Thread: Chickamauga 10/20/09

The lake should have been at winter pool by the 1 or 2 week in Oct. but with all the rain we had here and north of us its keep the water level up. Looks like things are going to change fast its going down fast. Fish will move to deeper docks and you can catch them all winter but you have to fish the docks with 14+ water under them. You can also catch fish in the creeks fishing deep and the bluffs are good.

... that's just the info I was looking for !! Appreciate it !!

.. cp

Hey CrappiePappy,

When do you usually take your annual fall trip. I know you have gona to watts bar the past couple yrs. Are you going this year. If so u planning on watts bar or maybe it and chickamauga?

Slabber

Originally Posted by ekySlabber

Hey CrappiePappy,

When do you usually take your annual fall trip. I know you have gona to watts bar the past couple yrs. Are you going this year. If so u planning on watts bar or maybe it and chickamauga?

Slabber

My Fall trip to Watts Bar is usually taken in mid to late Oct. Current plans are to be there this coming weekend, but are contingent on weather. Will have to have a pow-wow with the other two buddies that are part of the posse, and see what their thoughts are.
I'm pretty sure that, if Watts Bar is a no-go ... but, the guys are still wanting to make a trip ... then Plan B will probably be to head to Weiss. I don't think we're quite ready for Chick, just yet ... but, I will be looking into it, for future possibilities.

... cp

Crappiepappy they were pulling lake Weiss hard last week. we had a though three days . Check to see if they are still pulling before you go.

Originally Posted by fishorgolf?

Crappiepappy they were pulling lake Weiss hard last week. we had a though three days . Check to see if they are still pulling before you go.

No worries, man :p ... I'm friends with the guides out of JR's, and I'd be in contact with them, if I decided to go to Weiss

... cp

Pappy,

I was in chattanooga yesterday. Took A drive by watts bar and also checked on the chick. They both look good as usual. It had been a year or so since I had been down that way, its really not that bad of a drive to watts bar, especially from lexington. It would be a Long day but it would be possible to leave EARLY one morning, get down there and fish all day, and load up and come home if necesaary. Granted the only time I would pull a stunt like that is if they were guaranteeing world record crappie every cast, ohterwise Im a little to lazy. On a more serious note, I am plannin' on going somewhere in the next couple weeks and the chick and watts bar are atop of the list. I am a lot more familiar with north alabama and west ky waters though, so I would be very concerned about goin somewhere completely new to me. Would stilll be worth it even if I didnt catch anything, but Id still like to do some CATCHING along with the fishing. There are plenty of crappie here at home but I can't quit dreaming about fishing a lake where 2 lbers are a definitely swimming around. I have never taken a "planned" out of state crappie trip, wantin to check that off the list, preferably somewhere close enuf it wont break the bank and that if the fishing is good enough I can make repeated trips and make it an annual thing. Heck who knows, might fall in love with the better fishing and pack up and move from here in EKY. Would miss the pretty country and mountains tho.

Originally Posted by ekySlabber

Pappy,

I was in chattanooga yesterday. Took A drive by watts bar and also checked on the chick. They both look good as usual. It had been a year or so since I had been down that way, its really not that bad of a drive to watts bar, especially from lexington. It would be a Long day but it would be possible to leave EARLY one morning, get down there and fish all day, and load up and come home if necesaary. Granted the only time I would pull a stunt like that is if they were guaranteeing world record crappie every cast, ohterwise Im a little to lazy. On a more serious note, I am plannin' on going somewhere in the next couple weeks and the chick and watts bar are atop of the list. I am a lot more familiar with north alabama and west ky waters though, so I would be very concerned about goin somewhere completely new to me. Would stilll be worth it even if I didnt catch anything, but Id still like to do some CATCHING along with the fishing. There are plenty of crappie here at home but I can't quit dreaming about fishing a lake where 2 lbers are a definitely swimming around. I have never taken a "planned" out of state crappie trip, wantin to check that off the list, preferably somewhere close enuf it wont break the bank and that if the fishing is good enough I can make repeated trips and make it an annual thing. Heck who knows, might fall in love with the better fishing and pack up and move from here in EKY. Would miss the pretty country and mountains tho.

I like fishing Watts Bar, simply because dock shooting is the primary method to use :p
Weiss is another good dock shooting lake, at times ... but, long line trolling & 'bumping bottom' (double minnow rigs) seems to be their primary methods.

Thanks for the comeback on how the lakes look ... I'll post a report on my trip, so you'll have a good idea about what's going on at Watts Bar (if that's where we end up ).

If you do a "search" ... key words "Fling" & "Brawl" ... User Name "crappiepappy" ... you should still be able to see some of the old posts & pics from our past tournies, down on Watts Bar. My reports may also be of some use, in case you venture down that way. In any event, I can/will share any info you may want to know about the lake. I can only vouch for what I've done, and where/how I've fished it ... any other info would be second hand reports about someone else's experience (and I'd tell you that, up front ).

One other thing that keeps drawing me back to Watts Bar, is that a 10" keeper from there ... is pushing a pound alot closer than any 10" fish that I catch around here ... LOL !! They don't always come in great numbers, but those you do catch ... don't seem to have missed any meals in their lifetimes :D

... cp

Pappy,

Thanks bud. I really appreciate it. I have checked out the pics from your trips before, and there are definitely some quality crappie in that lake (check out the midwest crappie episode on watts bar.....WOW!!! its on the midwest crappie website), looks like more whites than blacks, w/ some blacknose mixed in. More importantly they all look healthy. I really also want to go somewhere I can focus on fishing visible cover "docks" because they can be relatively easy to spot and are a quick find using Google Earth for a newbie, just gotta find the ones w/ brush and adequate depth. I have a great sonar but since there arent many docks around here the whole dock shootin' deal sound like a lot of fun. Plus, I like using artificial if possible and I got a lot of new baits that should do the trick for skippin and shootin' docks. I little something a good friend and one of the better fishermen I've ever known told me about shooting docks is a bait Id never used before and he said its about all he sees people use down at weiss and those bama lakes, its called a lil' fishie. Just a wally world bait but I have a whole box of em and tear fish up on em during certain times, white/black, chart, and white/red 1.5 inch. Usually he uses a 1/48 up to a 1/16 oz jighead cause theyre action is so much better when you use a lighter weight. He takes annual trips down south specifically to shoot docks and he and everyone else kills them on em'. Not many people round here use em, but they're great, I use em on the Cave Run and the Ohio R. when the fish are shallow and hitting artificial. We use them on a weedless jighead and absolutely love em'. Im sure you know how to catch em' but ya might wanna give em a shot, he said thats about all he uses down there exclusively. He also says you can have 100+ fish days in the spring down there but he's wont leave the docks to fish brush,ledges,and channels cause he said he would rather catch 50 dock fish "which he says are almost always "very" healthy fish compared to catching 100 fish fishing other ways. Anyways, hope you whack em' and lemme know whats up. I wanna spider rig down south in some shallower lakes too. Yall are leaving soon aren't ya?

Originally Posted by ekySlabber

Pappy,

Thanks bud. I really appreciate it. I have checked out the pics from your trips before, and there are definitely some quality crappie in that lake (check out the midwest crappie episode on watts bar.....WOW!!! its on the midwest crappie website), looks like more whites than blacks, w/ some blacknose mixed in. More importantly they all look healthy. I really also want to go somewhere I can focus on fishing visible cover "docks" because they can be relatively easy to spot and are a quick find using Google Earth for a newbie, just gotta find the ones w/ brush and adequate depth. I have a great sonar but since there arent many docks around here the whole dock shootin' deal sound like a lot of fun. Plus, I like using artificial if possible and I got a lot of new baits that should do the trick for skippin and shootin' docks. I little something a good friend and one of the better fishermen I've ever known told me about shooting docks is a bait Id never used before and he said its about all he sees people use down at weiss and those bama lakes, its called a lil' fishie. Just a wally world bait but I have a whole box of em and tear fish up on em during certain times, white/black, chart, and white/red 1.5 inch. Usually he uses a 1/48 up to a 1/16 oz jighead cause theyre action is so much better when you use a lighter weight. He takes annual trips down south specifically to shoot docks and he and everyone else kills them on em'. Not many people round here use em, but they're great, I use em on the Cave Run and the Ohio R. when the fish are shallow and hitting artificial. We use them on a weedless jighead and absolutely love em'. Im sure you know how to catch em' but ya might wanna give em a shot, he said thats about all he uses down there exclusively. He also says you can have 100+ fish days in the spring down there but he's wont leave the docks to fish brush,ledges,and channels cause he said he would rather catch 50 dock fish "which he says are almost always "very" healthy fish compared to catching 100 fish fishing other ways. Anyways, hope you whack em' and lemme know whats up. I wanna spider rig down south in some shallower lakes too. Yall are leaving soon aren't ya?

I don't have to check out the Watts Bar Midwest Crappie video ... Russ sent me the CD, several years ago. Besides, Don York and I were the ones that set up, and ran, the tournies :p I basically learned dock shooting from Don, and some of the other tourney anglers

The quality of the fish is a big part of what keeps me going back.

There's White, Black, & Blacknose Crappie ... you're right on that ! Early Spring & Fall dock fishing is usually gonna get you into B's & BN's. Late Spring for White Crappie (usually on shallow wood). Those dynamics held up almost perfectly, during the 5yr stretch of the tournies. Odd thing is ... since then, it's kinda been jumbled up a little. We've been going down there during the same timeframe as before ... but, in the last few years, we've done better on White Crappie in mid April (when we used to do better on them in early May). Fall fishing has stayed pretty much on course, though. Black Crappie under deep water docks ... White Crappie in 20fow around timber.

I've seen/heard of the Lil Fishie ... and even read where some members swear by them. May have to add a pack of them to my arsenal.

We'll probably be headed down early Fri morning ... back late Sun evening. We're going to be staying at a totally "new to us" place, on a different part of the lake than we normally do ... so this will be an "adventure" for us. (not that ANY trip we take, doesn't end up being one :p )

Will post a report when I get back.

... cp