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Brad and I had the opportunity to get out on Saturday and do a little fishing. It's funny how the decision on what lake to fish took around 2 days and multiple conversations. Don't misunderstand...we weren't arguing. This is a tough time of year and we had several options. We could go to Guntersville and hope to catch some toads (And it can be done this time of year, maybe more so on Guntersville than anywhere). We could fish a club tournament out of Ditto, but just as I dread Guntersville, Brad dreads Ditto. I can't say I blame him. Of the few times we have fished it, I have yet to put him on a measuring fish.
We COULD go to Pickwick, but I needed to be back by early afternoon and Pickwick, especially the mid-lake area, is a STROKE.
We did have a night tournament on Wilson coming up this Friday, so we decided that we would hit up Wilson. The idea was to do some fishing early and when the sun came out, we would check for ledge fish before calling it an early day.
TVA was pulling around 60,000 CFS.
Water temp was stained for Wilson and there was a lot of trash on the main lake.
We put in at Lock 6 and the ramp was empty at sunlight. No surprise there. Wilson is usually a road-less-traveled lake.
We decided to check some bluffs where we had caught a lot of quality fish earlier this year when we took 2nd in a large club tournament. You can read about that here:
Army Cargo Club Tournament on Wilson Lake 3-21-15
Well, nothing jumped out at us. Meh. That's not true. The bait was EVERYWHERE and the fish were busting...just not for us.
We decided to check another spot that has consistently been VERY good for me. It wasn't good for me earlier this year, but late in the year, this place really shines. Most people who know me know exactly where this spot is. If you don't, well, let's just say it's the first major point in one of the major creeks. It features a secondary creek channel that makes a solid ledge which runs into the main creek ledge. At the bottom of the ledge intersections is a series of rocks. I stumbled across this a few years ago and it produced the most memorable 30 minutes I have every experienced in fishing.
That spot, which had seemed rather generic ended up being magical. While I haven't had the size AND numbers in repeat spots, it has still won me some important (to me) tournaments including last year's Classic, which also won me Angler of the Year in my club.
Turns out, there was another couple of boats fishing it. One was deep on the point, even further than I would typically fish. The other was inside the creek, but they could still cast to where I wanted to cast. So, we wanted to be respectful and we stayed out of their way. We decided to fish the standing grass lines. Though I had never caught any fish on a frog, I decided today was the day to break that streak. I picked up the Spro Popping frog and made a cast about 2 feed into the grass.
BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!
A fish DESTROYED the frog.
Behind us, the boat that was sitting deep on the point boated two REALLY nice fish about the same time. And, inexplicably, left!
We pulled up on the point. I like to position the boat right on the grass line and make my casts parallel to the ledge. I was throwing the Spro Little John DD. For some reason, they like it more than a Strike King 6XD.
The first cast I made was a little wide. It couldn't reach the rocks that are positioned on the bottom. I swapped the the other side of the boat and made a cast. You can watch the cast here. It's better than telling you, anyway.
After that, we decided to check main lake ledges and submerged islands. That was the first time I had done that and we learned a good bit. I expected it to be like the ledges of Guntersville and Wheeler. As you went down the ledge, you would see a fish here and a fish there. Then, a huge group that would tip you off. Instead, we found fish at the front and rear of the submerged islands and that was it.
The water was 88 degrees and the air temp was around 150, so we quit at 11.
No, we didn't catch a lot of fish, but honestly we didn't fish much.
When we got back to the ramp, it was PACKED. There was a local tournament that ended at 11. There were a ton of big bags. It looked to take 18 pounds. Of all those boats, we never saw any in the lower lake area, so I assume they were fishing the dam. That would make sense, considering the current.
When we got back to the ramp, it was PACKED. There was a local tournament that ended at 11. There were a ton of big bags. It looked to take 18 pounds. Of all those boats, we never saw any in the lower lake area, so I assume they were fishing the dam. That would make sense, considering the current.
We will see how it goes on Friday night!
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