Watts Bar Adventure 2008

Alrighty then .... here's the scoop :

Headed out early Fri AM and got on the lake around 9AM (after the obligatory stop at Wallace World for licenses & food). Lake appeared to be down about a foot from Summer pool, and fairly clear (vis about 2ft to almost 4ft, in places). Sorry, no water temps, but it was reported to be around 60deg.
Lake was calm and the sky was sunny. We stayed at Arrowhead Resort, and fished mostly in that creek (Rector Branch), never getting any farther away from there, than Half Moon Island (mouth of Whites Creek). When we started, we were shooting docks. But, that soon proved to be mostly a mistake. As it turned out, the Black Crappie were not at home. We then went to deeper brush, as had been the report from some of my local contacts/site members. Bingo ... fish on. Friday's tally was a limit apiece, for my partner and myself. Brought 22 of the bigger fish in, and cleaned 'em.

The Haul ... (crushed beer can for measuring scale ... LOL !! )
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42...hotos00010.jpg

Partner Paul with a nice one :
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42...hotos00009.jpg

Saturday ... awoke to interrmittant rain showers, but nothing heavy. Finally started to clear, and off we went. Fished thru our same "milk run" spots, in Rector Branch, and picked up a few. Wind got up a bit, so we looked for sheltered banks to fish. Ended up at a pea gravel bank, on Half Moon Island, and fished for awhile. Decided to head to another spot, when disaster struck. Battery wasn't up enough to start big motor :eek: ... hand cranking proved to be a lesson in futility, but along came our rescuer. Cell phone troubles kept us from contacting home base (Arrowhead), but a passing boat saw us trying to crank the motor, and offered a tow. After we got towed in, we put the battery back on charge. Just on a hunch, and because the battery was only two years old (and used little), I decided to check the water levels. Yep ... below the plates. Partner hadn't checked water levels :o during the monthly charge ups. OK ... another round trip to Wally World ... this time to get distilled water (several stops, along the way, proved fruitless). Back to the boat & charged up the battery ... and added the water. Then, a nagging thought crossed both our minds .... would it work, and not leave us stranded again ?? Not taking any chances, it's back to Wally World, and a new battery. Saturday is over and done. Tally for the day ... 13 fish to clean. Not "too bad" for a shortened day, post frontal conditions to boot.

Partner Paul with another nice one ..
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42...hotos00012.jpg

Some of my better ones ...

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42...hotos00013.jpg

(only 1 Black Crappie caught during the trip)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42...hotos00011.jpg

Sunday ... fished about half a day, caught and released 8 fish. Same depth, same techinques, just a little slower to bite. Packed up and headed home.

Ok, now for the "details" :
Depth : 14ft seemed to be the magic number
Baits : tube jigs, Whirley Bee, curly tail grub, Crappie Slug
Colors : (tubes) yellow/char, blk/char, blue/char, green/char -- (curly tail grub) orange -- (crappie slug) Popsicle, Firetiger
Jighead weight : 1/16oz weedless
Technique/methods : casting to submerged brush -- shooting docks
Tally for the trip : 55 keepers caught (in a somewhat shortened 2.5day trip) ... 40 fish kept to clean & bring home.

And so, another "adventure" ends, all too soon .... looking forward to the next one !!

... cp :cool:

Good report and pictures.

Nice trip and great report. I think we all have battery trouble at one time or another.

Nice job ,good trip and very good report thats what makes thia site great.

Nice trip and great report.

Sounds like you had a great time. Good times...... Good friends and you were in Tennessee. How much better can it get.

Excellent report Pappy! Liked how you laid the blame for the battery on your partner...knew there was a good reason to ALWAYS have one. LOL. Nice pics and great keepers. I'm back up here in Michigan hunting the specks around here and finding them in 2-5' in water at 56-58 degrees. They are just moving in to start the beds by the looks of it. Couldn't get a nibble on the traditional live baits or even on jig heads tightlining. Had to break out the flyrod and then it all came around. Missed a half dozen by being to quick on the trigger, then landed eight nice ones for up here (11-13") in the last hour. It's great fightin' slabs on a flyrod, maybe better than tightline. Posted a Pic of a few that I caught a couple days ago on the Michigan page.

Glad you had a good trip up in this neck of the woods. :)

Great post and pictures CP! It looks like the fishing was good aside from the other bad luck. Glad you got to catch a few.

Take care,
Greenfish

Quote:

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Originally Posted by yankee doodler

Excellent report Pappy! Liked how you laid the blame for the battery on your partner...knew there was a good reason to ALWAYS have one. LOL. Nice pics and great keepers. I'm back up here in Michigan hunting the specks around here and finding them in 2-5' in water at 56-58 degrees. They are just moving in to start the beds by the looks of it. Couldn't get a nibble on the traditional live baits or even on jig heads tightlining. Had to break out the flyrod and then it all came around. Missed a half dozen by being to quick on the trigger, then landed eight nice ones for up here (11-13") in the last hour. It's great fightin' slabs on a flyrod, maybe better than tightline. Posted a Pic of a few that I caught a couple days ago on the Michigan page.

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I didn't "lay the blame" ... it WAS his fault :D (his boat, his battery) But, to his defense, he was used to a sealed battery, having had one that lasted for many years ... with no need for checking water levels. I think his monthly charging had boiled off enough water, to expose the plates ... since the boat hadn't been used very much, since last Oct. (his youngest son may have used it a couple of times, during that period)
Anyway ... I did get him to purchase a group 29, to replace the group 27 he'd bought two years ago. There's only the one battery, to run everything on the boat. The problem is lack of space for more than the one battery. And that creates another problem that will have to be addressed. The group 29 has taller posts, and his rear hatch lid won't close all the way, now :o ... so, if he decides to keep this battery, there's going to have to be some jury rigging done :D

... cp :cool:

It's good to see reports like yours with the pictures, there is nothing like springtime crappie fishing. Glad you all could get a tow, I did not think I was going to make it in yesterday with my trolling motor. I think I had better check the water level before heading back out tomorrow.:eek:

Wish I were there, just a few few years left till retirerment then I will see you all there.

I usually have fishing trips like that... minus the fish though! :D

Great report and congrats on the great fish CP.

CrappiePappy,
Got back last nite around 9:00 pm. We didn't have a good trip. My dad got sick, blood glucose got low Saturday and Sunday. We only got to fish 2 hrs Saturday and only 2 hours Sunday. We caught 6 keepers Saturday and 8 keepers Sunday. I caught the biggest crappie of the trip 16". We caught most of our fish trolling, rest casting to cover. Fish were scattered. Some had spawned some still had eggs in them. Monday was our best day, we caught 35, but only 18 keepers. Tuesday it got worse, only one crappie. The trolling motor battery died and dad's kicker motor, 6hp wouldn't run right for trolling, so we still fished for 3 hours in am. Decided to bass fish that evening and caught 6 nice bass, 3 keepers on jigs and crankbaits. Biggest fish was over 18" 3lbs or so. Bass fished Wed am from 7:30am to 11:30am. We caught 11 bass, biggest was 3lbs. 3 keepers. Caught them on black/blue jig and green shakeyhead worm. No topwater bite. That cold spell that hit last week pushed em back out into deeper water and they were scattered. My father in law and his 2 buddies, still fished, have been catching a few, but not too many. They came down Monday. They caught 6 on Mon., 8 on Tuesday, and when we left yesterday at noon, they had only caught 6. Hopefully today and tomorrow, they will do better.
Bassky
Dave:confused:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bassky

CrappiePappy,
Got back last nite around 9:00 pm. We didn't have a good trip. My dad got sick, blood glucose got low Saturday and Sunday. We only got to fish 2 hrs Saturday and only 2 hours Sunday. We caught 6 keepers Saturday and 8 keepers Sunday. I caught the biggest crappie of the trip 16". We caught most of our fish trolling, rest casting to cover. Fish were scattered. Some had spawned some still had eggs in them. Monday was our best day, we caught 35, but only 18 keepers. Tuesday it got worse, only one crappie. The trolling motor battery died and dad's kicker motor, 6hp wouldn't run right for trolling, so we still fished for 3 hours in am. Decided to bass fish that evening and caught 6 nice bass, 3 keepers on jigs and crankbaits. Biggest fish was over 18" 3lbs or so. Bass fished Wed am from 7:30am to 11:30am. We caught 11 bass, biggest was 3lbs. 3 keepers. Caught them on black/blue jig and green shakeyhead worm. No topwater bite. That cold spell that hit last week pushed em back out into deeper water and they were scattered. My father in law and his 2 buddies, still fished, have been catching a few, but not too many. They came down Monday. They caught 6 on Mon., 8 on Tuesday, and when we left yesterday at noon, they had only caught 6. Hopefully today and tomorrow, they will do better.
Bassky
Dave:confused:

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The "Bar" HAS been strange for the last 3 trips. Last Spring we caught White Crappie in 10ft of water, about the same time frame as this year. Last Fall we hardly caught anything. This Spring we find White Crappie in 14ft of water ... and all during the timeframes when we're used to catching Black Crappie on docks. :confused: :confused:
I'm hoping it's been weather related, and not the lake undergoing a change. There was that hot/cold/hot flip-flop weather deal, last Spring. Then the drought and long hot Summer, that lasted well into Fall (last Fall). Then this Spring's unsettled weather pattern. That could account for it.

We used to go around the first week of May, and fished in the shallow coves between Caney and Thiefneck, catching White Crappie in only a few feet of water ... and it'd be 90+ degrees, during the midday/early afternoon hours. Then we'd go back in the Fall, mid Oct, and fish docks and catch Black Crappie. That was what I always considered "normal" for WB. When we fished the tournies we had down there, everyone wanted to fish in early to mid April ... & shoot docks for Black Crappie. Once I figured out how that worked out, we've been going in mid April, since. And we've had some productive trips ... but, with this weather we've had, over the last couple of years, it seems like it's reversed or changed their normal patterns.

Of course, it don't help much having to plan my trips two months in advance :eek: That's why I like to hear reports from there ... so I can kinda guage what stage they're in, and where they're most likely to be (when I get there). Can't really go by "normal" anymore :p ... just don't seem like the situation gets that way, too often .... LOL !!

Sorry your trip didn't go so well. Don't know if any info I could have given you (Sat) would have helped, or made all that much difference. They seemed fewer and farther between, on Sat & more so on Sun. Don't know if it was the front, or that we were fishing over the same spots every day for the three days ?? Could have been either, or both.

Hope you gettum next time .... luck2ya ... cp :cool: