Another Dam fishing question

[brewer88]

I've grown to like fishing below dams, never did it much as a kid in CA, but here there are just so many species that congregate there it seems. One cast you may have a hybrid, the next a gar or a crappie, you never know!

my question is: how fast is too fast to fish below a dam? mostly this summer I've fished cheatham at around 15,000 to 20,000 CFS fine, but lately it has been anywhere from 30k to 70k! when i was out when it was 30K it just seemed too fast to fish (and maybe to dangerous up close??)

any advice on what to do when its above 30K CFS? head down stream? or just wait it out? would it be crazy/productive to try and achor like 300yards down?

thanks in advance guys!

[Travis C.]

I would never anchor anywhere near turbulent water. I would drift fish opposed to anchoring in current.

The more flow the better the fishing is baring a flood. The factor to pay attention to when its pushing hard is what color the water is. Fast muddy water is not near as productive as fast murky to clear.

Fish it up to as comfortable safety wise as you can get then move down stream.

[TNBronzeback]

A good anchor tip for ya.....dont use an "anchor" buy $2 cinder block a short length of medium chain and some cheap rope.....that way if you find yourself in a tricky situation you can cut the rope and drift with little money lost. The block will still wedge in on the rocks on the bottom, but it wont be dangerously stuck.
But like travis said, dont toss anchor close to a 30k discharge. Find a seam where its a little more slack, thats where you concentrations of fish will be filtering through most of the time anyways. They dont wanna fight heavy current no more than you do.

[aero320]

Originally Posted by brewer88

I've grown to like fishing below dams, never did it much as a kid in CA, but here there are just so many species that congregate there it seems. One cast you may have a hybrid, the next a gar or a crappie, you never know!

my question is: how fast is too fast to fish below a dam? mostly this summer I've fished cheatham at around 15,000 to 20,000 CFS fine, but lately it has been anywhere from 30k to 70k! when i was out when it was 30K it just seemed too fast to fish (and maybe to dangerous up close??)

any advice on what to do when its above 30K CFS? head down stream? or just wait it out? would it be crazy/productive to try and achor like 300yards down?

thanks in advance guys!

This is where the fish live:

[SAMBOLIE]

You will probably get a lot of dam answers.

[Halli]

Keep a hatchet next to anchor rope is number 2 as number one is always have pfd on.

I haven't fished below the dams lately but when the current was raging use this set up with Bucktails or live bait even a crank would work.

[Alphahawk]

I owned boats from 2001-2004. I fished below Pickwick Dam for 5 days a week 365 days a year. The more water the better...to a point. I have fished 98,000 CFS coming just from generators. When spill gates open it is different story...even if the flow is only 70,000 CFS. Too much debris will come through the gates making it not so safe to be in a boat. Plus the drop that the water falls creates a wave action that would pound your boat to death at the ramp. I never anchored below the dam. Fifty to eighty thousand CFS is normal below Pickwick.....those numbers below other dams could be not so normal...even dangerous...depends on the dam and location. I have fished below the dam at Pickwick when the output was 198,000 CFS...but it was from the bank...but the fish were in there by the thousands. My boat is due to be finished by 1 September and all my gear will be on it and in the water by 15 September...you can bet probably my first spot to fish will be below Pickwick...catching crappie....whites...schooling stripers in there by the thousands.


Regards

[agelesssone]

Take me! Take me!

[brewer88]

Thanks for all the replies gentlemen, I'm learning haha. I still consider myself a somewhat novice boatsmen, but i do use a PFD and try not to fish alone.
Thanks for the perspective alpha, i think 80 or 90k CFS at cheatham would be dangerous, but this weekend is supposed to get down to 30k, the problem may be the spill gates open not the generators like you said though.

I think ill hit up cheatham this weekend, try up near the dam and float down. Maybe try some catfish further downstream.

good Dam replies :P

[Travis C.]

Originally Posted by brewer88

I think ill hit up cheatham this weekend, try up near the dam and float down. Maybe try some catfish further downstream.

good Dam replies :P

Drifting with live and cutbait can be really effective for catfish opposed to anchoring up in a hole. Key is to keep it down closer to the bottom where current breaks are. If you do anchor up, look for eddy's created by the flow and drop anchor on the upstream side and walk your baits down into the eddy's.

[Adrian]

The Current was SOOOO Strong on the main lake yesterday that my Motorguide 80lb thrust on 100% didn't stand a chance. Seriously there were Full Size trees floating in it hundreds of them nonstop. I think I'm going to stay away from the Dam for a few days until that stuff clears out. Alphahawk is right about that debris. Holy Cow that sounds dangerous...

[brewer88]

Just wanted to give a little update on this weekend at Cheatham dam:
We got there around sunrise, there were about 3 other boats there, tons of bank fisherman. We ended up catching a few small skipjack for bait, got a couple of 2lbish catfish on that. Hooked a big gar, probably 20-25lbs?, that jumped completly out of the water and broke me off....was fun to watch haha.
the other boats were doing well on what looked like live minnows catching 1 or 2lb white bass or hybrids (couldnt see all that well).
Water was flowing decently at 25kCFS, not too much junk it the water but more than usual.
I also got a couple of small catfish on a Rapala jerk bait, thought that was wierd because i couldnt seem to get into any stripers on it just cats. Cut skipjack didnt produce any fish, was all on live.

Thanks again for the info on fishing below dams guys, seems like 25kCFS isnt all that bad to fish in, dont know if i would fish cheatham at anything faster though.