ChooChooSnakeMan
Well-known member
First trips of the year. Went with my good friend Mike on Saturday the 6th and then a solo trip on the 7th.
We managed to get 22 in the boat on Saturday and I got 16 on Sunday evening. Fished from about noon on Saturday to 5:00 pm and on Sunday I fished from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Saturday had better quality. LM, Spots, and Smallies were caught both days. Best 5 on Saturday would have went around 14 lbs which isn't terrible for Riverpark. Sunday's best 5 were only 9 lbs or so. A word of caution. The dock at the ramp at Riverpark doesn't have much space and it is very busy this time of year. On Sunday the ramp lot was full so I had to tie my boat up at the dock (I was solo) and park in the overflow lot which isn't very close to the ramp. The problem was coming in on Sunday. I came in and waited my turn at the dock (I was boat #4 in line so it took a while). I finally got to tie up and I moved my boat as far down the dock (to shallow water) as I could even to the point of trimming my engine all the way up as I was trying to make room for another bass boat to tie up since I knew I had a hike to the truck. I tied up and as fate would have it a big cruiser was the next boat and there just wasn't enough room for him to tie up with my boat there. When the guy on board saw me turn and start walking on the sidewalk as the quickest path to the overflow dock he went nuts and started yelling at me, "Dude you can't take up the whole dock and just walk off" well I wasn't going to yell back at him so I just turned around and went back to my boat, untied it and trolled out to his. I said, "Dude, I had to park in the overflow lot, what am I supposed to do?". His reply, "you can't take up the whole dock". Again I asked him what I was supposed to do. This genius had no answer. I kept my cool and told him to just go ahead of me which he eagarly did. The lesson is be sure you have your temper under control and are calm when you go to the boat ramp because there are a lot of selfish unreasonable people on the water. Now more fishing facts from my trips.
Water temp was 60-61 on Saturday and 61-62 on Sunday. Both days were sunny and windy. Water clarity was very good. Flow from Chickamauga Dam was around 10K both days. Water level was stable. Fish are staging pre-spawn. All fish were caught related to rock (rip rap) and were caught off the bank in 5' to 12'. All fish were caught on finesse worms on shakey head or texas rigged. Presentation was bottom contact and slow movement. Most hits were very light, often just feeling the line get tight. Hard to tell difference between fish and bottom. When it doubt pull the trigger
It was great to get out, the weather was great except for the wind. I always enjoy fellowship with Mike, he is a dear friend and brother in Christ. I hope this helps you and remember, no matter what happens, staying calm will help.
We managed to get 22 in the boat on Saturday and I got 16 on Sunday evening. Fished from about noon on Saturday to 5:00 pm and on Sunday I fished from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Saturday had better quality. LM, Spots, and Smallies were caught both days. Best 5 on Saturday would have went around 14 lbs which isn't terrible for Riverpark. Sunday's best 5 were only 9 lbs or so. A word of caution. The dock at the ramp at Riverpark doesn't have much space and it is very busy this time of year. On Sunday the ramp lot was full so I had to tie my boat up at the dock (I was solo) and park in the overflow lot which isn't very close to the ramp. The problem was coming in on Sunday. I came in and waited my turn at the dock (I was boat #4 in line so it took a while). I finally got to tie up and I moved my boat as far down the dock (to shallow water) as I could even to the point of trimming my engine all the way up as I was trying to make room for another bass boat to tie up since I knew I had a hike to the truck. I tied up and as fate would have it a big cruiser was the next boat and there just wasn't enough room for him to tie up with my boat there. When the guy on board saw me turn and start walking on the sidewalk as the quickest path to the overflow dock he went nuts and started yelling at me, "Dude you can't take up the whole dock and just walk off" well I wasn't going to yell back at him so I just turned around and went back to my boat, untied it and trolled out to his. I said, "Dude, I had to park in the overflow lot, what am I supposed to do?". His reply, "you can't take up the whole dock". Again I asked him what I was supposed to do. This genius had no answer. I kept my cool and told him to just go ahead of me which he eagarly did. The lesson is be sure you have your temper under control and are calm when you go to the boat ramp because there are a lot of selfish unreasonable people on the water. Now more fishing facts from my trips.
Water temp was 60-61 on Saturday and 61-62 on Sunday. Both days were sunny and windy. Water clarity was very good. Flow from Chickamauga Dam was around 10K both days. Water level was stable. Fish are staging pre-spawn. All fish were caught related to rock (rip rap) and were caught off the bank in 5' to 12'. All fish were caught on finesse worms on shakey head or texas rigged. Presentation was bottom contact and slow movement. Most hits were very light, often just feeling the line get tight. Hard to tell difference between fish and bottom. When it doubt pull the trigger
It was great to get out, the weather was great except for the wind. I always enjoy fellowship with Mike, he is a dear friend and brother in Christ. I hope this helps you and remember, no matter what happens, staying calm will help.
