Below Chickamauga dam 12-7-05

[pierce]

Went down below the dam Wed. night for the first time this winter and was rewarded with a nice 15lb striper. I also caught two skipjacks. All fish were released.

I caught all the fish on a rapala floating minnow 4 3/8". Had another big fish strike and somehow he avoided getting hooked good enough to land him. I was wade fishing about waist-deep.

Anyone have any good tips for fishing down there? I just kept chunking that lure into the current and giving it a twitch retrieve. I hope to try again this weekend.

 

[DHaun]

Thanks for the report pierce! Please keep us updated next time you go - Looks like you have the plan, I haven't caught a striper there all year...

 

[DirkV]

Nice striper! I would like to get down there and catch one. December of last year a buddy and myself were lucky enough to land this one. Great technique: catch some 10 - 12 inch shad on small hair jigs riged tandem. Then, using a surf rod, hook the shad behind the dorsal fin. Using no weight and no leader, toss the shad out and let him do his thing. I usually start at the peir and walk alond the riprap down to the train trussel. You can also use a ballon as float to keep the shad, and your line, out of the rocks.

 

[JerDog]

How deep do you fish the bait (skipjack?) Have you fished it from a boat? The water gets real shallow (6-8ft) about 50 yards out from the dam...where do you get your strikes?

Pierce, you said you were wading, were you below the train tracks? I have heard that is a great place to land the fish. WE NEED MORE STRIPER FISHERMAN on the board so it is great to hear your report

 

[DirkV]

Typically the live shad will stay close to the surface, on occasion; a great blue heron will try and get it. Your line (the bow caused by free-lining in current) is more likely to get hung on the rocks than the bait. The stripers will pick it up anywhere from the pier to the train trusses. I have never actually seen the striper take the bait. Usually the line just tightens up.
This technique works great from a boat; however I have never tried it with shad as large as 10 inches. I have been successful with purchased shiners (the largest I could find) catching fish in the 5 – 10 pound range. One night I watched two men anchored along the break caused by the wing-wall catch four fish over 30 pounds. The largest was 47 pounds, weighed at Crafts. They were fishing 12 inch live shad, with balloons, on flip’n sticks.

 

[polo-dog]

Great post pierce. I would have figured that the stripers below Chickamauga would be heating up. In my experience, most of the fish really get going once the water gets into the low 50' and upper 40's. I have caught a few below Chickamauga all from the bank. There used to be a spot that I always fished where the fish seemed to be consistantly. From what I've read, the best place to fish for them is in slack current right next to the fast flow. It's always hard for me to read the current down there but if you can fish in the fast/slow water interface, that's where the stripers will tend to be on a more consistent basis. I am sure that there are some big rocks or rock piles that break the current that are under the water. Those could be great spots but unless you are down there when the water flow is off you can't predict where they are. If I were going to fish there more consistently I would make a point of trying to be down there a few times when the water flow was supposed to be off and see what you are fishing over. Then you could picture better what's underwater in your mind when the water is raging. Go to this site to find out when the water will be off: http://lakeinfo.tva.gov/htbin/lakeinfo?site=CHH&DataType=All&submit=View+info
Usually Sat. and Sun. mornings when the rain hasn't been too heavy is a good bet for slack flow.

 

[RRB32]

Never have fished below chickamauga yet, just moved down here from Oak Ridge, TN almost a year ago. Used to fish Bull Run steam plant a lot, and man the striper action was hot there from about may til july. They would follow the schools of threadfin in about 6:00am til about 9:30 every morning. It was like clockwork. Caught my biggest striped bass which was 30 lbs and my biggest hybrid which was 12 lbs last year. We would just rig up about a large threadfin about 5 in. and free line it out and let it swim accross the surface. Sometimes they would bust it and sometimes they would just suck it in. Let me tell you it was a blast. Never did do any of that ballon fishing with a huge skipjack but some guys did and caught some monster striped bass and musky.

 

[pierce]

JerDog:
I was wading below the train tracks. Feet get a little numb this time of year, even in waders, but it's well worth it when you get a big one. Over the last few years I've done alot of saltwater fishing on the gulf coast, but the striper I caught was the best fight I've had in fresh water.

I'll probably try to fish with one of those skipjacks next time, but I like to be throwing a lure instead of just soaking live bait. Mainly because I get bored easily!

Dirk, what was the weight of that beast in the picture?

 

[DHaun]

Nice striper DirkV! Jerdog and I plan on using that same technique at Sequoyah on Saturday, that is if we can find some skipjack somewhere on the lake and the stripers are in there...water may still be too warm to really draw them in but I have to at least go see for myself. I have always caught skipjack below the dam so this will be the first time for me to catch one in the lake.

 

[Bprice]

DHaun, I usually catch alot of skipjack vertical jigging panfish assassins around bridge pilings with current, maybe that will help.

 

[DirkV]

pierce - we estimated the fish at about 30 lbs, maybe less. It had a huge gut! And by the way, it was my buddy Paul that cauht the fish (thats paul in the pic), I just caught the shad used for bait! Another note: the water nearly over the railing on the pier when this fish was caught. The current was very swift!!!

Are skipjack the long slender shad that are most abundent in the river? I catch them all the time but never new what type of shad they were!

DHaun - I have heard of guys catching large striper on large shad up at Sequoyah. My father has caught large ones on threadfin rigged on a leadhead up there. As far as catching shad (skipjack?), small jigs retreived at a fast jerking manner works for me!

Best of luck, maybe I will see you out Sat or Sunday- I will be in burgandy BumbleBee tri-hull.

 

[Bprice]

Its a beautiful fish... congrats, maybe i can run into one at the Kingston Steam Plant this Christmas.
emoToast emoToast emoToast

 

[JerDog]

Yes that is the skipjack...usually from 6-10inches and fights like a tarpon...I am pretty sure they are a salt-water species and they catch them on flyrods in the NorthEast of the country....I noticed you hook yours behind the dorsal fin...I went with a striper guide and he hooked them behind the head...I know this is not a typical place to hook them but it makes sense...hooked in the front means the fish will swim more easily down to the bottom...and when a fish hits, they take them head first..may increase your caught fish production?

Have you found the fall to be a good time for stripers?...this has been the first year I have fished hard in the fall for stripers and it has been horrible...Any ideas on where they go in the fall?...I find that spring time can not be beat below the dams.

 

[pierce]

I'm heading down there in a few minutes. I'll post a report later if it's any good.

 

[pierce]

Caught one skipjack on a jig, it was about 14 inches. Too big I think, but I still tried to hook him and toss him out in the current as bait on my larger rod. Two fly fishermen were looking at me like I was crazy.

Didn't catch anything else and headed in at about 7:00.