Labman, Chickamauga, Crappie +, 06/07/10, Solo

[FishNews]

Had to catch up on stuff around the house so didn't get out until 1:30. Today was lesson day. I started on a deep dock and caught a couple then moved to some deep vertical structure where the structure scan showed a large school of crappie at about 17' in 24 ' of water. It was slow but managed to pick off a few with a couple of keepers. Tried using 1/32 oz jig, but with the current and wind a 1/16 oz seemed to get the BG Shad down to the fish better. Decided to move on up river and see if I could find some better fish. Did get a 4# channel cat there also.<br /><br />Next stop was a bluff showing a few fish at about 15-20' in 35' of water. Again a little slow, and current/wind was pushing the boat pretty strongly downstream. Caught 3 nice keepers and a couple of shorts. Again had to use 1/16 oz jig to get down to the fish. Did catch a couple of decent smallmouth bass there on the bluffs. Next hit another deep dock and fished the deep side with no bites. Moved to the shallower but darker side and fish were there. So as Drumking taught me, fish the whole dock and look for the darkest spot. Makes sense, particularly when fishing midday. The fish will rotate across the dock to stay in the shade. Picked up several nice fish there, but not real fast. <br /><br />I wanted to try one more deep structure spot. The structure scan showed a nice school of crappie at 15' on a drop down to 25'. At first could not get a hit. Kept trying different angles of attack and finally got them going after about 20 minutes. These were the best size fish of the day and the bite was very subtle. If Drumking had not taught me to use hi-viz line and to watch the line I probably would not have caught a single one of these fish. There was NO BITE, only a line pause or slight jump. Several times line moved when dead sticking the bait, just letting it sit there. Caught 16 nice keepers there and lost 4 that came unhooked. No small fish there at all. When the fish show on the structure scan, you get a clear picture of depth and you can usually get them to hit if you get your bait in front of them. In this spot I had to bring the bait across the current to get a hit. So thanks again to Drumking for all his tutoring. 1/16 oz jig with BG Shad in Bluegrass was the bait of the day. Ended with 25 nice keepers. All fish returned to the lake. Didn't take any pictures as caught no exceptional fish. <br /><br />The lesson for the day was fish all the dock, and learn to watch the hi-viz line to know when a fish is on. Also if you know the fish are in a spot try several different angles of attack and different retrieves to try and get them going. <br /><br />This is my first summer fishing here and it is a lot tougher than the fall fishing. <br /><br />Regards, Labman