Bassmasters Weekend Series Tellico Ft Loudon
I fished the 3rd event in the Tennessee East division this past Saturday, 5/2. I had a limit of 5 fish/ 1 dead for 7.48lbs after penalty. I finished in 13th. If it had not been for a dead fish I would have finished 10th and .02 oz out of the money. I was able to move from 17th in points to 9th in points for the year. Solidly in the top 40 to go to the regional at Old Hickory.
Practice day 1. I got to the lake with overcast conditions. I studied my map and picked some shallow flats on the main lake and in some creeks. The water temps were 68-72 and clear water, 5+ feet. I thought I would try to find some spawning fish first and a top water bite. I fished for 4 hours looking for beds but was not able to find anything. It is not my strong suite so I decided to forget it and go after post spawn fish that were just coming off bed. I targeted lake points that had deep water and led to short cuts. I wanted to stay out of the bigger creeks to stay away from traffic and takes too long to fish a big creek. I had never been on Tellico or Loudon so I wanted to move fast and find something. My first spot i worked a jig from 2ft to 20 foot. My first keeper came in 15ft of water on a 3/8 oz Secret Lures football jig in watermelon/green pumpkin pattern. It was my biggest fish in 3 days of fishing, about 4lbs. I moved around alot with the trolling motor and just covered water. By the end of the day I had over 50 bass with 8 keepers for about 9lbs.
I fished a 3/16 and 3/8 oz jig and a shakey head worm most of the day to catch the fish. I did catch 5-6 on a swim bait but they were from some schoolers and I knew I could not count on them to school again.
Day 2 I fished with David Crider from Georgia. He is my link partner for this division. He is a great guy and fun to fish with. We did much of the same on day 2 as day 1 but fish Loudon only. I clued him in on my patern and we went to town. By the end of the day he called my pattern speed flipping. I knew which type of tree they were holding on. I would bypass the big bush long laydowns and only target the smaller laydowns that had wide spaced branches and stumps. If you found a stump you found a fish. We managed around 40 fish. My best 5 again around 8-9 lbs. It did seem the keeper fish were coming on my watermelon shakey head worm. I was using a zoom trick worm.
Day 3 - Race Day - I drew partner Josh Stevenson from Cincinatti Ohio. Josh had never been on the lake before so he wasn't of much help. So much for drawing a local at any of my event. LOL! I was boat 25 in 2nd flight. Plus taking out of our ramp, Tellico Recreation Park was a 200 boat tournament, CHAOS! I knew the lake was going to be hammered and was guessing it would take 15lbs to win. I was a little off, 13.5 won it.
I was not happy about the conditions as it was raining hard but at least it was not windy. I was a little worried about my pattern falling apart. I think I needed some sun or brighter conditions to make those fish stay in the laydowns. We fished for about 3 hours in the rain and no keepers. By this time I was getting a little worried and actually was thinking about abandoning the pattern. We had only caught maybe 10 fish together. Finally the rain stopped but it did not clear any. It was still very overcast. I tried changing a little bit, spinnerbaits, cranks, top water and nothing. I told Josh we were sorta going to change patterns, just do the same thing but in clearer water. I had found a little spot that was very wind protected and the water very clear about 10ft. I speed trolled and flipped my shakey head. I would bybass the bushy ceder trees and only hit stumps and small logs, bushes in 5-10ft of water. Within one hour of this I had my limit of 5 fish. Josh finaly caught his lone keeper also. We had 45 minutes to go and I headed to deep water on the main lake to try and find a kicker smallie or something. I tied on a 3/4 oz jig and just chunked. About 10 minutes into it I had a small tick and as I reeled down to set the hook the fish just bolted and nearly jerked the rod out of my hand. I had her on for about 10 seconds and she just came unbuttoned. I never did get a good hook set. It was my last bite of the day.
All in all I was fairly happy with my performance. I was able to find fish on day one and a pattern. I was able to adjust my pattern a little bit due to weather conditions and got my limit of bass. There weren't that many limits of fish caught and most of these guys are locals.
I hope to be able to stay around town and fish Chickamuaga and then off to Old Hickory regionals. But with no job and only a few bites from out of state, I might have to move. You have to go where the money is. So far the biggest potential is in Kansas City, MO. and Teledo OH. We will just have to wait and see.
Practice day 1. I got to the lake with overcast conditions. I studied my map and picked some shallow flats on the main lake and in some creeks. The water temps were 68-72 and clear water, 5+ feet. I thought I would try to find some spawning fish first and a top water bite. I fished for 4 hours looking for beds but was not able to find anything. It is not my strong suite so I decided to forget it and go after post spawn fish that were just coming off bed. I targeted lake points that had deep water and led to short cuts. I wanted to stay out of the bigger creeks to stay away from traffic and takes too long to fish a big creek. I had never been on Tellico or Loudon so I wanted to move fast and find something. My first spot i worked a jig from 2ft to 20 foot. My first keeper came in 15ft of water on a 3/8 oz Secret Lures football jig in watermelon/green pumpkin pattern. It was my biggest fish in 3 days of fishing, about 4lbs. I moved around alot with the trolling motor and just covered water. By the end of the day I had over 50 bass with 8 keepers for about 9lbs.
I fished a 3/16 and 3/8 oz jig and a shakey head worm most of the day to catch the fish. I did catch 5-6 on a swim bait but they were from some schoolers and I knew I could not count on them to school again.
Day 2 I fished with David Crider from Georgia. He is my link partner for this division. He is a great guy and fun to fish with. We did much of the same on day 2 as day 1 but fish Loudon only. I clued him in on my patern and we went to town. By the end of the day he called my pattern speed flipping. I knew which type of tree they were holding on. I would bypass the big bush long laydowns and only target the smaller laydowns that had wide spaced branches and stumps. If you found a stump you found a fish. We managed around 40 fish. My best 5 again around 8-9 lbs. It did seem the keeper fish were coming on my watermelon shakey head worm. I was using a zoom trick worm.
Day 3 - Race Day - I drew partner Josh Stevenson from Cincinatti Ohio. Josh had never been on the lake before so he wasn't of much help. So much for drawing a local at any of my event. LOL! I was boat 25 in 2nd flight. Plus taking out of our ramp, Tellico Recreation Park was a 200 boat tournament, CHAOS! I knew the lake was going to be hammered and was guessing it would take 15lbs to win. I was a little off, 13.5 won it.
I was not happy about the conditions as it was raining hard but at least it was not windy. I was a little worried about my pattern falling apart. I think I needed some sun or brighter conditions to make those fish stay in the laydowns. We fished for about 3 hours in the rain and no keepers. By this time I was getting a little worried and actually was thinking about abandoning the pattern. We had only caught maybe 10 fish together. Finally the rain stopped but it did not clear any. It was still very overcast. I tried changing a little bit, spinnerbaits, cranks, top water and nothing. I told Josh we were sorta going to change patterns, just do the same thing but in clearer water. I had found a little spot that was very wind protected and the water very clear about 10ft. I speed trolled and flipped my shakey head. I would bybass the bushy ceder trees and only hit stumps and small logs, bushes in 5-10ft of water. Within one hour of this I had my limit of 5 fish. Josh finaly caught his lone keeper also. We had 45 minutes to go and I headed to deep water on the main lake to try and find a kicker smallie or something. I tied on a 3/4 oz jig and just chunked. About 10 minutes into it I had a small tick and as I reeled down to set the hook the fish just bolted and nearly jerked the rod out of my hand. I had her on for about 10 seconds and she just came unbuttoned. I never did get a good hook set. It was my last bite of the day.
All in all I was fairly happy with my performance. I was able to find fish on day one and a pattern. I was able to adjust my pattern a little bit due to weather conditions and got my limit of bass. There weren't that many limits of fish caught and most of these guys are locals.
I hope to be able to stay around town and fish Chickamuaga and then off to Old Hickory regionals. But with no job and only a few bites from out of state, I might have to move. You have to go where the money is. So far the biggest potential is in Kansas City, MO. and Teledo OH. We will just have to wait and see.
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