Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Fishing Report for Wheeler 7/3/2016

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If you were following me on Facebook, you might have known that I was on vacay last week, culminating in an awesome experience in deep sea fishing with  Sea Leveler Sport Fishing Charters. If you didn't read the fishing report, go check it out.

We got home late Friday night and Saturday I busted my tail around the house. Late that afternoon, I treated myself to a short fishing trip to my uncle's pond a few miles away. The fishing was pretty tough, but I was able to target some fish with a Spro frog. 

Of note was this absolute toad that hit just 5 feet from me. The combination of the short line, weight, and my stupid hard hookset resulted in a broken H2O XPRESS Ethos 7/3" heavy rod.

On Sunday, I was itching to take my boat out. So, after another day of chores, I sought permission from my wife, who cleared me. 





I put in at the Army rec ramp and had already decided that I was going to fish mostly new or rarely fished waters. In particular, I was going to flip and throw chatterbaits. I was doing this to get better at techniques that I don't commonly use, but would be needing down the stretch of tournaments.

The water temp was in the mid to upper 80s and the water level was still down fairly significantly. There was no current. 

I began the day flipping wood on the main channel. I fished for an hour without a bite. I moved to the backwater area below Triana. I had high hopes for this area as it has the only grass east of Decatur but isn't a frequent stop by fishermen. Again, another hour of flipping and chunking without a hit. I fished exposed buck bushes, grass lines, wood, and everything in between.

One thing also stayed the same: there was TONs of bait and they mostly held to the shady sides of cover. 

Along the way, I very nearly got stuck. My boat doesn't take much water to float, but over the course of the hour I was in the backwater, TVA must have dropped the water a little. I couldn't get out the same way I came in! 

I was able to get the boat out, but only barely.

My next life-threatening adventure came at the hands of some pleasure boaters. As this boat was coming head-on, it decided that 100 yards in front of me was the time to cut it sideways and drag the tuber in front of me. I had to come off the pedal, duck right, and take on a wake I hadn't planned on, especially not at speed. 

After struggling more, I went to the only pattern that has been working for me on the end of the lake this summer. I went to the rod box and picked up my trusty crankin stick with a Strike King series 3. Sure enough, the pattern produced and I began catching fish. I decided to get back to the ramp before it got dark.

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