Good morning Tennessee

Good morning,
I am a new member here, and would greatly appreciate some help.
I am coming to Lake Chickamauga (Soddy creek area) for spring break with my family. We will be spending lots of time in Chattanooga to see the city, but will also be bringing the boat in hopes of catching a few slab crappies. I'm wondering what types/colors of baits I should plan on bringing. I am setup on my boat for walleye trolling, and am wondering if that tactic will work for early April crappies. Any info would be greatly, greatly appreciated

Thanks.

Not sure how you're set up for the walleye, but generally most people trolling are going to be using jigs or minnows for crappie (longlining, spider rigging, etc). 1/32 or 1/16 (or combos in that range). Some use planer boards. Generally most rods for trolling jigs are UL. Some do troll crankbaits with heavier rods, but not sure if that's too early in the season (not my lake - I'm up in Knoxville - and I haven't gotten heavy into trolling CB yet - I know it's popular in the summer). A lot of guys single pole, too, jigging structure, casting, etc. Sounds like you were wanting to troll though. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info. Honestly I would rather not have to troll. I do enough of that here! I was just wondering if that was going to be my best option for covering a lot of water. Should crappies be venturing into spawning areas by the first week of April? I know the answer to that question may be weather dependent, but generally speaking.

I can't speak for the Chick, but water temps on Ft Loudoun yesterday were 52-56, in the afternoon, at least where I was. Loudoun is separated by Watts Bar from Chickamauga. My guess is they will be in spawning areas the first week of April. That's my 2 cents, and I probably owe you some change!

Thanks a lot. Hopefully we can find some in shallow.