2021 05 15 Nickajack, TN

[coldfront]

up early to get on the water, be ready for sunrise and some topwater bites.  was not to be.  got to the ramp on time BUT the line to launch was long.  High school tournament.  Okay, headed up road to another ramp, 10 minutes later and THAT line was even longer.

not to be deterred, I went to a backwater ramp and dropped the boat in.  by this time, the tournament had blasted off and the lake was being whipped to a froth as tournament anglers FRANTICALLY raced to their choice spots; only to find someone had beat them there and they had to whip around and go to another spot.  Organized chaos on the lake for the first 30 minutes this morning.  and of course, I was about 45 minutes LATE getting ON the water.  great start to the day.  plus did I mention it's a weekend?  that also means TVA gets funky with current. 

Chickamauga was spilling at 6800 cfs at 7AM.  20k cfs at 3PM.Nickajack was spilling at 16k cfs at 7AM and 26k cfs at 3PM.
so water levels dropped and were dropping through the day.  water willows that had water on them yesterday now were a pretty much high and dry.  yay.


45 minutes AFTER daybreak, wind was out of the north at 10-15.  Air temps were 45°F and I was seriously under-dressed in shorts and a sweatshirt.  water temps were 67°F and clarity was slightly stained.  could see about 1.5 foot down in most spots.

around 8AM or so the wind laid down quite a bit and we were down to just a little ripple on the water.  Sun was out, bright blue skies and it got downright pleasant (cold running).  off water at 4PM air temps were up to 73°F and water was about 69°F in backwaters.




headed over to a stretch of riprap and started working west with a shakey head.  on the 3/4 mile stretch was able to scratch out about 8 fish.  two of which were 'of size' at about 15 inches and estimated 1.5 pounds.  the rest were 'just a bit smaller'.  the other spots/areas I wanted to work were covered up with tournament guys like ticks on a hound-dog, so I started thinking and looking for those 'roads less traveled'.

kept working, moving.  found some 'backchannel' depressions that had wood (blown in from periods of high water/heavy current). Not a lot of timber, just a little.  kept working the shakey head and got this 18.5 to fire.  best of day




then switched up to dragging t-rigged tubes and lizards.  managed a few more.  one that cleared 18 inches on the board.  in the end managed 5 or 6 over 15 inches.  Felt pretty decent about that.  Lake has a rep for fishing tough and guys 'comin' in hot' and blowing out 'cause they're 'on the clock' doesn't necessarily help much.  but that's weekend fishing on the TN river.

[Bassinkorea]

Good report and great photos CF 

[bassmedic46]

Great report Coldfront

[coldfront]

i'd apologize for taking shots at tourney anglers, but boy it just wears 'after a while'.  I'd already chosen to go to Nick instead of Chickamauga due to the LARGE tournaments going off on Saturday.
sure would be nice if there were a few small bodies of water around close that folks could 'hide away' in from time to time.  I'd even settle for TXT anglers sneaking in/out of their target zones.  but nope:  when they're done it's drop the hammer and race to the next spot.
and if you shut down a bit away from a spot and TM up to it...trying to be a little stealthy, that's 'the opportunity' to blow in and shut down ahead of you.
I swear I'm not against tournaments or tournament anglers... but for you all that do it... surely you think about all those other folks out there?  I mean, heck, it a tournament guy pulls up and tells me he's fishing for $$ or points and wants to cut in front of me, I'd say no, but then they just blow out the spot on their way out anyway.

can't help but think this could be controlled by the tournament directors.
sorry folks, but 8 years of this now, like I said:  it's getting worse and it's really grating.

and MOST of them are pretty good/decent.  but a significant number are not.

[Mike Cork]

Thanks for the report. A note about the tournament anglers. Every tournament has a rule about being courteous and it only takes a couple of calls to a tournament director and a DQ or two to stop this stuff. But if no one complains a tournament director on the bank doesn't know when to pull the trigger and on who to shoot.

All of our local tournament directors won't put up with this, I promise Mother Nature wouldn't.

Just so's u knows... I sneak in and blow out if no one is around 

The kids are the worst because no one is teaching them any different. The parents, being boat captains, don't tournament fish, hell some didn't even bass fish until their child showed interest. They read about community holes, fishing pressured bank lines and the baits to use, this makes them think it's right or normal to be close to others. They aren't taught common respect that used to go with fishing. This new generations just believes it's all okay. Even tournament rules elude to allowing encroachment. "You must give a 50 yard birth to ANCHORED boats" so if you're not anchored their is no rules given guidelines.

It won't hurt to say something, especially when the kids are involved. No one wants to see one of these kids get DQ'd but maybe a talking to by the Tournament Director will help. It used to be very bad around here but the three different organizations for young anglers cracked down on it and it's much better now. I truly believe the kids don't know, now the adults are just asses.

Almost forgot
You are entered into the Dobyns Champion Series rod giveaway, post more reports for more entries
click here for giveaway rules

[coldfront]

I'll take it up with some TD's.  sorry for letting the grumpy old cow dog out...

[Mike Cork]

Don't be sorry, it desperately needs talked about... If even one young angler changes they way the look at tournament fishing because of you saying something it's worth it

And this state gets a lot of viewers because of these two lakes in particular.