Joe Whedbee and I went smallmouth fishing at the canal between Tellico and Ft. Loudon lakes. We first launched at the new launch below Tellico Dam, and I drove up directly below the dam to get bait. It has recently cooled off a considerable amount and the humidity is much lower than normal. There was very little bait fish activity visible on the water surface. I threw the net several times below Tellico dam and finally got a few (20 or so) little alewives. They were absolutely perfect size - about 3 to 4". I couldn't get any more so we loaded up and re-launched at the canal launch. We went to the usual point and the first cast for both of us produced extremely scrappy smallmouths. Within the first 5 minutes or so, Joe had boated a 2 lber and a 4 lber. When he had his 4 lber on I also had a 2 lber on for a double! It was awesome. We stayed on the point, catching or losing a fish on every single minnow, until we ran out of bait. I then went to a slew on the right side as you go up the river into Ft. Loudoun to get more bait. I got a nice mess of 3" gizzard shad and we headed back to the point. We fished another hour or so catching a total of about 30 smallmouth. It was a fantastic evening.
On the way home I took Highway 95 and as I drove by White Oak Lake I noticed ducks on the pond so I stopped and got my binoculars out. I counted 78 male and female wood ducks - absolutely beautiful!
