Labman, Chickamauga, Bass/Crappie, 1/30/2012, solo

[FishNews]

Set out from CFP about 11:15 to try and do some damage to the basses. Decided to try fishing under the gulls as there was a lot of bait and marking some good sized arches. I wouldn't have complained if a Striper came to eat. Thought I would throw an umbrella rig as everyone else in a 3 state area is throwing them. Third "cast" let the rig sink to the bottom and start a slow retrieve. Fishing in about 20' of water. Bam, nice 3# LM. A few minutes later another hit and a 3# 10oz. LM. Hmmm, may be something to this rig after all. In all I caught 5 good keepers over 3# with the largest being 4# 6 oz. All caught on umbrella rig with 4" swimbaits. I tried lipless cranks, bucktails, jigging spoon, and shakey head with not a bite. <br /><br />Had to run up river to retrieve my float n fly that I stuck in a cedar limb on a bluff. Took a HD 16' extendable pole to use to knock it out of the tree. Worked like a charm once I got the boat positioned. The wind and strong current were very tough to manuver in. On the way back thought I would stop at a crappie spot and see if any fish wanted to play. It was too windy and water too dirty to try float n fly. <br /><br />Marked a nice school of crappie on a drop off near the main channel. Threw out a marker, moved the boat downwind and let the i-pilot do its thing. Worked like a charm, and even in the strong wind got very little bow in the line being downwind. Now to see if I remember some of Drumkings lessons. Using BG Shad 1/16th in the KIDS favorite "outlaw special". First tic was a dink, but the right species. Next fish was a little bigger, maybe 10", but still not what I was looking for. Cast a little past the drop and brought the bait over the edge on a 12 count, and that was the ticket. Caught 15 very nice keepers from 11" up, including 2 TARPS just over 14". All caught on the same bait and I never missed or lost a fish. I quit after 15 keepers and said a THANK YOU!! to Drumking for teaching me all I know about crappie fishing. Kept 3 of the smallest keepers for dinner, all others released. Great fun and a good day, even if very windy on the main lake. Oops, I think I switched wts. on the bass pics.<br /><br />Heading to the river with Nauticman tomorrow. Being retired is tough, fish, fish, with hardly a day off.<br /> emoLaugh Please excuse a couple of washed out pics, finally got a clamp to hold my camera and then forgot to turn the boat out of the sun.<br /><br />Regards, Labman