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View Full Version : Chickamauga Crappie Bite is Hot


rsimms
03-24-2013, 10:44 AM
Richard Boehm from Dickson, TN and his Dad, Henry (from Mississippi) have been regular clients for a years. They meet in Chattanooga to fish with me and yesterday they brought along Richard's future father-in-law, Darrell Winn. They also brought along the traditional Boehm luck (or skill).

They always book crappie trips before turkey season because once it opens, they are in the turkey woods non-stop. It seems we always have great trips together, but I was worried about yesterday's crappie bite with the up & down weather we've had.

We started off at sunrise like gangbusters, in the rain, in Wolftever Creek. We put a 15-fish limit in the livewell in about an hour, all fairly shallow... 10 feet or less. Then the rain quit and the bite shutdown like flipping a lightswitch. We struggled until Noon-thirty catching lots of short fish, but only had 8 more keepers. Finally I said, "We've got to make a big move," and headed out main lake to one of my traditional deeper water areas. For once I made a smart decision. :)

We got to the new area just before 1 pm with 23 keepers ... at 5:11 we put our 60th keeper in the livewell, along with a bunch of big yellow bass and a few misc. cats and big bluegill. When the Boehm's come to Chattanooga, they expect to stock the freezer. I had called a friend on the water who moved out with us and they put a limit in the boat as well.

We actually caught mostly white crappie, a couple of 2 lb.-plus fish, with a few fat black crappie thrown in. All caught in 10-15 feet of water slow trolling 1/16th oz. tube jigs... sometimes tipped with minnows (although I really don't think the minnows matter). I am really getting the hang of the i-Pilot now and was able to record a track and troll pretty much "hands-free." It's just incredible!

As usual, it was an awesome day with some great folks that are great fun to fish with. That means life is good and gettin' better every day.

(l-r) Darrell Winn, Richard Boehm, Henry Boehm (I'll post a little video later)
http://www.sceniccityfishing.com/forumpics/Boehms.jpg

http://www.sceniccityfishing.com/forumpics/Darrell_Winn.jpg

http://www.sceniccityfishing.com/forumpics/cooler.jpg

chaseasl
03-24-2013, 10:56 AM
awesome catch

old sailor
03-24-2013, 11:55 AM
Great job!! Know what you mean about the i-pilot. Can't imagine life without one now.

Alphahawk
03-24-2013, 11:57 AM
Thanks for the info......I am sure the crappie bite is hot at Nickajack also. I just have to get back down there.



Regards

rsimms
03-25-2013, 02:35 PM
Want a simple lesson in long-line trolling for pre-spawn crappie? Here's a few simple video tips from a "Four-man Limit Day" on Chickamauga Lake in Chattanooga, TN Saturday. Questions welcomed and encouraged -- but don't ask for GPS coordinates. :)

http://youtu.be/E4uwZQT3qlM

Travis C.
03-25-2013, 03:03 PM
Nice mess of fish. I really enjoy catching them that way and is part of the reason I put oars on the polarkraft to troll slower.

How do you like the I-Pilot? Are the anchor feature and troll back feature worth it?

rsimms
03-25-2013, 03:21 PM
Nice mess of fish. I really enjoy catching them that way and is part of the reason I put oars on the polarkraft to troll slower.

How do you like the I-Pilot? Are the anchor feature and troll back feature worth it?

I haven't had occasion to use the "Spot Lock" (anchor) much, but I will when I start fishing the tailwaters in April.

The "troll back" feature (Record Track) is AWESOME! Let me say that again... it is AWESOME!

Saturday afternoon we trolled for four hours on Auto-Pilot and I rarely, if ever, had to touch the controller. I can wander around the boat unhooking fish, untangle lines or tie on new jigs at my leisure and just continually troll along at the perfect speed and perfect track, hands free.

i-Pliot ... where have you been all my life? :D

Travis C.
03-25-2013, 04:00 PM
Thanks for the feedback.

I remember when they came out but haven't ever heard anyone talk about using it. Those two features jumped out at me even back then as something that would come in really handy.

Actually watched a segment on Wildside this weekend of you drifting some clients along the river fishing shiners to multi-species. You do a great job as always. Shooting new clips or are the ones that air these days still older ones?

rsimms
03-25-2013, 04:13 PM
Shooting a few new ones, but they always shoot very far in advance. Here is the raw video from that shoot: http://youtu.be/AYbLpm4H2lw

Or you can watch that actual story online as well: http://youtu.be/fjVIlmjuUHY

Thanks.

agelesssone
03-25-2013, 06:19 PM
Having used the IPilot for two seasons now, I will tell you the spot lock (anchor) feature is not at all what it is touted to be. It will keep you in an AREA but not on a SPOT. It has to drift off of the spot far enough for the GPS to "see" that is off target. It then returns the bow to the original lock on position. Throw out a marker, set the spot lock and you'll be able to see how far off you drift before it corrects itself.

If you are in the tailrace in turbulent water, the TM WILL turn more than 360 degrees. I had mine rotate so much when we were in the really turbulent waters that it actually snapped my HB 597HD di transducer cable. ($170.00+tax!) I was retying and didn't notice it wrapping the cable around and around. Now when I am in that situation, I really keep a close eye on it and never let it go much beyond 360, even though I now have more slack cable coming out of the front panel.

But this one minor flaw is greatly overshadowed by the other attributes of the IPilot. If mine got stolen today, I'd be looking for a new one tomorrow.