Williamsport and Marrowbone
 

Hey all,

I've been out to Shellcracker and Marrowbone over the course of the last month and a half. I've had a lot of success with crappie at Williamsport, and a whole bunch of nothing at Marrowbone. I do enjoy the crappie fishing with my UL equipment, but my target is bass. Does anyone have any tips or pointers on either of these lakes? I have yet to land any bass this year and it's starting to get in my head!!

Both lakes at Williamsport have good population of bass....and trophy bass to boot. There is not a lot of cover in either lake. There are some good points in both lakes that produce bass. The dam at Blue Cat has a kind of stair step slant which creates small drop offs.....and while I am not sure about the dam at Shell Cracker I suspect it is the same. A lot of the trophy fish caught there this spring were caught with live minnows on bottom. There are others on the forum that fish it a lot for bass and will probably give you some more details.


Regards

Thanks Alpha. I haven't done much with live bait for years but it may well be worth it. You're right, there isn't much cover. The success I have had with the crappie has come from drifting the boat along that dropoff adjacent to the dam on Shellcracker. I wonder what might happen if I throw something larger down there. I guess it's worth a shot.

Most of my fishing at Williamsport comes in the spring, and I'm throwing 1/2-3/4oz Rat-L-Traps, and suspending jerkbaits. Every once in a while I'll drift live bait, but that's for hybrids but don't usually catch largemouth with the live bait. I've not fished whose lakes mych in the summer, but the one time we did go in the summer Sarah caught some really nice gills and one just over 10".

As far as Marrowbone, I think there are some big bass in there, but you need to fish deep, use bigger baits that represent another fish that is stocked in there. This is all speculation.

Jeremy

Anyone know if there are any decent contour maps available for either of these lakes?

Marrowbone has big bass, but they're either very deep or very shallow. I've had the best luck with jigs and a crawfish trailer, worked slowly.

Failing that, you can catch big numbers of gills, to say nothing of the catchfish.

As I've said before, the bass in my avatar is from Marrowbone...

Trip report from Memorial Day.

http://fishingtn.com/showthread.php?t=6896

Shiners or very large minnows need to be there right at sunrise or sunset this time of year but don't push it though the twra will get ya lol. These are Florida strain bass and they can be tricky live bait works the best from my experience

Florida Strain Bass
 

I'd never heard about the Florida strain bass in Marrowbone -- is that really why the bite is always so slow in spite of an allegedly healthy black bass population? I didn't realize they were harder to catch.

If so, I could start blaming that instead of my fishing skills...

I didn't know of Florida strain in Marrowbone, but they are definitely stocked in Williamsport. Yes live bait is best for the very picky Florida strain. That's why I like the Tiger strain better, they're not as picky.

Jeremy

Has Williamsport always stocked Florida strain? I know they did it about a month back, but I didn't know if that was a one time thing or the norm for them.

Oh, and BTW, just got in from Marrowbone. Fished 4:30 to 8:30. Got skunked.

I don't know if Williamsport has done it previously, but they are not easy so I would say so since most big bass lately have been taken on live bait.

Jeremy

Marrowbone lake is definitely a tough nut to crack. I've been there a few times, but its a 45 minute drive and I have JPP practically next door, so I stopped going. I've never caught bass there. But I've caught bream and trout from the bank behind the shop. While doing some work in the woods around the lake, I spoke with a guy who says he fishes it regularly and he told me that he has better luck in the winter time with football jig on the steep banks.

I've never been to Marrowbone lake I was talking about Williamsport there are definitely some big boys in Shellcracker. I know there are in Blue Cat as well but the only bass I've caught out of there were tiny and were an accident caught while crappie fishing with minnows. These lakes havn't been around all that long I don't think and I'm not sure if they're all Florida strain or not, but there are several over 10 lbs. I'm positive on that. I don't fish for bass all that often but when I do its Shellcracker best place i know of within 35 minutes of me. I caught at least a dozen or more most were 3-5 lbs one day in april it was fun

Those lakes have been around for decades. For many years they were only open to certain individuals who had worked for the chemical company that owned the place....and certain others who had permission. I don't know the year that it was given to the state but it had plenty of trophy fish in it way before the state got it. The lakes used to be stocked with hybrid bluegill and was full of Gills close to two pounds......rumor has it the day it was given to the state those that had permission to fish it cried....LOL. I am sure many years ago it just had regular strain of large mouth in it.....and still does.





Regards

Thanks for the education I really had no idea. I was told the state made them and thats why I thought they were so young. I have also heard that at one time there was a small town under what is now blue cat is that true?

I don't think that is true. The water from the lakes was used to wash phosphate rock. I would love to get into the lakes that are closed off. There is no telling the size of the fish in those.


Regards

I know right that would be awesome. I would pay $10 to fish in those or pay $10 to fish at night in any of lakes lol

I was there again yesterday and fished Shellcracker. Caught a couple of dinks on a 5" Senko in green pumpkin/black flake. I came across a couple of guys beating the banks with jigs and they were doing really well. I watched one of them boat what looked to be a 3-4 pounder and they said they had been doing that all day.

So, naturally, I tied on a jig and craw and tried to go after some bigger ones :D. What I learned is that I need a new baitcaster. Pitching and flipping is no fun on a $30.00 baitcaster.

On a side note, I take my GF with me and she cannot keep the crappie off of her tube jigs. She's casting out toward the deep water and keeping the jig close to the bottom on a fairly steady retrieve. Also saw what looked to be about a 25lb carp belly-up in the middle of the lake.

JDH, the more time you put on them the better you will learn them, and you will end up cracking them. It just takes time on the water, and thinking like a fish.

What are these ponds that are closed off? Are they the Tailings Ponds? If so can anyone give me some history on them?

Jeremy

All of those lakes were known as "muck ponds"...or as you say tailings. When TWRA was given the 10,000 or so acres....that was in a press release but the size according to TWRA is around 2,000 acres.....they decided that some of the ponds were not safe for fishing....meaning they thought the mud was too soft around those ponds and deemed them non-fishable....and supposedly the one larger lake is closed just for wild life habitat. There is not an environmental problem with any of those lakes. They were all open to fishing to those few who could fish it before the state took it over. When Occidental owned them....the original owner was Hooker Chemical....and there was no more mining going on the fishing was beyond incredible there. The ponds are over 40 or 50 years old from my information. I was not in country when TWRA first opened them to fishing so I don't know the impact fishing pressure had on what was already in place. One...or more...of the lakes was kept stocked with hybrid Gills. It was not unusual to have those reach the 2 pound mark....with fish over a pound caught in great numbers. The bass fishing was also incredible.....not much angling pressure and lots of big fish. I do not know the exact number of folks that had fishing privileges there but those that I know who fished it then will tell you it was catching....not fishing....it was just that awesome.


Regards