The water temperatures are on the rise. Some coves are in the upper eighties and the mayflies are starting to hatch on Watts Barr.
Stripers (rockfish) are being caught below most dams. Melton Hill has been productive for several weeks. The regulars are doing well in the evenings with top water lures from the bank and a few fishermen are having good success drifting live 4 to 6 inch gizzard shad. Some fishermen are targeting the larger fish with 10 to 12 inch live hickory shad that they are bringing from Loudon. Keeping the bait live and in good shape is a must for success. On recent trips it was obvious if your bait was not active your number of strikes was greatly reduced.
Below Ft. Loudon dam has also has been productive. Drifting gizzard shad, white or chartreuse buck tails jigs tipped with a twister tall grub have all been productive. Late in the evening after the guides had called it a day and most recreational fishermen have left, the stripers start feeding on the surface making them easy target with top water lures. Red fins retrieved slowly generating a v-wake have been the preferred lure.
The fishing below Watts Bar Dam has also been productive even though bait has been very unpredictable, some days nonexistent. One evening, while fishing with Jon Russell, we had to switch to spinners just to salvage our trip. I was unable to find any live bait even though the waters were loaded with shad the night before. Even though I wasn’t able to catch any bait, the throw net was still productive. With one cast of the throw net I got 5 white bass and then a couple more on the next cast. We continued to fish the area that I caught the fish in the net and it produced several large white bass on spinners.
White bass are starting to break in the evening in the usual spots, big catfish are being caught everywhere and grappling time is here for the more daring. While on the water, enjoy the view in the sky as lots of osprey and several bald eagles are present throughout Watts Bar Lake.
After a friend told me that he had caught several stripers below Watts Bar dam, my nephew joined me to give it a try. Pulling up to an eddy that has often been a good place to catch bait, I noticed several large paddle fish cruising the shore line. We decided to try our luck at snagging one. I rigged up two single hooks and a bell sinker below and my nephew tossed the rig twice before hooking one. The fish started out strong spinning and jumping but tired quickly. After dislodging the hook and taken a couple photos we released it.
My try was as equally successful. One more a piece and we switched over to striper fishing. An hour passed without a single striper strike and darkness starting to setting in. As we prepared to leave I talked my nephew into letting me snag one more paddle fish – it turned out to be the biggest of the trip.
Take someone fishing, Greg