Nickajack 5/18/2013

Nickajack 5/18/2013

Publix parking lot at 3:00 am Saturday morning. Omar was first to arrive, then Jack with his boat, then Rob with his. We were ready to convoy to Nickajack. We caught up with Duke past the mountain. Riding through a downpour amidst numerous semis over Monteagle made for a tense ride and not a little concern for the fishing conditions. However, over the mountain, the rain ceased and we had a very nice day on the lake even if quite cloudy. We were pretty shocked to find a large number of trailers parked at the ramp area. Fortunately most were already launched and we were able to get on water quickly.

This was my first time on this lake and I had no clue where start. My boat mate had fished there last year and did have a plan for us. There was a tremendous amount of debris and logs in the water so caution was the watchword. Omar directed me to a small island on the west side of the bridge. We fished the shallow edges then decided we should move considerably off the end of the long point. We each picked up a keeper here on plastics. We continued to move to points but well offshore with c-rigs and caught a few more. I even picked up a nice crappie on a fluke.

We decided to move well up the lake to an area that Omar and Noah had done well last year but the fish weren't here today. We made a few stop on the way down river but no luck. We decided to spend our last hour at our beginning spot but alas a boat was sitting right on our spot. I guess he thought it was his spot too since we saw them catch a couple of fish. So our day was done. Omar had 3 keepers for 4+ pounds and I had 4 for 6+ pounds. Rob had the best catch with 5 for 13 pounds topped by a beautiful 6.25 spawned out bass. I really liked the lake but I would like to fish without all the tournaments. There were easily 200+ boats.

On the way back Rob had a vibrating wheel on his trailer. We examined it while we were atop Monteagle and determined the tire had a bulge perhaps belts separating. Rob decided to try to make it home and we followed.  He made it thankfully. Jack continued on to Guntersville for a couple of days. Got a text today saying he caught 8 today topped by 4+. Lucky guy.