6-14-06 Spots and Catfish below chic dam

[NRG]

I went out this afternoon got off work early for a change Put in at the Riverpark on Amnicola, Fished from the river park down to Chattanooga Creek. I didnt catch much for hour or so .. then bam rod buckled and line starting peeling from my spinning reel.. After got it up to take a gander what had hit my spotsticker and chartreuse worm .. dang just a catfish was hoping it was big ol smallie .. but was a good cat.. 18 lbs on 6lb test... fished all the quite a bit longer b4 even getting a hit .. finnaly found some bass down near town.. caught 20 or so .. most were less than 9 inches.. 5 where 12-14.. down near chattanooga creek a something hit my crankbait .. and was heading for alabama .. never saw it just as I was about to get it up enuff to see it the hook popped out .. dont ya just hate that . I sure do .. never even got to see what I almost caught.. it was a good fish, had good bend in my crankbait rod. All my Bass came on a chart and white spinnerbait and a bone/blue back/with silver flake deep diver crankbait. It was fun to get good 5 or 6 hrs of fishing in.

 

[DHaun]

Thanks for the report NRG! How deep was that 18lb cat? Was it a blue or a channel cat? I have been wondering if they are getting shallow ready to spawn. Also, is Chattanooga creek down near Moccasin Bend or across from Rivermont? I thought South Chickamauga Creek was across from Rivermont...but I cannot remember.

 

[NRG]

DHaun - 6/14/2006 11:34 PM

Thanks for the report NRG! How deep was that 18lb cat? Was it a blue or a channel cat? I have been wondering if they are getting shallow ready to spawn. Also, is Chattanooga creek down near Moccasin Bend or across from Rivermont? I thought South Chickamauga Creek was across from Rivermont...but I cannot remember.

Cat I guess was a blue .. it was like grey in color almost blue.. so I assume was a blue. I caught it just past chickamauga creek across from the last barge tie up in about 16 feet of water. Chattanooga creek is near moccasin bend, its the next creek after chickamauga. Chickamauga is the creek right at the end of the river park. They had 2 turbines on yesterday .. lately when I have been there they have had one or none... I thought fishing would be better with 2 on, not as good as I expected.. but was still good day on the water.
Oh by the way .. down near chick creek.. there is a green channel/day marker on big wood tri pod.. up on top of that is a big nest .. I think its a eagles nest .. but Im not sure if those 2 birds nesting where eagles or not .. they sure are noisy and big.. one carried a fish in to the nest in his feet.. it was cool to watch them.. they did not like me being there they made that clear .. so I moved on down stream.

 

[JerDog]

NRG,

Good report, looks like you did well. Did you catch any smallmouth? I was out earlier in the week and did pretty well with my father. Caught some big smallmouth (in the 16 in range).

 

[MadBomber]

The nest on top of the channel marker belongs to an Osprey. Some folks call them fish hawks.

Chattanooga creek is the creek across from Moccasin Bend. It's on the EPA's Superfund list for coal tar contamination. You can go back into the creek just a little ways and actually smell the coal tar coming from the water. Even with all the warnings at the mouth of that creek, people still fish there and I assume, eat the fish.

The next creek about a half-mile downstream is Lookout creek.

That section of the river starting at U.S. Pipe all the way down to Lookout Creek is noe of my favorite places to fish. Especially this time of year. The Spots will eat up a white buzzbait.

 

[JerDog]

Madbomber,

Have you fished the riprap down by the M. Bend? Have you done well in the smallmouth category and trolled down there? That area is one I am going to head for one of these days.

 

[Bprice]

Chattanooga Creek sounds alot like Indian Creek on Wheeler... its a Superfund site as well... in fact I did my Enviromental Engineering Research Project on that Olin Company's dumping of DDT into the creek... its a bad situation. The only restriction now is on Buffalo in that area.

 

[jon the fisherman]

Poplar Creek is one that is a superfund cleanup around this area. The Department Of Energy has lost 40,000 lbs of mercury and most is in that creek and White oak creek. In the Forties and Fifties, when the cold war was going strong, they used to just dump all the waste in these two watersheds. Most of the mercury is now silted over and is best left alone.

 

[MadBomber]

Jerdog,

I have caught hundreds of spots along that section, but very few smallmouth. I have heard rumors that there are a couple of holes in that area that hold smallmouth but I don't know where. As far as trolling goes, I have caught some good fish trolling both sides of the bend. The attached picture is a largemouth I caught last summer trolling a model A Bomber on the Moccasin Bend side.

 

[JerDog]

Good looking fish! Thanks for the information. I will have to get down there and explore the are looking for humps, smallies like to hang out in that stuff. When you fish M. Bend, do you put your boat in at Racoon Mtn. or Riverpark or someplace closer?

 

[MadBomber]

I always launch at the Riverpark. Good Ramp, Good Security!