HangnMoss
Well-known member
I invited a friend from work to join me on Chickamauga. We put in at Richland creek around 4 pm. The mouth of Richland was already being fished heavily, so we ran downstream. First time on Chick for either of us in years. We didn't expect much because of the slow flow, so we decided to explore. I'd pick a spot on the map and we'd go fish it. We hopped from spot to spot on the river between Grasshopper Creek and the Hiawasee. We found schoolers chasing bait around grassy points and humps adjacent to creek channels or funnels in 12-18' of water. The schoolers were extremely aggressive. They'd practically rip the rod from your hands. We had as many missed hits as we did hookups. Either we'd be slow to react on the aggressive hits, or they'd hit, run around the nearest clump of grass, and we'd just mow grass with our hookset. Somehow we managed to get a few in the boat. When we'd get the fish close to the boat there'd be half a dozen schoolers following it, nipping at the bait and the hooked fish. The bigger fish were only in the 2lb range, nothing worth photographing, but they were tons of fun.
As aggressive as they were, I'd say they'd smash almost anything, but we caught ours on Carolina-rigged 10" worms in shades of blue, green, and black. We'd cast to the grassy tops of the structure and bounce down the dropoff. I was a little surprised to find the fish in what appeared to be a fall pattern this early, but the schoolers made for a good day. Water temps ranged from 84-88 degrees.
As aggressive as they were, I'd say they'd smash almost anything, but we caught ours on Carolina-rigged 10" worms in shades of blue, green, and black. We'd cast to the grassy tops of the structure and bounce down the dropoff. I was a little surprised to find the fish in what appeared to be a fall pattern this early, but the schoolers made for a good day. Water temps ranged from 84-88 degrees.
