Reservoir Dam / Tailwaters fishing

[Nickajack Angler]

Okay, I am still relatively new to the area and am still adapting to fishing the tailwaters of a large dam. So, I'll pose to you, my most trusted fishing buddies a thought. I'd love to hear the philosophies. Honestly, I think I've heard SO many in the first 7 mos living here, that I had no experience to apply what I was being taught. So, now with a solid summer and 1/2 winter under my belt fishing those waters and catching some really incredible fish and at times some quantity, I ask of you - So, where do all these fish go? I thought the water temp was dropping in the first of December??? 56 and 53 degrees were dropping well. People were all saying it was time... Sauger, walleyes, stripers (bigger than these things that are everywhere right now) spots and Smallies? I find crappies and stripe! Little ones... Around November I went down there and they were on. Then that first big freeze came somewhere after the 10th of December and it all changed. There are fish there, but not feeding in the numbers they were in early Dec. So guys, remember I'm new to reservoir/dam fishing.... where did they go? What should I be thinking?

 

[Fat Albert]

<font color="#ff0066">they are all over at Doc's house......J/K....NA....you know me just had to tell ya about the fish....FA</font>

 

[Nickajack Angler]

Okay, what water temp are we looking for it to fall to? What will be the lowest readings you expect to see here in the winter?

 

[NRG]

Nickajack Angler - 1/10/2008 11:18 PM

Okay, what water temp are we looking for it to fall to? What will be the lowest readings you expect to see here in the winter?

Generally the water on an average winter dozen't fall below 40 or if it doze its only in the shallows after a hard freeze that lasts many days, any time the water gets below 50 the fish metabolism gets slow .. they still feed just not as much or as often .. the fish may be sitting there watching your bait pass right past them .. just not eating at that time. I fish the lake more in colder weather than I do in the river below the dam, concentrate on large rocky lake points with deep over 20 feet deep water very near by. on sunny days the fish will move shallower into the warmer water to feed.. then slide back to the depths .. fishing extra slow is the key in winter , that and precise .. once you find the fish they will be grouped in large numbers in those areas .. but you will only find some active enuff to feed. Winter is the best time to catch truly trophy fish.. you wont catch as many but tend to be the big ones that stay deep during warmer months.

 

[rsimms]

Good question... if I knew the answer, I'd be there! emoLaugh However, it is my opinion that the fish don't necessarily "move." Of course some species such as sauger, stripers and white bass are very pelagic (mobile). However others... cats, bass, crappie, sunfish, etc. are not pelagic-type fish. Tagging studies of black bass have often shown that the majority of bass will always be re-captured within a half-mile or a mile of the original tagging location... and in MOST cases, within a few hundred yards. And even those tagged and released a LONG way from their original capture location will often find their way back to the original home range. In other words, those type fishes simply are not prone to go very far. It's my opinion that they simply sull up in the winter... lower temps mean lower metabolism means less aggressive feeding. They're there... they just ain't eatin'! Smaller baits and slower presentations... most of the hardcore bass guys I know who are throwing 10-inch worms and 3/4 oz. spinnerbaits and D22's in the warm months are fishing 1/8th oz. grubs in the winter. Or live bait can make some difference, but it can still be tough. It's wintertime. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. emoBigsmile

 

[flip1up]

It seems that every year I jump the gun and start trying to force feed the fish below Nick. Dam, way too early. Usually I do this in Dec. And you can have some good days here and there but the fish I'm after aint in there good yet. I like to fish there when the water gets about 45 degrees or lower for Sauger or Stripers early and then Crappie or Bass later in the day. There are a few places that hold Crappie when the turbines are turning pretty good and the Bass will be in the predictable areas if they are feeding. The Striper will be in the drift, and they are either biting or not. I struggle to catch many keeper sized Sauger, but I love to fish for them. There are a few places that can produce lots of numbers of Sauger but getting the good ones are a challenge for me. Seeing the reports of some real nice ones lately is encouraging though. I recon the truth is, when things get tough on the lakes you can usually fish the tailwaters and catch fish. This year I have finally held myself back and am now waiting for some real cold weather to journey below Nick. please let us know the water temps. in your reports. You asked where they go. Thats a good question. If their pulling water, you can usually catch fish. If their not, you probably need to go down lake.

 

[Guest]

I agree with Rsimms and Flip on the fish, ain't got a clue where they are most of the time, especially the sauger. You have to keep going and going and looking and looking and you will stumble onto them at times. I am trying to rush them too but I guess I will have to wait untill it is colder and more miserable below the Nick before sauger can be caught in greater numbers.

 

[polo-dog]

I would say that where the fish go depends on the species. One water temp is more optimal for some fish than other fish in the river. There are some fish like rsimms says that are pelagic, they tend to follow bait balls or go looking for bait balls and have a very large home range. There are other fish like smallies that have a much smaller home range on the average. If there are baitfish present there are almost always predators not too far away. The threadfin shad is the number one baitfish species in the lake. Almost all of the predators will eat them at one stage or another. If you can find the threadfin you can usually catch fish no matter what the temperature. When the water temp gets to about 45 degrees the shad get stressed and some start to die. At 39 degrees a large percentage will start to die. Last year we had a big shad die off when we had a couple of water temp dipps and the last one lasted for many days. Huge numbers of the shad died off. Many of the shad will pack into small areas where springs are found on the lake. The water in the springs is about 54 degrees all year round and the bait can live and stay active there. The predators will be there too. It may be that once the water temp got to a certain temp that the bait had to move to slower water or at least different water than you have been fishing below the dam. If there is some slack water or some eddie water near where you have been fishing try those areas. I hope that you can get back in touch with the fish sometime soon. On a positive note, the spring here really begins in late February and so be ready for the warm up and be sure to cut the monkey grass before the first of March.