ChooChooSnakeMan
Well-known member
Well I've been working getting the boats ready so I got a chance to go on Saturday and make sure the tin boat was good to go. The good news was the boat did great, the not so good news was I only caught 2 fish and really only had maybe 4 total bites. I put in at Riverpark at daylight. I fished from the Chatt State ramp at various places all the way down to the Bend. I stopped fishing about 1:45 pm. I started to drive to Shellmound and fish the lower Nick and based upon Jmax's report I wished I had. Water temps were 57 to 59 with clarity pretty good. Flow was not very much starting out at almost nothing and ending my time at around only 9K so the lack of flow may have been a big problem. I started out fishing classic pre-spawn lures such as jerk baits, traps, and chatterbaits. I switched to finesse soft plastics fished on shakey head and t rigged. Nothing, no bites, nothing. I fished off the bank and on the bank. Finally I went back to a moving baits but downsized to a small 1/8 oz. white beetle spin in desperation to get the skunk out of the boat. I finally managed to land a very small, very pale largemouth. I noticed some small fish working the surface on a rip rap bank at Chatt State. I threw a small panfish assassin crappie jig and managed to catch a small yellow bass. That was it, just two fish. I enjoyed being out on the water and have confidence in the tin boat as it performed great. With the price of gas, especially ethanol free gas I appreciate more than ever the gas sipping 90 Opti. It shouldn't be many weeks before the fish start showing up in the shallows in numbers. Everyone be safe, wear your lifejacket, the water is cold and the prospect to last very long in the water isn't real good should anyone fall in.
