Below Watts Bar Dam/ Lake Junior 1-14-05

[flip1up]

With the wind up like it was we went bank fishing. Caught a 17" LM and two 10" Yellow Perch in about 11/2 hours below the dam, then stopped at Lake Junior, 1 small bass and 1 9" crappie there, no trout biting for us. We were using minnows.

 

[JerDog]

Hey, some yellow perch! Now that is some good eating...did you keep them? I don't hear of a lot of people catching them in big numbers...were they in the tailwaters or on any structure?

 

[flip1up]

Only had 2, kept them on a stringer for a little while hoping for a few more. I released them when we left the dam. Yes, they are real good to eat. They were a little above the size I catch around Wolftever at times.

 

[polo-dog]

I catch a few yellow perch every year, usually on tuffy minners. I did hit a bunch of them one year in a cut out front of Chester Frost, deep. They were fun.

 

[RRB32]

I make quite a few trips this time of year for them yellow perch. I got a secret spot that always produces a lot of them. Went a week or so targeting them and between me and my partner we caught about 20 good ones. Kept 8 for a little fish fry.

 

[Bprice]

Perch can be caught in good numbers on Wheeler using Tuffies in deep stumps near the industrial channel. I know the fella that holds the Alabama State Record Yellow Perch.

They are fine eating, they are in my top three... Sauger, Crappie, Y Perch.

 

[polo-dog]

What type of structural element and about what depth range do you have to fish for them?

 

[Bprice]

The industrial channel is deep when it comes to Wheeler standards, 30-35 ft deep, it lets the huge Boeing barges out, which are a site to see.

The stump flats are in about 10-15 feet of water. I don't know enough about YP to associate this with their typical behavior, it might just be for that small section of the lake.

 

[RRB32]

The area where I catch them is a 4ft deep flat that drops of into about 8-9 ft. This area is positioned just outside a feeder creek that runs into the lake.

 

[polo-dog]

Thanks, RRB32. I would have expected them in a different spot but then again, I only catch them once in a while and they tend to be deep. I have caught many up in Michigan at my in-law's on lake Michigan. They come in close to the jetties that protect the river mouths when the wind blows from the West for several days in a row, pushing the "warmer" water to the Eastern shore. Once the wind blows from the East for a few hours the water temp will drop 20 degrees back into the 50's and the fish go back out to deeper areas.

 

[JerDog]

Hey Polo-dog,

Now you are talking...I grew up in Wisconsin and grew up fishing jetties. One min. it can be nice and then the wind switch and the fish either turn off or on..Up there it is all about the wind! Used to catch lots of rainbows and perch off those jetties and fell in love with them. It is good to see there are around here too. Just one more reason why I love the TN river system. It has soooo much to offer everyone!