2022 05 07 Nickajack

[coldfront]

since chickamauga has been fishing really really tough (some of this is pressure, most of it is I think is related to really really light current generation) I headed down river to Nickajack.  Arriving at the lake, attempted to put in at Marion County, but audibled as they had an 81 boat high school tourney taking off out of there.  so much for trying to find somewhere that tournaments weren't using...


Heavy rains yesterday as a thunderstorm and high winds rolled through mid day... water on main lake was stained with approximately 1.5 foot visibility.  Water temperatures ranged from 70°F to 72°F.

Day was cool and overcast with a west wind at about 8mph gusting at times to 15mph.  TVA release was 12,000 cfs.  for this time of year, that's 'light'.  best current seams, best eddies really set up between 25,000 cfs and 40,000 cfs.  Fish get a lot more active when the water is moving.
Chatted up a guy over at Talkin' Tackle (relatively new tackle shop just down the road) and we were discussing TN river current.  seems TVA is no longer needing to run current to generate electricity, so dam discharge will be almost exclusively a function of rain/run-off and managing lake levels.

wondering if this year of 'lesser/no current' will put a lot of these fish out on mainlake ledges, humps MORE than ever?  guess will find out.

Found fish on depth changes, in/around obvious spawning/staging areas.  best locations had grass (eel grass, milfoil), rocks and some horizontal timber.  3-6 feet seemed to be preferred depth.  with a lot of floating vegetation (eel grass can be a PITA) I stayed primarily with t-rigged soft plastics.  with water color, stayed with darker hues.   bite has been tough so I also downsized line to 10# flouro with 1/8 ounce tungsten weight.

boated somewhere around 15 - 20 bass in the 14 - 17 inch range.  Most were 15 - 16 inches.  Fat, blocky fish.  Probably in the 2.0 pound class with a few pushing 2.5 pounds.  this one was just a bit over 15 inches.



best of the day came off a little deeper weed edge.  just short of 19.5 inches.


in all was 'on water' at 7:30am... off at 1:00pm.  solid day with consistent action.  haven't heard how the high school folks did.  was out there last week (vacation) and worked same areas with less quality results.  at that time was tossing same baits, but on 14# line with a little heavier weight...  since there's not a lot of cover for these fish to get into trouble over, they tend to seek deep water for safety after getting hooked. 

I am using lighter lines, but 7.5 foot MH xfast rods with plenty of backbone, leverage...  this is not a spinning rod game.

[Donald Garner]

CF,
Man congrats on the catching today    Tks for sharing the trip and those pictures with us.

Really glad you had a successful outing.

[coldfront]

CF,
Man congrats on the catching today    Tks for sharing the trip and those pictures with us.

Really glad you had a successful outing.

it was a cold day.  made more so when my boat floated off the trailer and I got to go swimming to get it back.  shorts, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt are fine when you're bone dry.  but with air temps at 60°F and a breeze... found I got the shivers frequently.  kept hoping for the sun to break through; would have felt a lot better.

back out tomorrow.  different section of the lake to try.

[Donald Garner]

[quote author=coldfront link=topic=157684.msg1746002#msg1746002
it was a cold day.  made more so when my boat floated off the trailer and I got to go swimming to get it back.  shorts, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt are fine when you're bone dry.  but with air temps at 60°F and a breeze... found I got the shivers frequently.  kept hoping for the sun to break through; would have felt a lot better.
back out tomorrow.  different section of the lake to try.
[/quote]

Wow, I had that happen before also with my G3 over on Stillhouse lake.  My rope broke I had attached to the trailer.  Lucky for me it was 90dgrs and sunny