THE SHOALS-What do you do after you plan a trip to north Alabama to get in the fall crappie bite and youโre greeted with bluebird skies the day after a cold front? You make lemonade, and the Tennessee River lakes have just the right recipes.
Capt. Brian Barton, Andy Poss and I still wanted to try to catch enough crappie for a small fish fry and headed into the Bear Creek area despite the weather conditions. We found crappie on the forward-facing sonar, but almost all of them had the lockjaw, a common occurrence after a front. We tried small jigs with a minnow, jigs alone and minnows alone, but the crappie just ignored any of the offerings.
The great thing about fishing those lakes, especially Wheeler, Wilson and Pickwick, is the availability of fishing tailraces for anything that will bite a live shad, either a small gizzard shad or threadfin.
After loading Bartonโs 23-foot War Eagle boat onto the trailer, we found gizzard shad flicking near the boat ramp on Wheeler. We headed to the Wheeler tailrace with a bait tank filled with the 2- to 3-inch shad. Obviously, as anyone who has fished the tailraces knows, the most productive time to fish is when the generators are running and the water is flowing through the dams.
This blue catfish was one of three catfish species caught at the Wheeler Lake tailrace
As required by law, we had donned our life jackets before approaching the dam and headed to the edge of the swift current. Drifting a shad down the edge of the current line with just a split shot started producing action. However, you don’t get to choose the species. You set the hook and take what you get. It may be bass species, catfish species or freshwater drum (known as gaspergou in Louisiana).
Because we tried to catch crappie first, we were a little late to the bite at the Wheeler tailrace due to the generation schedule, which had shifted from afternoon to morning because of the cool nights.
The next morning, we headed to the Wilson tailrace, which doesnโt have quite the dramatic water flow of Wheeler but is still a highly productive fishing spot. The tactics were similar, finding edges to let the bait drift with the current.
By the end of the tailrace fishing, we had caught catfish (blue, channel and flathead), bass (smallmouth, largemouth, spotted and white) and enough drum to fill a roadside trash can.
โIn the fall up here, from the end of September all the way until Christmas, shad migrate to the dams, and everything else follows,โ Barton said. โYou have multi-species action for about three months, solid. When I have clients, I catch bait before I pick them up, and then we go to the tailraces. We may drift, anchor or Spot-Lock (trolling motor feature using GPS to stay in one location) in different areas, but it will always be with a live shad.โ
Barton said the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) controls how and when he fishes because the agencyโs electricity generation dictates current flow.
Brian Barton shows off a smallmouth bass, left, and a spotted bass caught in the Wilson Lake tailrace
โThe stronger the current, the more the fish are going to be pulled out into the river,โ he said. โWith a lighter current, the fish are going to be more spread out and harder to catch. Also, the bright sunny days means the fish tend to stick close to structure. On cloudy days, they are more spread out. Ideally, the best day would be good current flow with sunshine.โ
Barton said TVA has an app (www.tva.com/environment/lake-
โIt (the projections) doesnโt change much,โ he said. โBut on our trip, you saw it change. It had been afternoon generation. Then we got a cold front with cooler nights, and it changed to morning generation. From now until March or April, it will stay mornings. As it warms up next spring, itโll flip back to afternoons.
โIdeal current flow below Wheeler Dam would be 30,000 to 50,000 (cubic feet per second), and below Wilson it would be 30,000. Wheeler can generate up to 98,000. If you start getting over 50,000, which is great current, you just go down the river because itโs too tough to battle it near the tailrace. But that really turns the fishing on down the river, where if youโve got 25,000 or 30,000, youโre pretty much forced to fish closer to the dam because you donโt have enough current down river to position the fish.
โBut I want to caution people to not go to that dam unless you know what youโre doing, and, by all means, wear that life vest.โ
When heโs fishing with live bait, heโs looking for two different locations where the fish are likely to hold to be able to ambush anything coming out of the tailrace.
โThereโs two theories,โ Barton said. โThereโs site specific fishing on rockpiles, ledges or wood. Most of the time, I do better just drifting. My theory is I go to the spot where I caught them the last trip. That doesnโt always work because the fish move, but I start there first. If I start a drift in 12 feet of water and donโt do any good, then Iโll move up to 8 or 9 feet or Iโll go to 14 or 15. Thatโs all I do is move my depth. Itโs just a matter of if theyโve moved deep or shallow.
Among the four species of bass caught during the Tennessee River trip was this white bass
โWhen youโre fishing the tailrace, itโs all about seams. I donโt think bottom structure has anything to do with it. Itโs where two currents meet and create a seam or the outside edge of the current. But thatโs not just the tailrace. Anywhere you go down the river that has an abutment or anything sticking out can create a current change. That structure may be the size of my garage, and itโs going to create that seam. Thatโs where the fish are going to be most of the time.โ
Barton said when clients ask about a fishing trip, he tells them to expect to catch multiple species of fish in a five-hour trip.
โIt could include a miscellaneous sauger or skipjack (herring), but seven species is what two people in this boat are normally going to catch,โ he said. โWith good conditions, I expect to catch 40 to 50 fish in a five-hour trip. Now, thatโs not a great day. Thatโs just what I expect to catch. And, if youโre lucky, you can catch a four-pound smallmouth. Thatโs very doable. A five-pound smallmouth is what we call a trophy fish. If I have people who just want to catch smallmouth, thatโs what theyโre looking for.
โMost of my clients are just people who want a bent rod and to have fun. If they catch a four-pound smallmouth, thatโs just a bonus. Most people just want to catch fish, and thatโs why I like to call it a multi-species fishing trip.โ
Visitย www.brianbartonoutdoors.comย or call 256-412-0969 for information about fishing on the Tennessee River. Other than the multi-species trips, Barton also does seasonal fishing that targets species like catfish, crappie and bream, both bluegills and shellcrackers (redear sunfish).
When youโre in northwest Alabama, donโt forget about the lodging available at Joe Wheeler State Park, which sits on the banks of the Tennessee River near Rogersville. Joe Wheeler has perfect accommodations for anglers, including the cabins away from the main lodge. Theย cabins are located onย the south side of the Tennessee River near Wheeler Dam.ย Thisย area hasย accessibility to both Wheeler and Wilson Lakes.ย A boat launch for Wheelerย Lake is available in the cabin area, and another boat launch is located acrossย Highway 101 at Wheeler Dam for Wilson Lake access. Visitย www.alapark.com/parks/joe-
After your fishing trip, Colbert County has an abundance of places to visit, including the Helen Keller home, Fame Recording Studios, Muscle Shoals Sound, the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and the Coon Dog Cemetery. Visitย www.colbertcountytourism.org/
Media Release/DAVID RAINER/Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
