Is this a short season for catching stripes like this or is it good for the rest of the fall up through winter?

 

[DHaun]

Thanks for the great info GMan! That's similar to how we fish Nickajack but the water is deeper. I am not sure about the seasonal pattern (I have never caught many below Chickamauga, but I am going to try soon). At Nickajack they might be in there one day and gone the next. I think Spring is a better bite than Fall though.

 

[JerDog]

Stripes come and go...so DHaun and myself are learning. I know last night we were on the bottom all night and close to the boils and only got one fish. Chickamauga offers a shallower area to fish and that sometimes proves to be ineffective. You are right, the stripers are close to the dam. Could you see the rock pile last night? There is deeper water on the side of it and the rock pile extends out toward the tracks. I have caught some good sized stripers there too. So when you drift, try and head in that direction.

 

[polo-dog]

All you striper fishermen seem to be having a great time. I need to get with you guys sometime and check it out. Do you think that they would hit dead shad? I could catch some in the creek and bring them with me. If I don't bring too many and if the water gets cold I would expect some would survive. I would catch you guys some shad and meet you somewhere with them if it's hard to find them in the river. If someone wants to some shad to take below the dam, I'd give them a bucket full at Wolftever. I don't know if it's on the way for anyone. I'd love to know if they would be effective for whatever below the dam. Let me know if anyone is interested.

 

[DHaun]

Hopefully going Friday morning Polo-Dog. I just sent you a PM.

 

[JerDog]

By car, how far is Wolftever from the Dam?

 

[polo-dog]

It's about 8 miles. It sounds like it's out of the way. Maybe I can meet you with a bucketful on the way to work some day.

 

[G-MAN]

I could definately see the rock pile to the left of us when drifting. Is this the rock pile your talking about?

 

[flip1up]

Hey guys, a while back I went up to the dam. There was no generation and the water was down, I was going after the big cats behind the turbines, I stayed way to the left of the "rockpile" your talking about. I recon theres others though- hence my post needing a used prop on the used equip. section. I hit a rock and damaged my prop pretty bad. I still need a prop if anyone has one. I have been using a Raker 24, but would like to switch to a four blade 23 or 25, 200 Evin. XP. But if they are pulling its not a problem.

 

[polo-dog]

flip1up, I have hit something in there myself. I don't know what it was but I bent my prop too. I tend to stay on the right hand side of the rock pile going up river with my big motor and use only my trolling motor when I am in the area below the gates. I think that there is a wall down there rather than a rock pile but I may be wrong. I think a buddy told me about that once. When I lock through, I always go around the rock pile to get to the wing wall.

 

[DHaun]

I have always seen everyone go upstream to the left of the rockpile...some way too fast...except for the repeat drifters just below the turbines. From what I can tell the rockpile (or something that can be marked shallow like a wall) extends downstream to just below the RR bridge (where I have bumped it before). I try to go up to the left of the rockpile in the middle between the rockpile and the lock and have never hit anything, but I have never been way left of it where flip1up hit something. Both Jerdog and I have slowly trolled numerous clockwise circles around the rockpile and have not hit anything yet, but we normally go at higher water levels. I always try to go slow and tilt up a bit whenever I am in there...