09-24-2009, 09:00 AM
I fished with my dog, Jake, this morning for about 4 hours, before the sun got too hot for his black coat. The water temperature was 75 degrees and there was a good current in the main river channel since the Chickamauga Dam was generating 45,000 CFS. The river wasn’t muddy as I had expected it to be. The shad, some bass and a few large crappie have begun entering the creek channels, but I found most of the fish still on the main river ledges. I caught about a dozen bass and some large crappie trolling 1/4 ounce crankbaits. The bass didn’t warrant pictures, but the two largest crappie where 14 1/2 inches and 13 3/4 inches. All fish were caught 17 to 20 feet deep.