Chickamauga Dam 10-9 Trolling

[DHaun]

My buddy Jeff and I went trolling below the Dam today targeting smallmouth. We got on the water about 1:30pm. First we looked for some threadfin in S. Chickamauga Creek and could not find any. Next we went up around the wingwall and rockpile below the dam trolling some redfins to see if any stripers were present. I saw no bait, there was no topwater activity. I even spoon jigged right at the edge of the wingwall and current...nothing.

We then set out with some crank baits and spinning reels with 10-12lb line trolling bandits, hot lips express, and any other crank bait that would run 8-10ft - Red/yellow, blue/chrome, splatter back, black/gold. They all worked about the same. We trolled about 20-30 feet from the bank at various spots below the Dam.

We caught 20 smallmouth, 2 largemouth, and wouldn't you know it...one 14lb mean fat drum. We ended up with 23 fish total - All safely released. We left about 6:00pm.

All the bass were small - The largest smallmouth we caught is in the pic along with the drum, which I thought was a huge cat or striper the way it pulled the drag off my reel in the current - had to chase him a bit to land it. Now I just need to wait for these fish to grow up. I expected larger fish based on past experience, I have caught at least one decent smallie ranging from 2-3, and once even 5 pounds on other trips. Maybe they have been overfished since I last went a few years ago or the big ones are hanging closer in towards the rocks and cover. All I know is it's not cheap trolling for smallies, I got hung up at least 10 times and lost 5 lures...but it was still a great day on the water!

 

[rsimms]

Do you troll upstream against current, or downstream running against current? Trolling motor or big motor?

 

[DHaun]

I was trolling going downstream using the 4-stroke as slow/quiet as I can get it to turn and stay in gear. Lures were about 50-75 ft behind the boat. Looking at the bank as a reference to see how fast we were going the lures had to be moving pretty quick...maybe too quick. I figure upstream would have been too much current/resistance, use more gas, more rpms, more noise, and since the fish are facing upstream into the current it made sense to bring the lures in front of their face where they could see it coming rather than up their backs. Also, I noticed a barrel swivel tied to the line helps eliminate twist caused by fouled plugs or smaller hookups that might spin in the current.

 

[JerDog]

I tend to troll using my engine (Honda 40HP 4-stroke) but I will use my trolling motor to slow the speed of baits down when I get my trolling motor hooked up and when the water temps get COLD. I have never caught a fish trolling agianst the current and if you troll you must always be moving otherwise your lures will drift at the same speed as the boat giving no action to the lure.

I like the trolling method for lots of fish b/c you can cover a lot of new water quick, find holes, and keep the bait in the FZ (Fish Zone) alot longer.