charlie1/fish2win .....

thanks for your valuable info. I will try and make use of it, if I should go to Watts Bar in Nov. (and I may be calling on you again, charlie1, if I do).
I did not make it to Watts Bar, this past weekend, as was planned. Last minute offer of free lodging and guiding, sent me to Weiss Lake. Fished Fri thru Mon AM (mostly 4-5hr trips, from daylight til midday/early afternoon, due to high winds in the afternoon). We averaged around 30 fish per day ... bumping bottom in 12ft of water, along channel edges, using minnows. Most fish were healthy 10-13" Black Crappie, with a few White Crappie in the mix. I even caught a Blacknose Black Crappie ... making Ala the third state I've caught Blacknose from (Ky/Tn the other two).
Water temps ranged from 67-69degs ... morning air temps were in high 40's and topped out in the high 60's to low 70's. Small minnows/shiners seemed to be the key in bait selection. Shallower than 12ft usually resulted in Yellow Bass or small Channel Catfish ... deeper than 12ft seemed to be relatively devoid of any catchable fish. Shad were holding in large sized schools, around wood cover at the 12ft depth level ... and cleaned fish were found to have stomachs full of them. The bite could be anything from a wiggle of the rod tip, to a "slam dunking" of the top half of the rod !! We were using 7-10ft light action rods, with heavy lead sinkers attached to the end of the line and snelled hooks attached to the line 6-8in above the sinker. Water level is too low for any "dock shooting" action, and the fish seem to still be somewhat scattered along the channel edge cover. ... cp