What a wonderful day to end the year, 65 degrees and partly cloudy on Dec 31st. Better look out East Tennessee weather can turn in a hurry. Anyway, it has been a good year and I finished it up on a positive note this afternoon right before dark. Had to run to the store to pick up a few items and somehow my truck turned towards the local creek mouth where I have been pitching UL jigs with some success. Nothing big mind you, except for a few temperate bass that test your drag and line strength limits. The recent rains muddied and raised the main lake but the creeks have already started to clear. Add some warm sunshine and the shallow incoming waters were teaming with baitfish. Immediately old Speckled Belly thumped my offering.
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This one had the Racing Stripe on his nose, and it sort of matched the Bison Colored Trout Magnet in his mouth. Black Nosed Crappie are prevalent in Cherokee. I caught him using the Shimano Soare BB UL rod spooled with 3lb Ester. Next cast and something large and mean took my offering in one big yank. Oh well, part of it I guess. I brought my other rod to get a side by side bite comparison of the Ester and the Nanofil spooled on my other UL. The Gills were whacking the Lunkerhunt Spade grub with great enthusiasm, this one was about the average size this evening.
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The Nanofil floats and kept the grub higher in the water column but I still think the bite detection is about the same in the shallow waters. Will take them out this Spring to get a better feel for the deeper bites. Tipped with a small larvae the Spade grub shined for the last few minutes of light with 4 more Specks landed.
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No monsters but great fun. The last fish came right at dark and the flash kicked in automatically for the final shot.
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All fish were released on this last day of the year to grow up. I hope everyone has a safe and prosperous 2019.
Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app
