Troutgirl

Who is this James? I'm figuring James is the code name for Todd Rundgren.

Those dam rocks might be the remnants of an island...? There was a large island in the river where the dam was built.

I just finished putting 14 pound test leaders on two of my lead-core outfits. I hope to not get broken off as easily as my last trip to Watauga. I've never before seen the largest size Church Planar go backwards so very quickly. It was straight back by the time I had the rod in hand. As soon as I picked up the rod, I felt two big head shakes and the line was broken. I'll not go lighter unless I can't get strikes with the heavier line.

I went up the Watauga River because it's the last section of the lake that I had not been to. Also, I needed some run-time on my new outboard's break-in. I thought I might find some Rainbows and Browns up there. I pulled a Dipsy Diver Mini all day long with a small spoon behind it, zero strikes. Later, I put out the next size larger Dipsey on the other side of the boat and it caught a pair of small Lakers. I'm trying to figure out where the Rainbows are in the early season. Maybe they're up the streams spawning? Browns are not spawning. Last spring I caught a Brown in the upper lake. I don't recall seeing a fish on sonar on my stroll down the river, I saw lots of bait in the deep holes.

TrophyLakerTaker, did you get to go last Sunday?

I've had the same thing happen at Chilhowee Lake a couple of times, right at dusk when I was about to quit, I picked up a Walleye. I've heard that some folks troll for Walleyes after dark. I should learn more about Walleye fishing. They're not so much fun to catch but they make up for that in how they taste!

I was planning to go to Santeetlah Lake yesterday but the wind forecast was less favorable there than Watauga, so I switched. I motored up the Watauga River till I got to a railroad bridge next to a trailer park. I decided that was far enough. What are those PVC thingies that are floating up there? They look like Water Polo goals without the nets. There were 3 or 4 of 'em. I had 4 lines out by 10:30 a.m. I put out a hoochie on the downrigger running at 15 feet, a spoon behind a Mini Dipsey Diver, Mack's Flash Lite attractor with a crawler behind it, and a plug behind a board. The water at the Rat Branch that morning was 50. It was 53.5 where I started fishing up the river. I never got a strike up there. I saw bait on sonar, always deep. That was the rule all day long. I caught my first small Laker at 1:30 p.m. as I was passing under the Butler Bridge on a plug on leadcore. I took the hoochie off the downrigger whilst still in the upper lake. I replaced it with a spoon and set it at 41 feet. When I got no strikes, then I went to 47 feet, and finally I went to 53 feet. I caught 2 small Lakers at that depth. I started catching fish again at 4 p.m. I caught a half-dozen small Lakers, all between 16-18". I kept a pair of 'em that looked badly injured. I lost, probably, my best chance at a big Laker about 6 p.m. A board with a leadcore line with a plug started going back. I got the rod in hand. The fish took a little line. I felt a couple of head shakes, the mark of a sizable Laker. Pop went my 10 pound leader. I'm gonna go to 12 pound test for my leaders for leadcore plugs and set the drag a click or two lighter. At 7 p.m. , just after I caught my last small laker, I was pulling in the lines. I left the two leadcore lines on boards for last. That was the right move! I caught a 24" , 4.74 pound Walleye on a plug. So, my day ended on a good note. Walleye is tonight's dinner. The Walleye had been eating Threadfin Shad.....

I've read many favorable things about it over the years. It's not an easy drive from Knoxville. I went to Bonnaroo about 5 years ago. We drove to Chattanooga and then hit I-24. It looks a wee bit shorter than that....but not by much. There's nothing resembling a direct route from Knoxville. .....except by helicopter!

I thought that Woods had a healthy Smallmouth population. Those are all Largemouths. Maybe the Smallmouths are spawning presently? I've never fished Woods. Now you've made me wanna try it!

To elaborate on what I was on about yesterday, I'm thinking about trolling a hoochie down the river to the lake about 10-15 feet deep, whatever seems safe. I'll put some plugs out on the sides. I wanna see if the Rainbows are up there this time of year. I know the Smallmouths are up there. They'll hit hoochies too. About 5 years ago, in the early spring, I went up the Elk River and caught 3 Smallmouths trolling out. I didn't have hoochies then and I was only trolling one line. One of the Smallmouths had a small Laker's tail sticking out of it's throat. Trout like eggs and I know the Smallmouths spawn up there and maybe some Rainbows do too....? On all my trips the past few years, I go to Rat Branch and troll out of it. I'm thinking this is the time of year to try the headwaters and troll back....

I hope to fish come the late part of next week. I'm debating between Watauga and Santeetlah. My two chilly trips to Chilhowee were disappointing. TrophyLakerTaker, would a good spring strategy for Watauga be to motor up the Watauga River arm and troll out? That's the only arm of the lake I have not been to. I need some more 3500 RPM, or less, time on my outboard break-in anyway.

The proper term is Low Head Dams. I encountered one of the ones on the Nolichucky River. We knew about it ahead of time and didn't ride over it. I think it was lower than the one in the video. It was a known hazard! We started in Greene County. I can't remember our take out locale. It's been a very long time. There's a lot of talk about removing low head dams. I don't think all that many are getting done. There's an episode of Tennessee's Wild Side that shows the removal of a low head dam on the Harpeth River near Nashville.

The water temps are low for this time of year. I think that a lot of fish have been delayed in spawning because of all the high water the past 6 weeks. Now, Fontana has cut it's releases the last few days to fill up the lake. The temps will go up. Fontana is a refrigeration machine. It's releases very seldom go above 50 degrees even in the summer. I was really encouraged by how many baitfish I saw. You can see one in the picture of the Rainbow with the hoochie. It coughed up a minnow when I got it in the boat. It's right below the fish's stomach in the picture. I saw very few blips that represented large fish feeding on the bait. There were hundreds of small pods of bait in the mid lake area.

It can be even worse that that video beneath big dams like T.V.A.'s. Folks have drowned who were wearing PFD's. A hefty hydraulic effect can still hold you underwater. I almost drowned in a meek hydraulic on the Hiwassee River, the de-watered part above the Apalachia Powerhouse. When I was a teenager I went on float trips with my church group. We'd already been down the Little T a a couple of times, so, somebody decided we should try the Hiwassee River. Nobody understood how de-watered the stretch between Apalachia Dam and it's powerhouse was. We had to drag our canoes over nearly every shoal. I was pushing the front of the canoe over a shoal. My partner had the rear. Thinking the dried up shoal was meek, I jumped in holding the rail of the canoe but the water pulled me right down into the deep hole the river had dug out. I'm 6 feet tall and I never touched bottom. I was held under for about 45 seconds. I kept trying to swim up and I could see arms reaching down for me. On about my forth attempt to swim up I got up enough to have my wrist grabbed and was pulled out...I had drifted a few feet downstream and the pull was lessened. You'd never think it could be this dangerous in an egregiously de-watered river but that was a close call! Water is so much more powerful than than many folks can apparently conceive.

I went to Chilhowee this past Tuesday to fish and run my new outboard some towards my break-in. The fishing was slow. I managed 2 very small Rainbows on a pink & purple hoochie and a Smallmouth on a plug. I saw very few fish on sonar. I saw lots of baitfish on sonar in the mid lake area. One of the little Rainbows coughed up a minnow when I got it in the boat. I'm wondering if some of the bait I saw was schools of small Rainbows...? I think that fishing has been extra slow because most of the adult fish have been trying to spawn but had a hard time doing so because of so much high water....??? I suspect most of the fish have been up either Abrams Creek or above the Calderwood Powerhouse looking for love...??? The surface water was 48 when I arrived in the morn and went up to 49 by late afternoon on this very cloudy day. I may head to Watauga next time out. Chilhowee is gonna need a few seasons to get back in it's groove, it would seem....