• Cotaco Creek

    First, every day is a blessing! Today, I had the opportunity to hit the water for the first time since Thanksgiving Day. Stayed with my usual routine. Launched at Triana boat ramp, Indian Creek, at 0630. Fished until noon.

    Indian Creek was like chocolate milk, no current. Cotaco, initially was the same chocolate milk and no current, but cleared somewhat a bit later in the morning. No wind until about 0900. Sorry, don't remember the water temp at start. Around 1000 the water temp was around 51 degrees...in the picture.

    Bait: BG Glacier on 1/24oz plain lead head jig was the bait of choice. Tried primarily Monkey Milk and Crystal which produced a few. Caught two stripe on Crystal so went back to Glacier. Nothing else worked.

    Catch: 14 keepers kept and given to a father and son fishing in separate boats trying to catch fish for the son's daughter to have a fish fry. Large fish "landed" was a 1.8lb Black Crappie with a belly that was about to bust. Landed a longer white crappie but it was 1.5lbs. I did catch one blacknose crappie that went right back in the water. Glad to see more blacknose in Cotaco. Caught two shorts. Total: limit caught and landed...unbelievable given "the rest of the story" below.

    Started with my usual routine where I normally pick up 3-4 fish in Indian Creek before moving to Cotaco...not a single fish...a sign I was certain. Arrived at Cotaco and gently settled broadside on a laydown to set up. Sometime during setup an errant branch found my nearly full Styrofoam coffee cup and cut it right above the coffee line. Reached for the coffee to take a sip and the top of the cup literally fell off and I deposited about 12oz of coffee down the front of my sweatshirt...oh well.

    Fishing started great! I caught numerous fish in the 1.5-2lb+ range. It was exciting. I got them to the boat. Then they gave me the "Nemo" fin wave and said "see ya". I lost more than 8+ of these great quality fish... I bet they are still laughing. I also lost a number of 10-12 inch fish too. Never lost so many fish ever. It's okay, they would have gone right back in the water for another day or someone else.

    I also donated more jigs than ever. I found every snag possible. Normally, I am fortunate and can retrieve jigs from most snags. Not today. I am certain I donated at least 20+ jigs. I ended the day at noon with a snag about 15 feet high in a tree. Yep, I cast high, and caught a tree high. That's okay too.

    Guess what? Lots of great fish. Lots of jigs lost. And, a sweatshirt full of coffee. For a day where I was all "thumbs"...It's all good! Every day is a blessing. And, every day on the water is great. God is good!

    This article was originally published in forum thread: Cotaco Creek, 26 Dec 2016 started by Spaceman View original post
    Comments 8 Comments
    1. hdhntr's Avatar
      hdhntr -
      talk about a good day! yes god is great and everyday is to be appreciated. look at a kid like Carrie Fisher, gone so young. what a day and a blessing to be able to give that family a fish fry. Nice work and way to pay it forward. as for not landing those fish? frustrating but ok, you still got to play with them.
    1. hdhntr's Avatar
      hdhntr -
      where is Indian Creek and Cotaco? new here and not familiar.
    1. scrat's Avatar
      scrat -
      Wow! Nice catch. Thanks for sharing the report and pictures.
    1. darcie1's Avatar
      darcie1 -
      Great day!
    1. Spaceman's Avatar
      Spaceman -
      Quote Originally Posted by hdhntr View Post
      where is Indian Creek and Cotaco? new here and not familiar.
      Both Creeks feed into the Tennessee River (Wheeler Lake) between Huntsville and Decatur. Indian Creek is in Madison County on the north side of the river. Cotaco Creek is in Morgan County on the south side of the river.
    1. skeetbum's Avatar
      skeetbum -
      A very good day Spaceman. Losing good fish boatside is something that comes and goes. You got out and I had to work. AGAIN!! Good job and a good report.
    1. Speck Detector's Avatar
      Speck Detector -
      Sounds like a good place for LitewireHooks.com...nice trip, thanks for sharing
    1. Spaceman's Avatar
      Spaceman -
      Quote Originally Posted by skeetbum View Post
      A very good day Spaceman. Losing good fish boatside is something that comes and goes. You got out and I had to work. AGAIN!! Good job and a good report.
      Most important thing for me is being on the water...catching and landing is just a bonus. Losing them at the boat just saved me from unhooking and releasing. Others had the same experience that same day. I guess the big fish weren't hooking well. At least I was able to see some real quality fish! I catch to release or give away. Sometimes I will bring some home for a meal the same day. Hope you get out soon.
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