HangnMoss
Well-known member
Took the day off work and went fishing with a buddy from work. He and I like exploring new water as much as we like catching fish. I've only been on Watts Bar once, back in '98, and he hasn't been on that lake in 20 years, so that's where we ended up. Stopped by Soddy Custom Tackle after work Wednesday night and picked up a map. Spent about an hour Wednesday night studying the map, converting GPS coordinates, and uploading waypoints into my depth finders.
Launched out of Spring City Marina about 8:30 Central. Water temps were in the low 70s and the air was just plain cold. We hung near the boat ramp for about an hour waiting for it to either warm up or for us to get numb enough not to care. We ran to the first spot I marked. I lost a decent smallmouth on my first cast on a 3/8 oz watermellon jig with a Yamamoto skirted twin tail. I use the skirted trailers to add extra bulk and to slow the fall of my jigs. A couple casts later I landed a 3lb smallie that went a little over 18'. About that time my buddy's cell phone went in the lake. After a short rant, he borrowed one of my jigs and trailers and a few casts later landed a 16" smallie.
The rest of the day went pretty much the same. We caught a few fish off every spot I had marked. We settled into a working pattern and laughed at each other the whole time we were out. His phone going swimming was just the beginning of a very clumsy day for both of us.
Our goal for the day was to target smallmouth and to try to get a feel for what the crappie were doing. We did break off our pattern a couple times to try some areas that looked like they might hold largemouth. I'd fancast the area with crankbaits while he worked plastics and jigs tight to cover. I caught big largemouth of the day at 19.5" and a little over 4lbs.
After a short break for lunch we ran upstream and tried a spot another friend from work *guaranteed* would hold tons of smallmouth. We didn't catch a single smallie, but we did run to a couple nearby sloughs and catch a few largemouth. We decided to head back and try some other spots I had marked in Piney Creek. When I tried to start the engine the starter just screeched & whined. Pulled the cover off the engine and found the bendix spring, keeper and nut were gone off the top of the starter. Luckily all three pieces were laying in the bottom of the cowling. After a little prying and praying, I managed to get the bendix threaded back down the shaft and everything reassembled. It was rough work with only a leatherman and a pair of needle nosed pliers emoDoh
We ran back close to the ramp, to be safe, and finished our day out cranking for largemouth. We found a few crappie suspended over wood in 10-15' of water, but the numbers just weren't there yet. Didn't find any holding on docks, but we didn't really find any docks that looked crappie-friendly, either. I'm guessing the majority are still out chasing bait balls. We caught a few spotted bass and bream on our crappie jigs, as well.
All the fish hit like they were starving. They'd suck the bait deep, even the ones we caught on crankbaits. They'd have the crankbait gill deep and be hooked on the forward trebles. The big bass of the day sucked a Norman DD16 so deep that the entire lure was hidden. That impressed me. That's a big bait and I was cranking fast to cover water quickly. Unfortunately, it had the rear trebles in its gills. It bled a bit, but seemed fine after a short stay in the livewell and was released to hopefully fight again.
Was a productive day, and a great day to be on the water.
Launched out of Spring City Marina about 8:30 Central. Water temps were in the low 70s and the air was just plain cold. We hung near the boat ramp for about an hour waiting for it to either warm up or for us to get numb enough not to care. We ran to the first spot I marked. I lost a decent smallmouth on my first cast on a 3/8 oz watermellon jig with a Yamamoto skirted twin tail. I use the skirted trailers to add extra bulk and to slow the fall of my jigs. A couple casts later I landed a 3lb smallie that went a little over 18'. About that time my buddy's cell phone went in the lake. After a short rant, he borrowed one of my jigs and trailers and a few casts later landed a 16" smallie.
The rest of the day went pretty much the same. We caught a few fish off every spot I had marked. We settled into a working pattern and laughed at each other the whole time we were out. His phone going swimming was just the beginning of a very clumsy day for both of us.
Our goal for the day was to target smallmouth and to try to get a feel for what the crappie were doing. We did break off our pattern a couple times to try some areas that looked like they might hold largemouth. I'd fancast the area with crankbaits while he worked plastics and jigs tight to cover. I caught big largemouth of the day at 19.5" and a little over 4lbs.
After a short break for lunch we ran upstream and tried a spot another friend from work *guaranteed* would hold tons of smallmouth. We didn't catch a single smallie, but we did run to a couple nearby sloughs and catch a few largemouth. We decided to head back and try some other spots I had marked in Piney Creek. When I tried to start the engine the starter just screeched & whined. Pulled the cover off the engine and found the bendix spring, keeper and nut were gone off the top of the starter. Luckily all three pieces were laying in the bottom of the cowling. After a little prying and praying, I managed to get the bendix threaded back down the shaft and everything reassembled. It was rough work with only a leatherman and a pair of needle nosed pliers emoDoh
We ran back close to the ramp, to be safe, and finished our day out cranking for largemouth. We found a few crappie suspended over wood in 10-15' of water, but the numbers just weren't there yet. Didn't find any holding on docks, but we didn't really find any docks that looked crappie-friendly, either. I'm guessing the majority are still out chasing bait balls. We caught a few spotted bass and bream on our crappie jigs, as well.
All the fish hit like they were starving. They'd suck the bait deep, even the ones we caught on crankbaits. They'd have the crankbait gill deep and be hooked on the forward trebles. The big bass of the day sucked a Norman DD16 so deep that the entire lure was hidden. That impressed me. That's a big bait and I was cranking fast to cover water quickly. Unfortunately, it had the rear trebles in its gills. It bled a bit, but seemed fine after a short stay in the livewell and was released to hopefully fight again.
Was a productive day, and a great day to be on the water.
