Persistence pays off.

Sometimes they say things happen for a reason. Today I started out below dam at Nickajack. Very rarely is someone fishing the location I fish. But today someone was on it. I fished around some other areas and nothing doing there. I didn’t relish the idea of loading the boat up and going to some location up in the lake. But that’s what I did and fished same places I fished yesterday. It was hot today....near 90 degrees. My first stop was on a bank that has produced in the past but so far this year has not given up much...plus still no beds. I then headed to second spot and found a small bedding area that was not there yesterday and caught a few smallish Gills off of it and one beautiful redbreast. I turned the boat to scan areas I had already scanned yesterday and the side scan lit up like a Christmas tree and a big smile came on my face. I spot locked....made a few cast to find the line I wanted and it was game on. I boated over 80 shellcracker......nearly all of them at the 10 inch mark. Much to my surprise I also caught 17 yellow perch of a decent size. Not to mention the occasional largemouth. All fish caught on Fine Tail Banshee Area Super Ultra Light 6 foot trout rod. The line was 2.1# test ester and lure was either a Bison or Sow Bug colored Trout Magnet on a Daiwa Gekkabijin 1.5 gram jig head with #8 hook. I really didn’t want to leave......but with an 83 mile drive ahead of me I reluctantly did so. It is amazing how quick they can carve out a bed....these beds were not there yesterday. I’ve had a fantastic spring so far....with Gills....crappie.....Smallies....and now the shellcracker. Unfortunately I won’t be fishing again until next week. Life is good!

Regards



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Fantastic day, Randy!!! That's a dream day!

Very nice read and some great pics of your bounty too. Very well done and I'm sure well worth the long drive.
Thanks for sharing your HOT day on a hot day.

Great report. Optimism and persistence pays off!


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Originally Posted by redearhoosier

Fantastic day, Randy!!! That's a dream day!

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Thanks....when you find those beds there can be 200 or more fish in them. I think you saw my video from last spring. My son and I found a shellcracker bed several years back in a creek that was 40 yards long and about 6-7 yards wide. The water was crystal clear and you could see all the fish. It was an amazing sight. All those fish I caught today are still swimming in Nickajack.

Regards


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good job, nice fish .

Way to go love them crackers

Good job! Persistence pays off! Glad you found em ! Was headed that way this morning and had to change plans!

very nice

Awesome day! Did you let those tasty Yellow Perch go too? That would have been tough! Thanks for the report. Did you make a video of this trip also? Hope so.


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What was the water temp where you were fishing. It was 71 - 76 degrees on the lake I was working on today. Wish I would have been fishing.


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Great catch and find. Never caught a Yellow Perch up here. You have been very lucky this Spring, lots of nice fish caught and filmed. Hope to see the video soon.

Looking good! Way to stay with it!


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Nice Perch just right eating size...Looks like things are starting to heat up down there...I was supposed to be in East Tn. this week and next week fishing with my Nephew but he got called out to a job site in Tx...

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Originally Posted by D10

Awesome day! Did you let those tasty Yellow Perch go too? That would have been tough! Thanks for the report. Did you make a video of this trip also? Hope so.


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Thanks....I did not keep any fish. I will keep some on occasion. Yesterday water temps had gotten up to 78 degrees by afternoon. My livewell is not aerated and just has a fill pump on it. I kept some fish the other day and they were stressed pretty bad when I pulled out. It is now the time of year I need to carry a cooler with ice if I want to bring fish home. I did do a video but am several videos behind. Should have it up in a few days.

Regards

Quote:

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Originally Posted by StantheMan2567

Great catch and find. Never caught a Yellow Perch up here. You have been very lucky this Spring, lots of nice fish caught and filmed. Hope to see the video soon.

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Thanks much. Hope to have video up in a few days. Yes I have been very fortunate this spring no doubt. I was afraid I might miss the shellcracker spawn as one really needs to be on the water darn near every day to make sure you find them before they're done and gone. Between the bad weather days.....me putting off my hip replacement for too long.....I am missing too much time on the water. I need to take a day and go to Nickajack just to catch and keep yellow perch. More and more of them are showing up there.

Regards

Man, that's great!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alphahawk

Thanks much. Hope to have video up in a few days. Yes I have been very fortunate this spring no doubt. I was afraid I might miss the shellcracker spawn as one really needs to be on the water darn near every day to make sure you find them before they're done and gone. Between the bad weather days.....me putting off my hip replacement for too long.....I am missing too much time on the water. I need to take a day and go to Nickajack just to catch and keep yellow perch. More and more of them are showing up there.

Regards

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I have not eat just Yellow Perch by themselves. We would catch them in SC on Santee Cooper lakes, but the fillets were always just mixed in with the Crappie or Crackers or what ever else we caught cooked and cleaned. I hear they are good eating, as are the White ones, just never ate them exclusively. Going to do a little reading up on them. We eat a lot of fish, and have settled in on Gills and Specks but would like to try some of the Perch.


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Originally Posted by StantheMan2567

I have not eat just Yellow Perch by themselves.

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Best freshwater fish I've ever eaten.

IMO, it goes like this:

Saltwater fish > Yellow Perch > All other freshwater fish

Great trip Randy. Glad you got into em. I see the video posted, I think, and I’ll look into it next. I’ve had yella’s and they are very good.keep the outside flavors light the first time so that you can enjoy the flavor of the fish. You won’t be disappointed. You make moving back to TN more worth it all the time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by D10

What was the water temp where you were fishing. It was 71 - 76 degrees on the lake I was working on today. Wish I would have been fishing.


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It was 77 degrees when I got off the water.


Regards

Quote:

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

Great trip Randy. Glad you got into em. I see the video posted, I think, and I’ll look into it next. I’ve had yella’s and they are very good.keep the outside flavors light the first time so that you can enjoy the flavor of the fish. You won’t be disappointed. You make moving back to TN more worth it all the time.

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Thanks much....I've had them before when I lived over by Pickwick. Used to catch them in the winter crappie fishing......but over there nearly all you would catch were only about 6-7 inches. Nickajack evidently has a pretty decent population of 10-11 inch fish. I love TN but Murfreesboro is growing way too fast for me. My wife retires in 2 years and we are considering Arkansas....but that is not in stone.


Regards

Nice!Happy for you!