2021 10 23-24 Chickamauga TN River

[coldfront]

out both Saturday and Sunday.  trying to chase a bigger bite.  Saturday was much better than Sunday for me.  Solid fish but nothing big.
Saturday was bright skies and limited wind.  following a cool night (air temps at sunrise were 45°F) water temps started at 67°F and climbed to 70°F later in day.TVA continues to run the dams to get to winter pool ... so it's a consistently dropping water level.  flow rates at Chickamauga dam were 50K cfs Saturday and 52K cfs Sunday.
clarity ranges from clear to stained.  stained areas have that 'brown' color typical for late season/fall.  it's not turn over (river system that doesn't stratify) but as weed beds break down, shrink, a lot of the silt they've trapped through the season gets 'freed'.  there's also some folks that like to talk about fall diatom blooms (a little different than algae)...  whatever:  clarity was anywhere from two feet to one foot visibility.

from what I could see, water levels dropped from end of day Saturday to Sunday morning by at least a foot, maybe two.  lots more shoreline high and dry and covered in those wonderful weed mats.
Here's a view Saturday to give you an idea of the lake


contrast that with Sunday morning.  as I put in at Chester Frost park (Dallas Bay) I shared space with a large tournament taking off.  They were in a fog delay.  Since I had time and could be very careful, I idled out.  Fog is tough, difficult stuff.  Glad to have my sonar/GPS.  even so, found myself wanting to make 'wide looping' arcs:  really hard to 'hold a line'.  so I turned on my graph feature for 'heading extension' which basically puts a straight line ahead of me and helped me hold headings.
fog is disorienting stuff.  very disorienting.  it's fall; water temps, air temps, that whole inversion thing and dew point gets really real.  Science works folks.

on a safety note:  I will be changing out the bulbs in my running lights to halogen.  better.  brighter.  more visible to others.  reminded of that yesterday and the importance.

no one else was out running.  you can't push speeds over idle in those situations.  I was able to, with help of GPS/Map stay close to shoreline.  I could just make out the trees about 40 yards (long cast) away.  might not have been all that smart to be out... but I stayed tight to shore, didn't run on plane and had clear destinations to get to..

couple of shots (taken at 1030 am).  main lake just a bit river, 'round the bend, from Sequoiah Nuke plant



once in a while there's be a 'break'... and you could run on plane, but then you'd go into another heavy bank and shut down.  if you were smart.


back of the cove at Skull Island:  some good fish found here Saturday were all 'gone' with the big water drop just 15 hours later...



Saturday was fun.  not a lot of fish, but they were solid.  18-19 inch fish.  most on the spro popping frog.

it's transition time.  lots of fish trying to follow the shad to the backs of the creeks/pockets.  at same time, those fish are focused on the little YOY shad and can get awful selective in what they hit.
there's that 'other' population that feeds on larger bait (bluegill).  may not be as many, but those fish tend to be slightly larger and more easily targeted.  at least for me.

[Mike Cork]

What beautiful scenery. I'd get lost in the visual and forget to set the hook

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[coldfront]

What beautiful scenery. I'd get lost in the visual and forget to set the hook

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

that's the trick mike.  we all know those fish won't hit the frog until you look away...
and that little old poppin frog is getting broke in and 'soft as butter' now...

[Mike Cork]

Time to knock out the Ibass Gold and make Dale get back out there

[coldfront]

Time to knock out the Ibass Gold and make Dale get back out there

am trying... but odds are long.  do have sat/sun and will put in long hours (hearing this Dale?)... 

getting beat is no big deal...  coming in second, if that's the way it play out, to Dale?  I'll just smile on the outside... but I'm already thinking about where I could have done better, what I need to build on for next year.

now, as for THIS year?  trying to get out Thursday ahead of the front... see if I can take advantage of those tiny windows where the big girls are on the prowl...

not quitting.  not mailing it in... giving Dale all I have to give until the fat lady sings.  goes for you too mike...  I see those big girls and know that I sure as heck ought to be able to keep up with this being Chickamauga...  frankly, have let this lake down. 

[Donald Garner]

CF, man thanks for sharing those pictures with us    Congrats on the catch there also.

[coldfront]

CF, man thanks for sharing those pictures with us    Congrats on the catch there also.

it is an incredibly beautiful world we live in.  just have to look for the moments.  they're always there...
not sure heaven can be that much better...