Watts Bar 5/9

[MJohnson]

Went out today and caught a few. Got started probably around 8-8:30am. I was just drifting and tight lining minnows in a cove below Tellico dam. I caught a bunch that were short and ended up with 3 keepers. I am still getting used to my boat and trying to control the trolling motor and watch my rods at the same time, I know I missed several fish trying to keep the boat pointed the right way. I was using two rods at first, but I gave up on that pretty quick, you know how it is, every time I would get a bite on one I'd reach for it, and about that time the other would start, and I'd miss both. Or I'd be trying to put a minnow on one and get a bite on the other. It also seemed like they would only hit it once for just a split second, and by the time you could grab it out of the rod holder they were long gone. I had to just hold the rod to be ready to set the hook right away. After a while the crappie quit and I started catching small channel cats and yellow bass. I moved down the lake then to find some new spots, didn't catch any more crappie but caught 2 largemouth, a smallmouth, and several more channels.

The crappie were kinda scattered, they were all suspended anywhere from a foot off the bottom to maybe only 3 feet deep in probably 15-20 FOW and the females all still had eggs in them. I tried a really good looking bank that had a sandy, gravely bottom and a bunch of submerged brush, it was on a kind of shallow flat right off a bend in the channel, that's where I caught the bass but no crappie.

[Kingfish1]

sounds like you are getting the hand of it and finding spots/areas to fish. thanks for sharing the report.

[jimp]

Good report, the one female I caught yesterday still had eggs as well, and all the big fish were deep, staying 1-2 feet off bottom everywhere I went. Felt like I needed a dredge to catch fish. LOL. Be glad you had action on both rods, some days you won't have any action and then you wish for just one bite.

[Dave and Lynn]

With fish still having eggs it should be good this week with the full moon. Go get them if you have a chance. I will be working my butt off this week to get caught up so I can get out next weekend. Good report. You will be an expert with the trolling motor in no time.