Douglas and Cherokee Lake, The Spawn and Pre-Spawn Bite with Ott DeFoe

[Music] Cherokee Lake is a place where I grew up fishing a lot actually the very first tournament I ever fished was right here on Cherokee like so you know I I know this Lake pretty well and have fish basically every inch of it at some point in time in my life there and its really a pretty diverse lake from in the end you've got a lot of different options you've got of course you know the lower end down here where the dam is but actually on the very far upper end there's a dam up there as well and that dam just spills over from the Holston River where it flows into Cherokee but it really breaks up this lake and to me I consider it you know really two very separate parts you've got the lower end that's deep it's got a lot of islands it's got a lot of clear water and we're mostly the smallmouth or that's where they dominate it's definitely down here on the lower end of the lake once you get up near the 2580 bridge area the lake turns into kind of just a riverine system it really goes to shoreline shoreline the shoreline not many islands of you know really twisty just following the bend of the river where this the lower half of the lake is big it's wide it's open a lot of islands called River telling the Enders back and forth really two very different parts of the lake and that upper half or so you have both species pretty well largemouth and smallmouth we're on the lower end it is primarily Staunton out there are some largemouth down here but it is primarily a smallmouth deal on that pre-spawn early time of year like it is right now you know early April going into the month of April that's when most of these bachelor goes slow mid to late April early May but priests falling man that's really my favorite time of year to be out here fishing like it is right now waters in the low 50s fish are staging up they're feeding on bait feeding on craw fish and you can catch them doing a variety of things you know you get a good cloudy day with some wind especially and a crane pay pot is just on fire it can be you know some really really good fishing but that's really the big thing with this lake that I've seen over the years when there's definitely your friend on share heat [Music] [Music] fish places that's got the wind beating in on them good it just pulls those fish up there a little bit shallower where this water isn't you know it's not super clear but it's clear enough that they take advantage of that wind pushing the bait up onto those places creating mud lines creating a lot of disturbance and those officials really bite on those good windy days on a lot of moving baits crank baits jerk bait spinner baits that kind of stuff is really where you want to fish on those windy days you get a still day where there's not much wind you kind of have to finesse back a little bit a small swim bait maybe an ed rig it shake your head those type of things out here pre spawn targeting on this fish for me the lower end of the lake pre spawn I'm gonna think anywhere from six to fifteen feet deep it's kind of where I'm gonna focus sometimes a little bit shallower but but that six to fifteen foot is kind of where I'm gonna target a lot of small left down here on the lower end if I was up to Lake a little bit shallower for those large mouth a little bit dirtier water you know anywhere from just a couple feet deep if the water started enough out to six or eight maybe maybe even ten foot deep up there I'm a jerkbait single swim bait crank bait those are definitely at the baits I would have tied home every single day out here at this time of year but once you get to May the lake should be full and really close to it there's gonna be a lot of flooded grass in the water there's gonna be a lot of bug brush willow trees those type of things and those places are where those largemouth go once you get some green grass in the water these fish aren't used to it and there's not meal pool there's not hydrilla in this lake but you get that green flooded grass that grows up in the spring of the year and it gets covered up when the water comes up those largemouth go right to that stuff every single year it'll be a great top water bite whether it's a walking bait frog any kind of tough water man fished in that in that grass that's growing up is a great way to catch them super super shallow and it's a lot of visual stuff in that time of year for those largemouth and smallmouth will still be out then we you know a lot of postponed you'll catch those fishing in May on a single swim baits always good for those smallmouth but a Carolina rig can be especially good once you get to that may mid-may timeframe that's kind of my springtime deal here on Cherokee man it's a it's a great great Lake very weather dependent fishery wind is definitely friend out here on Cherokee any time of year that's the way I like to fish this way [Music] Douglas Dandridge Lake Jefferson County it's considered the lake side of the Smokies for a great reason when you come around by Indian Creek and by the mouth of Muddy Creek and you look back towards the south you can see those Smoky Mountains and what a gorgeous view that is I've been through there hundreds of times and every time I ride through there different times of the year it just takes your breath away it's such a beautiful shot a beautiful landscape and there's not a lot prettier places throughout the whole country that I've ever been than right here in danger Jan I'm Douglas Lloyd [Music] Douglas Lake right now the water temperatures in the mid 50 range 52 54 in the mornings gets up into the mid upper 50s throughout the day especially to get a real nice day like what we've got right now and these fish are heavy pre-spawn i mean they're gonna be spawning within the next two or three weeks and some may be starting even sooner than that with the really one date that we're gonna be having but this water is continuing to rise this time of year it comes up four to six inches a day or so is what this waters gonna be rising and as that water does that those fish are constantly pushing shall I push the shower along with that water any piece of wood you can find in the water right now that's gonna be a key place this spot here is a secondary point I mean a very classic secondary point you've got a steep Bluff a bank on the outside we've got some rocks that run out on the water going into the mouth of the spawning Cove where these fish are gonna migrate in and when you've got a secondary point like that it's setup prime you get some wind blowing in on that tube out guaranteed to catch a fish off of this but this is a prime staging spot these fish are going to use to work their way back into this pocket behind it the secondary points on back through here into this bigger coat and then where they're gonna spoil them eventually back towards the back of it for me this time of year I don't fish a lot of bluff I fish a lot of flat places if there's some rock out in the water since it's a big boulder top rock that's definitely a plus but even just gravel kind of flat honestly a lot of nothing look at banks that have those little migration routes those little ditches that run in where those fish are gonna move up to spawn one thing you'll have in the water here in the next probably two or three weeks is actually some flooded vegetation there's stuff growing on the banks right now that as this water continues to rise it gets another four or five feet higher they're gonna actually start getting some of that flooded vegetation in the water and as soon as that stuff gets wet those bass goes straight to it that's what I'm looking for out here right now but a big thing here again is wind is definitely what you want to be looking for any kind of bank that that winds blowing in on those are gonna be the places you want to pick [Music] [Music] [Music] the Jefferson County is a bass fisherman destination I mean any kind of fish you want to fish for but especially bass fishermen we've got so much great water here between Douglas and Cherokee likes boats and we've got you know largemouth and smallmouth good populations of both in both lakes so a lot of great things about this county I mean they're around the Dandridge area great hotels plenty of restaurants gas stations that are easy to get in and out of with a boat and all this great water great fisheries and I really couldn't think of any better place to have grown up growing up and graduated from Jefferson County High School to be right here kind of in in my opinion bass fishing central man that doesn't get a lot better than that [Music]

Channel: Visit Jefferson

Views: 8,028

Rating: 4.9603958 out of 5

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Id: Qa3wJ1s2imo

Length: 10min 3sec (603 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 22 2019