Chickamauga 9/20

[polo-dog]

Got out in the morning and at dusk on Tuesday. Fished from 9:30 to 1:00 and the fish seemed to be on and off. I missed the early bite but the spots and some LMB were corraling shad on top in the eddies just down current from where the river runs right along the bank for a distance. Where I got them was over about 12 to 20 feet of water. The chug bug was all that they would hit. I also fished out front of Pinky's point where the drop is from 16 feet on the flat down to the river channel. There were tons of fish that I marked in the area(don't know what species) but had never been there before. The bottom was hard and rocky and felt like it might hold bass at other times of the day/year. I'll get back there some other time and see how it goes. Fished again from 6:30 to 9:00pm. My main plan was to catch a few bass on a fly rod. I could induce some strikes with a fly/popper but couldn't get any hooked. Caught a couple in the eddie as above on the chug bug but there just wasn't the same amount of action like in the morning. I had expected a dusk flurry of activity in the area but it never materialized. Went back across the river to a spot that JC1 and I had fished earlier this year, a shallow flat that is off shore that drops quickly into 30 ft of water. Not much flow in the area but lots of action. The flat has patches of grass that I could feel and scattered rocky areas. The fish seemed to be in the rocky areas when I used my worm. A colorado spinnerbait got a couple of hits but didn't hook anything. The fish were all over the surface and marked tons of shad but they wouldn't come to the top. They just weren't balled up just scattered.

 

[G-MAN]

I bought a chug a bug with rattles a couple of weeks ago and have fished with it about 3 or 4 times. Not any luck so far, but that probably has to do with when, where and how I fished it. I retrieved it by making a couple of quick jerks realing line tight and continuing on with the two quick jerks- basicaly walking the dog. My fishing partner thought that I should be giving it single hard jerks, which produced a lot of splash and keep following this type of retrieve till I got the lure back in for the next cast. I've seen this bait come up quite often in the fishing reports, but not sure what type of retrievals I should be trying. Hopefully I'll get more comfortable with it with a little advise, practice and a bass hooked on it.

emoScratch emoScratch emoScratch

 

[polo-dog]

G-MAN, The great thing about the chug bug is not that it's a great chugger. The great thing is that it incorporates the spitting action of a chugger and the long thin profile that makes it possible to "walk the dog" with it. I never use any retrieve but walking it. It takes a bit more feel to walk the chug bug than it does a zara spook or many of the other walking baits out there. There are a couple of things that make walking the chug bug a little easier. Using a rod with a really soft tip is a real key. If you try to walk it with a heavy action rod it's tough. A short rod also can really make a big difference. I think that my chug bug rod is a 5ft 6 inch or a 6 ft rod. All of my other bassin' rods are at least 6ft 6inches. The way to get the bait walking is to make short downward pulls with the rod followed by quickly raising the tip back up to it's starting point. I think that it's very hard to walk a chug bug sitting down and almost impossible with my rod tip up. I start with my rod angled down towards the water a little bit. It's not the pull down that is the key but the slack that is produced in the line when you bring the rod tip back up that lets the front of the bait walk back and forth. Once you get the feel for getting the bait walking after a while you know just the right tension that you need to feel on the line to keep the reeling coordinated with the jerking. This feel for the right tension is what makes it possible to walk it in current or when you are moving closer to or away from the bait and still get the right action. I usually use a baitcaster as with a spinning reel for some reason my wrists really get tired. I also put the butt of my rod to rest on my belly just above and to the left of my belly button. I reel right handed. A pistol grip rod seems to be the best for me with this bait. In the fall when I use the top water chugger most of the time I get a place on my belly that almost has a callous on it from the jerking. If I don't rest the rod on my belly it becomes all wrists and it really hurts after a while. It can be very frustrating for persons who are not used to walking baits, in my experience to walk a chug bug. Most of the time when I take others fishing with me, and even guys that fish a lot, they can't get the cadance down and so I give them a spook or a zz top or other bait to walk and they are happier. They just don't get as many hits. I hope that this description helps, it's not what the bait does by its self it's the action that you put into it that makes the fish bite on this lure.

 

[G-MAN]

Thanks for the great description of this technique. I'll definately be using it..