Pickwick Trip Spring 16

[Mustang]

Just returned from fishing 19 days for 9 hours a day at Pickwick Lake, Tennessee.

Actually the only thing in Tennessee is the Pickwick Dam and the lodge (I use the term loosely) I stay at. Arrived April 10th and departed April 28th, leaving two days early to attend a funeral.

 

After enjoying three years of good numbers (25 to 50 a day), things came to a screeching halt this spring where catching 8 - 15 a day became more the norm. The conditions were perfect. The water levels didn't fluctuate and the water temps rose steadily from 61 to 71 degrees. The wind was manageable and we only had one day of rain. Most bass were still pre-spawn and were not in the creeks, on points, or in shallow. We found most of our fish off of rocky or shale shoreline in 12-18 feet of water. They had a warm stretch mid-March, followed by a two week cold snap that shut everything down. Water was a bit cloudy, but not that out of the ordinary. The crappie guys were complaining also - used to catching 25-30 a day, they were lucky to get 6 or 8. The channel cats and drum were doing fine and kept things interesting.

Since the bite was tough, I kept it small and simple, throwing 3 and 4 inch grubs as they didn't care as much for my 6 inch lizards which has been my go-to bait down there in the past.

 

On the other hand the size of the bass we caught this trip far exceeded that which we normally catch, but without a plethora of the 12 to 17 inch fish, made for long bouts of dead water.

 

I fished the 10th through 16 with two guys who had made the trip to Pickwick many times with me, and the 17th through 24th with a first-timer who was a good fisherman.

 

Our big fish was a 5.1 pound largemouth that I caught on a lizard in shallow water. We also caught many in the 3 to 4 pound range deep. Smallmouth were big and beautiful with a lot of 17 to 20 inch fish.

 

I'm back home for Derby Week and then off to Canada for our annual spring trek to Ontario from May 11th through June 10th. It looks like its just now thawing out in Canada. We expect to do well there.

 

[buttels]

Be glad you got back when you did. Tornado went through my old town of Selmer last night. Looks like a productive trip back "home".

[TAC]

I was following the trip on your website. Looked like a lot of monsters. Good luck up north.

[Mustang]

Be glad you got back when you did. Tornado went through my old town of Selmer last night. Looks like a productive trip back "home".

We were lucky, there was a front hanging over the Houston Texas, up through Oklahoma that stayed west of us for the best part of a week. It then went north before turning east, virtually going around us.

I know that they were calling for bad storms the weekend after I left.

That area seems to have a propensity for tornadoes and high wind.

[BirdBrain]

Good looking fish. The crappie had nice size. Good luck in Oh Canada....

[Mustang]

Good looking fish. The crappie had nice size. Good luck in Oh Canada....

The size of the crappie at Pickwick is amazing. This one doesn't look like it in the photo but was 16 1/2 inches long.

Some of the white crappie there are thick with big rubber lips.