BOONE RESERVOIR (10/30/08)

CHEROKEE RESERVOIR (11/13/08)

WATER CONDITIONS:
The water level continues to fall with surface temperature at 57.6 degrees. The water has a light stain color.

SUMMARY:
Largemouth and smallmouth bass can be caught on spooks, pop-r’s, jigs, bush hogs, or Norman crank baits. Fish the flats, red dirt banks, points, coves, and rocky bluffs. Fish different depths.

Catfishing is fair. Fish creek channels and bluffs with shad or night crawlers.

A few striped bass are being caught in the areas of Point 15 to 19 and Point 23 to 25. Trolling large jigs tipped with twister tail grubs or red fins have been the most affective methods. For straight line fishing use shad or jigging spoons.

Crappie fishing is still slow. A few have been caught in German, Ray, and Poor Valley creeks. Fish around brush piles with minnows.

DOUGLAS RESERVOIR (11/13/08)

FORT LOUDOUN RESERVOIR (11/13/08)

WATER CONDITIONS:
The predicted water level above the dam is 810.40 ft. above sea level, which is down a little from last week. Surface temperatures are falling slightly, but are holding right around 60 degrees with the surface temperatures rising during the sunny days. The cooler nights and days will help to bring the surface temperatures down to where the fish like it, and this will cause them to become more active and start feeding again to prepare for winter. The lake is mostly clear with a slight green tint. There is not much debris floating around anymore, but still be aware of anything that could cause damage to your boat or the lower unit, which can be costly.

SUMMARY:
If you want some crappie, look under the boat docks and boathouses. That is where they are. Sometimes they are way back under the docks, sometimes they are more toward the outer edge, but they are concentrated under the boat docks and boathouses right now. And, there are some very nice size crappie along with some pretty good bass too. The bass are really turning back on too, and crankbaits and spinnerbaits are catching some good size bass consistently. In the early morning hours there is a good surface bite on buzzbaits and jerkbaits. Submerged humps and long submerged points are a good place to look for the better size fish after the morning topwater bite. Both largemouth and smallmouth bass along with striped bass and white bass are biting fairly well and the early morning or the late evening is the best time for the topwater bite. The Pop-R and the Torpedo are good choices until the bass move back off the banks into deeper water. The jig-n-pig and the Carolina-rigged lizard or brush hawg are the number one baits of choice for bass on the rocky banks and submerged timber. Catfish are still biting pretty well just about everywhere, and jug fishing with cut bait is a good choice for some nice cats. But, cut bait down deep with rod and reel is working well also.

CRAPPIE
Improving.
5-12 feet.
The crappie are concentrated under the boathouses and docks. The float and fly or the float and grub tipped with a minnow is the number one choice. Rocky banks with submerged timber are beginning to hold some good keeper crappie. Tight lining a minnow with a splitshot around 1/16oz. is a good combination. Live minnows are top choice for the bigger ones. Prater Flats is a good choice for some good keepers. Turkey Creek and Sinking Creek are still holding a few. The crappies are moving back to shallower water and shooting the docks is working very well. Shooting the docks is a term for a certain way of getting a small hair jig or similar type bait much farther under the boathouses or docks than regular casting. But, it is a little dangerous and could cause the jig hook to become embedded in the angler’s finger. Ask around at the local bait shops or you might even find it on the Internet. But, be very careful if you decide to try this type of fishing. If you can learn this technique, it is very, very productive.

LARGEMOUTH, SMALLMOUTH AND SPOTTED BASS
Improving.
3-20 feet.
The bass are moving back closer to shore and holding on the points and rocky banks. Sinkos and flukes are taking some fair sized ones in white and baby bass color. It seems like every rocky point is holding decent bass. The Prater Flats area all the way to the canal is holding some nice sized bass. Jigs and rigs which refers to Carolina rigs are still great producers of good bass for the patient anglers. The Shaky Head worm and the one called the Spot Remover in watermelon seed or crawdad color is still doing well around the boathouses and docks along with Zoom lizards and Power lizards too. Submerged humps and islands as well as long submerged points are holding some pretty good keeper bass especially where there is a sharp dropoff nearby. Some of the deep suspended bass can be as deep as 20-30 ft. on the edge of submerged islands or long points next to deeper water. The brushhawg and baby brushhawg in watermelon color and green pumpkin is producing pretty well also. Crankbaits like the Shad Rap and Rattle Trap and the Bandits are catching some really nice bass in the 2-5 pound range. Lizards rigged either Carolina for the deep submerged islands and humps or Texas-rigged for the boathouses and riprap banks is also a good choice. Green pumpkin and watermelon seed are good color choices. Don’t forget the jig-n-pig in 3/8 up to 3/4 oz. size. Brown and orange or black and blue are good color choices. Rocky points next to deeper water or creek or river channel dropoffs are holding some good size bass. Sometimes they are right up on the bank in two feet of water. Spinnerbaits are starting to take a few decent size bass. The pearl white Super Fluke is always a good choice when the bass are hitting from the surface down to about 10 feet. Don’t forget the Sinko, weighted or weightless, is a good producer and covers a lot of water, and can also be skipped under just about anything to reach those places that a crankbait has a hard time getting to.

CATFISH
Good.
5-12 feet.
The catfish are everywhere and cut bait or live shad is the bait of choice, or you can take a throw net and catch a bunch of shad, hook 3 or 4 of those shad on a 1/0 hook with a 1 oz. sinker and throw it out next to the river channel dropoff in 20 to 50 feet of water and catch some nice blue cats or channel cats. These fish seem to be attracted to garlic scented baits. Soaking chicken livers in garlic juice or garlic salt seems to attract them from far away. Shrimp soaked in garlic juice is another good bait choice. Jug fishing is catching some very nice catfish in the 10-20lb.range. Live bluegill hooked behind the dorsal fin is an excellent bait choice for flatheads.

BLUEGILL
Moderating.
5-30 feet.
Bluegill are slowing down over the entire lake. From the canal all the way to the forks of the river, the bluegill and sunfish bite is moderating somewhat. Crickets and nightcrawlers are two of the top baits to use for some nice sized ones. Shady places are a good place to start looking for these hard fighting little fish. They will be anywhere from 5 ft. deep down to 30ft. They like rock walls and they like submerged timber, but they seem to prefer shady places over anything else, unless they can get deep enough to escape the bright sunlight. These fish are very much fun to catch and will bite just about any small offering you present to them, from crickets to wax worms, red worms, nightcrawlers, and meal worms. Small artificial baits like 1/16 ounce hair jigs in white or yellow are fun lures to use to catch these panfish. Just remember to keep your offering small, because the bluegill’s mouth is not very large.

STRIPED BASS
Fair.
3-15 feet.
Shallow diving and medium diving jerkbaits like Redfins and Rapalas are a couple of the top producers right now. Watch for the fish to start breaking while they are chasing the baitfish up into the shallower water, and then cast your plugs into the breaking fish and start jerking it back to the boat or bank. The coves around Yarberry and Cloyds Creek are good places to look for some nice rockfish. The canal between Fort Loudon and Tellico Lake sometimes holds some nice big Striped Bass (Rockfish). Night fishing for these fish is another method for finding some of the bigger ones. 5 to 6-inch Redfins are a good nighttime bait choice.

MELTON HILL RESERVOIR (11/13/08)

WATER CONDITIONS:
The predicted water level above the dam is right at 792.80 ft. above sea level. The water level appears to be dropping just a little. The surface temperatures are falling slightly and are around 60-62 degrees. There is a little debris floating here and there, but it is mostly small stuff. The water seems to be a mostly clear over the entire reservoir with a slight green tint.

SUMMARY:
There’s really no change from last week, except the bass seem to be hitting the crankbait a little more often. Jigs and brush hawgs are still doing fairly well. Some nice fish are being caught in the shallower water, but the bass are still holding on the edge of deep water channels and points close to deeper water. There are still lots of minnows schooled up over the entire lake and also lots of bigger fish chasing those minnows. There are some nice fish being caught, and it seems to be getting better every day. A good way to find some bass is to watch for the breaking fish and throw a crankbait or any kind of minnow imitator in around the breaking fish and rip it back to the boat very fast. The jig and brush hawg combination is still catching some good keeper bass. The bass seem to be concentrated on the shady banks with rocks and submerged timber and also around islands with deep water ledges close by. A good place to start is on any rocky banks or submerged timber especially with current flowing past close to deeper water. The crappie have slowed down a little over most of the lake. Striped Bass are just beginning to break here and there, but do not seem to be schooled up under the baitfish yet. Give them a little more time and they should start breaking more and more. The muskies are starting become more active and should continue to improve as the water temperature cools.

LARGEMOUTH AND SPOTTED BASS
Improving.
5 to 20 feet.
The bass seem to moving back up and concentrating close to the rocky banks especially the banks with some kind of trees or submerged timber near deeper water, especially if you can find a bank that has been shaded for a good portion of the day. Submerged tree tops are producing some fair size bass around the mouths of the creeks. Rocky banks and points along with ledges that dropoff into deeper water seem to be holding some fair sized ones too. Green pumpkin brush hawgs and baby brush hawgs are always a good choice. Instead of rigging a brush hawg Texas style, try rigging it with a jig in the 3/8 to 1/2 ounce size. Spinnerbaits in white and chartreuse are working fairly well. Deep diving crankbaits and Carolina-rigged lizards are good deep water baits. The Spot Remover is an excellent choice around structure of any type. The Sinko is beginning to pick up some fairly nice fish in white or baby bass color.

SMALLMOUTH BASS
Improving.
5 to 25 feet.
Smallmouth are still hitting those green pumpkin brush hawgs. These bass are mainly on the rocky banks and shady points over most of the lake. Don’t forget to try the shallow humps and the stump fields. Crankbaits and chatterbaits are top choices along with small crawdad imitating jigs in the 3/8 to 1/2 oz. size. The float and fly is always a good choice for smallmouth, and it works for crappie too. Lizards are picking up few here and there, mostly around the boathouses.

CRAPPIE
Moderating.
4 to 10 feet.
There are still a few crappies being caught up in the Bull Run Creek area, but they seem to have moved on back out to deeper water and more toward the main channel. Any boat houses close to deeper water is a good place to start looking. Try chartreuse grubs tipped with a minnow. Try about 4-10 ft. deep with a float, but you may have to go as deep as 25 ft.for the bigger fish. Some of the submerged timber and fallen trees on the main channel are holding some good crappie in the 12 to 14-inch range.

STRIPED BASS
Improving.
7 to 20 feet.
Watch for the breaking stripers and throw a minnow imitator into or around the school, you can pick up some very nice striped bass and sometimes a largemouth or two will be in the bunch. Sometimes you have to crank up the boat and run over to the place where the fish are breaking and start casting about 25-30 yards before you get to the breaking fish. 10 to 12-inch skipjack herring is another good bait for huge stripers. These big fish are all over the lake, but sharp drop-offs into deep pools is a good place to start looking for the bigger ones. Trolling live Skipjack Herring always seems to work the best.

MUSKY
Slow.
3 to 10 feet.
The water temperatures are cooling and that means the muskies should start to become more active soon. A couple of good lures to try are the Jointed Believer, and the Shallow Invader, which are both proven Musky catchers, along with the Bulldawg and the Jointed Rapala. Pitch either of these lures up close to the bank and try a jerk and reel type retrieve. Big Spinnerbaits and Redfins are good choices also. Live bait is also a good choice for the big Muskies.

NORRIS RESERVOIR (11/13/08)

WATER CONDITIONS:
The water elevation is 996.5 -feet, which is an inch lower than it was last week. The water level is expected to drop only 1.2-inches over the next two days.

The water surface temperature readings are 56 degrees in the upper river arms, warming to 60 degrees by late afternoon. The temperature warms gradually as you go downstream toward the Dam. The afternoon water temperature readings on the lower end are 62 to 65 degrees. Except for the river arms above points 15 and 30, the water is extremely clear; anglers can see the bottom at 15 or 20 feet in some places. The upper river sections - above Points 15 and 30 - have a little more color. The visibility in Sycamore Creek and in the Clinch River arm above Point 31 is only a couple of feet, with good color. Windy days and boat traffic can cause a mud line to develop along the shoreline - a good area for anglers to fish in otherwise clear water. The better anglers are accounting for the clear water with their line selection and in keeping their boats as far from the shoreline as possible when fishing shallow lures.

SUMMARY:
The upper half of the lake (above 33 Bridge and Point 12) has had the best fishing, due mainly to the lower water temperature and more color to the water. Crappie catches continue to improve in those areas. The lower end, with its clear water, has seen less fishing success.

CRAPPIE are hitting in brush off steeper banks above Points 29 (Clinch side) and 15 (Powell side).

SPOTTED BASS and SMALLMOUTH BASS are hitting small pig’n jigs or small jigs tipped with minnows, 15 to 25 feet deep. The lower end has been slow for bass except for night fishing, which has seen some good bass caught.

STRIPED BASS have been hitting near Straight Creek, Island F and in the channel between Points 9 and 19. LARGEMOUTH BASS were slow in all areas of the lake, but some were caught on jigs and spinnerbaits, very close to rocky banks and in the pockets off main channels.

BLUEGILL were slow. WALLEYE remain slow to hit and are scattered. Bass fishermen, casting plugs to the bank are as likely to catch one as are those trolling with spinner/nightcrawler rigs. Some were reported caught on the Powell side.

STRIPED BASS
Moderate.
10 to 20 feet in late afternoon and dawn. At mid-day, as deep as 50 feet.
Live shad/alewife tightlined to depth in schools of baitfish, or slowly trolled with downriggers, often as deep as 50 feet. Some caught on chrome jigs or 1-ounce doll flies jigged vertically into suspended stripers. At the break of day, some could be seen occasionally feeding at the surface in the above locations.

Half-ounce to one-ounce leadhead jigs tipped with 3-inch Twister grubs or large Sassy Shad in white/chartreuse, trolled on planer board rigs, shallow but far behind the boat in clear water areas.

These fish are scattered, but can be expected to move up the larger creek embayments and up the river arms as fall progresses. Clinch side striped bass were spread out from Island F to Point 30, with concentrations of smaller stripers found in the vicinity of Straight Creek’s junction with the Clinch channel. Point 9 to Point 19 had some catches.

LARGEMOUTH & SPOTTED BASS
Fair for largemouth, good for spotted bass.

Surface to 10 feet, but to 30 feet on the humps on clear days under high air pressure.

Medium running crankbaits (Bandits, Norman, ShadRaps), willow leaf spinners and 1/2 ounce brown on black with dark blue trailers fished deep on rocky points and along broken rock banks and into the rear of the hollows where there is wood structure. Early or late in the day, these fish have been very shallow, usually hitting off chunk rock banks. Daytime fishing is very slow to produce fish. Some anglers, using 4 or 6 pound test line, have done better than those using more visible lines. Crappie anglers, using popeye flies, have caught many spotted bass at 15 to 25 feet deep on main channel, chunk rock banks.

Night fishing: 3/8 to 1/2 ounce pig’n jigs with rubber skirts, tipped with medium trailers. Bass have moved up in depth to about 5-10 feet at night. Brown/black or crawfish pattern tipped with dark blue trailers continue to work well.

Small Flukes or Bass Assassins cast on Carolina, Texas rigs or on leadhead jigs, in the very back of large sandy hollows near wood structure where baitfish are gathered.

At dawn, buzz baits are bringing in some largemouth bass from the rear of coves, in shallow water. During daylight, largemouth and spotted bass have been caught where they can hide from the sunlight in the clear water: close to and under cover of some kind, or deep.

SMALLMOUTH BASS
Fair to slow in the daytime, better at night.

2 to 10 feet at night, as deep as 20 to 30 feet on the humps and rocky points at dusk.

Night fishing is improving on that part of the lake where the water temperature is close to 60 degrees.

At dusk and at night, 3/8 to 1 oz. hair jigs (black and brown) with medium chunks or trailers, or smoke grubs or flukes on the bottom along the drop-offs at 25 feet, getting shallower as the night progresses. On days with a high barometer, as deep as 35 or 40 feet on mid-channel humps. Dropoffs leading from points and mid-lake humps have both produced smallmouth at dusk and at night.

Nighttime catches were made with slow-rolled spinners tipped with plastic trailers, or pig’n jigs after dark, often as deep as 30 feet off rocky, main channel banks. Both chrome and brass blades are working at night, and both Colorado and willow leaf blades are catching fish.

For live bait fishermen: Large shiners fished with a split shot, but no float, allowing the bait to drift deep along main channel rocks.

BLUEGILL/REDEAR SUNFISH (SHELLCRACKER)
Slow.
Surface to 30 feet deep, depending upon the time of day; they’re shallow before the sun hits the water.

Bluegill are hitting crickets, wax worms and popping bugs. Popping bugs are catching good bluegill at dawn, but after the sun hits the water, popping bugs are taking small fish. Tightline crickets or wax worms, or cast the bait to the rocks with no float and let it drift to depth. Trout Magnets, Rooster Tails or popping bugs near brush or sunken logs in the shady, shallow coves took some nice bluegill early in the day.

CRAPPIE
Fair on the lower end; good on the upper end on both river arms.

15 to 25 feet deep on steep, main channel banks in downed treetops, except in the upper river arms where the temperature is 60 degrees and there is low visibility. In those areas, crappie are hitting on steep, main channel brush as shallow as 2 to 5 feet.

The pattern and location remain the same; clear water is hurting catches after about 8:30 a.m.

In brush, 15 to 25 feet deep in brush off steep, rocky banks. Move off the bank and drop popeye flies into the submerged tree tops or deep brush. Use medium tuffy minnows or 1-inch tube jigs or 1/32 oz. or 1/64 oz. popeye flies tightlined into the main channel brush/tree tops channel and hollows. Or tightline into deep brush with the same rigs or with tuffy minnows. Small doll flies or tube jigs are producing as well as minnows.

WALLEYE
Slow, scattered.
30 feet above 33 Bridge; 40 to 47 feet in the Loyston Sea area; 40 to 45 feet in the vicinity of Anderson County Park; 35 to 43 feet in lower Cove Creek. Nighttime depths were shallower.

The Loyston/Lost Creek/Point 25 vicinities saw some brought in by those jigging Mann O’Lures and Hopkins spoons on the bottom.

Chrome Hopkins spoons or Mann O’Lures on the bottom at 30 to 45 feet from Rabbit Island to the humps in Loyston Sea. Trolled spinner/nightcrawler rigs along the bottom where baitfish are located on the humps. In locations farther up the lake than Loyston and the Powell/Clinch junction, walleye may be shallower than 30 feet.

Lures: chrome spinner/nightcrawler rig with orange beads trolled on the bottom. RedFin 911, Thundersticks or similar deep-diving plugs in blue-shad color trolled through suspended fish.

SOUTH HOLSTON RESERVOIR (2/28/08)

TELLICO RESERVOIR (1/17/08)

The creel clerk is currently off work due to a back injury.  Reports will resume as soon as he recuperates.

WATAUGA RESERVOIR (8/28/08)

WATER CONDITIONS:
The Lake level as of 8-28-08 is 1943.80 feet above sea level with surface water temp 77* degrees at the Butler Bridge with 5-7 feet water clarity.

SUMMARY:
BASS
Fair.
Smallmouth are still being caught on Crankbaits 5-10 feet, Tube bait’s and 4 to 6-inch worms, and an early morning bite on topwater has shown some nice fish using Pop R’s and Spooks, Buzzbaits. Largemouth, Spotted Bass are hitting spinnerbaits early in the morning around brush piles and trash pockets and going deeper during the day and are being caught using a texas rig or drop shot with plastic worms . Green pumpkin, Watermelon is the colors being used, and live shad have caught a lot of spotted bass this past week.

WALLEYE
Good.
WALLEYE have picked up this past week. Most have been caught trolling the Little Milligan area and around Point 5, Point 2 using a spinner and night crawler or Smithwick Plugs in around 15-30 ft.

LAKE TROUT
Fair.
Lake Trout have slowed some this week around pt.1 up to Butler Bridge and around Point 5 to Point 9 trolling anywhere from 40-60 feet. Trolling spoons.

RAINBOW TROUT
Fair.
Rainbows are being caught trolling around 30-45 feet with spoons. The fishing has slowed this week but still being caught around Point 2 up to Point 5 trolling spoons.