Below Chickamauga 9.26.05

[JerDog]

Fished Chickamauga today below the dam with passing showers. Water temp. has droped to 79F with air temp. at 79F too.

Started by trolling for some stripers. No takers....generators were all running and putting enough water out to bury the "rock island".

Decided to try for some smallmouth and had good success!...started fishing for them at about 1pm and could not keep the poles in the water. We drifted/trolled some Bandit 200 (spatter black) series and was getting constant fish (THANKS JASON). Ended up with 3 nice fish...had others on, but they were able to fight themselves off...We simply trolled/drifted about 20 feet out from the bank.... Was also able to find a 7lb drum that was interested in our presentation...Smallmouth sure do fight hard...some of the bigger fish really pull! Out outing was cut short after an hour when we got our lures hung up in a rock or brush....This was my first real hunt for Smallmouth below the dam and loved it...got to get something to get lures out of rocks or brush...$4 gets a bit pricey!!!

 

[polo-dog]

In the current it's tough to use a plug knocker too but it's worth trying. I have one that I really like. Here's a picture of one of them but I have had a long look at many sites to find the name and price of it but I haven't found it yet. http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/hung_lures.html
I've saved tons of money with my knocker. There are many styles of knockers but this is the only one that I've tried and it works. Does anyone else have a favorite?

 

[DHaun]

It's getting to be about that time - Sounds like you have a pattern for success with it! emoToast How deep were they?

 

[JC1]

Thanks for letting us know about the smallies! Smallmouth are a personal favorite to fish for and I'll be out there trying to scare a few up myself soon! JC1

 

[JerDog]

The fish were on the bottom in about 10 ft. of water...just off the bank...lots of fun and they are fighters!

 

[G-MAN]

Sounds like a good trip. Who makes the Bandit 200? I've never tried trolling/drifting for smallies below the dam with plugs. This time of year I've always drifted and cast a small Rebal wee-R towards the bank and reeled in back to the boat and landed some good smallies, largemouth and even drum. Most of what I caught was very close to the bank and I would have to real slowly to keep from getting hung up. We usualy fished the bank oppisite side from River Park just above the train trussel down to where the water runs off from what I thought came from Dupont plant. Was this the same side of the river you were fishing?

Do you think that trolling/drifting this way at night would work. I usualy only get to go fishing on Friday or Sat. nights. I had plans on hitting a flat on the lake side of the dam Fri or Sat. night, but if the trolling/drifting is an effective way to fish below the dam at night I would like to give it a try.

Brings back good memories of when I use to fish that area with the Wee-R as soon as I would get off of work. This goes back about 15 years.

 

[jason]

The issue on hook quality on Bandit's has come up a few times. The older models had bronze colored hooks with a deep bend under the barb...nothing could shake them. The new ones are crap. I replace them with Excalibur rotating trebles and they work even better than the old style trebles. In fact, if you change them out to Excalibur's, you will need to keep a multi-tool or pliers handy.

 

[JerDog]

Gman, the area you described is exactly where I was.. I think trolling them down stream along either side of the river will produce fish. Just make sure that when you hook a fish you head to deeper water. When fighting a bigger fish it can get tricky to make sure you don't run you boat into the rocks.

I would fish below the dam this time of year.. Cooler weather is going to have the smallmouth on the move. Trolling at night would be a good presentataion to try. Bandit 200's are made by "Bandit" look for them at Walmart.

 

[G-MAN]

Thanks! I, bought a Bandit 200 Fire Tiger on my way home yesterday at the tackle store located at the entrance of Chester Frost Park. Can't remember the name. I'm going to check on my way home today and see if they have the spatter back pattern. They had close to a whole wall dedicated to 100, 200 and 300 Bandits.

Thanks again!