After a couple weeks off of crappie spawning we decided to run the Tennessee river in the tail race below Chickamauga Dam. Good rainfall had the flow around 25,000 and the weather was sunny and calm otherwise. We really didn’t set the river on fire but I managed to hook a couple of beautiful smallies and one cranky catfish before the daylight ran out. Nothing special other than a great evening on the water.
We’re still basically going twice a week these days. The fishing has been consistent, not great but consistent for a couple of weeks now. I took my kayak bass fishing buddy out last night for his first crappie run of the year. It was miserably slow from afternoon until about 10pm or later. I knew the dam was drawing very little water until midnight and just assumed it would be a bad trip altogether. We ended up picking up enough short fish to keep us interested until some keepers came along. Between 11pm and midnight someone let the dogs out and we nearly ran out of minnows in a firestorm of biting crappie. We walked away with 17 keepers and were almost shocked at how much the fishing picked up that last hour.
To be fair, our average catch was closer to 10″ than 14″ but we had a blast trying to keep minnows on hooks.
Surprise!
Aaron and two of the nicer keepers he was catching
This weekend was too busy for me to get any fishing done. Ironically, frying fish on Saturday night prevented me from catching fish to eat. As the weekend wound down on Sunday, I made my way to crappie spot and met my neighbor on his way home from the golf course. Our medium shiners were extra large and possibly contributed to the lack of fishing action. I’d picked up some fluorescent submersible lights on Saturday as well as a replacement globe for a donated Coleman lantern. So a full lighting package was employed soon after sunset. We’ve decided that fishing for crappie at night without them is a significant disadvantage. We didn’t catch near as many fish as we did a few days before, but almost every fish caught was a keeper. Larger bait catches larger fish. It would seem like a no brainer, but we look for a balance between catching a bunch of fish and the more boring version like Sunday’s trip that ended up yielding 9 keepers between 8pm and 11pm. We’re still finding plenty of fish with eggs, so we can only assume to be on the first half of the spawn cycle.
The mid-week crappie trip was bitter-sweet. We made some adjustments to our game and caught a ton of fish, but the pollen is at an all-time high and it’s trying to kill me. The good news is we’re seeing signs of fish in all phases of spawning, so now is the time for sure.
After Monday’s adventures we started working through the validation that you must have underwater lights to have the most success at night. Last night we went full lighting package. We also decided to use smaller minnows after some investigation and discussion. What we learned was that you have to use lights, and as many as you can afford to use. We also learned smaller minnows will keep you busier but definitely average smaller fish in the process. We boated over 70 fish but only about 12 of which were keepers. This is a stark contrast to Monday where we had 6 nice keeps and only caught about 30 fish total. Bigger minnows for keepers, case closed.
After a few weeks of consistently warmer temperatures, we’re starting to expect more and better results. I took the duck slayer out with the neighbor for a Monday evening sneak attack at Wolftever creek. The electronics showed modest groups of crappie everywhere in six to twenty feet of water. With jut two keepers to show at 10pm we started packing up and leaving. As we rode by the only other boat and asked about their luck, those guys told us to drop anchor and fish with them. The action was significantly better on their spot, possibly due to the arsenal of water lights they had employed. It’s was borderline pink Floyd lazer light show and it was working. We bumped our keeper count to six in an hour or so and filled our limits with their fish they didn’t intend to keep. It was a ton of fun fishing with those guys and yet another bit of proof that crappie are hard to figure out.
I couldn’t make my weekly crappie trip last night, so here’s the report that came back. Pretty slow with a dozen or more short fish until about 9pm. There was a keeper or two before nine, but about ten keepers were caught between nine and ten pm. This pattern is very similar to what we’re used to in crappie season. I’ll take that as a sign of the impending spawn. About 11 keepers for the night with the big fish right at 14″. Weather has been pretty even 81/55 degrees all week so we expect the bite to stay level in spite of some scattered storms.
After a decent Wednesday night outing, we gave it another go on Friday. Unfortunately a harsh weather change locked their jaws up tight. we caught two keepers in five hours of fishing that ended up at 41 degrees by about midnight.
As temperatures returned to normal, Sunday afternoon was wide open for a double special fishing trip. For the first time, my custom aluminum boat hit the lake. Yeah, it only has a trolling motor for power, but it hit the water like a champ. The weather was good except for the winds picking up to about ten MPH later in the day. I only caught two fish, but they were good fish on light tackle. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon. It looks like crappie season is full underway starting any minute now.
A&E Network introduces the Robertsons, a Louisiana bayou family living the American dream as they operate a thriving business while staying true to their family values and lifestyle.
Ask anyone in Louisiana and they’ll tell you that the bayou state’s favorite first family doesn’t live in the governor’s mansion but in the backwoods, where the Robertsons’ rags-to-riches story is still unfolding. A homegrown mom-and-pop operation, Duck Commander has become a sporting empire by fabricating top-of-the-line duck calls and decoys out of salvaged swamp wood.
This newly minted multimillionaire family is kept in line by business-savvy Willie, who runs Duck Commander with the help of his brother Jase, their respective wives Korie and Missy, patriarch and founder of the company, Phil, and uncle Si. Together they run a booming business that employs half their neighborhood, but at the end of the day, you can find the whole family around matriarch Miss Kay’s dinner table.
Series Premiere Wednesday, March 21 | 10/9C
Series Premiere Wednesday, March 21 | 10/9C
