Pickwick 10-24-2013

[Alphahawk]

Arrived at Pickwick and started fishing at 10:00 AM. On the way down thought it should be good day as had to dodge 2 herds of deer on high-way 64 and saw turkey all over the place. First cast...a big white bass. The morning was going to be very good. Proceeded to catch a white on almost every cast for almost 2 hours...then they started shutting generators off and then they were gone. The water dropped almost 3 feet in about 30 minutes. These fish were all between 15 and 17 inches.....really heavy fish. The water was clear and 60 degrees. Thought I might get a striper up on the catwalk but no deal....the whites were stacked up there also. I had the place to myself....unbelievable! The parking lot was full but when I got out of the car no one was down on sidewalk or catwalk. Seems today was the 75th anniversary of the building of Pickwick Dam and all those cars were people inside doing celebrations. I used a 1/4 and sometimes 1/8 ounce jig head with a Killer Klatt Crappie Magnet on 6# test P-Line fluorocarbon line. I was using a medium action 6' 6" Veritas rod with a Shimano 2500 series Stradic reel. I had quite a bit of drag dialed in but these fish fought hard. I had a ball. It has been a while since I have gotten into whites and man these were some good ones! If I can get up at 3:00 AM will go back tomorrow. They have an odd generation schedule going on where they run all out in the morning then turn it down at noon and crank back up late evening.....not the normal way for down there. There was a young girl that walked down to see the water with her grand dad and I asked her if she could take a pic of me with my iPhone.....she said yes and her grand dad laughed and said good thing I asked her as he had no clue how to even turn one on....LOL.



Regards

[Fishbus]

Great report, thank you. You are fortunate to have such a great spot to yourself so frequently.

Is that a yellow bass in there as well? You only mention whites in the post...

The generation schedule actually does make sense, because TVA uses the hydroplants for peak load times (morning and evening). Hydros are perfect for that because they can come on immediately, unlike a coal or nuke plant that requires a startup routine.

Of course there are other considerations involved as to when the generation happens.

Billy

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by Fishbus

Great report, thank you. You are fortunate to have such a great spot to yourself so frequently.

Is that a yellow bass in there as well? You only mention whites in the post...

The generation schedule actually does make sense, because TVA uses the hydroplants for peak load times (morning and evening). Hydros are perfect for that because they can come on immediately, unlike a coal or nuke plant that requires a startup routine.

Of course there are other considerations involved as to when the generation happens.

Billy

No yellow bass. Usually the schedule at Pickwick has generators cranking up as the day progresses and you keep up a good flow until early night or at times it will run all day. So most of the time at two in the afternoon you will have max flow for the day. No matter.....if I want to fish I have to go by their schedule.....LOL.



Regards

[MNfisher]

Yes!!!! That's what I have been waiting for. Great report and congrats. Now hope they make their way up to the local dams! Someday they will be biting like that when I join you Alpha! Lol

[SAMBOLIE]

Looks like a good day Alpha. Tomorrow could be better. Send me $50 or I will show up at Pickwick tomorrow.

[commdd]

Nice!! how do like the shimano stradic? Great report as always.

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by SAMBOLIE

Looks like a good day Alpha. Tomorrow could be better. Send me $50 or I will show up at Pickwick tomorrow.

Ott.....you welcome to fish with me anytime. Can you believe Pickwick is 75 years old?




Regards

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by commdd

Nice!! how do like the shimano stradic? Great report as always.

Love the Stradics. The drags are great.....need to be since I use 2# test a lot. Would like to step up to the Sustain next year.



Regards

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by MNfisher

Yes!!!! That's what I have been waiting for. Great report and congrats. Now hope they make their way up to the local dams! Someday they will be biting like that when I join you Alpha! Lol

Some day Mike.......LOL.......these whites are big. My phone camera can't do them justice.



Regards

[Pookie]

I fish below the Joe Wheeler Dam several times a year to catch whites. Last trip was a bust. I usually fish a Little George and my buddy fishes a carolina rigged chartreuse spoon. How much longer do you figure they will be running at Pickwick?

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by Pookie

I fish below the Joe Wheeler Dam several times a year to catch whites. Last trip was a bust. I usually fish a Little George and my buddy fishes a carolina rigged chartreuse spoon. How much longer do you figure they will be running at Pickwick?

Usually this will last until end of November. But this has been an odd year.



Regards

[SAMBOLIE]

Originally Posted by Alphahawk

Ott.....you welcome to fish with me anytime. Can you believe Pickwick is 75 years old?




Regards

I never thought about that until you mentioned it. Thanks for the info. I was around 10 years when I first went there. I am now 66 and I still have fond memories of how different it was back then. Nothing stays the same forever.

[creekcrappie]

Originally Posted by Alphahawk

Arrived at Pickwick and started fishing at 10:00 AM. On the way down thought it should be good day as had to dodge 2 herds of deer on high-way 64 and saw turkey all over the place. First cast...a big white bass. The morning was going to be very good. Proceeded to catch a white on almost every cast for almost 2 hours...then they started shutting generators off and then they were gone. The water dropped almost 3 feet in about 30 minutes. These fish were all between 15 and 17 inches.....really heavy fish. The water was clear and 60 degrees. Thought I might get a striper up on the catwalk but no deal....the whites were stacked up there also. I had the place to myself....unbelievable! The parking lot was full but when I got out of the car no one was down on sidewalk or catwalk. Seems today was the 75th anniversary of the building of Pickwick Dam and all those cars were people inside doing celebrations. I used a 1/4 and sometimes 1/8 ounce jig head with a Killer Klatt Crappie Magnet on 6# test P-Line fluorocarbon line. I was using a medium action 6' 6" Veritas rod with a Shimano 2500 series Stradic reel. I had quite a bit of drag dialed in but these fish fought hard. I had a ball. It has been a while since I have gotten into whites and man these were some good ones! If I can get up at 3:00 AM will go back tomorrow. They have an odd generation schedule going on where they run all out in the morning then turn it down at noon and crank back up late evening.....not the normal way for down there. There was a young girl that walked down to see the water with her grand dad and I asked her if she could take a pic of me with my iPhone.....she said yes and her grand dad laughed and said good thing I asked her as he had no clue how to even turn one on....LOL.



Regards

Great report as always, Alpha. Is that last one a baby hybrid? I caught a few smaller ones today that looked just like that, I threw them back because I though they were hybrids, definitely not 15 inches. Do you think they would be that stacked at JPP dam?

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by creekcrappie

Great report as always, Alpha. Is that last one a baby hybrid? I caught a few smaller ones today that looked just like that, I threw them back because I though they were hybrids, definitely not 15 inches. Do you think they would be that stacked at JPP dam?

Funny you mentioned that Isaac. I checked some of these today to see if they were hybrid because some of them were pretty big.... but all were whites. I have caught white bass that big below JPP when the Cumberland is backed up and they are letting water out. So yes if conditions are right they will be in there.




Regards

[agelesssone]

Alpha, you better pay Sambolie! You know he can turn fish off quicker than an artic cold front!