Chickamauga, 16 OCT 2023

[31airborne]

Day one of our bucket list trip to the Chick. My best friend and I started these trips after we retired from active duty. Since our first trip, we've added a couple more military friends to the group. This is the 7th trip in this series.

We stayed ~close to launch today, mostly getting a feel for the water and navigation aids. Didn't take long. We spent a part of the morning in the Hiwasee arm. Not much going on there. A few lite bites but no hook-ups. From there, we worked our way back down lake, hitting the smaller creeks and main lake cuts on the western side. We scored our first fish on a main lake point (t-rigged plastix) with rock. We stayed on that bite for the next hour or so, boating several more fish, incl a nice 3 lb'er. From there we worked some main lake bluffs with t-rigs, c-rigs, and a shakyhead. We boated several fish but nothing worth talking about.

Most of our bites came on breaks. First breaks (4-6') were better than deeper breaks. If the bank was bare (no laydowns) we didn't get bit. Once we got onto a stretch w/ laydowns, the bite was on. The bites were kinda funky today. Lite, almost apologetic. You had to watch your line carefully.

We're back at it tomorrow. Will post follow-up reports as adds to this thread.

Rusty - tried PMing you before we came down. You have that function shut off for us non-locals. Send me a PM w/ contact info.

best,
B

 

[31airborne]

Tuesday's report:

After a slow morning the day turned out to be pretty active. Bite picked up around noon and the fish stayed active until we got off the water at 15:00.

WTs dropped a couple degrees from the previous day - we saw 63 at launch (compared to 67 yesterday). We spent our day down lake today - saw 70s down that way. (I'm guessing outflow from the power plant causes this???) Water was also much cleaner down lake. Maybe 5-6' of viz compared to the 2-3' in the Grasshopper Creek area.

We invested the morning in exploring grass beds on the main lake and in the creeks/coves on the lower end. Had some strikes but no hook-ups. We did see some feeding activity in and around the grass but it didn't translate into bites for us. About midday we started hitting a string of main lake points, just to change things up. We found fish ~right away. They were holding on first breaks and along the outside edges of the grass. Bites became more aggressive as the day passed. Plastix and jigs did the work for us. Points with natural chunk rock were better than clay or sand. Points in the sun produced more bites than those in the shade.

We spent a good bit of the afternoon working main lake humps and grass further up lake. Had a few bites but no hook-ups. We'll spend a little more time on these tomorrow. Some magnificent offshore structure in this lake.

more tomorrow . . .

 

[Thomn8r]

Thanks to you jump troops! More info in 2 posts than usually get in a month! Non tourney guys really appreciate it!

 

[trbr81]

thanks for the nice writeup - good luck tomorrow

 

[31airborne]

WED's report:

We had numbers and a little quality today. Was a mixed bag when it comes to patterns - structure and grass; a variety of slow presentations; and a shorter list of moving baits.

We stayed close to launch waiting for the fog to lift. We worked a string of secondary points and ledges during the wait. We found plenty of fish eager to eat plastix, holding on first breaks on points and irregularities on ledges. Every protrusion or indentation on a ledge held a fish (or two). Had to zoom in on your chart function to see most of these. That's how subtle they were. After the fog lifted, we spent the remainder of the morning working hard structure. Almost every point we hit had a fish on it willing to eat. Plastix and jigs did the work for us. Nothing - not even a sniff - on any moving hard baits. The only thing moving I had any success with was a plastic paddletail swimbait . . . and that was only one fish.

We did invest a bit more time working main lake grass. It took a bit, but we finally connected on a solid keeper on a twitch bait (fluke). Our best fish of the trip so far - a solid 6 lb'er - came on a paddletail swim bait in a main lake grass bed. This fish was holding in <2' in shade. Everything else came from the outside edges.

Points once again produced. We caught fish all day, up to 3 lbs, working main lake and secondary points with plastix and jigs. Fish were holding on first breaks. It was a very predictable bite. Points with grass were the most productive. The first sets of secondary points were the best. Points further back in creeks and coves didn't produce.

The bite was best in the morning. Around noon it died. We did catch a few fish later in the day but there was no discernible pattern to those bites. We were just happy to get bit. We could call our shots on the morning bite - hit a break from the right angle and the fish would nail the bait as it started to fall.

Could not have asked for a better day. Weather was perfect.

More tomorrow.

B

 

[31airborne]

THUR's report:

Today was a fun day. When the wind kicked up so did the bite. The grass beds came to life for us. Was some work keeping the boat in line and on target. The power poles got a workout today.

We planned on running up lake early this morning but the fog got in the way. Instead, we spent the morning structure fishing on the main lake and in some of the western feeder creeks. We found fish early and often with jigs, t-rigs, and c-rigs. First breaks were once more the ticket - fish were stacked up there. If the break had some cover (wood or rock) all the better. We were able to get this pattern to hold up in a dozen or more places.

As has been the case in previous days, the bite kinda died around 11 or 12. The wind began picking up around the same time so we motored out into the main lake to see if the wind would make a difference on the grass bite. Yep. The last couple hours were magical. Non-stop bites and all on moving baits. Spinnerbaits accounted for the most fish. Swim jigs and swim baits accounted for the better fish. Inside edges were the most productive. Best fish of the day came on a swim bait (~4 lbs).

Water clarity was improved again today. Easily 4-5' of viz everywhere we fished. WTs held steady between 64-67 everywhere we fished. Points on channel swings were best. Points on channel swings with grass and/or wood were special. Grass beds on channel swings were best. Submerged grass was better than matted grass.

Plastix and jigs were primarily green. A little red flake in the plastic made a difference. Compact (4") plastix out-produced larger baits. White spinnerbaits and swimbaits. Bluegill patterned swim jigs.

Final report tomorrow.

B

 

[trbr81]

good report - looks like you figured it out pretty good

 

[aliciaayers]

absolutely amazing reports !!!!! Thank you so much !! and glad you guys had some action on chic!! looking forward to todays report

 

[trbr81]

I think I remember many reports of your Potomac river trips?

 

[31airborne]

trbr81 - very kind of you to remember. Yep, made a few trips on that river.

Final report albeit a day later than promised):

The forecast didn't look very good for the afternoon so we made a focused trip in the morning to the grass beds we fished on THUR, hoping the front didn't mess things up too badly. We were able to pick up a few fish on spinners, flukes, and swimbaits in the first hour or so. Then the bite died. And the wind picked up. Funny the difference a day can make. On THUR, the bite kicked into high gear when the wind came up. On FRI, it was the exact opposite. We spent the last couple hours of the morning revisiting some of the structure we fished earlier in the week. We picked up a few fish, but the bite was nowhere near as aggressive or active as it was earlier in the week. Bites were really light, almost indiscernible. Jigs and c-rigs accounted for these fish. No good ones today, but considering the bite, we were happy to get a little stink on our fingers.

Observations from the week: 1) Water clarity improved throughout the week. The backs of creeks and larger coves still had a little stain but viz was markedly better than early in the week. 2) Transitions were key. Rock to sand, clay to rock, big rock to little rock, dark rock to light rock. All of these seams produced fish. Some of these transitions were subtle. Stay alert, stay on fish. 3) We see points on the shoreline and on maps but they aren't always the places you need to cast to. The Chick has a million places where the real point is offset from what we see above the water line. Some of these points are small, short; others are long and complex. The key here is your charts - you have to zoom in to see these places. Relying on your eyesight alone might cause you to miss the [real] target. 4) Main lake grass beds are a hot item on the Chick - always have been, always will be. Not all beds are created equal. If you zoom in on your chart function you will see humps, bumps, and other irregularities. These places were key for us. 5) Same-same for points - some are long and tapered while others are short and rounded. Some have humps on the ends. For us, the space between the humps and the shoreline - the saddle if you remember your scout or military map reading lessons - were prime targets. Saddles often held multiple fish and they reloaded quickly. 6) Plastix had to have a lil red in them. 7) Heavier jigs outproduced lighter (finesse) jigs. The vast majority of my bites came on a 3/4 oz. 8) The fall colors kicked into high gear as the week progressed. Last nite's sunset was spectacular.

Our thanks to our hosts in Birchwood. We had a wonderful stay. Props to TVA for maintaining the public ramps - we used Grasshopper Creek all week. It was a great facility. Met a host of people while on the water - thanks for the tips and warm welcomes.

With that, bucket list trip #7 comes to a close. I made it safely into Blacksburg (VA) around noon. Just in time to get stuck in football game traffic. Gotta love living in a college town. Y'all have a wonderful lake. Please honor and protect it.

best,
B

 

[Fshn Cpa]

Great reports. Hope to make good use of all the information.

 

[Thomn8r]

Thanks for all the great reports. You set a great example for locals to follow Glad you had a good return