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Ended up letting it go, 17” sauger jigging a spoon

25 inch laker

Rex and I hit Chilhowee this past Thursday. We got there early and had lines in the water by 7:40 a.m. We trolled around the middle of the lakes for hours and caught nothing but Perch. We saw scattered small bait pods and marked a few scattered fish. About noon the wind came up and we decided to go up Abrams creek. We motored to the back of the creek and trolled out. I put out a downrigger spoon at 3 feet and we hadn't gone more than 40 yards and I caught an 18" Largemouth. About 15 minutes later, Rex caught a nearly 18" Rainbow on a small Rapala rap plug. As it got deeper, I dropped the downrigger spoon to 7 feet. That yielded a nice 16" Rainbow. We trolled back into and out of Abrams creek again and didn't get anymore strikes. We decided to head home. We kept the 4 largest Perch and we had 2 nice Rainbows and the Bass. I've mostly fished Chilhowee in warm months when nearly all the Trout are in the main lake. So, I'm learning something by fishing the lake this late. The fish are scattered. We never saw a large concentration of fish on sonar in the main channel. We saw the most baitfish on sonar between the ramp and Abrams Creek. The main lake went up and down between 57-59 degrees. The back part of Abrams was 55-56 degrees. That surprised me. If I get more trips in this fall, I'll definitely be going into Abrams Creek again. There were a few small bait pods in there and we marked a scattering of fish.

I'm a turd fisherman after today. Went over to the Big Indian and first fish was nice 2lb keeper Lm. Then we managed 3 more non keepers with one being a small. Loads up around 130 headed to Walters bridge. The TRD I fished was mostly chartreuse , don't know the color and my pal fish a green pumpkin turd. We had 6 sauger that were keepers and we had 2 short saugers. I don't know the difference but my pal did. And we had 8 keeper SM with 2 being 4 lbers and 3 pushing 3 lbs. Great day thanks to TRD. Got pics on phone---don't know how to post them

Took a break from the deer woods and ready for fresh broiled trout. Nice day on the big W. Fished 8 to 1. 8 Lakers and 2 small mouth. Water temp 53 degrees. Fish were all over from 25 to 70ft, so the lake has flipped. Nice to be able to release feisty lakers again

I know where there’s 12” crappie....

We had the first Jocassee tournament yesterday. It was a great day. Foggy start but cleared off quick and and the wind picked up. Made the day interesting. I went 8 for 9 with 6 trout all over 2lbs and 3 bass. Lost my first fish of the day which was a beast right be hind the boat. Ended up catching lots of 2lbers. Took one nice brown that was over 3lbs. Finally at around 1:30 I hooked what felt like a good fish on the downrigger at 40ft. After a 15 min fight I got it in the next. Turned out to be my PB for trout. Went 6.18 lbs on the tourny scales and landed me first place. Not a bad day when you're fishing by yourself and not got a net man. Thanks be to God for keeping calm and helping me land it. Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Most sauger over 16" at this time of year are females, so letting it go was a good thing. Reason TWRA has a limit of 1 over 16" on Douglas. Thought you might want to know.

Good looking mess of filets.

Nice bunch of fish, Rusty. Dada will be putting his big red X on your boat. LOL

That doggone Rusty----I just might tell how much TNT he throws at those crappie! LOL I'll go to walter's bridge tomorrow & catch more---------dada 12-5-19 10:20 PM

Hanging up is the price we pay. Round heads are my all time favorite, however the ones with a single strand weed guard work well too. There pretty cheap at times if you steer clear of big brands with a keeper and use glue. Damiki fishing will get some jig heads lost too. The round head works just as well as the more expensive ones. You can get by a bit cheaper by using non painted heads. Fish don't mind at all. I like owner hooks and those look nice but I tend to buy in bulk when possible and usually don't pay premium prices. I'm kinda frugal but Rusty probably has moths flying out of his wallet when he prys it open with a crowbar LOL

Beautiful fish

10-12 feet

Very nice....he will be jealous Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got a tasty treat on the holston last night

I'm thinking of just getting the hook point in the turd , just a bit, and texas rig . Maybe just skin hook as when it floats the hook it may be attractive to Mr Fish. Possibly get a spiral like tube fishing. This little bait on light line is cooler than the other side of the pillow!

Nicejob!!! How many neds did you break off? Open hook? Sounds like an awesome day

Knox, If you "hide behind the nearest tree", you might be using horneyhead minnows. They are usually only caught by net or trap in the springtime in creeks around East Tenn & have bumps on the male's forehead, hence the name. They are usually near 3 inches long. I usually use a 3/8 oz leadhead jig right near the bottom, up & down motion. Above Walter's Bridge starts my walleye fishing in the early spring. IF I COULD STAY AWAKE, I would troll a redfin plug at 3 AM above pt 19, Norris. PS, Keep this info a "SECRET" LOL dada 11-12-19 2:30 PM

Walleyes are caught BELOW the dams, Ft. Loudon. Douglas, etc. usually in the faster waters below the discharges, with jigs. Also, if you can stay up until 2 AM on Norris, there are a few lake walleyes left . The Clinch river that flows into Norris used to be great for 'eyes, but TWRA says there are no more river strain left there. However, some fishermen says that they catch some on the Clinch, still. ??? dada 6-16-19 7:15 AM