Wheeler relying on experience at Chickamauga

Jacob Wheeler probably has more experience on Chickamauga Lake than anyone else in this field. Wheeler met a fellow Junior Bassmaster angler several years ago who has become his best friend. This friend lives near Chickamauga.
"His parents are like my second family," Wheeler said Thursday. "I come down here and fish with him in the winter a lot."
Wheeler said he's been on the lake "dozens and dozens of times" over the last three or four years. He's seen the lake when it's low, too.
"I'll idle past places where there have been schools in the past," he said.
Current is the key. Wheeler says he frequently consults the TVA website that shows the discharge from Chickamauga Dam on an hour-by-hour basis. So far this morning, the discharge has gradually increased as follows: 7 a.m. – 6,000 cubic feet per second; 8 a.m. – 12,000 cfs; 9 a.m. – 20,000 cfs; 10 a.m. – 26,000 cfs; 11 a.m. – 27,000 cfs.
"That's the cool thing about it," Wheeler said. "I'm not committed to one spot. It all depends on current. They don't get on certain places when there's no current. Other guys can idle over these spots, and if there's no current, (the bass) are not going to be on them."
Wheeler has obviously found a spot that's holding fish. He slightly moved his marker buoy from the place where he caught the 5- or 6-pounder earlier and just landed a 3 1/2 pounder.
"I only had nine keepers (Thursday)," he said. "It was definitely a struggle. But when I got a bite it was the right one."
That seems to be the case again today.