Lunch Time 'Gills

After a wait that was far too long I finally got to head to the lake. Friday morning and I went to teach a class only to find out it was changed to next week. From there I went to a meeting where the lady looked at me with glazed eyes when I told her some pricing. Guess she thought working all day plus buying material wasn’t worth $25.00. So, I went fishing.

I had planned on going anyway but after all that I had to get away for a few minutes. I stopped off long enough at Big Charlie’s Bait shop and Fried Pie Emporium to grab a tube of crickets and an apple pie. Driving the last few miles munching on fried dough and apples, hoping the recent floods hadn’t done too much damage I was happy to just get out. As I pulled into one of my favorite spots to fish for bluegill I saw signs of the flood laying in the parking lot far from the lake. Logs and smaller debris were everywhere.

I grabbed my gear and started picking my way through a big drift line littering the picnic area. Twigs to logs, it was everywhere along with mosquitoes approximately the size of sparrows. Seems flood waters make for a great skeeter breeding ground.  But I was going fishing.

I got to my spot which is the top of a bluff that is just at water level. The river channel runs against the bank and drops off to 85 feet just a few feet off the bank. Schools of bluegill cruise along just a short cast away, I usually find them down 3-4 feet. I rigged up with a Thill slip float with a bobber stop, enough split shot to pull it upright and a #8 long shank light wire hook. I put on a worm from my backyard worm ranch, threw my first cast and within a few seconds had a nice ‘gill on. The next 6 casts produced fish on worms and crickets.

Just right of my rod tip past the submerged rock is the spot.

Keeping it simple. Crickets, worms, hooks, sinkers, floats and a couple of spinning rods.

As I stopped to string what I had the guy fishing beside me asked what I was doing to catch them. He was fishing just a few feet away and couldn’t get a hit. He had been there for awhile without a fish. I told him the depth, rigging and even said throw where I was casting. He still couldn’t get it right, don’t know what he was doing wrong. I baited up and threw back and they started again. I love it when bluegill are doing this which in this spot is pretty much any day from spring to fall.

Didn't get this guy's name. Note the classic black socks with shorts. Logs are from flood.

This is about halfway through the trip.


I spent the next couple of hours repeating the process. Cricket or worm, change depth a few inches at times, swat skeeters and reel in fish. Every 5-6 I would stop to add them to my stringer. Near the end of my trip 5 guys on a party barge came trolling by just as I lifted the stringer and I heard,
“Man, look at that stringer of bluegill.”  come from the guy on the back of the boat.
They all turned to look so I’m guessing it looked good to them not just me.

This is what got the comment from the guy in the boat. 40 nice 'gills headed to the house.


After 2 hours they had slowed down since it was past noon with no wind or clouds. I had plenty to clean plus was tired of mosquitoes and biting flies, so, I packed it in. After close to a year I finally got to go spend a little time at the lake. Hopefully it won’t be that long till my next trip to Priest and my standing on the bank bluegill spot.

Well, not much of an epic tale of outdoors adventure or conquest but for anyone that has gone any length of time without getting to the lake or woods you can understand this was a big deal. This was a great couple of hours even with heat and bugs. I would happily brave both tomorrow and do it all again just to watch that float disappear.

Spring Fling

Spring is slowly showing its influence around here. As things start to green up, waters warm and area lakes are brought up to summer pool, a parade of boats can be seen headed to lakes everywhere. Cabin fever is being broken after a miserable winter, fish are being caught, turkey and spring squirrel seasons are getting close. The time leaves are getting to the size of quarters on most of the trees is what we want. Early bloomers are past their peak, the dulcet sounds of the lawn mower drones across neighborhoods as they come out of hibernation to begin grazing on young shoots to ready themselves for their next winter sleep. Blue haired flower planters, another warm weather creature emerges, it can be observed head down rump up, toiling away in their spring rituals of cleaning plant beds and renewal of gardens. This is my signal to hitch up the boat, grab a couple of 6 ½ foot spinning rods and head to the river.

Yet again, I head off in a direction most people never go and to be honest many fishermen in our area have never heard of. The sexy species are active, crappie are going nuts, bass are hitting, even lowly catfish are being loaded into boats but I head down to Cheatham Dam just outside of Ashland City to catch white bass, stripe in this neck of the woods. A fish available all year but spring, summer and into fall brings on a bite hard to pass up. Downstream from Cheatham Dam or upstream from Clarksville, this stretch of river is a stripe hunter’s playground.

Spring is spawning season for stripe and first to arrive are smaller males followed by large egg laden females. On local rivers huge numbers congregate below dams, at the mouth of feeder creeks and along banks special only to them. The last two are where I head. I know if I sit upstream near the dam I can catch fish all day, so does everyone else fishing here which works to my advantage since they won’t go hunting fish. Years ago I was shown spots downstream where fish stack up in huge schools along unremarkable banks or in eddies formed by creeks feeding the Cumberland. Another good part is the simple tackle used to catch fish till your arms hurt. A ¼ oz plain lead jig head and a 3-4” soft plastic twister tail in white is cast into the current attached to a spinning rod loaded with 10# test. If you want to get fancy a #7 Countdown Rapala in shad is added to your baits or maybe a small Little George.

Running downstream from Cheatham river banks rise on both sides in plain dirt walls with a few tree lined creeks coming in from farm fields creating eddies fish hold in. The tricks are simple, slow your boat out in the current then bring it in quietly toward the eddy at a creek mouth trying to hold in the current to get casts into the slower water. Water from Cheatham’s turbines will push your boat out of position but a few casts along the downstream edge of the current break will bring results. After casting let your jig fall a few feet then simply start reeling without any added action. The strikes are savage no need to wonder if it was a fish. The other way is to find which banks hold fish, drift with the current while casting close to the bank to locate a school. Once you find them you can drift past a spot then circle back upstream to repeat the process. If a fish comes off keep reeling in a steady manner, chances are good you will have another strike almost instantly from fish following your’s.

I put in at the ramp by the dam. I hate this ramp, it looks like a cow’s face. Steep is being nice about it. Everything was loaded, rods rigged, lunch in the cooler, it was time to fish. Heading downstream, warm spring air keeping me company, sun finally out, no boat traffic to disturb the river and fish waiting to be caught, I‘ve been waiting months on this. Years of fishing makes it easier to disregard banks that look like fish would use them but don’t and I pass several to get to a good one a few minutes away. I drop my trolling motor in, grab a rod and start casting while spinning the bow back upstream.

The spot isn’t anything special, just a high dirt bank slowly sliding into the current with a few stumps here and there but stripe always hold here. My first drift ends with no hits, I head back to the top of the run and start again, it takes a few drifts to find how deep the fish are holding. This spot gives up 4 or 5 nice fish close to 2 pounds each. I drift down to get far enough away so the motor won’t spook the school, I’ll hit it again on the way back, start up and angle across the river to get to a small creek.

It isn’t much as creeks go, maybe 15 feet across with a small eddy, I catch fish here almost every trip, I am hoping for big females. Around cast number 3 I get my wish as one loads up bending my rod double, taking some line even. Stripe like to turn sideways or go nose down which makes big ones a hand full in current. I get her into the live well, my first 3 pounder, then catch 4 more good fish in 4 casts, this is what I hoped for. Fish are here in numbers when even a small spot gives up this many this fast without a bunch of them being little males. I let the boat drift down in the heavy current to get to my next bank just a few hundred yards downstream. Now it get easier because I know how far to let my jig fall and how fast to retrieve.

The rest of the day goes pretty much the same. Hit a spot for a few drifts, taking fish all along the way with an occasional bonus of a sauger near creek mouths where some stragglers are holding. On days like this when the good fish are here there isn’t much like it. Every few casts gets you a rod popping strike from a big stripe. I have a bunch come off during the fight only to hook another within a foot or two. My live well is filling up, exposed skin is turning red under spring sun, shoulders, arms and wrists finally give up after hours of nonstop casting and hauling in big stripe. Time to point the boat upstream and head home.

We have made this trip for many years, since I was a kid in fact. I learned to fish this stretch of river from Don McIntyre, yep Don taught me a lot about fishing (see last post). I took my Dad there years ago and taught him about the stripe. It was the only place he ever fished and quit because his arms hurt too bad to keep going. Strings of 80-100 big fish were nothing back when we kept those numbers, these days we keep less but catch just as many with sizes as big as ever.

The Cumberland is a big river, you need a boat to fish it, smaller rivers where you can stand on the bank produce big numbers of stripe, too. The Stones River near Murfreesboro or some larger creeks feeding into Percy Priest lake have great stripe runs in the spring as does Mansker Creek below Old Hickory Dam and the banks below the dam itself. There are spots like this all over, most are under fished when it comes to stripe even though they are abundant and easy to catch.

It is getting close, time to check rivers and creeks, tie on a few jigs and catch some of the hardest fighting fish around. Big numbers, good fish, simple tackle, all things that make spring fishing so great.

Summer Dreams

I’m a true fan of top water fishing. I love to fish with anything from worms dug in my backyard to custom lures but top water for me is it. The skill in reading cover, conditions of the water and weather then even more skill in working that bait to tempt strikes is the challenge I want. I hardly ever claim to have a favorite in anything but in top water lures I have three, a #9 floating Rapala, Crippled Killer in small size and a Jitterbug. These have been around forever but have fallen on hard times as other baits take their place on the lines of fishermen. This works to my advantage, fish aren’t used to having them drug past their snout every day during warm weather when top water strikes can make your day. Another technique I rarely see anymore is buzzing a spinner bait just under the surface, creating a wake that drives bass nuts. And last to add to my chances on top water days I like to swim a worm rather than drag it along the bottom. All of this I learned long ago from Don McIntyre who was one of the best all around outdoorsmen I have ever known.

I hitched up the boat and headed to Priest for some bass fishing. It was mid summer, the forecast called for a blue bird sky, blistering hot temps and no wind. We, we being me and the twins Brian and Keith, spent all winter working building fishing spots with logs, stumps, rocks and brush piles to prepare for this time of year . When spring rolled around and waters began to rise we had close to 200 spots out. We had planned well, as the water got to summer pool no brush was more than a few inches above the surface. Any poking above the surface were cut off with hedge clippers to keep them hidden. We knew our lake well and none of the spots were wasted by being placed where fish wouldn’t use them.

My favorite area was and is mid lake on Percy Priest fishing out of Four Corners boat dock. I launched and headed to the Spot bank, my normal place to begin, it got it‘s name from the number of Cordell Spots we found there during low water. This is a chunk rock bank that takes hundreds of yards to slope off to 15 feet of water. About a dozen brush piles had been placed along here and a good rock fence runs just under the surface along a long section. I had rigged with 7 ¼” purple worms and a small Crippled Killer, these were about all I fished during the summer months since I never fished in more than 10 feet of water. Don, the twins’ Dad, had taught us three baits consistently caught big fish, spinner bait, top water bait and a worm, we used these to catch many a limit on local lakes. I know that part of it was learning to use a limited number of baits really well rather than spend all day changing and hoping, those ideas worked then and work now.

I pulled up to look for a dark spot that signaled a brush pile was there. The first few casts will be with a Crippled Killer but if it doesn’t bring a strike then it was time to throw a worm to see if that would work. This simple two bait technique caught fish when cranking was just exercise. The Crippled Killer is fished in a fast twitch pause method but pauses were very short contrary to what all the magazines tell us about slow, long pause top water. I want aggressive fish on top and the worms take care of the lazy ones.

Coming along side the first brush pile, I made a cast past it by several feet and started the retrieve. The bait walked and sputtered it’s way past the dark water marking the brush without a taker. After a couple of more casts without a hit I tossed a worm past and swam it by the pile. Just as it got to my side the line jumped followed by a solid thump. Dropping the rod tip, spinning the reel handle gave the fish a second to take and me a second to tighten my line. Pointing the rod tip at the running fish I set back and had a nice 2 pounder on. It didn’t take long to boat him since I fished 17# line on my bait caster/worm rod combo. While it might seem like a fish story saying I got one right off this was normal fishing these spots during summer the fish loved them. I got it unhooked, released and moved on.

A few spots later as the Crippled Killer spit and splashed to the edge of the twigs just under the surface I saw a flash of green and silver. I managed half a twitch more before water flew in sparkling crescents as a solid 3# plus largemouth blasted out of the lake. It crashed back down then put on a show of head shakes and tail walks, thinking it was far bigger than it was. I got it in, thanked and as I tossed it back in it was probably wondering about aliens and abductions.

I spent the day repeating this process at each brush pile, rock pile or log we had put in. While not all hold fish it is an effective way to target summer bass. The good part it allows you to catch fish during a part of the day when most people are out on the ledges or stump rows fishing deep so you have the shallows to yourself. They couldn’t believe I was catching fish in 3-4 feet of water on top. In fact when I went to the dock for a break I would change baits to fool anyone sneaking a peek into my boat. During the summer months this simple method of fishing has caught me many a fish. Hot water, aggressive fish and, in my case, man made cover allowed me to catch fish when other folks struggled or went to night fishing. This is keeping with my idea of going after fish where other people pass them by or simply refuse to believe that fish are in these areas.

These are all techniques that were used back in the day but have fallen out of favor in the run faster jump higher fishing of today. These techniques worked then and still do although most people spend time trying all of the new thoughts of pros rather than listening to the grizzled old guy at the dock that knows his stuff. Many days all I need are three simple baits which can be fished in many different ways to catch fish. Some times all you need to do is step back from the glitz to find things that catch fish rather than fishermen. Here are a few pics of the baits and rigging I use to go after shallow bass on miserable hot days.
　
This is how I rig worms for swimming. I usually use an 1/8^th ounce egg sinker rather than a bullet style slip sinker but either works fine simply thread it onto the line. Instead of Texas rigging I use a 4/0 hook with a weed guard which I soften by bending the wire back and forth. This keeps it from hitting the fish in the mouth when they take the bait. Lightly clip the weed guard under the hook tip after threading the worm onto the hook. When I fish these shallow spots with a worm it never touches the bottom. You make a soft cast past the spot then add action by raising and lowering the tip of your rod a few inches, reeling fast enough to keep the worm at the same depth as you work it back. The more erratic the rod tip moves the better. You let the worm sink to different depths to find fish but don’t drag it along the bottom. Watch your line since it will jump several inches almost every time a fish hits before you feel it. This is old school rigging but still works for this technique.

The Crippled Killer isn’t easy to find in stores these days so I make my own out of cedar. The nice part is painting them in whatever pattern I want but most wind up in a standard shad. I buy all of the hardware in bulk since it is cheap then add it to the finished lures. It also lets me add larger props if I want to have a bait that creates more splash and noise.

Many days the things Don taught me 40 years ago work as well or better than anything new. Good techniques, old or new, are still good techniques to have in your arsenal. Take a look at how it used to be done, there are many surprises to be found.
　

Cats an Evolution

 My earliest memory of fishing was below Pickwick dam on a warm summer night, my family fishing the tail waters for catfish. This was the only fishing I ever got to do with my Grampa and, being very young, I was just along for the ride. A chubby little boy just happy to be out. They would build a fire, set out rods, sit around the fire cooking and waiting for fish to bite. This is special to me since it is probably this fleeting memory that got me started fishing. Fifty years on and I can still feel the rocks as I laid on a pallet made of old handmade quilts, smelling the wood smoke, watching the fire dance as night settled in and the chill as dew starts to form.

Pickwick Dam at dusk.

For years this was how I went after cats, the same as my family did way back when, cutbait or worms below a dam or a gob of chicken liver chucked into a lake or pond, fingers crossed, hoping a cat would find it. Bullheads to channel cats, from Florida to Michigan to California, over time I caught them all. I got caught up in bass fishing, tournaments and such, other fishing got pushed aside. Bass got to be work so I started looking for something fun, catfish got my attention by accident.

While fishing Percy Priest I did a lot of trolling for stripe and bass since my fishing partner couldn‘t cast for long. Priest has lots of flats covered with chunk rock where, during warm weather, stripe run shad on the flats and bass hold in the rocks. A crank bait running down 10 feet covers lots of water and finds fish. The thing is, along with bass and stripe I kept catching catfish. Channels and flatheads would turn up just about every trip. This brought up questions, why and how. Why are they there and how can I get them. This was 20 years ago and my quest for cats had begun.

Most people know about trotlines (not trout, trot), limb lines and jugging for cats. I tried all of these with some success, the problem with the first two is they are static so you are waiting for fish to find the bait. Jugging seemed to work better since the bait moved but at first it was pretty much throw them out and hope. I decided jugging was the way to go.

My first jugs were nothing more than 20 ounce drink bottles. Free, readily available plus easy to use, they worked. They do have problems, air temperature causes them to expand and contract. They will completely collapse if temps change enough. Another problem was trying to store and transport them. They were a pain to carry around plus you need a rubber band on each to hold your hook. I rigged up a bunch and headed out to where I caught cats trolling and started there. I had no real idea how to make the most of my new toys but I did start to catch fish.

Throw and hope fishermen at New Johnsonville steam plant Tennessee River.

Fast forward about 20 years, now I have designed my own jugs which are really floats. Easy to use and store they have made a huge difference in the number of fish I catch. Besides the floats I spent many years keeping track of how and why I caught fish. One thing that became clear, speed and depth control are as important with catfish as any game fish you try for. Time of year, water temps, water conditions and one of the most important, wind speed/direction, things many people don’t take into account when going after cats became my obsession. After putting in the time it now pays off every trip to the lake.

On my home lake the most productive bait for me has been chicken or turkey liver. It is hard to keep on, especially in warmer waters, but the fish love it. I fish lakes where it might be cut bait or spoiled shrimp but on Priest it is liver. I take 5 lbs for a 2 hr trip. My rigging is simple, 50 lb mono (do not use braid) cut to length, a 1/0 - 4/0 circle hook and a split shot to help it stay down. The line is cut to hold the bait within a foot of the bottom, the split shot is added about a foot up the line. I attach this to the float using a #5 locking swivel.

Once rigged for the depth I head upwind and begin dropping floats every 20 feet working back downwind, carefully watching my depth finder to follow the contours of the bottom. You want the bait to stay close to the bottom but not touching. The wind drifts the baits parallel to the bank hunting feeding fish. I repeat this at two or three different depths depending on the time of year. Pre spawn fish tend to be shallower, as waters warm their depth increases. When you get a hit the swivel allows the float to flip in the air which is fun to watch. Once hooked the fish fights the float and you have fun chasing it around till it gets tired. It is common to have 6-8 fish on at once going different directions, good times.

On Priest I fish shallow flats covered with rocks and stump rows. At deeper depths the oxygen content is low so fishing deep isn’t productive. Early in the year when the water first comes up I rig for 3 feet and 6 feet, later as it warms, I fish 6 feet and 10 feet. These 3 depths produce all the cats I want. One other thing, I only fish in the morning from 7 to 9. Cats will feed during this time no matter your location, plus, I’m not losing sleep over a catfish. When the cats stop feeding do what I do, go fish for bluegill, they are awake by then. Looking back at records I average 20 catfish every 2 hour trip.

Raymond with his two hour catch. He needed these for a family fish fry.

You can target the size and species by changing bait and bait size. Since I want channels up to 4 lbs or so the size hooks and bait I use works great. For flatheads you need bigger hooks, live bait and fish at night when they move looking for food. Big blues can be found under schools of shad where I use whole or cut shad rigged to hang just under the baitfish. For the larger cats hooks up to 8/0-10/0 might be needed. I stick with 50 lb mono on all my rigs.

One very important factor is wind. A wind blowing 10 mph is about the most I will fish in. After that I can’t keep the floats in position and they move faster than the fish like. But if you have a wind of 6-8 mph running parallel with a good bank you are in business. I have banks that are as short as 100 yards or as long as 500. Each is fished basically the same but I also target small rock piles and dropoffs. These are fished with as little wind as possible, dropping floats in a pattern around them. These can produce some very large fish that are territorial and have staked these out as their spot. In short, if it will hold a bass, it will hold a cat.

This is the basics of jugging for cats. It can be taken to levels so far beyond this it is hard to believe it is considered a low level, poor man’s technique. If you look at my bucket list this is the fishing system I am talking about. It is as varied and technical as bass fishing or as simple as you can imagine. If you like cats, have friends or kids where casting isn’t an option for them, give this a shot. I have spoiled more than a few people with a 2 hour trip to the lake without a rod in the boat. A few drink bottles, a handful of hooks and sinkers, a spool of line, there you go. Having fun and catching fish, that’s what it’s about.

Trip saved by bluegill and crappie when wind ran us off our banks. Remember it's about the fun.