Upper Chick & Hiwassee/10-14/Bass

[jason]

Let me start by saying that I fully intended on fishing Parksville. I spent the prior night dreaming of fat spots crushing my fluke. However, my father-in-law was bound and determined to figure out weed-fishing after our bomb at the Nick. Knowing that the BFL boys had molested the bass for three straight days, I did not have high hopes for the day. After putting in at the Hiwassee bridge around 2:00, we made a chilly run downriver to the acres of weeds at Hiwassee Island. Three hours and 14 slicks later, we ran down to Sale Creek in an effort to find some better quality fish. Same thing...slickville. With under an hour of daylight left, I suggested we ditch the weed game and run back up the Hiwassee and check out some creeks for schoolers. Bingo! As we pulled up to a large creek-fed cove, we could see them jumping. The largemouths were using a small windblown bay on the southeast side of the cove as a shad corral. While my father-in-law burned a spinnerbait through them for some more slicks, I swam a white jig underneath for a three keepers. I'm not sure if it was the BFL, the whacky barometer, or a combination of both, but it made for a numbers day and a tough one for the big bite.

 

[jon the fisherman]

I had the same kind of day Jason, caught lots of them but they weren't very big.

 

[Fishin Fool]

Sounds like a good day Jason! Any time you are catching fish it can't be bad! Thanks for the report.

 

[jason]

Don't get me wrong...I love catching them. However, I've spent many years beating the bank, often doing more 'fishing' than 'catching'. Over the last year or so, my purpose for fishing has shifted from sheer numbers to quality. Big bass are smart bass and they outsmarted me on this one.

 

[Fishin Fool]

You are very right, big ones are smart.....they have seen about everything in the world tossed at them. I've never been able to pinpoint big bass, what pattern they are on or where the best place or conditions are to find them. All the big fish I have caught over the years have been when I was catching short bass after short bass and then....BAM! Out of the blue I'd hook one that was a killer. My way of looking at it is if I am catching them I'm in the right location. Big mama may just be hanging back watching the kids eat! By the way, where are you buying your Lucky Craft stuff? Is it any cheaper on eBay? Just wondering, it seems pretty steep.

 

[polo-dog]

Glad to hear that you are on fish jason. I'm with you in that it would be nice to be able to target bigger fish when possible. It sounds like you made a good call with your running and also with fishing below the schoolers with the jig. I usually am having too much fun catching the schoolers that I don't go looking for the "mamas". I do like your improvisation though, it makes me just that much more apt to do that next time I'm out there. What type of structural elements do you think the bass at your last stop were relating to, or do you think that they were just relating to schools of shad?

 

[jason]

Fishin Fool, I get most of my Lucky Craft lures at Fish Tales in Cleveland. However, Sportsman's has a pretty decent selection. They are pricey, yet effective. I have lost several, mostly LDVRs, to what I call $15 cats...that hurtsemoAngry.

 

[Buoy-Master]

Hey...an decent day getting fish beats any bad day of not getting one bite..LOL Of course I love just beng out there!</p>

I really got to get to Nick again.

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[jason]

Polo, the wind was blowing right into the small cove/bay inside the red circle. It has a gravelly lip at its mouth and has several brushpiles in it. The bass kept pushing the baitfish in and then busting them. They were also schooling along the small point right at the mouth of the slough. When the wind is from the NW, Powells Slough is an excellent spot for schooling activity.

 

[polo-dog]

Superbe info jason, I would expect that the traffic at those sloughs will be up in the next few days thanks to you. I'm glad to hear that you will be at the map meeting tonight. Using the internet to share info and find fish is absolutely incredible in my experience. Using Google earth and terraserver.com and others will really make fishing easier and help us all to get on more fish. Thanks for the generous info!!!!!

 

[Chief]

Hey, just to let you guy's know Mapquest now has aerial photo's as a new feature. They show up in pretty good detail, not sure if the zoom is as good as google earth but they do have pretty good pic's.

 

[ranman]

I'm not sure why,but I have never found a school of quality bass ,schooling together in the fall.I can find them in the spring and summer but the ones I find in the fall schooling together shallow always seem to be the same school of 14 3/4 inchers from the year before!
Did I use the word school enough?Maybe one more SCHHHOOOOOOOLLLLLLL!emoLaugh