Watts Bar Adventure 2009

Unfortunately, the weather was against us ... and all but rained us out on Saturday. SO ... our 2.5 day fishing trip (fri-sun) turned into a 1.2day fishing trip

We stayed at Piney Point, on this trip ... and had to fish some unfamiliar areas. Our "ace in the hole" spot was the only place that produced any fish, and luckily it was a short run from our camp. The Black Crappie, once again, did not get the memo that we were coming down, and to meet us at the usual deep water docks. Seems they were still out deep, hanging with their White Crappie buddies.

Friday was cool, but comfortable ... no wind (dead calm water). We managed to figure out that the docks were not going to produce, so we headed to our "honey hole" ... and managed to catch around 12 fish, with 6 nice keepers. But, even at the honey hole ... we were forced to fish in the 18-22ft depths. Fish were holding a couple of feet off the bottom. That's what I expected from the White Crappie ... but, we did have a couple of Black Crappie come from the same depths.
Fish were caught on weedless jigheads w/various plastic bodies (mostly tubes & Panfish Assassins) ... with Albino Shad & Popsicle being the more productive colors.

Sat - rain, heavy during the night ... and off/on thru most of the day. We hemmed & hawwed about just coming on home, but decided to give Sat afternoon a shot. We went back to the honey hole, and managed to scratch out a few more fish. But, they were not in a good mood. Finicky hits led to several missed fish. We managed to put 3 keepers in the boat, in about that many hours :( All of those fish came on jighead/minnow rigs. I did manage to stick a large catfish ... that gave my 4lb line & reel drag about all they wanted, pullage wise :D ... but, it came unbuttoned before I ever got it close enough to the surface to see how big it was. It put a serious bend in my 7ft IM8 Bionic Blade, and made me flip on the "fighing drag switch" on my Shimano Spirex 2000 (rear drag)

Sunday - blue bird skies & 15mph winds ... led us to pack our bags, trailer the boat, and head for the house ;)

Kudos to Wayne & Jane, of Piney Point ... for making our stay enjoyable. Nice folks !!

Here's the pics :

Piney Point Office/Store
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42...y/DSCF0182.jpg

Fall colors
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42...y/DSCF0183.jpg

Looking out on the lake, over the launch road
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42...y/DSCF0184.jpg

Our cabin
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42...y/DSCF0185.jpg

Heading out after 'em Sat afternoon
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42...y/DSCF0178.jpg

Lunch break at the honey hole (Friday)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42...y/DSCF0177.jpg

Partner Paul with a couple of his keepers
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42...y/DSCF0179.jpg

Me with my two slabs
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42...y/DSCF0180.jpg

A less fuzzy pic ... LOL !!
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42...y/DSCF0181.jpg

Tha-tha-tha-that's all folks !!

... cp

Your trip sounds an awful lot like my recent Dale Hollow trip. But its still fun even though it does not turn out like we would like for it to everytime. Nice pictures Pappy....thanks for sharing.

CP.....that looks like a nice place to stay...I haven't been there in about 30 yrs.
Congrats on finding ANY crappie last weekend...it sure was a stinker of a Saturday...
except for us Vol fans!

Sorry for the bad weather CP, but it looks like you all a nice place to stay and a few fish for the skillet. Sometimes it's not the fishing but who you get to fish with.

Nice pictures CP, beautiful fall colors on the trees! Rain has been a common theme lately, but it is looking much better this week.

I love hearing about your fishing trip and the pictures. It great to get away with your fishin buddy and just "eat, sleep and go fishin". I have so many good memories of "fishin buddy trips" and you always share all the details of your trips. It is almost like I get to go on the trip. But for me I have to put them off to at least mid Nov. It is hard to do with the Oct colors and weather. Thanks for sharin Pappy!

Tom

I only wish I could have had a better report to share. But, it's tough to predict what conditions are going to be like, when you have to put in for vacation 45days in advance ... and you've only got two days to find & pattern them rascals.

I think I'm going to have to re-think "when" I plan my future Watts Bar trips. I'm not sure if it's the changing weather patterns, the changed water level schedule, or just my dumb luck that's been the reason for the poor results, over the last few years. I certainly hope the reason isn't a declining population !!
I started out going to Watts Bar (many years ago), fishing for Spring Crappie, in early May ... fishing shallow brush/blowdowns with minnow/float rigs. Considering my last few Spring trip results (in mid Apr) ... I may have to revert back to my old ways :D
I'm definitely going to re-think the timing of my future Fall fishing trips to Watts Bar. I may have to start waiting until mid Nov. The only problem would be finding a place to stay, that didn't cost an arm & a leg for the room :p They'd also have to have a usable launch ramp, since the lake level would be down several feet at that time ... which makes alot of the launch ramps unusable.

Maybe, in a few years, when I retire ... and can go on much shorter notice ... I'll be able to "be there" when the action is at peak. ;)

... cp :cool:

Nice report crappiepappy,
It always rains when I plan a trip in advance too. Piney Point is a nice place to stay. Wayne was great with our party too. It would be nice to retire and fish when you want to. Those are some nice white crappie. Did you fish in the Piney River area or head up towards Whites Creek area?
Bassky