Skipjack below the dams

[Daniel Tn]

For you guys that have eyes down towards Chickamauga dam, have the skipjack started schooling good down there yet? I am starting to see a few up towards Ft Loudon dam but not much as of yet. I fished all morning one day last week and just caught 2 up there but that's more than I have caught in a while.

 

[rusty50576]

I see them schooling on top in the sand flats below chilhowee dam this time of year

 

[Tight_Lines]

I have been fishing below Chickamauga dam pretty regularly the past couple of months from the bank though usually around noon and around 4 or 5. I have not really seen any shad yet and definitely not like they were 2 or 3 years ago!! Then they were so thick any bait you would cast out you were guaranteed to catch a shad/skipjack on every cast. and right next to the shore the minnow trail was soo thick it was black!!! but honestly i have not caught a skipjack for a couple of years. i have not been fishing early mornings or late evenings/nights tho.
about the best info i can give you..
Tight Lines!!

 

[Daniel Tn]

Thank you guys. That kinda mirrors my own observation...but I am the worlds worse fishermen so I usually credit it to just me sucking at catching fish haha. Seriously, I have talked to a lot of anglers echoing the same thing about the skipjacks all over east TN. Catching one or two here and there, and you might spend several hours just to catch them.

 

[SpurHunter]

They are pretty thick below Nick, but they are very small. They will bash a foley over and over, but rarely get a hookup

 

[weekend warrior]

I have been fishing below the dam a couple times a week with foley spoons lately and haven't caught any skipjack. Just drum,catfish,white bass and Smallmouth.

 

[pakjohn]

They showed up last year when water temp hit 65...