Lake Wheeler Alabama Trip October 2014

Nice fall break trip to Athens, Alabama on Lake Wheeler.  It was windy & rainy most of the trip with overcast conditions but the lake was full of fish (if we only knew how to catch them).  We (I) did finally start catching some nice crappie around the docks. Overall, the catfish fishing was the best we have experienced from a volume standpoint on recent fishing trips.  The bluegill & yellow bass were decent as well.    Spiker managed to hook into a Ginormous catfish that I accidentally dropped in the lake.  The girls caught some nice fish as well.  Hope can put minnows on her hook now and Rachel is good with night crawlers and minnows.  Hannah is limited to shrimp due to the grossness/brutality of dealing with the other bait. Steven landed a few nice bluegills. Even Jill got into the fishing action.  Spiker emptied the beer fridge.

August 2014 Fishing w/Hope on Percy Priest

I went fishing recently with my youngest daughter Hope on Percy Priest Lake.  She caught several nice fish including this hybrid striper.  The fish were caught on minnows and crawlers at 12-15 feet.  I really enjoyed getting out on the water with her.  She is a great fisher-women and daughter.

Percy Priest Monster Yellow Bass

First spring outing on Percy Priest Lake was a success.  Fished the backwater creek channel heading out into the main lake in about 5 feet of water from boat.  We had 6 to 8 rods with slip bobbers set down 3-4 feet tipped with medium sized minnows.  Caught 15-20 crappie, several bluegill & bass and some yellow bass.  One of the yellow bass was Moby Dick's little brother......HUGE.  See the picture below with the large yellow bass in the middle.  It dwarfed the normal sized yellow bass below it.  The water was dirty and around 52 degrees.  Air temperature was 38F at first light warming to 50F.  Winds were out of the northwest 5-10MPH on a partly cloudy day.

Ross Barnett-All Crappie-No Bluegill Lake

I have been living in Madison, MS now for about 7 months now and have never seen a lake were you could not catch large quantities of bluegill but could catch crappie any day any condition.  I catch 20 crappie for every bluegill I land on Ross Barnett.  Almost unheard of.   Of course in Mississippi, they call crappie "white perch".  Maybe that is why I catch so many. 

Went out for 4 hours this morning. It was very sunny out, so I fished under a bridge for most of the morning.  Caught 20 nice keepers (10-14 inch) again the old fashion way. Caught half of them straight lining about 22 feet down in 30 feet of water. The rest were caught on slip bobbers about 10 feet down in 20 feet of water.  Only landed one other species of fish, a small channel cat.  I did see what appeared to be some incredible striper surface action though.  I don't think my 4 pound test would hold up to that. 

December Crappie on Old Hickory

Went crappie fishing on Old Hickory this morning. It was a perfect day for December with morning temperatures in the 50s. It was also overcast with a strong south wind and a low pressure system moving in. Water temperature was 51 degrees. Fished 20 feet down in 30 feet of water using jigs tipped with minnows & slip bobbers w/minnows on regular hooks. Caught 15 nice keepers.

Crappie on Shrimp

Very interesting fishing outing this morning. Catchin crappie on shrimp in Old Hickory Lake. 16" big one in the picture.

Claytor Lake 2011

This year was another good fishing year. Weather was mild and overcast with moderate winds and a water temperature of around 72 degrees. Caught the majority of fishing 8 to 10 feet down in 10 to 20 feet of water. Caught several large channel catfish, a variety of bass, some nice yellow perch and a lot of decent bluegills. Also caught a large stinky snapping turtle.