Watts Bar Tailwaters Action

Arnold Cagley and I went below Watts Bar Dam today to fish the tailwaters.  We caught a few of the usual  tailwater type fish; small cats, drum, smallmouth, and largemouth.  The most interesting find of the trip was an american eel (Anguilla rostrata) I found in the boxes up in the dam. I looked up american eels on the internet and they are pretty fascinating creatures. Here is what The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website has to say:

American eels begin their lives as eggs hatching in the Sargasso Sea, a 2-million-square-mile warm-water lens in the North Atlantic between the West Indies and the Azores. After hatching, the buoyant eel eggs float to the ocean surface and hatch into small, transparent larvae shaped like willow leaves. These larvae drift with the Gulf Stream and other currents, taking about a year to reach the Atlantic coast. By this time, the larval eels have developed fins and the shape of adult eels. In this first phase, the juveniles – called glass eels – are without pigment and still transparent. In the second phase, juvenile eels develop gray to greenish-brown pigmentation and are called elvers. Juveniles slowly develop into yellow eels, the sexually immature adults that are actually yellow-greenish to olive-brown.

Tellico Smallmouth Fishin'

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!

Back in Business

Arnold Cagley and I fished the point at the canal between Ft. Loudoun and Tellico - We got bait pretty easily and caught 25 smallmouth - the best one was 2.5 lbs.  It is amazing how things turn back on after the weather stabilizes a little bit. I did really well in this spot on 8/21 and 8/25, a cold front arrived on the night of 8/25, and I tanked it on 8/26.  The weather settles down and here on 8/31 we cash in on them again.

Cold Fronts Change Everything

Scott Pastor a.k.a Fishy and I smallmouth fished at the point at the canal between Tellico and Ft. Loudoun today after work for a few hours.  The weather has changed very drastically recently.  It probably has rained in a month and yesterday a major cold front moved in and it rained a couple of inches.  So, fishing conditions are very different compared to hey days of 8/22 and 8/25.  Fish and I worked for nearly two hours just trying to get bait.  The minnows were essentially completely gone from the cove I had previously been getting them.  We got ~20 minnows and fished the point on the canal between Loudoun and Tellico and caught about 5 smallmouths, none of which were anything to brag about. Lesson learned:  Things can change fast, so if you're on the fish you better take the day off work and stay on 'em!

Smallmouth Fishin’ the Canal

Mike's 4 lb. Brozeback

Mike Walker and I fished with shad minnows at the point at the canal between Tellico and Ft. Loudoun. We got shad minnows in the first cove on the left heading upstream on Loudoun from the dam. We caught 26 smallmouth. It was amazing – we caught a couple of 3 pounders, a couple of 2 & ½ pounders and a couple of 2 pounders. Mike caught a 4 lber on the opposite point (on the launch parking lot side).

Flathead Fishin’

I fished Ft. Loudoun Lake today at the Little River; I got plenty of good sized gizzard shad and fished in the Little River and all the way up the Tennessee to Sequoyah Hills – 0 fish – I basically fished all day and got completely blanked. So…I loaded up and relaunched blow Ft. Loudoun Dam to catfish the Tennessee. I fished until about 2:30 a.m. and caught one flathead that weighed 25 lbs, it measured 39". Great picture huh?

Tellico Smallmouth

I fished the point at the canal between Tellico and Ft. Loudoun today for a couple of hours. I caught 14 smallmouth, the best of which was 21" long and weighed about 3 lbs.