Slab's at Watts Bar, and there are big slabs at Watts Bar too! That's me "Slab", catching big slabs there in Tennessee.
The construction of Watts Bar Dam was completed in 1942 creating the Watts Bar Reservoir. The dam created the needed electricity for the Manhattan Project at nearby Oak Ridge National Laboratories after the Pearl Harbor attacks during WWII. Kinda a neat little tidbit of info about the lake I thought.
Watts Bar is a large beautiful reservoir. It's over 39,000 acres in size and has a max depth of approximately 70 feet. It looks to me like no matter the wind direction, you always have a place to get out of the wind. The shorelines are steep and the trees are tall.
And it has a healthy population of White Crappie, Black Crappie and Blacknose Crappie (a variation of a Black Crappie).
Kelly Barnett took me out fishing that brisk foggy morning. I'm not going to talk about the ride through the fog, but lets just say Kelly's 40 years of experience boating and fishing on Watts Bar gave me some comfort.
Those years on water paid off in even more ways. Kelly knows this lake, and knows where the fish are. We fished docks and brush piles and pulled in some excellent fish. It was not a random act, Kelly knew which side of the brush pile to fish and how to fish it. Kelly knew which pontoon boat to shoot under, or which side of the dock to pitch your jig to. He knew how to present the bait, how long to let it drop, and how slow to retrieve it. If you did not do pretty much exactly what Kelly said, you would not catch a fish. It was unreal. It was like he had a scuba diver under the water waiting for his signal to put a crappie on your line. I knew that was not true though, because no scuba diver could provide the same thump on your line like a big old crappie could. You never forget "the thump".
The temperature warmed nicely as the day went on. I was having a great time as we continued to catch big'uns. I have to say, Kelly has zero patience. If a half dozen pitches go by and we're not catching, we are moving. Abbey hunkers down and we race across the water to his next hot spot.
Here's a close up of a Blacknose Crappie (above). This variety has been introduced to many different waters across the USA for various reasons including simply distinguishing between stocked Crappie and native Crappie. A way to observe the success or failure of stocking programs.
Below is a picture of what happens as the Blacknose breeds in the wild. The line diminishes with each new generation.
All in all, I had an absolutely fantastic time fishing with Kelly, and Abbey did too. I think we hit about a dozen of his hot spots through the day and caught 3 or 4 nice Crappie off each one. The thing I take away from this trip is the quality of the fish we were catching. They were all roughly 12 inches in length, with a couple 13 to 15 inchers included, and no dinks (a dink is a small Crappie). I fished a lot of lakes in my time, and to catch so many big Crappie without having to weed through as many dinks is unheard of. This is a wonderful fishery. Kelly's little secret. Well, his "used to be" secret. Mums the word. I can't wait to get back there.
Kelly thanks the Good Lord to be able to fish like this, and also his family, Donna, Haylee, Hayden and his Mom and Dad too. His dad fished Watts Bar and taught Kelly well, and now Kelly passes it down to his son Hayden. Long ago he used to be a Bass fisherman, but because he wanted to spend more time with his family, he now fishes almost exclusively for Crappie. He takes his family with and enjoys their company while they catch some Slab Crappie together. And the other fact is, he releases almost all of the fish he catches. Keeps only a few for a meal every now and then. Kelly also thanks
Bunch Marine, a family business and family friends.
And don't ask, cause Kelly is not a guide. He fishes for the love of fishing. Thanks for a wonderful day on the water Kelly.
Visit
www.EastTNVacations.com to find more information about Watts Bar, or any of the other 8 reservoirs in this wonderful water system.
Here's another piece of "found gold" in Tennessee. At the Kingston City Park ramp there is a stand alone little storefront where Chef Andras caters European style food. Now you have to realize, this little place is very different. It's a reservations only restaurant, and catering service. You only get to eat there if you've called ahead. And getting a reservation can at times be rather difficult because of the limited seating. Here's what they have hanging on the wall:
Hmm, now I'm beginning to understand. Chef Andras operates on his own schedule. And he can because he is so good. He once served as Arnold Schwarzenegger's personal chef!
To say the least, the food was awesome. I say that without reservation! lol
The soup, Potato Pancakes, and Barbecue Beef were out of this world.
Oh, the spiced cake was better than my Aunts home made Black Forest Cake. Shhh, don't tell her that.
And the place is dog friendly. Abbey made a couple new friends there. Call first, but you have to try it:
Caramella Catering. Mark my words, there's no better chef.
And finally, I'd like to give props to the
Holiday Inn World's Fair Park in Knoxville Tennessee. You may think it's only a hotel restaurant, but their Banana Bread Desert was excellent, in fact the whole meal there was excellent. This is one trip where I ate like a king. Somebody has to do it, right! lol - Thanks all and "Fish on".
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