Eddie McCoy (left) and Ross Malone have to team up to hold a hefty string of bluegill and shellcracker from Chickamauga Lake. Pretty good fishermen, even if they both are Auburn fans! There are 62 fish if you're wondering, and plenty more where those came from.
photo by Richard Simms
If you enjoy catching big bluegill, go right now!
Bluegill and shellcracker are bedding hot and heavy on Chickamauga. Chances are Nickajack and other lakes are in the same mode, although I haven't been there.
Fish in the back end of coves and sloughs in anywhere from 2 feet to 6 feet of water. Sometimes they'll be bedding dead in the center of the slough, other times you'll find them oriented to any kind of unique structure -- a cut in the bank, a small point or a sandbar.
Tried and true redworms are hard to beat for bluegill and shellcracker. But any of the other basics -- wax worms, meal worms, crickets -- all work well too.
When you're trying to locate beds I prefer NO float. Just a small sinker, bream hook and bait. When you catch two or more big bull bream in the same spot, you've probably found a bed. It might hold 15 fish or 150.
Once you locate a concentration of fish and know the exact depth, I like to use a float. The "visual" element just adds a little to it.
Light line -- 4 lb. or 6 lb. -- is best. And use a reel where you can cast a good distance. It simply makes it easier to cover more water more quickly to locate fish.
Tight lines!