Chickamauga is on fire
What’s the hottest bass lake in the country now? Okeechobee? Guntersville? Clear Lake? Close, but no cigars; as good as they are, probably none can hold a candle to Lake Chickamauga at the moment. The Tennessee River impoundment near Chattanooga has had heads shaking in disbelief lately because of the size of the stringers winning local tournaments.
It started in late February when Walmart FLW Tour pro Michael Neal and his uncle, Rogie Brown, took first place in a buddy tournament with a five-bass limit that weighed just a tad under 38 pounds. Last weekend, while Neal was cruising to a 24th-place finish in the Walmart FLW Tour event sponsored by Evinrude at Lewis Smith Lake, Rogie and Tim Saylor teamed up to win another Chickamauga tournament. The winning five-fish stringer weighed just a shade more than 44 pounds ¬- almost a 9-pound average. The second-place finishers had almost 35 pounds. Counting a couple of jumbo bass that the winners weighed in, there were four largemouths over 10 pounds and six over 8 pounds weighed in. This in a tournament that only drew 23 boats.
The Volunteer Division of the Walmart Bass Fishing League will stage a tournament on Chickamauga March 23, and the Walmart FLW Tour makes a stop there June 27-30. Given the size of the stringers coming from the lake, either tournament is likely to produce some record-breaking stringers and individual fish.
“Chickamauga is on fire,” says Neal, whose metaphorical exaggeration nevertheless is close to the mark. “Three things are going on: The winter hasn’t been cold enough to kill the usual number of shad, so there’s plenty of food for the bass and their metabolism is still keeping them hungry. Also, the state (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency) has been stocking Florida-strain bass in Chickamauga for about five years or so, and that accounts for the size of some of these fish. And the grass is starting to grow again. It’s about 90 percent hydrilla and makes good habitat.”
Neal figures the BFL tournament will land smack-dab on the spawn, or close to it, while the Tour event will have something for everyone.
“Right now, it’s Alabama rigs … and more Alabama rigs. That’s been the case since last November,” he says. “Every boat you walk by now has rigs laying out with different types of swimbaits – Shadalicious, Zoom Swimming Super Fluke Junior and such, in all sizes. Pretty soon, Rat-L-Traps and spinnerbaits are going to come into play more, and then the usual bed-fishing stuff.”
By the time the Walmart FLW Tour rolls into town, there will be something for everyone – the grass beds will attract flippers, while the offshore ledges should be welcoming to the crankbait crowd.
“Whoever wins the Tour event probably will fish both ledges and grass,” predicts Neal. “I don’t think that’s it’s going to be one or the other, and during the day a fisherman might set up a pretty good plan fishing inshore and offshore. Maybe there won’t be any giant stringers like what’s coming in now, but there’s no telling. Chickamauga is going to fish a little small in the summer, but it should take somewhere around 80 pounds to win a 4-day tournament.”
In the meantime, even 25-pound-plus stringers don’t seem out of reach for the BFL contenders who’ll fish Chickamauga later this month.
“Everything came together real well at Chickamauga this spring,” adds Neal, who no doubt will be a Fantasy Fishing favorite for the Tour event. “I don’t know how long it’s going to last, but right now the fishing is great and it doesn’t seem like there’s any end in sight.”