35 years ago I started fishing for sauger there. Beautiful scenery and, at the time, good sauger fishing. Fishing declined for me over the years and I stopped going. Are there any sauger caught there anymore ? I’d love to visit the area again while I still can but I hate to travel 2 hours from home if there aren’t any fish being caught. Thanks for any replies.
Check in at ChattanoogaFishingForum.com and see if any of those guys know anything about it. I haven't been there in years.
Thanks!
Clifton is a long way from Chatanooga
I am in. Caught a lot of jacks below pickwick dam. Also want to know if they are still there
"If People Concentrated on the Really Important Things in Life, There'd be a Shortage of Fishing Poles." - Doug Larson
"Peace is not the absence of turmoil but the presence of God" Jo-Ann Thomack
I haven’t heard anything on sauger fishing anywhere in tn for several years. Not sure if they are gone or people are just bass fishing year round now.
Most of what I hear from the few that go is that there aren’t enough fish caught to make it worthwhile. I don’t think as many people go after sauger anymore so the information I hear may not be accurate. Daydreaming the other day about fishing for them this time of year caused me to inquire. I used to love it.
Yes it is. And a lot of my old friends that frequent that forum fish all over the state. I lived in Chattanooga for years and I am still a member of that site.Originally Posted by sdbrison
Clifton is a long way from Chatanooga
It's about as far as Pickwick is from Clarksville ...........
Last edited by Hair Jig; 12-28-2019 at 07:39 AM.
I read someplace that TN Wildlife (or whatever they are called in TN) started stocking Walleyes in many of the Sauger locales. I am not sure if that statement is correct, but CFF is a great place for fishing information in TN. I read it all of the time when I am in TN.
TWRA stocking statistics ........ (13 pages of PDF)
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...098p1iP-ZGtimy
Thanks for info. Can’t believe they didn’t put sauger and walleye in ky.lake. But glad see they dumped a crap load in old hickory.Love fishing for those toothy/tasty fish.
Many years ago (1970's) they pulled the water down to a terribly low level at Blue Ridge Lake in north Georgia in order to do work to the base of the dam. Afraid of a fish kill during the winter, they removed the daily limits on every species of fish. Needless to say, with the more contained water area the walleye were stacked in areas by the 100's. We fished it daily for a week and ate walleye for a month afterwards.
Good point. I did go look at their forum, could not find anything about sauger or pickwick that was recent but that may be user error.
On a side note, I spend most of the winter jigging a blade bait on KY lake main river ledges. Mostly catch stripe but can throw in about every species that swims in the lake on occasion. I have caught a sauger the last two saturdays which is a first on that pattern.
"If People Concentrated on the Really Important Things in Life, There'd be a Shortage of Fishing Poles." - Doug Larson
"Peace is not the absence of turmoil but the presence of God" Jo-Ann Thomack
I'd be surprised if there was anything there that was "findable". You'll have to INQUIRE. Join and ask and you might be surprised at the folks that respond. I might be wrong though?I did go look at their forum, could not find anything about sauger or pickwick that was recent but that may be user error.
Sauger fishing used to be my favorite kind of fishing. I used to fish in the Clifton/Saltillo area every weekend from Jan. 1 till the first couple of weeks of March. 7-10 years ago we were catching the fool out of them, but something happened pretty quick and they were gone. Not sure if it was overfishing or if the water conditions caused the decline, but in my opinion TVA has changed the way they manage the current flow. River became too swift to even fish for them most of the spawning season. Current used to be hard to come by and now it seems the river is blown out and the gates are open at Pickwick almost all winter.
Really surprising that TWRA didn't stock sauger in KY Lake at all. They used to stock them regularly.
I will admit that I haven't fished as much for them as I used to because of family obligations (3 kiddos), but the folks I know that do haven't been catching them in years either. I sure miss that thump on that jig on the way back down to the bottom!
Well...I’ve decided to go whether i catch anything or not. Ha. New Year’s Day.
Where are you headed? Current is pretty strong right now. I used to go every New Year’s Day. Always started the new year off fishing. I miss those days.
It’s really strong in Decatur Alabama, where I work. I really just want to get the boat out. I’ll probably try to catch whatever will bite a blade bait in some current breaks.
Lots of memories in the Decatur and Florence areas. Do you know or have you heard of Bill Huntley? Started Bumble Bee bait company many years ago and also owns T-H Marine. Good friend of mine for many years.
I have heard of him but I’ve never met Mr. Huntley.
I understand that. Sometimes you just need to go! I am thinking about doing a little bass fishing myself tomorrow. Good luck!
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