I couldn't decide whether to fish the Hiwassee again or try Watts Bar. I know Watts Bar better from a navigational standpoint and I also knew that from my own personal experience that Watts Bar (or maybe where we fish at) has bigger crappie in it by numbers. I'm sure the Hiwassee might be the same way but everybody I talk to says they are catching plenty via numbers but throwing a lot of short ones back and the ones they are keeping are just barely keepers. I don't like cleaning 10 and 10 1/2 inch fish. I like them 1.5 to 2 pound slabs and by experience I knew Watts Bar was probably my best bet for that on a gamble run.
Problem was I hadn't been on Watts Bar in a little while and haven't saw any reports or heard any reports on what was going on there. I've been reading two good books on crappies. I got Buck Taylor's book and the InFisherman book. But the crappie are still a mystery to me except for when they are shallow and everybody is catching them.
On to the report. I got to the lake about 8:30 a.m. Saturday. I put in at the newer ramp in Rowden Branch (the hog pen). It was windy nearly all day long. I fished from 8:30 to 6 in the evening. I spent 95% of my time in Rowden Branch sloughs and the creek channel trying my best to find at least one school. I caught one nice white crappie in about 4' of water on a grub. It measured 13 1/4 inches. That was a good start but the only crappie I boated. I can't for the life of me figure out why or how a person can just catch ONE crappie. I had grubs, tubes, and minnows. I trolled, jigged with the jig and done everything I knew to do. Drove around a lot with the depth finder and had a fit with it (my transducer is off and it totally blanks out, I'll be doggone if I can figure out the sweet spot for it).
But I ended up fishing too late trying to fight the decision to head to Whites Creek and look around. I finally decided to run up there and did...got there and a lot of other boats where there BUT the wind was too and by then my trolling motor battery was on its last leg. I made the run back towards the boat ramp and kept thinking I was going to find the crappie in Rowden. It didn't happen for me. BUT
I did find fish. Just the wrong kind. I got into a BUNCH of little striped bass. They were all 10-11 inchers. I got into some drum too. Got one catfish while trolling the grubs. And then the doggonest thing. I started catching gars. Yep. Those big long toothy things. Started hooking them with the grubs and then switched to a yellow rooster tail and they really liked that thing. Got one to the boat and had about 6-7 on that got off. Also caught a stinkin' carp on that rooster tail. If I wouldn't have done it myself I wouldn't have ever believed it by just hearing it. I don't mean I snagged a carp. I mean it actually went for the rooster tail and got hooked in the mouth. I found ALL of these fish int he back pocket of a slough. They were so shallow my trolling motor would kick up mud when I turned it on. Water temp varied but it's in the 50s and the water is VERY stained. In some places visibility was maybe 1 1/2 feet.
Toward the end of the day the wind slacked off and it got slick out on the water. Maybe the crappie are still out at the mouth of the creek. I tried sonaring that but that is when my unit was really just blanked out. Might be too early for them to be up in where I was. I know when everybody else starts catching the shorter fish up against the bank in the brush, we usually get on the 2 pounders that hang back in the 8-12 feet range in the stumps. And I think I'm still early on it. On a bad note...on my LAST cast of the day I got hung on a stump or brush pile. I kept my line somewhat slack to try and free it with a quick pop to the rod. In doing so I snapped the rod in half down towards the stress point of the rod. It was a 5'6 Wally Marshall series rod that wasn't even a year old. That was a good sensitive rod and I hated to lose it like that.
Problem was I hadn't been on Watts Bar in a little while and haven't saw any reports or heard any reports on what was going on there. I've been reading two good books on crappies. I got Buck Taylor's book and the InFisherman book. But the crappie are still a mystery to me except for when they are shallow and everybody is catching them.
On to the report. I got to the lake about 8:30 a.m. Saturday. I put in at the newer ramp in Rowden Branch (the hog pen). It was windy nearly all day long. I fished from 8:30 to 6 in the evening. I spent 95% of my time in Rowden Branch sloughs and the creek channel trying my best to find at least one school. I caught one nice white crappie in about 4' of water on a grub. It measured 13 1/4 inches. That was a good start but the only crappie I boated. I can't for the life of me figure out why or how a person can just catch ONE crappie. I had grubs, tubes, and minnows. I trolled, jigged with the jig and done everything I knew to do. Drove around a lot with the depth finder and had a fit with it (my transducer is off and it totally blanks out, I'll be doggone if I can figure out the sweet spot for it).
But I ended up fishing too late trying to fight the decision to head to Whites Creek and look around. I finally decided to run up there and did...got there and a lot of other boats where there BUT the wind was too and by then my trolling motor battery was on its last leg. I made the run back towards the boat ramp and kept thinking I was going to find the crappie in Rowden. It didn't happen for me. BUT
I did find fish. Just the wrong kind. I got into a BUNCH of little striped bass. They were all 10-11 inchers. I got into some drum too. Got one catfish while trolling the grubs. And then the doggonest thing. I started catching gars. Yep. Those big long toothy things. Started hooking them with the grubs and then switched to a yellow rooster tail and they really liked that thing. Got one to the boat and had about 6-7 on that got off. Also caught a stinkin' carp on that rooster tail. If I wouldn't have done it myself I wouldn't have ever believed it by just hearing it. I don't mean I snagged a carp. I mean it actually went for the rooster tail and got hooked in the mouth. I found ALL of these fish int he back pocket of a slough. They were so shallow my trolling motor would kick up mud when I turned it on. Water temp varied but it's in the 50s and the water is VERY stained. In some places visibility was maybe 1 1/2 feet.
Toward the end of the day the wind slacked off and it got slick out on the water. Maybe the crappie are still out at the mouth of the creek. I tried sonaring that but that is when my unit was really just blanked out. Might be too early for them to be up in where I was. I know when everybody else starts catching the shorter fish up against the bank in the brush, we usually get on the 2 pounders that hang back in the 8-12 feet range in the stumps. And I think I'm still early on it. On a bad note...on my LAST cast of the day I got hung on a stump or brush pile. I kept my line somewhat slack to try and free it with a quick pop to the rod. In doing so I snapped the rod in half down towards the stress point of the rod. It was a 5'6 Wally Marshall series rod that wasn't even a year old. That was a good sensitive rod and I hated to lose it like that.
