How's the fishing so far?

[gregintenn]

I haven't been yet, but this weather sure has me thinking about it.

[RED333]

Me well, gonna try for Saturday morning!

[MikeW]

I think that the water temps are gonna keep fish very sluggish for a few more weeks.   For me Priest and Old Hickory are in the high 40's to 50°.

[Quavodus]

I may get my license renewed and try some stripe in a little while. 

[jpx2rk]

I renewed my fishing license last week, and  qualified for the "old fart" lifetime license, so I'm set going forward.  Now if the wind will lay down.  Tried to go yesterday, and just ended up towing the boat for about 30 miles, white caps at the ramp, so I came home.  

[RED333]

On 3/4/2021 at 12:49 PM, RED333 said:

Me well, gonna try for Saturday morning!

Did not make it out, cold and a breeze made it unfavorable.

[ReeferMac]

I hear them out on Watts Bar. My cove has a lot of bird activity. Baitfish are about.

Tomorrow will be busy. Think the fishing will pick up in a few weeks. Waning moon.

[Henry347]

Been doing pretty good on the Crappie, Skipjack and Catfish. Landed this big blue cat earlier today after catching some bait, measurements went 45in Length with a 30in Girth.

[RED333]

Nice catch, and you need to lighten up some, smile. LOL

[peejman]

I wish I knew how folks catch fish in cold water. We went this past weekend and didn't get a single nibble. 

[221 Fireball]

10 hours ago, Henry347 said:

Been doing pretty good on the Crappie, Skipjack and Catfish. Landed this big blue cat earlier today after catching some bait, measurements went 45in Length with a 30in Girth.

That's a lot of fish sticks right there!

[OldIronFan]

28 minutes ago, peejman said:

I wish I knew how folks catch fish in cold water. We went this past weekend and didn't get a single nibble. 

Go deep my man. There are people filling coolers full of crappie in deep pockets in Jan, Feb, and March. More or less drop fishing/jigging at these temps. 

I just go to the coast and get offshore. 

[Henry347]

4 hours ago, peejman said:

I wish I knew how folks catch fish in cold water. We went this past weekend and didn't get a single nibble. 

I've been catching Crappie from 5ft to 25ft. All I do is troll for them at speeds of 1mph to 1.5mph. I use Berkley Flicker Shad Crankbaits or Jigs, either will produce fish. All I fish is Watts Bar and will say it's one heck of a fishery.

[Henry347]

7 hours ago, RED333 said:

Nice catch, and you need to lighten up some, smile. LOL

I get told that a lot lol but if you seen my camera roll you'd understand. Some good fish but I've caught bigger, been shooting for that 100lb mark and if I get lucky enough to ever put my hands on one I'll make sure to show off these pearly whites lol.

Edited March 17, 2021 by Henry347

[peejman]

7 hours ago, Henry347 said:

I've been catching Crappie from 5ft to 25ft. All I do is troll for them at speeds of 1mph to 1.5mph. I use Berkley Flicker Shad Crankbaits or Jigs, either will produce fish. All I fish is Watts Bar and will say it's one heck of a fishery.

I'll give that a shot.  We were standing on a pier, not sure how deep it was, 10 ft at the most with the water still down for the winter. 

[DeepSouth]

I was in the area so I drove across the levy to the pond where the Grand Casino use to sit.  The guy pulled his stringer up and left, 4 giant crappie. I look in the back seat, wife had cleaned my truck out. 17 miles to my house then back. Not a bite in 3 hours. I've been back 5 times without a bite. Yesterday there was water across the road heading to The Willows.

Edited March 31, 2021 by DeepSouth

[DeepSouth]

Crappie fishing hasn't been good this year. 4 trips to Sardis lake, 12 keepers with over 200 throwbacks. 3 trips to Enid lake, no keepers with over 200 throwbacks. 

I'm doing better in the spillway area of these lakes since there isn't a 12" size limit. Sardis has a lower lake so that's were I'm fishing from a kayak.

[MacGyver]

6 hours ago, DeepSouth said:

Crappie fishing hasn't been good this year. 4 trips to Sardis lake, 12 keepers with over 200 throwbacks. 3 trips to Enid lake, no keepers with over 200 throwbacks. 

I'm doing better in the spillway area of these lakes since there isn't a 12" size limit. Sardis has a lower lake so that's were I'm fishing from a kayak.

That still counts as a good day of fishing in my book.

I took kids out skiing on Saturday - saw a little activity - I may try it in a week or so. 

[felinesNfreedom]

7 hours ago, DeepSouth said:

Crappie fishing hasn't been good this year. 4 trips to Sardis lake, 12 keepers with over 200 throwbacks. 3 trips to Enid lake, no keepers with over 200 throwbacks. 

I'm doing better in the spillway area of these lakes since there isn't a 12" size limit. Sardis has a lower lake so that's were I'm fishing from a kayak.

Yeah, 200 fish is a terrible trip...... What's the size limit there? We went to the lake of the Ozarks over the summer and caught a bunch of shorts... problem is their minimum is 9". We caught about 70 keepers while there but man are 9" fish small when your used to 12-14"
 fish. I'm going to Priest Saturday to look for some Crappie. Trolling motor burnt up about two months back and I just got the new one installed. Going to be a lot of riding around scanning trees and brush.

[gregintenn]

I reckon I’m gonna have to take fishing lessons.

I would have thought this week would be productive.

[Grunt67]

5 hours ago, gregintenn said:

I reckon I’m gonna have to take fishing lessons.

I would have thought this week would be productive.

Greg, I know that feeling all too well. Back in the mid 70s, I fished Cordell Hull 2 or 3 times a week for crappie. Always caught a lot of fish. Fished from one end of the lake to the other, year around.

Sold that boat, then about 10 yrs later, bought a new boat, headed back to Cordell to all my old hot spots. Zero fish/bites. Embarrassed myself. Problem was, when I fished before I kept up with what they were doing, where, depth, etc. Had totally lost out with them. It happens.

Funny little story on my Dad & me. It was Aug. , hot, mid day. We went to Defeated creek, where I had been catching fish. He said, "it's too hot, you won't catch anything now". I said, we'll see. I pulled up to a drop off where there was brush just under the water. I told him just drop your line right there. He started catching fish. He said I would not have believed that. LOL.

Moral of the story, you have to keep up with what they're doing. Cover, depth, etc. Takes a while & patience, something I have in short supply these days. Maybe you'll do better.

Good luck my friend, wish I could go with you, but not in the cards.

[DeepSouth]

Sorry for the late reply, with the Covid work has been extra. Lots of folks out of work with the sickness. I caught it too in the later part of October , taste and smell still comes and goes.

The big 4 lakes along I-55 south of Memphis have a 12" limit with 15 per person, 40 if there are 3 people in the boat. Sunday I had 7 hanging off the side of my kayak. The game warden checked all were 12 1/2 to 15 inch long. 2 guys brought their boat to shore. Said they caught their limits of 12 3/4 to 15" crappie and put them on ice. The game warden checked them. The fish were 12 1/8 to 14 1/2 inch. They learned that ice will shrink crappie, I've known that for years.