Bream - Chickamauga - 5/1

[drumking]

My wife and I caught several sunfish today, mostly bluegills, some pumkinseeds, warmouth, green sunfish, but no "crackers". We took 22 bluegills home with us. They just looked so good and wanted to have dinner with us tonight. We must have caught that many more that we threw back. We used powerbait maggots.

The weather channel said that the wind today would be 5 to 10 mph, but it was 5+10 mph at least. It was so windy on the cracker beds that we tried that we couldn't fish properly. So we found some bream beds in Island Cove that was on the lee side and had a blast.

 

[polo-dog]

About what depth of water were you fishing? Was there any trick to finding the beds? I tend to find them by trial and error only. Is there a better way?

 

[drumking]

polo-dog - 5/1/2006 10:36 PM

About what depth of water were you fishing? Was there any trick to finding the beds? I tend to find them by trial and error only. Is there a better way?

Believe it or not, polo-dog, we found these beds by smell. When I detected the odor of them, I said to my wife -'there are bluegill beds close'. We moved slowly around until we caught a couple of fish from the same area. When I moved into the bank to anchor and get out of the wind, I saw them. We had the boat in about 6 feet of water most of the time while we were searching and the fish came from water 3-5 feet deep. All we caught were males and when I saw the beds, the fish were in the process of fanning them out as small puffs of silt/sand were clouding the clear water about the size of dinner plates and were fairly close together.

 

[fisherpal2k]

Good job and good post drumking. thanks for the info. Glad ya'll got some in the boat.emoThumbsup

 

[TennesseeTalker]

Drumking .. just what does a bed "smell" like???

TT

 

[Bprice]

Shellcrackers have a sweet honeysuckle smell

 

[TennesseeTalker]

Thanks BPrice ... have some of those in my back yard .. have to check it out!



TT

 

[Jmax]

Wow!!!emoEek In all my years of fishing and the folks I had known I have never heard of someone saying they found a bed of fish or any fish by smell.(Except dead ones.emoBigsmile) That has got ot be a first for me. Drumking can I borrow you for a day and I will drive you around in my area and let you smell the water and tell me where the beds are.emoTongue Might look a little strange with me driving you around and you hanging off the front of my boat smelling the water.emoLaugh I can do that with deer, I have hunted them so long when I am where they have just been or are I can smell them, but never heard of someone doing it with fish! That is down right cool.emoCool Jmax

 

[TennesseeTalker]

You know .. I used to do Search and Rescue work in Texas with dogs ... trained them to find human scent, dead or alive, on land or in the water, and was thinking ... if I could get the dogs to alert on the scent of a fish bed!!! I would be asked to go fishing every day by someone!! Going to have to see it that will work!!! The girls are always eager to learn something new!

TT

 

[HangnMoss]

I don't know about honeysuckle, but I notice a distinct smell whenever I'm in the immediate vicinity of bedding panfish, especially bluegill. The smell is a mix of a strong 'fishy' smell and a light 'swampy' smell. The 'swampy' smell is like the smell of a small algae covered pond in summer as the evening air cools and the tendrils of fog start rising from the pond. I'm not sure how else to describe it - the smell is definitely distinct, though. With a slight and steady wind you can usually home in on beds a good distance away. If its a 'dead fish' smell, I tend to go the other way emoBigsmile

 

[fisherpal2k]

drumking is telling the truth about finding them by smell. It is a very distinct smell once you figure it out. I have a friend who panfishes and he never misses out on this time of year. I have had to clean fish for hours just because I made fun of it and then he finally let me in on the secret. emoLaugh I thought he just wasn't warshin before we left.emoLaugh Actually if you ever have it pointed out to you it will be remembered, especially if you catch a load of them.emoThumbsup

 

[TennesseeTalker]

fisherpal2k - 5/2/2006 11:10 AM

drumking is telling the truth about finding them by smell. It is a very distinct smell once you figure it out. I have a friend who panfishes and he never misses out on this time of year. I have had to clean fish for hours just because I made fun of it and then he finally let me in on the secret. emoLaugh I thought he just wasn't warshin before we left.emoLaugh Actually if you ever have it pointed out to you it will be remembered, especially if you catch a load of them.emoThumbsup

Can you PM me the info??? Please????? I'd love to learn that trick!!!

TT

 

[drumking]

TennesseeTalker - 5/2/2006 9:12 AM

Drumking .. just what does a bed "smell" like???

TT

TT, it's hard to explain unless you have "smellavision" on your computer. It is a unique smell that you only smell when bream are bedding. We just got a whiff of it yesterday as the wind was blowing pretty good. From looking at the area, I figured out where the bream probably were and sure enough, we found them after a very short search.

 

[drumking]

Jmax - 5/2/2006 10:41 AM

Wow!!!emoEek In all my years of fishing and the folks I had known I have never heard of someone saying they found a bed of fish or any fish by smell.(Except dead ones.emoBigsmile) That has got ot be a first for me. Drumking can I borrow you for a day and I will drive you around in my area and let you smell the water and tell me where the beds are.emoTongue Might look a little strange with me driving you around and you hanging off the front of my boat smelling the water.emoLaugh I can do that with deer, I have hunted them so long when I am where they have just been or are I can smell them, but never heard of someone doing it with fish! That is down right cool.emoCool Jmax

Yeah, Jmax, I'll go with you sometime and "smell" them out. I must warn you though, I have a history of falling out of my boat. Twice in the water, and once on the boat ramp. I don't recommend falling out of the boat on the ramp. Ouch!emoBang

 

[mandolinpicker]

Hey Drumking, was this hole close to the Knights of Pythias harbor just across from Island Cove Marina? I put in over there and we got a nice fishy whiff the other day, but we were on our way across the lake looking for bass and didn't have time to pursue it..

 

[drumking]

mandolinpicker - 5/2/2006 3:18 PM

Hey Drumking, was this hole close to the Knights of Pythias harbor just across from Island Cove Marina? I put in over there and we got a nice fishy whiff the other day, but we were on our way across the lake looking for bass and didn't have time to pursue it..

As a matter of fact, that is exactly where they were. About 20 yards inside the point before you get to the Knights, very near the pond. If you have an old map of Chickamauga before they raised the lake, you will see the pond that I'm talking about. It is the deepest water in that area.emoAngel

 

[mandolinpicker]

Know it well, buddy.

 

[churly]

Jmax, I am shocked! I guarantee you have smelled the smell before. the smell is kinda like a mix between a stinky dead fish and a wet baseball glove mixed with the smell of rain witha hint of molasses-LOL! All kidding aside I have noticed the smell even when crappie are bedding in real shallow water, but bluegills and crackers put off a strong smell when they go to beds.

 

[TennesseeTalker]

Gosh .. I'm going to have to hire a professional to take me to this place with the "smell". I certainly can't go home and start mixing up concoctions of what you all say it is. I never know when someone is just goofing around or telling the truth!!! Heck even people I trust are starting to pull my leg!!! I was going fishing with a forum member the other day that asked me if I wanted to the get the corn dogs .. or if they should bring some with them. I responded with .. are you serious???? I thought the corn dog thing was a joke ...

Then .. SLO ... tells me the reason everyone's shirt is so clean is because they use "Slime Guard" and that I can find it by name. I go STRAIGHT to the internet to all the stores, Cabella's ... BPS ... general search ... for Slime Guard ... I don't suppose any of you would be surprised when I tell you ... THERE IS NO SUCH THING!!! Well shucks .. how did I know!!! He sounded soooo ... matter of fact.

All that in retrospect makes me think back to When and Why's claims to fame ... maybe that's just more garbage too. Sucks to be a girl. I guess boys are just bred knowing this stuff. I'm having to learn it the hard way.

TT

 

[mandolinpicker]

TT, this is absolutely legitimate. Bream in spawn are throwing off a virtual hormonal cocktail which has a distinctive smell that I 100% guarantee you you've smelled a million times. We ain't pullin your leg on this one!