Watts Bar Adventure 2008

[CrappiePappy]

Alrighty then .... here's the scoop :

Headed out early Fri AM and got on the lake around 9AM (after the obligatory stop at Wallace World for licenses & food). Lake appeared to be down about a foot from Summer pool, and fairly clear (vis about 2ft to almost 4ft, in places). Sorry, no water temps, but it was reported to be around 60deg.
Lake was calm and the sky was sunny. We stayed at Arrowhead Resort, and fished mostly in that creek (Rector Branch), never getting any farther away from there, than Half Moon Island (mouth of Whites Creek). When we started, we were shooting docks. But, that soon proved to be mostly a mistake. As it turned out, the Black Crappie were not at home. We then went to deeper brush, as had been the report from some of my local contacts/site members. Bingo ... fish on. Friday's tally was a limit apiece, for my partner and myself. Brought 22 of the bigger fish in, and cleaned 'em.

The Haul ... (crushed beer can for measuring scale ... LOL !! )


Partner Paul with a nice one :


Saturday ... awoke to interrmittant rain showers, but nothing heavy. Finally started to clear, and off we went. Fished thru our same "milk run" spots, in Rector Branch, and picked up a few. Wind got up a bit, so we looked for sheltered banks to fish. Ended up at a pea gravel bank, on Half Moon Island, and fished for awhile. Decided to head to another spot, when disaster struck. Battery wasn't up enough to start big motor ... hand cranking proved to be a lesson in futility, but along came our rescuer. Cell phone troubles kept us from contacting home base (Arrowhead), but a passing boat saw us trying to crank the motor, and offered a tow. After we got towed in, we put the battery back on charge. Just on a hunch, and because the battery was only two years old (and used little), I decided to check the water levels. Yep ... below the plates. Partner hadn't checked water levels :o during the monthly charge ups. OK ... another round trip to Wally World ... this time to get distilled water (several stops, along the way, proved fruitless). Back to the boat & charged up the battery ... and added the water. Then, a nagging thought crossed both our minds .... would it work, and not leave us stranded again ?? Not taking any chances, it's back to Wally World, and a new battery. Saturday is over and done. Tally for the day ... 13 fish to clean. Not "too bad" for a shortened day, post frontal conditions to boot.

Partner Paul with another nice one ..


Some of my better ones ...



(only 1 Black Crappie caught during the trip)


Sunday ... fished about half a day, caught and released 8 fish. Same depth, same techinques, just a little slower to bite. Packed up and headed home.

Ok, now for the "details" :
Depth : 14ft seemed to be the magic number
Baits : tube jigs, Whirley Bee, curly tail grub, Crappie Slug
Colors : (tubes) yellow/char, blk/char, blue/char, green/char -- (curly tail grub) orange -- (crappie slug) Popsicle, Firetiger
Jighead weight : 1/16oz weedless
Technique/methods : casting to submerged brush -- shooting docks
Tally for the trip : 55 keepers caught (in a somewhat shortened 2.5day trip) ... 40 fish kept to clean & bring home.

And so, another "adventure" ends, all too soon .... looking forward to the next one !!

... cp

[crappiecrazy]

Good report and pictures.

[opie13]

Nice trip and great report. I think we all have battery trouble at one time or another.

[FSHNJON]

Nice job ,good trip and very good report thats what makes thia site great.

[Herewego]

Nice trip and great report.

[oldwun]

Sounds like you had a great time. Good times...... Good friends and you were in Tennessee. How much better can it get.

[yankee doodler]

Excellent report Pappy! Liked how you laid the blame for the battery on your partner...knew there was a good reason to ALWAYS have one. LOL. Nice pics and great keepers. I'm back up here in Michigan hunting the specks around here and finding them in 2-5' in water at 56-58 degrees. They are just moving in to start the beds by the looks of it. Couldn't get a nibble on the traditional live baits or even on jig heads tightlining. Had to break out the flyrod and then it all came around. Missed a half dozen by being to quick on the trigger, then landed eight nice ones for up here (11-13") in the last hour. It's great fightin' slabs on a flyrod, maybe better than tightline. Posted a Pic of a few that I caught a couple days ago on the Michigan page.

[SOWDADDY]

Glad you had a good trip up in this neck of the woods.

[GREENFISH]

Great post and pictures CP! It looks like the fishing was good aside from the other bad luck. Glad you got to catch a few.

Take care,
Greenfish

[CrappiePappy]

Excellent report Pappy! Liked how you laid the blame for the battery on your partner...knew there was a good reason to ALWAYS have one. LOL. Nice pics and great keepers. I'm back up here in Michigan hunting the specks around here and finding them in 2-5' in water at 56-58 degrees. They are just moving in to start the beds by the looks of it. Couldn't get a nibble on the traditional live baits or even on jig heads tightlining. Had to break out the flyrod and then it all came around. Missed a half dozen by being to quick on the trigger, then landed eight nice ones for up here (11-13") in the last hour. It's great fightin' slabs on a flyrod, maybe better than tightline. Posted a Pic of a few that I caught a couple days ago on the Michigan page.

I didn't "lay the blame" ... it WAS his fault :D (his boat, his battery) But, to his defense, he was used to a sealed battery, having had one that lasted for many years ... with no need for checking water levels. I think his monthly charging had boiled off enough water, to expose the plates ... since the boat hadn't been used very much, since last Oct. (his youngest son may have used it a couple of times, during that period)
Anyway ... I did get him to purchase a group 29, to replace the group 27 he'd bought two years ago. There's only the one battery, to run everything on the boat. The problem is lack of space for more than the one battery. And that creates another problem that will have to be addressed. The group 29 has taller posts, and his rear hatch lid won't close all the way, now :o ... so, if he decides to keep this battery, there's going to have to be some jury rigging done :D

... cp