28 April 2007

Took the weekend off and headed to Tennessee to see some friends. I got a call from my good friend, Eric "Catfish" Chappel about catching big cats on Wilson Lake 40 miles south of where we were in Columbia, TN. Eric and I met up around 1030 to begin the long ride to Wilson Lake, part of the chain of dammed lakes in the Tennessee River system.

After crossing the Alabama state line we stopped for drink, ice, and a 7
day freshwater fishing license for me. A few more miles and we cross Wheeler Dam,the up current side of Wilson Lake, pull up to the ramp and we're off, 1230. We made our way to the base of the dam, just out of the current of the Hydro-electric generators, and start catching 8"-12" Skipjack Shad... to use for BAIT!!!

This was a blast! Using a variety of spoons and jigs we manage to get enough bait (about 15 shad)in about 10 minutes. We immediately grabbed the bigger conventional rods, spooled with 30# line, a dropper rig, baited with a half shad and began to "bump bottom". Eric sets these in rod holders and hands me another conventional this time spooled with 20# and a smaller dropper rig for "eatin' size fish", as Eric puts it. Within minutes he's hooked up to a nice 4lb fish that he promptly puts in the cooler. A few more minutes pass and again Eric hooks up, but this is no eatin' size fish. He strains to pull the fish away from the huge boulders at the bottom of the dam ....and,unfortunately, loses the battle. I'm amazed when he tells me "That was an average fish at around 15-20 lbs.

But Eric catches them much bigger,like this one, up to and over 65-75lbs. 1645, After a couple of hours and 3 more nice eatin' size fish, we go for a tour of the lake. From one end of the lake to the other Eric took me pointing out favorite fishing spots of his for a variety of species like bass, bluegill and, of course, catfish. This is a beautiful lake with amazing homes, perched atop 30'-40' limestone cliffs, half hidden among the wooded shores. We saw Wilson Dam, the down current end of Wilson Lake, above Pickwick Lake, then back to the grind for us. 1830, Eric next took me to his most productive spot for BIG cats, best right at dark for a couple of hours. We spend some time looking for the perfect position to anchor over some rubble in 30 ft of water.

1900, Lines are set and the sun has almost finished it's daily race to the west, there's bait all around us, and we're both excited about the prospects that dusk will bring. Not long after the sun was hidden by the tree line the action started. The rod bends and the reel screams and I dash for it, trying to get the reel into gear before the fish find us out. I wind as fast as I can to get the circle hook to find solid jaw, and the line goes slack. I look to Eric for some guidance and he tells me I might have been a little late to the rod. Mere minutes pass and again the same rod bends and starts belching line this time Eric trys to show me how to do it and proceeds to.....and the line goes slack. I give him a big grin and asked what happened. "Something's wrong", he tells me, a big cat doesn't just drop a bait once he's committed to eating it. The answer, big Strippers. This continued for an hour or so until a rod bend...and stayed that way. "That's a catfish right there, no playing, just eating." I grabbed the rod and held on as the fish pulled drag like I didn't think a catfish could. A little more than 5 min later and Eric slides the net under my personal best catfish at 17.5lbs. The upper end of "eatin' size".

I was ecstatic, what a fish, and to think that at anytime it could be a fish that might break the Alabama state record of 111lbs, caught just upstream in Wheeler Reservoir. Eric and I spent another hour and a half trying to find the 40lb fish he wanted for me, it didn't happen that night. Maybe I'm glad it didn't, I can't think of a better reason to go again than that. We finally got everything loaded back up and were headed for home by 2245. It was an awesome experience I hope to get to do again someday soon.