Watts Bar Adventure 2010

[CrappiePappy]

Arrived Thur about Noon ... fished til 6ish - 8 Crappie total, but we used most of the time to eliminate water & unproductive depths/areas.
Fished most of Fri & Sat, with midday breaks of a couple of hours - ~ 15 fish each day. Fished about 4hrs Sun morning - 15 fish

Fish came from 10 fow to 25 fow ... suspended in the branches of submerged trees, or around deep water docks. Each day seemed to produce a different favorite color for them .... plastics in Smoke - Shad - Opening Night - Popsicle (Panfish Assassins) were heavily favored .... & chartreuse marabou Roadrunners were taking their toll, too. :D

Here's the pics :

My fishing partner Paul with the average sized "goodun" :


Paul concentrating on "line watching", as some of the bites were pretty lite:


The results of paying attention to your line, when casting jigs :










Our average daily hauls :




There was a gang from Ohio, and a smaller contingent of Indy anglers .... some doing good, some not so much. Some were catching fish in 3-4 fow ... while others were catching fish in 20+ fow. By my reconing, & the conditions of the eggs in the females we cleaned ... some are ready to drop NOW, while others are a week or more away from being ready. It could be very INTERESTING over the next week or so, down at "the Bar" !!!

A special thanks to Arrowhead Marina/Resort for the great accomodations & food. Always a pleasure to stay there .. great folks !!

I got to put my ESP fieldtest rods to the test ... and they worked great.
My 6'6" Powerlite was a pleasure to cast with, and the sensitivity of it was a great help in detecting the sometimes very light pecks that we experienced. My 9' Powerjig rod was put to the test with a jig/minnow setup & hook/sinker/minnow setup ... which proved to be a deadly combo while drifting around the deeper brushpiles. Both rods are feather light and sensitive to the lightest tap. They are currently available thru Grizzly Jigs, & are listed in their catalogue. I like them, and plan on putting them to good use (maybe even as early as this coming weekend ... LOL !! )

I played cameraman on this trip, showcasing my fishing buddy instead of putting my ugly mug on display. Enjoyed the trip so much .... I'm making tentative plans to return in a few days ... LOL !! So, stay tuned ... there might be a 2010 Watts Bar Adventure part deux !!

... luck2ya'll ... wherever ya go !!!

... cp

[pab1981]

Congrats looks like you had a nice trip.

[badbrad]

CP, glad you had a good trip. Those were some nice fish! I can see myself investing in one of those 6' 6" powerlite rods. They sure do have a good feel to them. Be sure and post the results of your next trip down.

[Huck Finn]

Looks like a good time, congrats guys!!

[LittleJohn]

CrappiePappy,a big congratulations on the fish,they are some good looking ones there. Glad you like your rods and they work out ok for you.
LittleJohn

[Fisherman_Wantabe]

No pics of yourself?????? Oh yea and fish !

[ugglyotter]

Great pics CP looks like you all had a good time. I went to Herrington lake last Thursday only caught 8 when that sun came up over the hills it just shut them down.

[CrappiePappy]

Yeah, it was a good trip, all in all !!

Brad ... I think you'd enjoy fishing at Watts Bar. It's been mostly a casting & dock shooting lake for me ... but, spiderriggers were doing good, too

LittleJohn ... enjoyed using the ESP rods. I think I'll keep'em :p

Wantabe ... No pics of me, this trip ... but, I caught my half of the fish :D

ugglyotter ... two words : "shady banks" That's where we found them !!

Huck/Pab ... thanks fellows, appreciate it.

... cp

[Bassky]

Crappiepappy,
Great trip! Sounds like you did fairly well. I am heading down Sat am early. We should get to the lake by noon. Should be able to get in a half day of fishing before we check in at Piney Point. Arrowhead is a nice resort. Back in the 60's and 70's (showing my age) we used to always go there every spring. Tom Bennet ran it back then. Good people and good fishing! What colors worked best for you? Fish creek channels or deep docks? Are you coming back down this weekend?
Bassky
Dave

[CrappiePappy]

Crappiepappy,
Great trip! Sounds like you did fairly well. I am heading down Sat am early. We should get to the lake by noon. Should be able to get in a half day of fishing before we check in at Piney Point. Arrowhead is a nice resort. Back in the 60's and 70's (showing my age) we used to always go there every spring. Tom Bennet ran it back then. Good people and good fishing! What colors worked best for you? Fish creek channels or deep docks? Are you coming back down this weekend?
Bassky
Dave

We didn't come home disappointed in our results !! We didn't really get into "numbers", just quality. We're not looking to limit out, just to be fishing & getting some pullage :p
We caught them on a variety of colors, but mostly those I named in the first post. There were alot of people drifting the channels, and fishing the shallow flats brush ... and doing well. We just prefer to cast or shoot docks ... and if we find them, they're usually good fish. If we don't find them around timber or docks ... then trolling jigs/Roadrunners, or drifting minnows out in the deeper water in front of the downed timber/docks is our backup plan. They did seem to prefer the shaded water ... and those we caught in the shade, were suspended above the cover, or they were tight to the dock. When the Sun got on the cover, they seemed to drop down deeper (or move out).

Like I said ... from the condition of the eggs I saw --- they'll be making runs to the bank for another couple of weeks. I've known Watts Bar Crappie to spawn in 2ft of water, next to a small cedar tree ... and as deep as 10ft, on a small pile of tree branches :p They'll do what they gotta do, to get the job done

Yeah ... we're headed back down :D

... cp