03-31-2011, 09:00 AM
Put in at Soddy Creek just after 7 AM and headed out for some crappie hunting. Water level was about 680 and TVA was running about 42K so there was plenty current and debris on the water. Fished docks, blow downs, brush piles, and rock banks most of the day. I couldn&#39;t find fish in any shallow water, only in 10 - 20 FOW and most strikes were at a 8 count on a 1/16th jig. I caught most of the fish by 11 oclock which seemed to be the end of the feeding period. Water temps ran from 52* to 55*. Bait of choice was a toss up between Sunrise and Outlaw Special by BG and some fish didn&#39;t hit at all, they were just on as you slowly reeled in, feeling weight on the end of the line, emoThumbsup I ended the day with 21 crappie, 1 big Golden Shinner, 1 very small blue cat, and 2 nice sized bream. Best fish of the day was caught at exactly 8:30 on a Outlaw Special on a 1/16th leadhead. She was almost as big as a baseball in the middle and just shy of 15 inches. On my cheap scales she weighed in at 2 lb - 4 1/4 ozs emoTongue After a &quot;Photo Op&quot; she was carefully returned to the lake to finish her duties, emoSmile emoThumbsup I had the pleasure of chatting with ErikM and hearing some good catfish stories and a little instruction on the catchin&#39; of the big &#39;uns He had already caught several when we talked, emoThumbsup He did tell me he was searching for that one that weights a cool hundred, emoTongue emoThumbsup Hope we get to see him holding that big boy soon, emoThumbsup <br />I kept 7 crappie and did a pretty good job of culling out the females. Only had one female in the well and she was really skinny. When I cut her open the eggs were a long way from being formed and ready to lay.<br />I believe the Crappie will spawn in just a few days if this cold rain will stop long enough for the water temp to stabilize, emoThumbsup I think the water is warm enough at 55* if it will quit going down to 50* then back up to nearly 60*, With the water levels going up and down and the temp instability it may be holding the spawn back, emoScratch<br />