Read about all of my Fishing Adventures!
Follow my Fish of 2018
Life has really sped up for the Fam and I. I'm sure you fishermen haven't been reading my Confessions of a Travel Softball Coach, but we have entered a new stage of life. Where I had been just an assistant coach who could and would fish whenever I wanted, I am now the head guy (or at least split duties with our other coach). Also, Alyse is coaching with us.
But it gets better! The boys are playing hockey two nights a week AND the baby is playing baseball. So, Monday through Saturday, we don't get home until at LEAST 8PM.
Brad and I did fish a Wilson tournament with our club and while we did catch fish, we couldn't find the right ones. With a small limit, we thought we could sneak in to a check only to find out that our buddy Wyatt found a three fish limit over 10 pounds and that paled in comparison to the 13 pound limit that took home the check. That's the last tournament we fished other than the Thursday Night Wildcats out of Ditto.
With that said, fishing time has been non-existent the last few months. We've been fishing some, but no more than once every two or three weeks. Josh and I did continue to fish the Thursday night tournaments, but the fishing was downright awful for us. That culminated during the Wildcat classic. We were caught in a super nasty storm on the first night of a two night tournament and ended up having to abandon the boat and seek shelter at a complete stranger's place. We came in late with no fish and didn't even bother fishing the next day.
So, with that said, let me run over some things that we've found from fishing Wheeler, specifically the upper end of the lake.
First, as I stated, the fishing has been really bad for us. The water temperature is still in the mid-80s and even with the rain we've had which has induced some really good current, it has had virtually no effect on grouping the fish. We have seen up to 40,000 CFS coming out of Guntersville and it hasn't done much.
I think some of that is because TVA has kept the water levels moderated and even low compared to the rain we've had.
So, main points, which had been awesome in the early summer and late spring with anything more than 25,000 CFS have been absolutely dead.
The south side of the river, just below the dam, has continually produced fish for us. Mostly, we've caught them on Strike King 3XDs, but we've never caught more than two keepers and typically lose a crank on every pass. The north side has been abysmal.
We've junk fished a good bit and small fish can be caught on top water. In fact, when you get around them, you can catch three to five.
The plastic bite has been non-existent, so there is almost no reason to bother slowing down. That doesn't mean you can't catch fish. The spot pictured above did come on a shakey head, but you can fish for an hour and not get bit. You are just better off covering water.
Although Josh and I never could get it together, he has been able to weigh in some decent bags on Friday nights in another wildcat.
I guess I'm saying to avoid the upper river, if possible. There were some really solid limits caught in the last month that ranged up to 14 pounds, but they also had one really good fish. Josh and I haven't been able to find the bigger fish, at all. For the most part, everyone completely strikes out.
As the water temps dive, the backs of pockets are really going to light up and a top water is all you need. Until the water dips under 80, I wouldn't bother.
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