Chickamauga 9-22

[DHaun]

Jerdog and I went to the nuke tonight from about 6:30-9:30pm. Went to the bluffs JC1 had mentioned on our way and tried that for a bit...It looks like a great spot but we only stayed a few minutes jigging some spoons in deep water to quickly check it out - I plan on going back when I have more time though. We then went on to the nuke outlet to scout it out before it got dark.

We caught a few dozen threadfins via castnet in a slough downstream from Sequoyah. I grew up fishing this same area but not with Threadfins...I was so excited to have the bait I almost took off with the trolling motor down .

We went on to the cooling towers and anchored on a drop-off 25-50 ft of water and threw them over at various depths. I was marking walls of fish and jigging a spoon but no takers. We caught 4 total which were all about the same size 5-6 lbs. The first hit near the bottom and as it got darker they hit closer to the surface. We saw 3-4 other boats around but it got too dark to see if they were doing any good. Thanks to all the generous contributors here for the helpful tips - It formed our strategy for this trip and I appreciate it! All fish released - Here's a couple pics:

 

[JerDog]

Fun was had by all for sure but how do we get these masses of fish to bite? I have never seen such a concentrated school of good sized fish. We had 4 lines out with Threadfins and was able to hoax only 4. I know 4 is a good night, but the fish were stacked! Pretty much only had 4 good bites too. When do these fish bite? I am scratching my head trying to figure out why live bait did not produce better results? We fished all throughout the water column. Used a 1oz weight 18" up with a red 1/0 hook. HMMMM, any suggestions? Polo-Dog I know you wore them out a couple of weeks ago, what are we doing wrong?

 

[polo-dog]

I don't think that you are doing anything wrong. I too am just astounded at all of the fish that are stacked up there at Sequoyah. I caught a bunch of fish two days in a row fishing a "sweet spot" along the drop but didn't fish over the deep water where all of those fish seem to be stacked up. I think that the fish are stacked up there and go on the feed from time to time and I don't know why they are on and off. Maybe the "Moon Times" that came up in the forum earlier this year is a key. I think that it may be that at least with the catfish, I would try chumming them into feeding. I have read articles in In-Fisherman and other publications that says that real catfish fanatics do well and swear by doing it. Some use oats and other things. I myself have toyed with the thought of using live or dead threadfins or even using a meat grinder to get the "juices flowing". I have a manual grinder that my mom used to use to make ground beef that she gave me but I just haven't gotten around to using it yet. Frozen chum is real popular in salt water and I'll bet that it would be effective for many freshwater species too especially the catfish. I may try grinding and freezing some shad and other fish some time and I'll let you know what happens. If you ever clean any fish you can use what's left over as chum.

Back to your question about those fish being stacked up. I think that most of those fish are not feeding and so unless something really easy and attractive comes by they just ignore it. When you see diagonal lines up through the water column on your graph, those are actively feeding fish. Those suspended at one level are not for the most part. Getting those suspended fish reved up to feed is the key to catching huge numbers of fish. It could be that Kevin VanDam's use of that sonic device may be the difference between winning and 50th place if that device gets the fish actively looking for a meal. I think that there are definite "sweet spots" or places where baitfish are funneled into an area that puts them at a disadvantage and the predatory fish find out where these spots for easy pickings are and when they get active they move to these spots. These spots are usually along break lines and if we could drain the lake we could easily see and understand why these spots are so good but with all that water over the top it's hard for us to imagine why one spot is so hot and a few feet down the break it's dead. Electronics helps figure these spots out but it's still hard for me to understand exactly what's down there. The better I get with my new depth finder I think that it will become easier to understand. I'm still brainstorming on it.

 

[JerDog]

Thanks for the very good evaluation. Makes sense to me. You are right about being on a "sweet spot" because last week when we were above the dam another boat what hammering the fish, and we were not. Same presentation, jigging spoons, different results. Very hit and miss, but the fish are down there. Just have to monitor weather conditions and moon phases when the bite is on! We have not had a real good Low Pressure system here for a while and so as one approaches next week, maybe the fish will be more consistant and agressive producing better results.

 

[slo-ride]

those are some pretty blues, guysemoThumbsup
do yall ever fish the nuke plant in the winter for stripers?...i'm going to be doing some of that at browns ferry here in Alabama and any advice would be appreciated !

 

[DHaun]

Thanks slo-ride - they were fun to catch! I definitely plan on getting out there this winter, I just need to figure out where the skipjack are - They are easy enough to locate in the river below the Dam but I cannot recall ever catching one in the lake. Are they in the current or the sloughs??? My first inclination would be to try current but I have heard they are in sloughs too. If I can find the bait then I plan on setting one out freeline with a balloon to help it get away from the boat and maybe soaking another. If I can't get the skipjack then I might be able to get some shiners or something...or maybe even try trolling some redfins. I wonder if bluegill is legal in TN...I have heard years ago about their use in Watts bar. I am also interested in exploring any winter time striper activity that might be occurring in the lower end of the lake just above the Dam. I read an article that said it was a good spot...but not sure if so on Chickamauga or Nickajack.

 

[slo-ride]

i've been researching this subject lately and have come up with some pretty good info so far.
one encouraging thing is that during the winter, big stripers WILL hit cut bait.
a "friend of a friend" of mine caught a 43 pounder this march at the nuke while drifing cut skipjack for cats....he said stripers are not an uncommon catch while doing this.
i'd rather balloon a live, but sometimes bait is a problem int the winter emoBang
my fishing pardna has recently bought a chumchurn(worth a try) to use there and we're freezing every dang skippy we catch.

 

[RangerRob]

Hey David, I was kayaking back -way back- in Wolftever in the spring and saw a guy throwing crappie jigs and catching huge skipjacks. He was at the bridge back in there where it opens up into the shallow bay. I can't remember the name of that road. Not that this helps you any, but I thought it strange to see them that far up the creek.

 

[slo-ride]

some good info

http://www.tnstripers.com/striperandhybridarticles.htm

http://www.tennesseesportsmanmag.com/fishing/tn_aa015004a/

 

[DHaun]

Thanks for the info!

 

[polo-dog]

DHaun, in the fall when the bait are packed back in the backs of the sloughs, skipjack are everywhere on Chickamauga. I think that they follow the huge collections of bait but in the summer stay deep most of the time because they may require more dissolved oxygen or maybe because there is a good amount of bait that is in the water column. I did see some skipjack on top earlier this week but not in great numbers. Some days the baitfish along the banks are getting killed all day long and you can cast at the boils forever and never catch anything 'cause the skipjacks won't hit a bass sized bait. It really was frustrating for many years until I figured that out. I finally can tell the difference between surfacing skipjacks and surfacing bass, at least some of the time. They are always hard to catch because they seem to want teenie weenie baits. It may be that if you use sebaki rigs or one inch tube jigs you may be able to catch all you want. I would expect that when you mark a big ball of bait and mark some fish very close by that some of that is skipjacks. Where I saw the skipjacks was in the eddie downcurrent from where the river flowed right next to the bank. There was a huge ammount of bait there and spots and LMB schooling on top. I also think that you could catch some off of the river ledge out front of Pinky's point down near Harrison Bay. I used some larger shad fished near the bottom there and kept having fish swim away with the bait but had trouble hooking them. It is usually skipjacks or small stripe when that happens consistently in my experience.

 

[JerDog]

Good article links! I bookmarked them. thanks

What lures work best for vertical jigging? Spoons, jigs? What color and size work on these fish that are stacked up and when they decide to feed? I have been using Rattle-Traps 1/2oz and silver spoons (jigging them off the bottom).

 

[slo-ride]

i'm no expert, JerDog....but i like spoons for vert. jigging. i use kastmasters (silver) and select weight of lure according to current and depth.
i've read alot about using "slab" spoons for this also...haven't tried them yet, but i'm going to.

slab:
http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=61317&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

 

[polo-dog]

The nice thing about slab spoons is that they are very heavy for their size. I think that they are made of lead and so therefore even in swift current you can jig them almost vertically. Most spoons flutter and look better on the fall than the slabs but in current they are nice to have. With the way the current rips out on the river channel it's very hard to fish vertically. It's almost like you fish at a 45 degree angle if I am out in that current, even with a heavy spoon. Fishing in strong current is something that I'm getting more used to but I can't say that I do it well yet.

 

[JerDog]

I tried to find some castmasters around the area but did not find any. Thanks for the link. I am making an order to Bass Pro at the end of the month and will add a few to the cart. I agree, the current can move fast and being vertical may be the difference in fish and no fish.

Thanks