Urban fishing-3/22-Centennial Park-5 yr old's first fish

[baxterboy]

I had a meeting on West End Tuesday night and I had a 45 minute window between work and the meeting to fish. After a couple casts into Watauga Lake at Centennial Park, a 5 year old boy walked up and said "Hey mister, are you going to catch a fish, or not?" I noticed that he had wandered off from a mom and 2 other young kids who were feeding geese. The next cast with the Panther Martin, I hooked a bluegill, and let the 5 yr. old bring him in. You should have seen that kid's face light up! Mom came over and took some photos, and a couple casts later, his 11 year old brother pulled in a second bream. The 4 year old sister got her turn a couple minutes later. As they were leaving, the mom thanked me for letting her kids catch a couple fish, and I heard the 5 yr old say something like, "Mom, that was fun. You think grandpa would take me fishing when we get back to Indiana?" Apparantly they were visiting Nashville on Spring Break. Showing those kids how to reel in a fish, how to hold it without getting spined, etc. really made my week, and made me appreciate the simple joys of being outside and wetting a line. I didn't catch much other than a couple 7 inch bluegill, but it was the best fishing trip I'd had in a long time.

[fishfindergeneral]

Good deal, that's what it's all about...

[MattC]

i didnt know you were allowed to fish in watauga lake except for the annual catfish derby. What other types of fish are in there?

[bd-]

It's mostly bream and some catfish that get left over from the derby. There are some bass but they spawn in the shallow end of the lake and they are sitting ducks if someone comes by with a rod, so they stay pretty thinned out.

bd

[baxterboy]

MattC said:

i didnt know you were allowed to fish in watauga lake except for the annual catfish derby. What other types of fish are in there?

I work downtown so I've fished the lake at Centennial Park for years on my lunch break. There is a sign on the north end that says "no fishing at this end of the lake" so I just fish the other sides. It's very shallow, has almost no structure, and gets stagnant from time to time, so it's not great, but it's 10 minutes from my office. I have seen 4-5 lb LM, 8-10 inch white crappie, 4-5 lb catfish, and 8 inch bream in the lake. I don't target grass carp, but there used to be some monsters there before the drought a couple years ago killed most of them.

I fish over there some at lunch too. I'm a HCA IT guy and my desk is at Centennial MC. Maybe we could fish at lunch together some.

That's is great letting that boy wind in his 1st fish. God will bless you for that.

[Travis C.]

I agree that is definitely what it is all about.

I have fished a little over there in the summer. There are some bass in there from small to the largest I spotted being around 3lbs. The biggest fish by far in the lake are carp. Some monsters can be found cruising up shallow.

[bd-]

I've taken a flyrod over there once or twice looking for those carp but I've never seen them up shallow and feeding.

There's a similar lake at the World's Fair Park in Knoxville that had an expansive mud flat at one end. I often saw big carp tailing on it. I wasn't fly fishing much back in those days when I was at UT, so I never went after them. I don't even know if it's allowed. Every time I'm at Centennial I think back about those carp in Knoxville though, and I wish they were here.

bd