VFW-Laurel Hill 5-09-2013
 

I dont want to be known just for posting fishing reports only when I catch fish. I went to VFW today and only caught about 12 Gills.....most just like the one in the pic. I had a couple of males at the 6 inch mark and the rest were females. The females are not bulging with eggs....and no they have not spawned. The males have not been fanning any beds. I paddled every inch of that lake. The water is pretty clear and I did not see one bed anywhere. The water felt pretty cool so I paddled back to the ramp and took my thermometer out with me. The whole lake is reading 66 degrees about a foot under the surface. Drove over to Laurel Hill and talked to the regulars over there. You can catch fish but then maybe 3 or 4 days and nothing. They are not on bed there either. The fish are scattered. The temp at Laurel Hill was also 66 degrees......confirmed by several bass fisherman. I suspect the low temp is also why I could not find them at Pickwick either. So I will just keep fishing...may see if crappie are still at Nickajack. The few fish I caught sure put up a good fight though.



Regards

Good effort though! Nice gill!

While walking the bank of a small pond here in Cookeville I saw some really big shellcrackers on bed right at the edges. I tossed trout magnets to them but they either completely ignored it or swam away and came back. Is that because they're tough to catch when on the bed or because they see me and know something isn't right?

I know nothing about actually targeting panfish, I just occasionally catch them on the flyrod.

There is a few days when Shell Cracker are on bed that they will not hit anything. When you can see them you can sometimes toss a worm or minnow in their bed and they will pick it up to move it out of the bed....but sometimes this takes a few minutes....and then you set the hook. But they will not eat it so you have to watch.


Regards