Fished it this weekend for the first time.. Sat, Sun, and Mon.. Only caught 5 bass all weekend and none were over 15 inches. Maybe I just suck? The rain rose the lake over 2 and a half ft on Friday and then friday night they dropped it back down a ft.. then another ft on Sat night.. Water temp had also dropped like 3 degrees.. I don’t know man..

 

Well it appears you may have done quite a bit better than Mr. Grigsby . . . 

@jbsoonerfan

And you certainly caught more than me . . . .

A-Jay

That’s the real Chickamauga that you don’t read about so often. It’s a hard place to fish. The main river is always going up and down like that, the elite guys on pickwick were dealing with a similar issue (and some of them zeroed)

 

Here’s a line graph of chickamauga over the course of a year

And the next lake down nickajack........

I've never done well in body's of water that fluctuate like that. 

Last year in a local lake that was under construction for boat ramp repairs, was able to slide my kayak in as the water level was dropping........Nadda, nothing, zilch. 

 

Then yet another lake in WV. 

When I arrived the water level was up 4ft from a severe storm and same result. 

 

Maybe fish get use to the constant fluctuations in certain impoundments but around here, it effects the bite.

I am headed down that way in May, first time fishing south of the Ohio River in my life.  I hired a guide for both days I will be down there fishing, I can't figure out my own fisheries here in Ohio half the time.  haha  Hopefully my guide has it dialed in while I am there!!

3 hours ago, Bird said:

I've never done well in body's of water that fluctuate like that. 

Last year in a local lake that was under construction for boat ramp repairs, was able to slide my kayak in as the water level was dropping........Nadda, nothing, zilch. 

 

Then yet another lake in WV. 

When I arrived the water level was up 4ft from a severe storm and same result. 

 

Maybe fish get use to the constant fluctuations in certain impoundments but around here, it effects the bite.

Those are the main river lakes. The tributary lakes like Douglas Norris and Cherokee fluctuate 30 feet every year (and Fontana goes up and down 40 feet) 

3 hours ago, FishinBuck07 said:

I am headed down that way in May, first time fishing south of the Ohio River in my life.  I hired a guide for both days I will be down there fishing, I can't figure out my own fisheries here in Ohio half the time.  haha  Hopefully my guide has it dialed in while I am there!!

Good luck! It’s a crap shoot just about anyway you slice it 

34 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Those are the main river lakes. The tributary lakes like Douglas Norris and Cherokee fluctuate 30 feet every year (and Fontana goes up and down 40 feet) 

Good luck! It’s a crap shoot just about anyway you slice it 

Oh I know that man!  Just hoping the guide gives me a little more of a chance to whack a few!

3 minutes ago, FishinBuck07 said:

Oh I know that man!  Just hoping the guide gives me a little more of a chance to whack a few!

It should certainly help!