2022 09 10-11 weekend at a high mountain lake

[coldfront]

in the cherokee national forest.  fall is coming and the mornings can be spectacular.
saturday morning... cloudy and rainy.  thought it felt like a 'muskie' day.  more on that later.

guess why they're called the smoky mountains...

the topwater bite was on... my favorite species unloaded with typical fury...


a little more 'uplake' on a large flat... this 20 inch LMB just sucked it under... didn't know how big she was until had her close to the boat.  one little hook, just in the skin...  good fish behavior, no wild leaps.

kept working the brushpiles on the large upper lake flat.  no more 'takers' but did have a 40+ inch class muskie follow in... didn't see here until she BOLTED at the boat.  big, girthy girl... left quite the 'hole' in the water.

had to call it early and head home to get to the gym and my work out routine before the KEY CFB matchup that afternoon (KState vs some knucklehead SEC team...)

decided next morning to head back out since I'd had so much fun... the fish were really hesitant on the walking baits.  lots of blow-ups, swirls.. just one small 'taker'.  started pitching a worm into the laydowns and picked up a couple pound, pound and half, spots... 


but the pay-off for the day was the sunrise...  same lake.. different day...  a fitting tribute to 9-11



the heavy fog in the cuts is due to the upstream water temps....  water in the upper end of the lake was running 71°F.... down on the lower end it was 79°F.  water's been clearer... but visibility was at about 5-6 feet this weekend.

love the rainy days.  keeps the wake boats off the water...  temperatures dropping, more and more 'feeding up' should be happening in this 'spotted bass' lake.  but any day on t he water?  just about as close to perfect as it gets...

[Donald Garner]

CF, congrats on the catching there.  Thank you for sharing those pictures also. 

I love that part of Tennessee.  I used to drive through Chattanooga all the time while stationed at Ft. Benning, GA.  My parents lived in Bowling Green, KY and that was my North / South Route I took to visit them.

[big g]

Way to go finding a few.  I have stayed on a few  deep mountain lakes, like Burton and Nantahala and always find it like fishing on the moon.  Congrats again!