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Jan 19
Well, my trip to the lake might have been a bad idea. Today I have been fighting a wicked cold and cough. In either case it was a brutal day for my body and for the fishing.
The air temperature was 13 degrees and felt like 5!!! The water temperature was 43-46 degrees.
We started down lake in Suggs Creek on the right bank before the boat ramp. Following the channel drop we fished up to and 100 yards passed the island where the cable crossing sign is. Sitting in 14ft-18ft and casting my 1/2oz chatterbait with 5″ Berkley swimbait in shad color into 6ft-8ft I retrieved slow off the bottom…nada. Before we fished we scanned for 30 minutes to try and find schools of bait and bass. We found a couple, but never felt like we found a large concentration of fish.
Next we motored to the bluff wall just before Elm Hill. The water clarity was 3ft. I sat in 25ft and catch my 3/16oz black and blue Hoppy’s Flea Flicker finesse jig with green Paca chuck to the rocks and let it sink 10ft-15ft. After 15 minutes I had my first bite and set the hook. I fought the fish for a few seconds before is unbuttoned(felt pretty big). We continued down the bluff for 45 minutes without another bite.
Over in Smith Springs we fished the large point to the left of Anderson Rec boat ramp. This is usually a consistent winter point for me with small jigs or shaky heads. I placed the boat in 14ft-18ft and cast my finesse jig around the sides and on top of the point in 8ft……30 minutes and nada.
I traveled up lake and into Stewarts Creek. The water temperature was 46 degrees and 4ft-5ft clarity(too clear)!!!! We started at the back boat ramp and fished shaky heads, a-rigs, and swimbaits. After one hour of sitting in 6ft-8ft and fished the deep rock transitions….nada again! Trey and I were both pooped and freezing. We decided to head in.
All and all, probably should have stayed home, but it was still kinda nice to get out and post a report. The constant wind and ice got old quickly. I’m taking my prop to the shop tomorrow to get refinished to try and sell my motor. If anyone is interested in a Yamaha SHO 200 with 3 years warranty left let me know!
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3 Replies
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I’m curious why 5 feet of clarity is too much? Is that because the fish can then see you, the fisherman? Thanks!
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Back in that creek you can see the bottom and it’s from experience when I can see the bottom in the back of the creeks there is not much bait or bass around. Clear is hood but super clear had never been great for me in shallow water.
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quote guitartom09:I’m curious why 5 feet of clarity is too much? Is that because the fish can then see you, the fisherman? Thanks!I think you’re right, Tom. Generally speaking, when it comes to fishing anything too far from normal isn’t good, too muddy, too clear, too windy, etc. Now, having said that, everything is relative. For instance, too muddy on Old Hickory and PP are two totally different things and to take that one step further, too muddy on even the upper and lower end of PP are two different things as well. To Brian’s point, when things are drastically clearer than they typically are (i.e. 5ft of visibility on the upper end of PP), due to factors like light penetration that’ll push fish deeper than usual and just flat out make them nervous and reluctant to do anything, including eat, until the conditions normalize.
Hope this helps, good luck!
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