Your choice for dream fishing October lakes in the Southeast

[e-tec]

Late October is OK on Santee Cooper. November would be better.

[zelmo]

Guntersville, Pickwick, Chickamauga, Watts Bar, Nickajack, Seminole, Santee Cooper, or Eufala would all be good Largemouth Lakes. Chatuge is a great lake to fish but I wouldn't consider it a 7-11 day destination lake. It has great fishing but I would not want go go there for that length of time. If I were in your shoes I would pick one of the lakes I listed that you haven't fished and go there. Any of those lakes should be within a days drive of you and you will be on one of the premier lakes in the saoutheast for Largemouth. If you go to Chickamauga you could fish Watts Bar and Nickijack while you are there. Honestly I think Watts Bar and Nickijack are going to continue getting better until they catch Chickamauga if they haven't already.

I am thinking about a trip like this also. What is the sweet spot on the fall calendar for the Tennessee lakes?

[Bassmeister]

I'm an hour or so from gville,chick, nick,and if I was going for a week it would be gville.....I love fishing the grass. You have it all.....mats for punching or frogs, submergent for blades,swimbaits, etc.....ledges.....Pickwick is a ride for me in nw ga. but it won't be long before I get there.....Of them all Gville has more options for places to rent on the water than any that I know of......I will be spending a lot of time on gville in the next couple months.....

[Riverman2]

I've fished on Lake Jordan for around 45-years, and am ready to see some new sights.

What I really like is to head to a couple of small, clear water lakes in a nearby state that not many fishermen know about.

The fishing is good, the lakes are beautiful and the weather is usually cooler.

[jacob461]

I’d vote for Lay or Mitchell if you want to fish the Coosa. Never been a big fan of Jordan but I don’t spend enough time there. If the goal is to catch a giant spot I would wait until prespawn. You can catch 20 pounds of spots at daylight then go grass fishing for a big largemouth.

[olfisher]

Watts Bar would be a great choice lm and sm bass beautiful scenery if you find a rental on north side not too far to to lots of other stuff to do. Not sure about fall drawdown but worth checking on

[bassin365]

When i lived in Alabama my club did the yearly trip to Jordan or as they called it Jeerdan, It was always impressive with the spotted bass and was the time of year you are looking at, so this would be vote #3/

[OkieLure]

Fork with a side trip to Texoma for stripers.

[tracer1]

Okeechobie, Toho, Kissimmee. Doesn't get any better, period. From Orlando & fished these lakes religiously, even guided on all 3. You also have Lake Hatchineha , Lake cypress in this chain that connects to Toho & Kissimmee. So you have basically 4 lakes to fish from one location. There are numerous lakeside cabins, homes, camps, etc on any of these. Cypress put you in the middle of everything. If you want one over 5 pounds, can't go wrong here. Want bigger ones go to Okie, use natural shiners. Rolands ( actually MaryAnn & Scott ) is a good place to stay. If you choose to do your own thing on these Fl lakes, know how to pitch & flip & leave your deep, open water fishing at home. Miles & miles of grass, lily pads & reeds. Completely different type of fishing. Running WOT in 2 feet of water is "normal' on the lakes. . 8 & 10 feet of water is DEEP. Closer to home, go to Murray or Santee. Spring fishing is good at both usually.

[Brownmaniac]

I gotta' say, Jocassee is on the list for sure! You're not the first to suggest it. Although I've been told there is literally NOTHING up that way (other than the State Park). The descriptions, water clarity etc seem amazing. Sorta like Carters lake, just a LOT bigger.

We've done Hartwell some, (that's where we got stuck for 3 days, 25 miles up the Tugaloo). But haven't done Keowee. Thinking that may indeed be on the short list as we could do both in the same trip.

That's not a bad idea and you could even add Hartwell to the mix. Jocassee is the prettiest lake in the southeast. Keowee is right between hartwell and Jocassee. Thirty minutes either way. There are a bunch of big waterfalls on Jocassee as well. you can look them up on a map of the lake. Fishing should be getting better now that it has finally cooled off a bit.

[Dixie Chicken]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!

Sorry to not have responded lately, my sincere apoligies for that. I am archiving the thread though. Lot's of bucket list lakes listed for sure.

Had what looked like another bad coil on #4 (this time) and replaced it a couple weeks ago, along with the plugs. Come to find out it's worse than a fouled plug. Injectors need servicing and can't find anyone to do it before January!

As if that wasn't enough... L5 took a dangerous turn a week ago.

Called my surgeon yesterday (he's already operated on L5 twice) and getting a MRI Tuesday. Have a feeling it'll take rods and screws this time to fix. I know I SIMPLY CAN NOT STAND taking 4~6 pain pills a day. (And I've been on pain management for 20 years! Just can't stand taking 4 of one, and 2 of another, not the way it makes me feel, I'd rather be dead than feel this bad and alive!)


We had scheduled the trip to Chick next week, not gonna happen now.

[Charles Prestridge]

Sorry to hear about your boat and health issues. Good luck trying to find a good option for your back.

[DixieChicken]

Sorry to hear about your boat and health issues. Good luck trying to find a good option for your back.

Thanks for the well wishes Charles.

The surgeon I'm not worried about, John Rhee @ Emory Spinal Hospital. World class spine guy, has even written text books about Spinal Procedure surgery. With COLOR photos no doubt.LOL

The boat however has me bent over. Can't take it and leave it in a parking lot for 3 months, it'd be TRASHED. Covered parking maybe, but a parking lot.... noooo that's not going to happen.

Staring at back surgery #5 makes it all even more stressful for sure.

[Charles Prestridge]

If you have a mercury engine, call Don at European Marine. He is in Greenville, SC. He does the actual cleaning of injectors, where many shops have to send them off.

I imagine you could make an appointment to drop boat off and pick it up on the same day, or spend one night in hotel and bring it back the next day.

[greg88]

My vote would be Seminole

[Dixie Chicken]

If you have a mercury engine, call Don at European Marine. He is in Greenville, SC. He does the actual cleaning of injectors, where many shops have to send them off.

I imagine you could make an appointment to drop boat off and pick it up on the same day, or spend one night in hotel and bring it back the next day.

One would think so Charles. I'm a big fan of Don's, but he's seriously behind! I could run it to him, it's a 3 hour drive, rent a home on Hartwell, then spend the week fishing after it's done. But at 75~90 days out that's just not happening.

*Unless I end up having to do a lumbar fusion here VERY SOON which is looking more and more like a reality these last two weeks.*

Short of that, I am getting desperate to find a shop that can do it. One actually offers new rails from Mercury for just under $1100, fuel injectors, diaphragms, hoses, everything.

Typical injector service, fuel injectors, air injectors, labor isn't cheap. Then add new O-rings etc and you're not much less than that price for a factory fresh fuel rail system. Add in a couple DFI injectors or a single air injector and you're actually over that price point. It however doesn't include

the air injectors, which are $450~$475 EACH!

See my other thread about the fuel rails….

[Charles Prestridge]

Tony, sorry I had not seen your other post about Don being so backed up this year.

I have never had a DFI engine, so never had to service those components.

Only other thought is to call Brucato (or other companies who service injectors), to see if they know of good shops anywhere around you. http://www.brucatofis.com/

Good luck with getting your engine serviced and with your back. I feel like I am a few years away from back surgery. Hughston clinic and I are trying to delay surgery for as long as possible. I may need your advice when the time comes.