Chickamauga 10/17

[polo-dog]

Had about an hour to fish, the shad were everywhere today over the creek channel in Wolftever and there was limited activity. Caught a net full and fished with them in the creek where the creek channel goes right by a flat that is about 10 feet deep where an eddie usually forms and the bass stack up there a little later in the year. Got a hit from a small fish but only fished there for a few minutes 'cause there wasn't anything happening there. Went to a spot that Jmax calls his "bluff bank" where I know of a spring that isn't on any of the TVA maps and tried there. Sometimes the bass and other fish just sit in the cool water of the spring down 15 or 20 feet over 25-27 feet this time of year. Lots of fish were stacked up there on my electronics and threw some shad(barely squeezed) over the spot and wham, here the bass came. Hadn't seen any activity there before that. Threw a chug bug, popper on a fly rod and a streamer on a fly rod but didn't hook up. Kept feeding the fish and they kept crashing the baits. I decided to fish right over the "spot" as the area where the fish stack up is often only about 10 to 30 feet in diameter. Much to my surprise there were big white bass or hybrids up off the bottom. I caught a few but had to be home at a certain time so didn't get to fish there long. Did hook something big that made my drag scream, maybe a big drum or maybe a striper but the hook pulled as my drag was set too tight. DHaun and JerDog, you might want to try to hunt down those springs that I sent you pictures of because I would expect that until the water is into the 50's the stripers will be on that cold water. Here's a pic of a double header. One of them was 1 1/2 or 2 lbs. Bigger than I've ever caught in Chickamauga before. Sorry about the date.

 

[DHaun]

Great report polo-dog. Thanks! Looks like things might be about to pick-up. So you scored the striper in 27 ft of water off the bottom? Are you referring to the same pic you sent me the other night?

 

[polo-dog]

No, I think that I sent you a bunch of pics from the black and white TVA maps that show where the springs are, maybe I sent them to JerDog, but it was about a month ago when you guys were getting ready to try to find some stripers on the main lake. As far as I know there is not a spring at the spot from the aerial photo. However that spot is loaded with fish if there is current. I only tried with the live bait this weekend there because I was trying for catfish but there are some serious rocks down there, in the 3-5 ft diameter off the bottom range that hold fish. When the water wasn't moving I could really check it out with a 1/2oz weight on the end of the line and could feel some monster rocks. They are right along what I would call a feeding shelf where the water goes from 4 ft to 45-50 ft in a very short distance. I would expect that the current being so strong there has washed away all but the big rocks and the fish sit in them waiting for a pod of bait to get pushed by. It's an awesome spot. When you get ready to go there let me know.