No luck on watts barr Monday 1/2/17

This is my first post... I went out to Watts Bar on Monday with absolutely no success. It was overcast and threatening rain with the temperature in the upper 50s. Water temperature on the main channel was in the upper forties. I had an older friend with me that knows how to drift fish but there was not enough wind. I was seeing some fish on my fish finders but I doubt they were crappie. If anyone has any advice I'd love to hear it. I'm relatively new to crappie fishing most of My Success has come from crappie Reaper boards in late March and April. But I would like to learn how to find them and catch them in the colder weather fewer people are trying. I did manage to catch one small stripe and a few Channel cats trying to drift with grubs 1/16 ounce.

:welcome
Have never fished Watts Bar but I am sure someone will have a good answer for you on this site. Good Luck.

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Originally Posted by Dave and Lynn

:welcome
Have never fished Watts Bar but I am sure someone will have a good answer for you on this site. Good Luck.

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I wouldn't hold my breath waiting on that answer. :Doh:

I've only fished it in Apr/May & Oct/Nov ... and year to year the patterns seem to change, & sometimes quite drastically. Did not make it down there this past Fall, but the last trip down we were catching them on the ends of blowdowns about 20-25' deep in 25-30fow. Though, I do remember one trip in Nov., back a decade or so, that we caught them over brush in less than 15fow ... and some off the main lake bluffs between Whites Creek & the bay that Eden Marina is in.

According to the TWRA Region #3 Report :
Crappie: Creek channels leading into the river are holding fish. Deep secondary channels are also holding fish. Minnows or jigs fished deep are producing the better results.

Is the water pretty clear in your lake. If so you may not be fishing deep enough. I fished a clear water lake today. Fish were 32 to 36 feet deep in 39 to 45 feet of water.

Thanks for the reply, I will make it a point to look for some deep structure the next time I get to go. The lake I fish isn't really that clear but wasn't as stained as I thought it would be with all the rain we've got lately. What type of setup were you using to target fish that deep? I'm assuming they were spotted with electronics holding on structure?

Fshrofmen. Welcome aboard C.c. If you would like for us to know where you are from, please go back to your profile and edit it. Just type the town in front of Tn.

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Originally Posted by "D"

Fshrofmen. Welcome aboard C.c. If you would like for us to know where you are from, please go back to your profile and edit it. Just type the town in front of Tn.

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Ok thanks, I believe I have that changed now.

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Originally Posted by Fshrofmen

Thanks for the reply, I will make it a point to look for some deep structure the next time I get to go. The lake I fish isn't really that clear but wasn't as stained as I thought it would be with all the rain we've got lately. What type of setup were you using to target fish that deep? I'm assuming they were spotted with electronics holding on structure?

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If you're asking me : I fish water from 30ft deep & up with a single 1/16oz weedless jighead and a plastic bait (like a Panfish Assassin or 2" stinger shad of various brands). I usually cast my jig and swim it back, but will also use what I call Vertical Casting at times ... like when I'm positioned directly over the spot I'm catching fish from. The article I wrote will explain Vertical Casting : Crappie Pappy Article

As for how I found those spots ... I kinda lucked up on them, when visually searching for downed trees during a Spring trip when the fish were spawning in the shallows around the trunks of those trees. But, yes, I did use my electronics to scan the area for water depth and how deep the tree tops/branches extended out into the water depth.

Watts Bar seems to have gotten harder to fish, pattern fish, or even find fish (being where one would expect them to be under the conditions & normal seasonal locations). But, in recent years, when you do catch one ... it's a big, healthy fish. We haven't really caught many of sub-legal size in our trips over the last 8-10yrs.

Back in 2000-2005, Spring or Fall, we'd be shooting docks & catching good size & numbers. Since then, things have gradually changed to where most all the normal patterns no longer exist, and one has to do a lot of searching & trying different depths & techniques. And even that may not be sufficient.

Some blame the ash spill, while others (like me) think the change in the timing of the pool levels has been the culprit. :dono All I do know is that a lot of the spawns, over the last few years, have not been "normal" (in their timing), if they even took place at all. A couple of years ago we were catching egg laden females in late April, with water temps around 70deg, out in 20fow ... and there were no males on the spawning banks !! :yikes

I like to use the smallest jig I can get by with. Usually 1/32. I use a 1/4 weight about 18 inches above it. A big split shot will work. If your lake is stained they probably will not go as deep. They will relate to a big drop off. Stumps, brush and rocks will concentrate the fish. If your lake has a good bit of current the fish will sometimes not go super deep. I fished pickwick today. Fish there were 10 to 12 feet deep in around 15 feet of water. Holding tight to rocks and brush on steep drop offs. I prefer to vertical jig in deeper water. Precise depth presentation is key.

Alot of great information and things I'm definitely gonna try but these single digits temps was too tough for me this weekend.

Ive been catching them all week on Watts Bar. They are in the creek channels. Me and my buddy had 30+ yesterday. Came home with 14. Got 10 more today. Small grubs in the creek channels. I would post pics but haven't figured that out yet.

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Originally Posted by FishAddiction

Ive been catching them all week on Watts Bar. They are in the creek channels. Me and my buddy had 30+ yesterday. Came home with 14. Got 10 more today. Small grubs in the creek channels. I would post pics but haven't figured that out yet.

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That's awesome...are you seeing them on your graphs? Holding under bait fish or structure or just in the channels in general. I fish around the Caney creek area and sometimes all the way up on little emory. I had planned to go further south this weekend toward Rockwood and look for deep brush.

Ive left the boat on the trailer all week. Wind has been terrible almost every day and i didnt want to fight it. We getting ours way up the creek from the bank at caney creek. Could probably get your boat in at swan pond. We got a lot there also. Fishing down about 4-6 feet twitching jigs and grubs. Black and green been a big producer. They are moving up and down the channels with no real pattern. But if your not in the channel then your not catching any.

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Originally Posted by FishAddiction

Ive left the boat on the trailer all week. Wind has been terrible almost every day and i didnt want to fight it. We getting ours way up the creek from the bank at caney creek. Could probably get your boat in at swan pond. We got a lot there also. Fishing down about 4-6 feet twitching jigs and grubs. Black and green been a big producer. They are moving up and down the channels with no real pattern. But if your not in the channel then your not catching any.

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Well that's great info and I appreciate it. I caught several at the new swan pond ramp last year as far up as I could get but it was late March. I just haven't been looking in that shallow of water yet. I never can figure them out. I find fish on the graph but evidently they are channel cats cause that's about all I catch. Thanks again.

If you're going to be in Caney Creek ... try around the bridge columns. You can fish it by boat (ramp is right there) or from the bank. The column closest to the ramp will be very shallow, if not high & dry. But the other two will have plenty of water depth.

Though I've never fished there this time of year ... I have done well in Apr & Oct there, in the past. Even won a tourney there, once ... when the lake was rising fast ... and no one else in the tourney was doing much good. We won the tourney with just 7 fish, when the tourney had a 10 fish weigh-in limit (2 anglers/boat).

Now, I am talking about back in the late 80's through the early 2000's ... before the (RV) park extension was started. And only stopped going there & moved on down the lake, because of the construction ... which seemed to have run the fish out of the area, at that time.