rsimms
Well-known member
rsimms, Chickamauga, Catfish & Crappie, Dec. 20 & Dec. 21, 2014, Richard, Mike and Bob
Britney, my retriever, wasn't very happy about it it, but I laid off of the ducks for a weekend and took some fine folks fishing this weekend.
Richard Kee, from Jackson, TN has visited me several times. Richard is an outstanding fisherman on his own. He really doesn't need a guide so I'm really honored when he and his friends/business associates, Mike Corcoran and Bob Locke, team up with me for an outing.
Saturday we visited the area coldwater catfish mecca... otherwise known as the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant. We fished the intake and outflow. We caught fish at both places but as usual, more at the outflow. However the fish were in pockets. Miss the pocket and you were fishing in No Man's Land. Hit the pocket and it was game on.
We never stuck any super trophies, but we had five fish in the 15 - 20 lb. class. Richard, Mike and Bob were not complaining. I don't count, but I'd said in a hard day of fishing we caught between 25 and 30 cats. We did venture away from the Nuke for a while, but that didn't produce much.
Here's a <a href=http://youtu.be/lgkZRv5PWcI>COOL VIDEO</a> of Richard's biggest fish that fought like a demon. It wasn't near as big as we thought it was going to be.
On Sunday, Richard, who slays crappie on Kentucky Lake, wanted to sample some Chickamauga crappie. I was real nervous because I haven't crappie fished in a LONG time. Drumking helped me with some tips on which community holes have been working, but the devil is in the details, and I went into it without knowing the details.
Fishing conditions were brutal... 33 degrees and a 10 mph North wind coming down the lake. We never found a Mother Lode, but we caught a couple of crappie almost every place we stopped. And one hole did produce better than others. We were fishing strictly bluffs or river channel drops. The fish were mostly 15 to 20 feet and it was really hard on us to "finesse" it that deep in the wind. In fact, Richard had never fished bluffs at all. On Kentucky Lake and Pickwick he says he fishes buck brush and sunken stake beds almost exclusively... and mostly fishing a jig 18-inches under a cork. But he says he'll be trying some deepwater bluffs soon.
Several spots were frustrating because according to the side-imaging, they were stacked with fish... but we couldn't buy a bite. In the end, however, I didn't get embarrassed. In four hours we kept a dozen solid keepers, released several short or marginal fish... and sadly, we lost 3 or 4 big fish boatside.
I was fishing the standard 1/16th oz. plastic BG. But Richard taught me something when he got frustrated in the wind and current and started fishing a tiny 1/8th oz. jigging spoon. I told Richard that Drumking would fall out of the boat if he saw him fishing that. emoBigsmile But he did well on it.... well enough on one spot that I tied one on. He tried silver and gold... gold was better. Our biggest crappie of the day (pictured) came on a spoon.
So hopefully Richard and I both learned something Sunday. And that means life is good and gettin' better every day.
Britney, my retriever, wasn't very happy about it it, but I laid off of the ducks for a weekend and took some fine folks fishing this weekend.
Richard Kee, from Jackson, TN has visited me several times. Richard is an outstanding fisherman on his own. He really doesn't need a guide so I'm really honored when he and his friends/business associates, Mike Corcoran and Bob Locke, team up with me for an outing.
Saturday we visited the area coldwater catfish mecca... otherwise known as the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant. We fished the intake and outflow. We caught fish at both places but as usual, more at the outflow. However the fish were in pockets. Miss the pocket and you were fishing in No Man's Land. Hit the pocket and it was game on.
We never stuck any super trophies, but we had five fish in the 15 - 20 lb. class. Richard, Mike and Bob were not complaining. I don't count, but I'd said in a hard day of fishing we caught between 25 and 30 cats. We did venture away from the Nuke for a while, but that didn't produce much.
Here's a <a href=http://youtu.be/lgkZRv5PWcI>COOL VIDEO</a> of Richard's biggest fish that fought like a demon. It wasn't near as big as we thought it was going to be.
On Sunday, Richard, who slays crappie on Kentucky Lake, wanted to sample some Chickamauga crappie. I was real nervous because I haven't crappie fished in a LONG time. Drumking helped me with some tips on which community holes have been working, but the devil is in the details, and I went into it without knowing the details.
Fishing conditions were brutal... 33 degrees and a 10 mph North wind coming down the lake. We never found a Mother Lode, but we caught a couple of crappie almost every place we stopped. And one hole did produce better than others. We were fishing strictly bluffs or river channel drops. The fish were mostly 15 to 20 feet and it was really hard on us to "finesse" it that deep in the wind. In fact, Richard had never fished bluffs at all. On Kentucky Lake and Pickwick he says he fishes buck brush and sunken stake beds almost exclusively... and mostly fishing a jig 18-inches under a cork. But he says he'll be trying some deepwater bluffs soon.
Several spots were frustrating because according to the side-imaging, they were stacked with fish... but we couldn't buy a bite. In the end, however, I didn't get embarrassed. In four hours we kept a dozen solid keepers, released several short or marginal fish... and sadly, we lost 3 or 4 big fish boatside.
I was fishing the standard 1/16th oz. plastic BG. But Richard taught me something when he got frustrated in the wind and current and started fishing a tiny 1/8th oz. jigging spoon. I told Richard that Drumking would fall out of the boat if he saw him fishing that. emoBigsmile But he did well on it.... well enough on one spot that I tied one on. He tried silver and gold... gold was better. Our biggest crappie of the day (pictured) came on a spoon.
So hopefully Richard and I both learned something Sunday. And that means life is good and gettin' better every day.
