Fort Loudon Fishing Report - 8/6/13

I fished in the Tuesday Night Toad  (TNToad) with my friend Brandon last night and, to be honest with you, it was miserable!  The tournament was from 6-10 pm. The weather was mostly cloudy with some sprinkles and pretty humid. There was a slight wind at the beginning of the tournament and none at the end.  The water we were fishing was pretty consistent at 82 F.
We fished from 2-25 feet deep and used crankbaits, Texas rigged plastics, Carolina rigged plastics, shaky heads, spinnerbaits, and topwaters and only managed 2 bites. We didn't land any fish! None! Nada! Zero!
I just don't understand this lake anymore. It was only a couple years ago when we could go out this time of year in the heat and humidity and catch 15-20 bass in 4 hours.  Now, we can't even get one in the boat.  As a matter of fact, the fish haven't acted like they're supposed to this whole year. Going out for fun fishing hasn't even been very fun this year except catfishing. 
I'm aggravated, frustrated, and have come seriously close to quitting.  But, that's not my style!  I will figure these fish out if it's the last thing I do! Mwahahaha mwahahahah!
On a brighter note, God provided us with a nice evening bringing everyone home safely and good fellowship.
Hope you have better luck than we did!

Fort Loudon Fishing Report - 7/9/13

It finally quit raining long enough to let us get in some quality fishing without being soaked!  I heard on the radio it was the first day without rain since June 15.  We launched from the Concord ramp. The water was murky to muddy depending on the location and it was warm.  We were in 85 F water most of the afternoon. 6pm -10pm.  The flood gates are open at the dam and there is abundant current everywhere.  Initially, the sky was mostly sunny and it was hot and humid.  Somewhere around 90 F.  Then the wind picked up, the clouds rolled in, and it got comfortable.  There were more pleasure boaters than I thought would be out which made the main channel a little bit rough.
We took a very short boat ride to our first spot and my friend Joey immediately hooked up.  When he got it to the boat there were actually 2 largemouth on his Strike King crankbait.  One was 15 inches and the other was 13 inches.  He was using the first crankbait that I ever painted for him that I finished on Sunday afternoon.  He went on to catch a 16 inch largemouth and then a 17 inch smallmouth.  Then he lost the lure and was crushed for the rest of the night.  As for me, I caught a 13 incher and a 18.5 incher on a Carolina rig.  It was a fun afternoon on the water and you can't ask for much more than that. Praise God!
The fish are schooled up and a little bit shallower due to the lake levels being up.  They're pretty easy to catch right now.  So, be safe and have fun.

Fort Loudon Fishing Report- 6/25/13

I fished in the Tuesday TNToad tournament on June 25th from 6-10pm and didn't do so great.  We launched from Louisville Point Park and stayed in the mid-lake area.  The weather was partly cloudy and in the mid 70s and very humid.  There was a chance of thunderstorms early but they all passed by.  The water was around 74 F where we fished.
The evening started off good because we had our first keeper in about 15 minutes.  We also caught another small fish and I missed one deep while fooling with a bird's nest that formed on my spinning reel!  Two hours passed before we caught another keeper.  That's what we weighed in... two small keepers weighing 4.4 lb.
On a better note, the fish seem to be starting to school up pretty well.  We've been catching several in the same spots instead of one here and one there.  They are hitting deep crankbaits now and also plastics on deeper docks and trees. 
There were several 4+ lbers weighed in last night but I don't know where or how they were caught.  I would guess on jigs or crankbaits.  It must have been tough on everyone because I think there was only 1 limit weighed in and 11 lbs won. I think only one smallmouth was weighed in.
At least we didn't get skunked!

Fort Loudon Fishing Report 5/14/13

Fished in the TNToad out of the canal from 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm.  The weather was windy and clear skies and around 75F degrees at launch and mid 60's at weigh in.  The water temperature in the area I fished ranged from 63 - 67 F.  We weighed in 5 fish that weighed 10.85 lb  and finished 7th out of 67 boats. Our biggest was 3.8 lb. They were all largemouth.
Most of our fish came off the main channel but there are still fish spawning.  We spooked one off the bed with a spinnerbait and she was a whopper.  Unfortunately, she never came back.  There has been a massive mayfly hatch for the past couple weeks in the late afternoon and there are many different species taking them off the surface.  I also observed a school in the distance feeding on shad but I couldn't tell what they were. 
It seems that people are catching fish on many different lures right now.  Spinnerbaits, plastics, crankbaits, and even some topwater seem to be working well.  Based on what I've heard and experienced the Alabama Rig bite has died off a bit.  And I haven't been able to buy a bite on a beaver style bait for some reason.
Now that we're getting some post spawn fish, my catch rate has gone up.  Soon it will be off to the ledges, humps, and points while they're pulling water at the dam.  Good luck out there!
Also, please respect and be hospitable to the PAA anglers coming to town next week.  The lake will be extremely crowded and you may run into people fishing your favorite spots.  Just remember these big tournaments bring in revenue to our local economy through hotels, restaurants, tackle shops, gas stations and grocery stores.  We want them to keep coming back so please be courteous and show them what makes our area so great!
Be safe and happy fishing!

Fort Loudon fishing report 3/19/13

I was able to go out for a couple hours with one of my friends today after work. We launched at Concord Ramp at 2:30 pm and fished until 4:30 pm. It was about 55 F outside and was very windy again with bright blue skies.
We fished the Ish Creek/Prater Flats area with no luck. The water was colder and muddy from the day of rain on Monday. There were minnows and shad jumping out of the water and we did see a couple of bass jump, but couldn't get a bite. We tried several different crankbaits and jerkbaits but no takers. It's not often that I get skunked but it sure happened on this day!
The only thing we managed to accomplish today was to break things. First the handle on the boat trailer broke off when releasing the tension and it's only a year old! Then, as we traveled over the rough water I discovered the depthfinder wouldn't stay powered on. Evidently there is a short in the power cord because it will stay on if you bend it a certain way. To top the day off, the right side trailer turn signal and brake light won't work.
So, that pretty much sums it up. In a tribute to Mr. Si,  "Hey! It was still better than being at work, Jack!"
Good luck and I hope you have better luck than I did.

Fort Loudon Fishing Report - 3/17/13

Joey and I took the boat out for the first time this year to make sure everything was working after several maintenance problems were fixed.  We put in at Concord Ramp at around 2:30 pm and fished until 6:30pm. It was about 65 degrees outside and very windy. The water temperatures varied from 54 F in the Concord ramp area to 65 F in one of our spring spots.
Crankbaits seemed to be the preference with a slow to medium retrieve. 5 largemouth were taken with one keeper weighing approximately 2.5 lbs. It was only 15.5 inches but was very, very fat. One largemouth had obviously been briefly captured by an osprey because the claw marks were on top of his sides.
One largemouth around 3.5 lb was taken on a rattle trap.
The biggest largemouth of the day was almost taken on a Tennessee Rig (a 3 bait Alabama Rig).  It came off but would have been 5+ lbs.
We also tried jerkbaits and spinnerbaits but only had some short strikes.
Other fish caught were 1 yellow perch and 1 yellow bass.
That's it for today! Good luck out there and be safe!