Lakes Tellico/Loudon

[skeeterfisher]

Hey all....I am new to this forum and new to Tennessee...just bought a Skeeter 190 and have been going out to Tellico/Loudon lakes with my 9 yr old son....These lakes around Knoxville are night and day difference from the lakes I grew up fishing in Texas....I've had little success fishing these lakes..just little dinks...just wondering if any of you "veteran" fishermen could give any advise on fishing these river lakes... I've been beating the banks....trying to avoid breaking out the Carolina Rig, but if thats all that'll work this time of year....so be it....any location would also be helpful...I thank you and my little boy thanks you...

 

[J-Dub]

Well welcome to the board! I haven't really heard of anyone catching decent sized fish on Loudon unless you can go at night. The boat traffic keeps the fish pretty stirred up once they all come out. My dad went Thursday and he and a buddy could only find small ones too. The last two or three weeks have been like that. Now I did hear of one guy at my work who managed to have a good one on a 300 Bandit, pearl colored back in Prater Flatts, a.k.a. Ish Creek on the map. He eyeballed it to be around 5 lbs. Don't get discouraged many people are in the same boat you are, figuratively speaking. Good days for numbers but size is lacking. You can also try this board... http://easttennesseefishing.tripod.com
That board has a little bit more info pertaining to the lakes around K-town. Keep chunking and winding and let us know how you do. Welcome.

 

[jbh3]

Welcome to TN. This time of year, during the day, it is almost imperative to move off the bank to get quality bites. Look for long points and ledges in creeks and on the main river channels. If you time your trips to the TVA generation schedule, it can be a plus. I just go when I can. The carolina rig, big crankbaits and big worms T-rigged have produced for me. I would also recommend having a jigging spoon rigged. All of the better fish I have caught in the past few weeks have come out of 12 to 20 feet. There is some schooling early (and probably late) as well as on cloudy days. Those fish can be caught with topwaters, jerkbaits, lipless cranks, etc., but will generally less than 2 pounds. Look for surface activity on flats. BIG smallmouth and stripers are a possibility in the breaks. The kid will have a ball if you can get him on these breaking fish. I fish the lower ends of both lakes out of the Canal from daylight until the heat and/or boat traffic get bad around 1300. Night fishing is good, I'm sure. I'm just not into it. It ain't Texas, but it ain't bad either!!. Good luck!

 

[rsimms]

Sorry, I can't tell you much about the bass bite, but here's a recent walleye report from Tellico:
http://www.chattanoogafishingforum.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=10429&posts=17