Hiwassee report 8/11

[ranman]

Fished from 1pm to 9pm last night and only caught 1 keeper. We started out in roger's creek and worked some stumpbeds with crankbaits, carolina rigs, and everything else we could imagine and only caught 3 small ones.We left there and tried flipping a few holes on the main channel with jigs, tubes,and a brush hog but with no current the fish just were not bitting. We left the flipping holes and headed
to the bank where the big one came from last week,worked a buzzbait, jerkbait,and my partner threw a crankbait around some brush in 6-8 feet of water and caught two small ones(big boy wasn't home I guess) I fished on around the point and picked up a couple more small ones on a bubblegum trickworm under a dock.We left there and finished up the day in price creek with buzzbaits and that's where the only keeper came from.
It was really dead last night with no current and hardly any minnow or baitfish activity on the surface.Kinda makes me wonder why they where so
willing to go after the buzzbait and not touch the worms or carolina rigs.
I did note that the fish were not tight to the cover,the lack of current and low water(forgot to note that part,almost two feet lower than the last time I was out)had them very scattered and off the banks for the most part.Tough night but still had a good time.

 

[ranman]

Water temps/ main channel at B&B 79.5
Roger's creek 87.5
Price creek 85 to 86
main channel above price creek 85 to 86

 

[jason]

That water fluctuation is making it hard to put a solid pattern together. I believe we are going to head upriver of Hiwassee Island on the Tennessee tomorrow. If the water is still down, the deep weeds should be good.

 

[jason]

I wonder why B&B is 6-7 degrees cooler than the other areas you fished? Houseboat toilets?

 

[polo-dog]

No, 98.6>87.

 

[ranman]

The water coming out of the powerhouse at reliance is in the 50's this time of year,60's by the time it reaches Hwy411 so by the time it gets to Hwy 75 and the B&B area mid to high 70's is about right.

 

[jason]

We fished Price Creek, at least I think that is where we were at, during that 4 hour downpour Saturday. We were on our way to the Tennessee when the storm forced us off the channel. Is it to the left of the main channel when heading downriver of the Hiwassee Bridge? Tiny little island at the mouth? That right hand bank with all the submerged pines held a ton of spots that were eager for a rainy day spinnerbait. We fished that stretch of laydowns three times while waiting out the electrical part of the storm. I've never fished that far in because I assumed it was shallow like the other side but was quite surprised to find a 5-8ft drop right off the bank. Most of the pines on the shoreline have that disease from the beetles so I would guess that the majority of the submerged wood is rotten and won't last long.

At 5:00 the rain cleared and I convinced my father-in-law to try fishing until 9 as if we were in a tournament. We adopted the run-n-gun approach and hit the majority of our hotspots on the Hiwassee. I pitched a Zoom Magnum lizard while he continued with the spinnerbait. After 4 hours, I had only three over 15" with a weight just barely over 9lbs and my partner had none. Obviously, we have a ways to go .

 

[polo-dog]

Jason, 9lb ain't too bad. Would place in many of the dogfights depending on what night it is. It sounds like the lizard was the bait to use. Are most of your spots just banks with laydowns or are they associated with creek channels in some way? Is there a common thread that you can figure that puts the fish where you are finding them? In the past you have said that most of the fish were in laydowns with the tips in 4-6 ft of water. Having a milk run of banks that continue to produce is great. New fish must replenish the area on a consistent basis.

 

[jason]

In the summer, laydowns that extend into the "activity" range with access to deeper water nearby are my favorite spots to fish. Add a little current or weeds on a bright, sunny day and you can guarantee that a good bass is in there. Typically, the best ones are located on feeder creeks or bays that come off outside bends of the main channel. Fortunately, the Hiwassee is loaded with such spots and they generally hold quality bass on them. Nearly everyone is burning spinnerbaits or buzzbaits around this sort of cover and the bass just sit there, refusing to give chase and content to watch this noisy lure cruise by. When I come along and silently plop a lizard or brushhog on their head, they can't help but eat it...opportunity feeding is purely reactional and not based on hunger or desire to eat. I think these spots produce consistently simply because they meet the seasonal needs of a summer largemouth. They are prime property for big bass and as soon as one moves off, another moves in to take his/her place.

 

[ranman]

You would have won last night!
How do you pitch a lizard while your partner fishes a spinnerbait? You two must fight constantly!

 

[jason]

I've caught so many fish behind him that he is now aware that even though his spinnerbait didn't get bit on the end of the laydown, that doesn't mean there isn't a bass there. When he sees me pick up the flipping stick, he eases in a little closer and steps off the trolling motor, allowing me a minute or so to make a couple of quick pitches before he moves on. At first he was a little aggravating to fish with because he hates to fish slow with soft plastics or jigs. Everytime he's tried it, he got hung up and lost his lure. I'm fishing the back of the boat and "used" water so I have to give the bass something different if I want to do more than get a tan.

 

[polo-dog]

That's great annalysis of your pattern. That encourages me to continue with my map studdy to find those areas that are adjacent to channels and deep water access. It also brings to light the mindset of educated fish. I know that the more lures and the more negative feedback that the fish associate with certain lures and presentations with those lures the less apt they are to be fooled into taking the lures that we throw. That is provent every year when TVA shocks some of the spawning coves in the lower end of the lake after some good fishermen have fished the area. They always shock up some really good fish and lots of them. Those fish are either holding in areas that we aren't fishing and/or are educated to the point that they are only biting on baits that have little or no negative cues associated with them.
Keep up the good work and the cerebral part of "the game".

 

[ranman]

I have heard the educated bass thing for a few years now but last summer I was fishing with my cousin when he broke off a fish pitching a small black brushhog,
I swear this is true!I pitched the same lure where he had just lost the fish and caught a bass with.......... You guessed it a small black brushhog and hook on green mono. in it's mouth!Was he just really hungry or just an idiot bass,I don't know but it was the same fish on the same bait and I have a witness!
So it makes me wonder if they are "educated" or are we just missing them?Or is there something else that we are missing?Or just dumb luck?