Two key takeaways from my morning conversation this morning with Jake Whitaker, who is second behind Roy Hawk in the Rookie of the Year race. If there were a local favorite Whitaker, who is from Fairview, N.C., this man is it.
First, the Tennessee Valley Authority conducted it’s annual fall drawdown on the lake, which eliminated much of the shoreline cover favored by largemouth, and there are plenty in Lake Chatuge.
“Those fish are scattered after the drawdown and haven’t really settled down,” he explained.
Next, the blueback herring is a primary forage and the textbook fall feeding period has kicked in with the spotted bass in pursuit. Whitaker said the bite will improve each day as the sun comes over the mountains.
“The sun will concentrate the bass more around the brushpiles,” he said. “When they aren’t feeding on herring, which can happen anytime, anyplace, they retreat to that bottom cover.”
What that obviously means is concentrated bass on bottom cover will be easier to find. In the way of the sun is a fog blanketing the lake, but it will disappear. So we can anticipate drop shot, shaky-head jig and other precise lure types and tactics coming into play later on. That is, of course, until the rogue and random topwater bite comes up as the fish school and fire up on herring.