Bass on the Coon 5-20-2006

[MrWiskers]

Went out for a little bluegill fishing with a guy from work today and his son at Racoon Mtn. Basically I was taking them fishing for the first time in a boat so we were not expecting much, just some good bluegill fishing. Bluegill were slow (only 8 keepers) so I started throwing a pig and jig while they fished for the bluegill's after I noticed a lot of bass hitting the floats (we even has a bass try 3 time to eat a small bluegill my friend was trying to get to the boat. I assume the storm fronts moving in has the bass on go because the river was off. I ended up cathing 6 bass with the largest being 3.6 lbs (should have been around 5 but this fish was very skinny, must have just came off the bed). All this killing time while my guests caught bluegills. I think I could have caught some more good fish but mother nature showed up (and I mean showed up).

Oh well, maybe next time.

 

[rsimms]

Welcome MrWhiskers. Thanks for info... and welcome to CFF. emoBeer

 

[MrWiskers]

Thanks. Hopefully I have have some good catfish pic's in the near future if the weather will clear up. Here is a 32 lb cat I caught on 5-8-2006. Enjoy.

 

[fisherpal2k]

Welcome Mrwhiskers! Thanks for the report and keep them coming. Nice catch too!

 

[DHaun]

Nice Cat MrWhiskers. Glad to have you on CFF! How deep are you fishing around Racoon Mtn for cats? I'm planning a catfish trip down that way sometime soon...

 

[MrWiskers]

When the 32 lb was caught we were catching all cats at 25-35 feet around humps and extreme drops. Extreme means a 20 foot change in water depth from the front of the boat to the back (my boat is 17 ft). This 32lb fish came off a hump in about 30 feet of water. The blues should be shallow right now (shallow being a relative term) as they should be spawing soon. We fish with hole threadfins and use 3-4 ounces of weight with 12" 45lb steel leaders (in my mind a steel leader is a must for big cats). Current is everything however, and fishing with the whole threadfins you will rarely catch a fish less than 3-4 lbs.

 

[DHaun]

Thanks for the info MrWiskers. I normally have to go below the Dam to find Threadfins...Are you catching threadfins near Racoon Mountain or do you catch them elsewhere?

 

[MrWiskers]

In the spring (April or so) my friend and I will go below Nickajack and fill up a 5 gallon bucket each. We then put one trips worth of shad in freezer bags and freeze them. When we get to the river we will throw the bag of shad in the livewell for thawing. To my knowledge blues primarly eat dead shad so the fact that the bait is frozen does not matter. We will usually cut the shad 3 or 4 times on each side for sent dispersion and hook them through the botton jaw (it helps get them to the bottom otherwise they will flutter like a helicopter and never get to the bottom). I have tried skipjacket in the past but I have had better luck (more fish) with the whole threadfins as I think they are a more natural bait. My next goal is to get some gizard shad and try them. I am not sure a whole threadfin is enough bait to entice a 60-80lb cat. The largest cat we have caught using threadfins is about 35 lbs.

 

[DHaun]

Thanks for the tip MrWiskers, I'll plan on keeping a few in the freezer next time I net a livewell full of threadfins. I bet they might like some bluegill too.

Does TVA close that ramp at night?

 

[MrWiskers]

To my knowledge the only time the Racoon Mtn ramp has been closed in the past 2.5 years is when the military used the ramp to load equipment for Iraq.