Winter Mountain Trout Trolling

[Troutgirl]

\r\n \r\n I think that Trout are somewhat nomadic. However, from what you\'re saying, maybe they\'re a bit like Racoons in that they have a circuit they work....??? Maybe they go back and forth from where the bait fish are to where the nymphs and crayfish are good pickings...??? When the bait fish get thin, the hunting grounds may morph into where the nymphs are...?
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\nI have not fished for Trout in the winter very much in the past but this late fall/early winter I\'ve discovered that most of the Rainbows in Chilhowee Lake are up the Abrams Creek arm probably spawning and feeding on nymphs. I was at Watauga Lake recently and the Rainbows sure were not out in the channel. All I caught was Lakers and a Catfish. These days are so short, I didn\'t get around to fishing the upper end of the lake. Some of the Lakers must of been in the upper end. I didn\'t mark even half as many Lakers on sonar as in the summer months. I\'m probably not gonna fish again till late February or March. I winterized my boat and parked it last Monday.
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[Artisanthe]

\r\n \r\n To be clear......I\'m still learning, but, I\'ve been having a blast and have been pretty successful so far. I think the Trout make some pretty Obvious moves.....Deep in the Summer....and Shallow in the Winter. They also move towards the Dam in summer if necessary.....and up the feeder streams in winter to spawn. There are several important factors.....Oxygen, Food, Temperature and of course Spawning. This past summer, I located some "Wolfpacks" of Brook Trout on Cedar Cliff Lake. In the ten years prior.....I had never even seen a Brook Trout on that lake. I didn\'t know they were even in there! I found a "seam" at 35 ft....and three locations where I could consistently catch them. I caught 23 Brookies that day last July....and had Never even seen one before on that lake. That opened my eyes.
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\nI went back a couple months later.....and it was mostly Rainbows.....but, in the same specific locations. Cedar Cliff is now closed for the next two years for work on the dam.....but, I can\'t wait to get back there and continue what I\'ve learned. I then tried to reproduce the same thing on Fontana Lake. In the summer I was unsuccessful. This winter however, I managed to locate two excellent spots, however, the water level fluctuates wildly....so that will be a long term project. The Trout were definitely up-the-creeks though. One of the pics is a shot from Fontana of a "pile" of Trout up Eagle Creek in about a 150 yard section. I caught a 17 inch Brown that was living well and looked like a football along with some smaller Rainbows.
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\nThere\'s still Much to learn. I\'ll be heading over to Watauga this spring to try my hand at Lakers. (Nice Laker pic by the way!) I\'ll be packing some extra large hoochies.....along with the standard spoons and plugs. I think you may be missing out a little on these mild winters. You\'re right about the short days though. I didn\'t have time to check out out nearly all the fish I marked. The second depthfinder pic shows an absolute party going on at 60-80 ft......but, I didn\'t get a strike. I would have liked to have spent more time there. Next time!....D
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[loganwayne]

\r\n \r\n Glad you’ve been having luck. I decided to try Glenville. Haven’t fished it in a while, and summer time it’s taken over by wakeboard boats. It’s not know for trout but the two biggest browns and rainbow I’ve ever personally seen came out of the lake. We looked all over the lake and never seemed to be in the right areas. The wind also picked up mid morning as it usually does up there and made the 35-40 degrees almost unbare-able. My girlfriend finally had enough and laid down and got in a sleeping bag to get warm and outta the wind, I made it another 2 hours before I called it.\r\n \r\n

[Artisanthe]

\r\n \r\n Amazing how much colder it is when you\'re Not catching anything, isn\'t it? I\'ve been there. There are three nice waterfalls and streams coming into Glenville. I would think the Trout would be very close to those right now. That was the ticket a week ago on all four lakes I visited. If you head back to Lake Santeetlah.....try Snowbird or Santeetlah Creek. I caught them there. I made a pass near the town for good measure.....nothing! Good Luck!....D\r\n \r\n

[loganwayne]

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Amazing how much colder it is when you\'re Not catching anything, isn\'t it? I\'ve been there. There are three nice waterfalls and streams coming into Glenville. I would think the Trout would be very close to those right now. That was the ticket a week ago on all four lakes I visited. If you head back to Lake Santeetlah.....try Snowbird or Santeetlah Creek. I caught them there. I made a pass near the town for good measure.....nothing! Good Luck!....D

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I checked all the creeks except the big waterfall with the waterwheel that was my last stop but gave in before making it. Creek at the far end past the marina gets shallow fast once you come around the island/finger that sticks out. The rock with the danger buoy at the end was above water line and blocked from going further. It was also 3’ at that point but it is where I saw the most bait. From top to bottom 3’ thick and as wide as the channel im thinking the wind blew a bunch up there and they got trapped.
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[Troutgirl]

\r\n \r\n Watauga is the lake where I have had the least success with hoochies. I don\'t recall catching a single Rainbow on \'em. I\'ve mostly fished Kokanee hoochies there. I\'ve caught small Lakers, Smallmouths, and a few Walleyes on \'em. I made some Salmon sized hoochies a couple of years ago and I never got a strike on them. If I\'d made it up to the upper lake the other day, I was gonna fish some of my 2 inch hoochies up in the shallows of the Roan Creek arm. I ran out of time before I could do so. I might have started out up there in the morning but it was too cold to comfortably run up there.\r\n \r\n

[Artisanthe]

\r\n \r\n Troutgirl.....I was reading all the posts in the Tennessee forum about Watauga and it got me excited. I\'m sure I will have lots of questions. I\'m also sure I will make plenty of mistakes, but, I really enjoy the hunt and will probably try a lot of things that don\'t work. I will have all sorts of Hoochies of course.....but I get through my work days by daydreaming about new things to try. Cheers....D\r\n \r\n

[Artisanthe]

\r\n \r\n Logan....it sounds like you were on the right track. Some days they\'re just not buying what you\'re selling. I\'ve never fished for Trout there.....though I know they\'re there. The locals have even stocked Browns and Walleyes there......but NC doesn\'t stock Trout there as far as I know. I go there for Swimbait fishing....as the lake has Bluebacks....and a nice population of brown and green bass.
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\nIf you\'re going that far though......I might suggest you take a left and head to Bear Creek if you want Trout. Head for the island and turn left. The Trout are stacked up at the mouths of the streams. It\'s pretty water....and you can eliminate two thirds of the lake right now. There are Walleye and Bass there as well......and a Lot of Trout. I got my largest trout there on the last trip. Good Luck....D
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[loganwayne]

\r\n \r\n Bear and cedar cliff I fish a lot. Both I can get to in the spring and fish for a couple hours after I get off at 5. I grew up camping on glenville on the islands, you know before they put houses on them. We were actually the last people to legally camp on the small island across from the dam. I quit going there because it has gotten so crowded. It was nice to get on it and see one other boat. Also I’ve been trying to learn how to find fish at different times of year on different lakes to start building up a fairly expectation where to find trout and when. We learned it from crappie fishing down east with my buddy and it’s opened us up to fishing a lot of unknown lakes to us and having success. But I’m not gonna lie I spend the time 50/50 fishing for walleye then trout.
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[Artisanthe]

\r\n \r\n Yeah.....like you, I Can\'t Stand Glenville in the Summer.....and I have watched it get more and more crowded over the years. That\'s why I have grown to love winter fishing so much.......everywhere. There are also too many jet ski\'s on Cedar Cliff (The College) these days in the summer, but, mainly because it\'s so small. Cedar Cliff is a personal favorite.....and I will miss it the next couple of years. The large Bass there that feed on the Trout are what I will miss most of all. It should re-open in the winter of 2021....and I\'ll be there...D\r\n \r\n

[gambusia]

\r\n \r\n Bear, Wolf and Cedar Cliff have good dissolved oxygen and temperatures from top to bottom even during the summer.
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\nThats what makes them great for stocking rainbow trout.
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\nFew NC lakes have good year around trout habitat anymore but those 3 lakes do.\r\n \r\n

[Troutgirl]

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Bear, Wolf and Cedar Cliff have good dissolved oxygen and temperatures from top to bottom even during the summer.
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\nThats what makes them great for stocking rainbow trout.
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\nFew NC lakes have good year around trout habitat anymore but those 3 lakes do.

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Are you implying that the big lake like Fontana, Apalachia, Santeetlah, and others are going downhill as they silt-in....??? It certainly appears that Fontana\'s discharge water is getting warmer as it silts-in. It used to be consistently colder. The oxygen content in it\'s discharge was horrid until oxygen injection came along. I remember when Trout wouldn\'t grow in downstream Cheoah Lake.
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\nApalachia always had good dissolved oxygen. It was spitting out good water before oxygen injection. Back in the 70\'s Apalachia and Chilhowee were the two best tailwaters in the region....\r\n \r\n

[Artisanthe]

\r\n \r\n I was pretty impressed to see the lakes had completely turned over.....and the Water Temps were nearly the same (less than one degree) at 80 ft as they were at the surface (isothermal). This is very healthy for a lake as the Oxygen gets redistributed throughout the depths and the wind is able to thoroughly mix both oxygen and nutrients. It\'s also important that the majority of these lakes are still covered with trees and steep hillsides....which helps keep them cooler in the summers. The three mentioned....Bear, Wolf, Cedar Cliff ......are all still Oligotrophic Lakes.....though weeds are beginning to creep in as the climate changes. As Gambusia said....it\'s good year round Trout Habitat. I hope they stay that way....D
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[gambusia]

\r\n \r\n No what I mean is certain lakes have good trout habitat top to bottom all during the year.
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\nThese lakes do.
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\nSome others do to.
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\nFontana and Santeetlah can and do support trout year around but not top to bottom.\r\n \r\n

[Artisanthe]

\r\n \r\n I will also add....that of the four lakes I fished a week ago.....Fontana was the warmest at 55 degrees. The other three lakes were all around 48 degrees. That was a surprising and significant difference. Fontana has such an incredible range of habitat and changing depths......that locating the Trout can be the hardest part.....D\r\n \r\n

[Troutgirl]

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I will also add....that of the four lakes I fished a week ago.....Fontana was the warmest at 55 degrees. The other three lakes were all around 48 degrees. That was a surprising and significant difference. Fontana has such an incredible range of habitat and changing depths......that locating the Trout can be the hardest part.....D

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You shouldn\'t be surprised by Fontana\'s temp. Because of it\'s great volume of water, it\'s temp is gonna move up or down slower than smaller lakes. I suspect that it has more water in it than any other reservoir in North Carolina.\r\n \r\n

[Artisanthe]

\r\n \r\n I would agree with you mostly, but, I\'ve noticed over the years that Fontana is always different. It is such a vast Lake....with the Little Tennessee, Tuckaseegee and Nantahala rivers all flowing into it with different temperatures. Add in streams like Eagle and Hazel and dozens of others....along with the ever-changing depths..... and you can often find localized conditions. For example....I can almost always catch Trout in July up Hazel and Eagle Creeks in the cooler waters before they mix with the lake waters. Meanwhile, they will be 60 ft or deeper on the main lake.
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\nIt\'s estimated by the TVA that waters entering on the Little Tennessee end.....take 4-5 months to travel through the lake. So....while I agree with you on the Larger-equals-Slower changes normally.....Fontana has so many other factors going on that it\'s not that simple. Bottom line.....we need some colder days and nights to get Fontana down closer to the 40 degree mark, so that the upper layers mix with the dead lower layers. As I write this.....it will be in the 60\'s again today at Fontana. Colder weather is on the way though....and with nights in the teens predicted soon......another Mountain Trout Factory should recharge it\'s waters again. The nineteen inch Rainbow below was taken from the upper Hazel Creek area last July while temps were in the 90\'s and surface temps were close to 80. I don\'t usually keep them this size....but this one was too far gone to release due to the heat....D
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[Troutgirl]

\r\n \r\n I think that Fontana is starting to silt-in enough to reduce it\'s volume significantly. It\'s discharge water has been getting warmer in the last decade. I can\'t imagine any other reason for this development. More sand and less water in the depths near the dam. That 4-5 months for the water to turn-over is eye opening! For the past 6 months Fontana\'s oxygen injection system has been having problems periodically. To compensate they open a gate slightly to bring the oxygen level up in little Cheoah Lake. They\'ve been back to that for about the last week. Maturity is changing Fontana and many other TVA lakes. They\'ve raised Fort Loudoun Dam 4 feet to get back some storage capacity for flooding situations. They\'ve done the same at 3 other dams including Douglas.
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\nI read one time that with average flow, all the water in Chilhowee Lake rolls over in 2 days. I bet it\'s 1-2 days or less with little Cheoah…???\r\n \r\n

[Artisanthe]

\r\n \r\n I think it fluctuates (churn) on Fontana as well....and that was the actual Point i was trying to make. Fontana is a Catch-All Watershed lake for the area and the TVA uses it for Flood Control. The Lake Level can change as much as 25 Feet in a week if sustained rainfall hits the area. Ten foot fluctuations are not unusual at all. Conditions are always changing. I Always check the Lake Level before heading there. There can also be an influx of warmer waters from the Rivers in the form of run-off causing temperatures to change.
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\nAs far as silting in.....the depths near the dam have not changed much over the years. I still find 400 ft of water....but I can\'t say it hasn\'t changed at all. Usually with silt you start to get vegetation....and there\'s not much of that anywhere on Fontana.....except up the rivers and larger streams where the silt is obvious. What I am fairly certain is changing is the overall temperature of the lake. Mild winters make for easier fishing, but, as I have already said.....Fontana and ALL Mountain Lakes need the colder weather to recharge and mix the oxygen with the deeper waters. I can believe the discharge is getting warmer. I plan to fish Cheoah some this summer and will log the temperatures and share them.
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\nBelow is a screen capture of the Lake Levels over the past three years. You can see the yearly fluctuations along with the spikes. Fontana is a special place. You could spend a few lifetimes learning it all. Good Fishing!....D
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[Troutgirl]

\r\n \r\n I grew up in a Knoxville neigborhood chocked full of TVA employees including some of the bigwigs. I\'ve always know a lot about TVA. One of the bigwigs once told me that Douglas and Fontana were the most important dams in their system, as far as flood control goes. That makes perfect sense. They\'re the two biggest rivers coming out of the southern Appalachians. If WW2 had not happened, a smaller Alcoa dam might have been built at the Fontana site. If that had become reality, I suspect that TVA would of built a substantial dam somewhere upstream or taken Alcoa\'s dam with eminent domain and enlarged or replaced it with something along the lines of Fontana.
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\n The summer flood of 1940 over-topped both Cheoah and Calderwood Dams. Cheoah had more damage. It\'s powerhouse was severely damaged. Also, farther north, Horseshoe Dam on the Watauga River, now called Wilbur Dam, took the very worst of it. It\'s powerhouse and gates were completely washed away. Fontana Dam was long overdue when it was finally built during WW2. It\'s curious that Hiwassee Dam was built before Fontana but having to deal with Alcoa probably is why. After the 1940 flood TVA went straight ahead and obtained the dam site. President Roosevelt knew WW2 was inevitable and Alcoa needed massive amounts of electricity for the coming war. Every dam site remotely close to Alcoa, TN was expedited in 1940. Apalachia Dam is a prime example.
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\nI presume that your graph is the same or edited version from TVA\'s site, yes...??? I\'ve looked at Fontana\'s Operating Guide on their site. I\'ve seen Fontana Dam from every angle. I visited when the lake was all the way down for the dam repairs back in the 80\'s. That was eye opening! So was the sluicing during the flooding that damaged the dam. I went to see it and it looked very different from the sluicing we\'ve seen in recent years. It was both tubes and the water looked like chocolate milk with debris in it.
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\nFontana is a subject I know well. I fished it quite a bit back in the 70\'s but not so much since.....\r\n \r\n

[Artisanthe]

\r\n \r\n The Graph comes from Lakes Online dot com. I enjoyed your info on Fontana\'s past. I have researched it myself....the buried towns, the Alcoa story and the wildlife. I was really thrilled to see that Otters live there....though I\'ve never personally seen one. I\'ve seen Eagles several times there along with all sorts of other wildlife. It\'s one of many reasons the lake is Special for me.
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\nI recently bought a used Oxygen Meter from a University. I am looking forward to checking the dissolved oxygen levels in many of the lakes next summer. I like to understand the ecosystems I\'m fishing on.
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\nMeanwhile....when I fish the Dam there for Smallies and Trout.....it\'s always a little spooky to see all the cracked concrete. I realize that the Dam is many feet thick and full of steel....but it still looks spooky. I included some old shots of the Dam under construction from the interweb for perspective...D
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[Troutgirl]

\r\n \r\n TVA knew that the heat of the sun would make for cracks in the dam\'s massive concrete works. They installed brine pipes in the dam to cool it. I don\'t know what liquid flows in the pipes but I suspect it\'s pressurized ammonia like what\'s used to freeze the ice at ice rinks...???
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\nThere\'s plenty of River Otters in Chilhowee Lake. I saw a family of 5 one day last year. I\'ve seen Otters get Rainbows, Smallmouths, and one time I saw one grab a Mallard Duck and pull it under. About a minute later I saw it emerge onto the bank with the drowned duck in it\'s mouth. I see Otters in my Knoxville neighborhood from time to time. They like to prey upon the legions of Canada Geese that crap up everybody\'s yards along the river. Go Otters!!!! I have seen Otters at Calderwood a few times. Folks tell me that Otters darn near eliminated the Browns in Slickrock Creek during the severe drought of 1995 when the fish were easy pickings.
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\nEagles really like Chilhowee Lake. There\'s a pair living there now. I\'ve seen additional pairs in the past. There\'s plenty of shallow fish to grab in Chilhowee. I\'ve seen Eagles swoop down and grab Rainbows and Smallmouths in Chilhowee many times when the fish are shallow attacking bait fish. I\'d guess that most of the Eagles working Fontana are up the creeks and rivers where they can find some fish sitting shallow...?
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\nI like seeing the Bears at Fontana. The last time I was there 3 years ago, I saw two Bears way up Hazel Creek, not together. The second one swam across in front of me when I was nearing the mouth of the creek. There were some guys behind me that were gonna hike up the creek to fish. I warned them not to leave anything of interest in their boat. My bet is that smarty pants Bear inspected every boat parked there. Bears are very bright!\r\n \r\n

[Artisanthe]

\r\n \r\n The place I stay in Cashiers NC occasionally catches Bears on the security cameras at night in their parking lot. There are pizza and breakfast restaurants close by.....and the bears check out the dumpsters and surrounding areas for scraps. You seldom see them in the daylight. They have learned the routines and how to co-exist. My fishing partner on one trip was pretty upset that there were bears outside our door at night. I thought it was pretty interesting myself.
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\nEarlier this year, I was way up Eagle Creek looking for Trout....and a stumbled on a handsome Timber Rattler or Canebrake sunning himself. He blended in with the surroundings perfectly. I often see deer swimming across the lake and raccoons at the lake edge on Fontana.
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\nFishing is not just about catching fish.....it\'s the whole adventure and experience. I remind myself often to stop and enjoy the moment. Good Fishing to All....D
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[Troutgirl]

\r\n \r\n I have some great bear pictures I\'d like to post. I can\'t find the memory stick, so far. My laptop died about 6 months ago and the pictures were in it. I have a series of photos of a 250-300 pound bear swimming across Chilhowee Lake right in front of my boat and then getting out. If I find the memory stick I\'ll post it.
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\nThe best wildlife photo I\'ve seen was a Bobcat on a downed tree leaning into Cheoah lake that a friend took. Bobcats don\'t like being seen! The only time I\'ve ever seen one was when some dogs tree\'d it. I have a friend who saw a Boar swim across Chilhowee Lake. I\'ve never seen that. He didn\'t have a camera with him that day. I\'ve only ever encountered one Boar and it was on Fourney Creek when I hiked in to fish it long ago. The wind was coming right at me or I\'m sure I would never have seen it.\r\n \r\n

[gambusia]

\r\n \r\n Looks like Tennessee is going to go back to putting lake trout in Chilhowee this year in addition the rainbows\r\n \r\n

[Troutgirl]

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Looks like Tennessee is going to go back to putting lake trout in Chilhowee this year in addition the rainbows

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Last time I was at Chilhowee, I talked to a TWRA agent who thought they were going to stop putting Lakers in there. He said that they must have already stocked some because he checked a guy who had a small Laker. A few Browns have been showing up in Chilhowee. Some Browns were probably stocked when the dam repairs were completed and the lake was filled. I hope they put both Browns and Lakers in.
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\nThe Lakers were really hard to catch in Chilhowee. I had to go up to Watauga to actually land one. One day, before the draw-down, I trolled spoons for Lakers all afternoon without a strike. At dark I put out a float light and a pair of crawler lines. I started to eat my sandwich just minutes later and bam, I had a hard strike. It took me 20 minutes to get a substantial Laker ready for the net. It keep taking line every time I got it up from the depths. I thought I had a big Rainbow till I finally got it close enough to see the white, leading edges of it\'s fins. I was fishing alone. When I had the fish worn out, I had the net over the side and was 1-2 seconds from scooping it up, it had one last head shake left in it and out came the hook. It was about 24-26 inches long. That would make it about 5 - 6.5 pounds, probably....? We caught a Laker at Watauga one day that was only 26" but weighed 7.51 pounds. This fish looked thinner. It was probably about 6 pounds, give or take a half pound. It was a hard fight on an ultra light outfit with 6 pound test.
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\nI believe Lakers see your line better than other Trout in Chilhowee. They see to feed in deep, dark water like Watauga has. They must see darn well in shallow Chilhowee. Chilhowee is at most 70 feet deep at the dam. Most of the lake is 40 feet or less. There\'s an upside to Lakers in Chilhowee. You don\'t have to drag them up 60-120 feet through a bunch of warm water that\'s painful for them like what\'s the case at Watauga from mid-summer and through the fall. The warm pocket on top of Chilhowee runs about 5-10 feet depending on the flow into the lake. It\'s not deep enough for them to get decompression like can be the case at Watauga when the strikes are at 80 feet or more during the hot months.
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\nThere\'s plenty of food for Lakers in Chilhowee. It has a huge population of Shad minnows and plenty of Yellow Perch. Lakers like eating Perch till they get big enough to have sharp, painful fins....\r\n \r\n

[inthebox30lbs]

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Looks like Tennessee is going to go back to putting lake trout in Chilhowee this year in addition the rainbows

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\nI was under the assumption that no more lakers are going in Chillhowee. Is this confirmed??\r\n \r\n

[inthebox30lbs]

\r\n \r\n Here is an email to region 4 fishery biologists\r\n \r\n

[Troutgirl]

\r\n \r\n In the past, the stocking of Lakers in Chilhowee was always on the basis of if they had extra fish. It was never every year. I suspect that every 2-4 years some extra fish will get stocked.\r\n \r\n

[morewood]

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I think that Fontana is starting to silt-in enough to reduce it\'s volume significantly. It\'s discharge water has been getting warmer in the last decade. I can\'t imagine any other reason for this development. More sand and less water in the depths near the dam.

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I\'m going to disagree with you a bit on this. Considering where the gates are located for the infeed and the full depth of the lake at that end the volume of water won\'t be impacted that that large of a degree...in my opinion. The bigger issue to me is mild weather and sunny days keeping the lake temps warm. Saying that, I\'m about ready to head back to Watauga. We learned a lot up there last year and hope to bring in something bigger.
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The distance between those two lengths of conduit going into the depths is about 10\' and a great place to tie off if night fishing. If my memory is correct the depth there is in the 120\'-130\' range when in normal summer range.
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[Troutgirl]

\r\n \r\n [QUOTE=morewood;1222747]I\'m going to disagree with you a bit on this. Considering where the gates are located for the infeed and the full depth of the lake at that end the volume of water won\'t be impacted that that large of a degree...in my opinion. The bigger issue to me is mild weather and sunny days keeping the lake temps warm. Saying that, I\'m about ready to head back to Watauga. We learned a lot up there last year and hope to bring in something bigger.....
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\nI\'m sure that weather is a factor. I don\'t think that Fontana is as deep at the dam as it used to be. I think that Fontana is losing the very deepest pocket of water at the dam, the most insulated, way down pocket of water. I think that loss of the very coldest water is an on-going thing. The lake is now about 75 years old. Most of TVA\'s lakes have silt issues. The lakes downstream from Fontana are also gradually silting in too. Calderwood used to be 10-15 deeper at the dam. Chilhowee Lake has gotten steadily shallower. After the 70\'s flood that damaged Fontana Dam, it was amazing how many huge, new sandbars were formed downstream in Cheoah Lake. Most of \'em washed down gradually but other high water events have since done their share of sculpting. I witnessed Fontana\'s tubes spew out water as chocolate as is possible once in the 70\'s and again in the 80\'s. Silt is on the move in the Little T. Floods really move it.
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\nDo you know about Porter\'s Bend Dam that makes Lake Emory upstream from Fontana Lake? It\'s slowed down the silt movement into Fontana some. It\'s nearly completely silted-in. The generator long ago ceased working because of silt. I\'m not sure if the gates still work. In any case, during a flood, I\'m certain that the dam gets over-topped with flow and some silt gets to leave at those times.
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\nTVA has made Fort Loudoun and Douglas Dams 4 feet higher to increase storage space if absolutely necessary during flood events. This is to compensate for how silted-in both lakes have become. They don\'t lower Fort Loudoun Lake as far down for winter as they used to. It used to be 7 feet, now it\'s 4.5 feet. They have to have 9 feet for the biggest barges. During the drought a few years back when Douglas Lake hit record low levels, parts of the lake looked like a sandy dessert with a river running through it. The French Broad River was commonly called The Big Muddy, several generations back, before TVA.
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\nI concur that weather is a factor but not so long ago, Fontana\'s release was much colder. The little lakes downstream were colder too. Besides weather and silt, I can\'t imagine any other important factors.
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\nGood hunting at Watauga. I\'d try up the Roan Creek arm. Till the water warms, there\'s Trout up there till the water warms considerably. Rainbows spawn up there and then gradually spread back out and Lakers lurk up there too in winter. Rainbows are delicious and nutritious. There\'s always fish around the dam but there\'s very few Rainbows in the lower lake this time of year. The recent rains have probably driven most of the Rainbows out of the creeks. The spawn must be over. The water must be getting warmer, too warm for spawning. I hope I can go soon to either Chilhowee or Watauga...or both! It needs to dry up for me to get my boat out of it\'s winter resting place.\r\n \r\n

[morewood]

\r\n \r\n Forgot to add that if you fished Fontana and were happy then you should fish the next two lakes down. Last years tournament on Cheoah (it was an outlier of a day) showed the potential that lake has. Calderwood, being even further downstream gets even less pressure and has, to me, an even greater potential to produce the occasional double digit trout. This time of year you can troll the surface down to 15\' feet and catch a variety of trout in either lake. We run the riggers just deep enough at times to get the lures below the surface and have plenty of action.
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\nTroutgirl, I\'ve monkeyed around and cobbled up a different style of release that I\'ve seen on the coast but not anywhere else. When I see you out and about I want to give you one to try. It\'s a modified Black\'s downrigger release. Scott, you\'re welcome to one too as you been giving with not only your spoons but your time doing the tourneys.
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\nShea\r\n \r\n

[Troutgirl]

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Forgot to add that if you fished Fontana and were happy then you should fish the next two lakes down. Last years tournament on Cheoah (it was an outlier of a day) showed the potential that lake has. Calderwood, being even further downstream gets even less pressure and has, to me, an even greater potential to produce the occasional double digit trout. This time of year you can troll the surface down to 15\' feet and catch a variety of trout in either lake. We run the riggers just deep enough at times to get the lures below the surface and have plenty of action.
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\nTroutgirl, I\'ve monkeyed around and cobbled up a different style of release that I\'ve seen on the coast but not anywhere else. When I see you out and about I want to give you one to try. It\'s a modified Black\'s downrigger release. Scott, you\'re welcome to one too as you been giving with not only your spoons but your time doing the tourneys.
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\nShea

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I might try it but the Pro Release has been good for me the past two years. I tried a bunch of brands before finding one I could adjust easily. I have some expensive releases sitting around in emergency reserve if I\'m desperate.\r\n \r\n

[morewood]

\r\n \r\n I have a couple Chamberlains, they\'re nice, but very finicky. The ones I\'ve modified have one adjustment, it\'s a slider on two arms. The closer to the release end it\'s heavier, slide it the other way and it\'s easier.
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\nI added an arm and line to attach it to the downrigger.
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\nShea
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\nPS-While the scotty releases are a pain to judge release tension, they are stupid simple.\r\n \r\n

[Troutgirl]

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I have a couple Chamberlains, they\'re nice, but very finicky. The ones I\'ve modified have one adjustment, it\'s a slider on two arms. The closer to the release end it\'s heavier, slide it the other way and it\'s easier.
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\nI added an arm and line to attach it to the downrigger.
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\nShea
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\nPS-While the scotty releases are a pain to judge release tension, they are stupid simple.

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\nDid I read this right...??? Your release is a modified Chamberlain? That would make even more interesting. I\'m anxious to see it.\r\n \r\n

[Troutgirl]

\r\n \r\n Oh, I\'ve been using the Pro Release I got from Angler West. I doubt I\'ll ever use clip type ones ever again. The one I\'m using has a single adjustment screw. It has a swing out piece that you wrap the line around a few times and then tuck it in the release body. The little arm pops out, releasing the line, when pulled upon.\r\n \r\n

[loganwayne]

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Oh, I\'ve been using the Pro Release I got from Angler West. I doubt I\'ll ever use clip type ones ever again. The one I\'m using has a single adjustment screw. It has a swing out piece that you wrap the line around a few times and then tuck it in the release body. The little arm pops out, releasing the line, when pulled upon.

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If they have tournaments again this year I’d like to look at that. Not real happy with the Scotty releases I have been using
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[Troutgirl]

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If they have tournaments again this year I’d like to look at that. Not real happy with the Scotty releases I have been using
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\nThey\'re only $20. Go to Angler West\'s .com and look at it. It comes in 4 colors. I got black. If you\'re using those Scotty clips, I hate them too. They might be OK if every fish was big. I always had trouble with small and medium sized fish not pulling open even the smaller size Scotty clip. There\'s a video demo.\r\n \r\n

[RI RORYL]

\r\n \r\n Hi folks
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\nHas anyone used the Chamberlain release. I love them. Two adjustments-' + '-can be set for real light biters and never have a rod pop w/o a bite. If you haven\'t, they are worth a look-' + '-$20 also
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\ngood fishing
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\ncoach\r\n \r\n

[Troutgirl]

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Hi folks
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\nHas anyone used the Chamberlain release. I love them. Two adjustments-' + '-can be set for real light biters and never have a rod pop w/o a bite. If you haven\'t, they are worth a look-' + '-$20 also
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\ngood fishing
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I have one sitting in the boat. I\'ve never been able to adjust it to my satisfaction. I\'ve missed a heck of a lot of strikes trying. I watched the videos and even called the company for help. I gave up on it.\r\n \r\n

[Artisanthe]

Hello All. I spent five great days on four different lakes over the holidays.....Fontana, Santeetlah, Bear Creek and Wolf Creek. I fished mornings for Bass....and would change over to Trout around 10-11 am each day. I found Bass easily on Fontana and Santeetlah....still chasing the bait balls and eager to take Spybaits and Damiki blade baits. They were fun to catch and plentiful.

The Trout were still Very Active and I caught many that were ready to spawn. I caught several males that were "spraying" when held.....and females loaded with eggs.....it's the season. I trolled custom and stock hoochies....along with Rapala's, spoons and spinners. By the end of the trip I was exclusively trolling hoochies and here's what I found.

I caught far more Stocker Trout (11-14 inches) than on the previous trip and they mostly wanted the stock hoochie. The slightly larger custom hoochies produced All of the Larger Trout. I did manage a 19 inch Leroy and an 18 inch Rainbow and a few other 16 and 17 inch fish.....but this trip was more about quantity than quality.

The Fish were Everywhere! On two different Lakes.....I dropped the FishHawk Thermometer down.....and in Both.....the difference between the Surface and 80 ft was less than One Degree! It averaged 49 degrees on the surface....and 48.2 degrees at 80 ft. The Fish only needed to find Food and occupied nearly the entire water column. Take a look at the Humminbird pic and you'll see what was happening. I wound up flat lining about 15 ft deep for the majority of Trout caught......easy trolling!

Over the last two years I have dialed it in. I have learned to locate schools, wolfpacks, groups....whatever you prefer....and my thoughts on Trout have evolved. I initially began believing they were Nomadic....and that you just trolled until one hit. Now I target specific areas and make much shorter and productive passes.....repeatedly. Over the five days, I caught 60 plus Trout and kept just a few. The action was pretty constant. The scenery was Beautiful.

The weather was Foggy and Great......in the 60's each day and 30's each night. I mostly had the lakes to myself. In the afternoons I would see a few other boats. A couple of boats wandered over to see what I was doing. It's a great time for Trout......Best of Luck to everyone....D