SCLakes.com

Any of yall locals been to welchal lately ? ... havent been in sum time due to txs comin up @ wylie...

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BASS FISHIN` IS NOT A HOBBIE FOR ME ITS A ADDICTION

I fished it about two weeks ago but didn't catch anything. The wind got up just after I launched and I kept banging into the bank.

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Thomas Constant, Jr.
Loyalty before all else exept Honor.
Its all fun and games until they open the trunk.

rr , well hook up sum time , ive fished it fer 7yrs , its my favorite, low on money, thats where i go, can be a tuff lake an humble ya, but its defantally worth my time , knowledge on that lake is very helpfull, im a regular there but lately ive abanded it tryin to get ready fer txs @ wylie

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BASS FISHIN` IS NOT A HOBBIE FOR ME ITS A ADDICTION

I've caught several bass over seven pounds from there. It is a humbling lake for sure and I think its the carps fault. We've caught two different type carp from Whelchel, common carp and mirror carp. Caught the mirror carp on a crankbait and the common carp in a cast net while trying to catch shad to catfish with. I've fish it with Bill D. before and I hope to again sometime soon. I'm not a great bass fisherman because I target trohpy blue cats mainly. But I can hold my own usually.

Thicketty has some good bass but there again it suffers from to many carp. The carp destroy a lot of bass nest because they are way to many in there. I don't mind catching carp sometimes because they make good cut bait in the winter.

Cherokee could be better although it holds a few big fish. The idea of killing all the grass out of there didn't work as the DNR had hoped. Its good to have some grass but when it goes from bank to bank its a little hard to hack your way through. One other thing that happened to Cherokee is when they opened it back up the fish were caught so easily. The people that were catching them wouldn't put anything back no matter the size. I would see hum..... non-white folk keeping fish so small you couldn't scale them to eat.

Anyways I'm sure you've fished them enough to know that already. Jonesville and John D Long are close by but I don't fish them often. Long is creepy, more so after dark and Jonesville has such a limited amount of time that it can be fished I don't get there much.

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Thomas Constant, Jr.
Loyalty before all else exept Honor.
Its all fun and games until they open the trunk.

Oh I forgot one other little trouble for Whelchel. Somebody has introduced white perch into the lake. I have caught several in the cast net.

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Thomas Constant, Jr.
Loyalty before all else exept Honor.
Its all fun and games until they open the trunk.

what i like about the lake welchal is that, it is CATCH N RELEASE ONLY, except fer the crappie, cats an ole yeah CARP ...but it now is startin to suffer because the board doesnt have a clue about thinnin the pecker heads out, ive noticed that it has gradually been gettin worse past couple yrs ,,,that idiot Bramlet, who no longer works there implied that pretty heavy when it began but sum of us need to become members fer the meetings so we all can explain HARVESTING terms to em...i know all of the lake wardens all to well, try to get hardin to push for those things and even the hours they like to oppose fer themselfs from time to time for their own personal agenda, bet the board wouldnt appreciate payin them knowin they werent on the job fer several hrs......Thickettys a tough one too...weve caught some carp n catfish over their bass fishin` ....but i like it because you can fish it at night, but it rarely produces any better than durin day ...i swarped a 9lber out of there in 2004, and she would of went close to 9.75 if it were near beddin season...i fell they ruined Cherokee since they took lake down..they were sum sals in there fer sure, big carp too...i dont even bother goin over there, gaston shoals has done me in, every time they get it fixed, it only lasts fer month or two, then its down fer 5-6mos !! pick hill brings back some good memmories , i guess i learnt alot from down there, all of us has caught some heavy ones down there, it just seems to get worse down there, crack heads breakin in an all.. ...well do you ever set those cat boxes and go back to run yer arm up in there..in them cats mouth and yank em out ? now thats not fer me , man now thats old school..

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BASS FISHIN` IS NOT A HOBBIE FOR ME ITS A ADDICTION

I went to Whelchel Fri-Sat and Sun and did pretty good. Friday I caught 17 @ a little over 25 lbs in about 3 hours. Saturday me and the wife went out and braved the rain but it was worth it, we caught 12 @ almost 17lbs in about 2 hours and she had one break off at the boat that had jumped several times that was easily 7 lbs. Sunday was a little slower but still got 5 @ 12 lbs in 2 hours. All were caught on worms and jigs and in the thickest cover we could find. We probably lost as many as we caught because they would break off in the cover before I could get to them. Best weekend I have ever had on Whelchel.

I agree, I think the catch and release is a great idea but as you said there needs to be some kind of management to go along with that. I know some will disagree but if i catch one over 10 lbs i will figure out a way to smuggle that one out of there, rules or no rules. Been at it for 20 years now and haven't caught one over 10 so if/when I do it is as good as framed. The carp are pretty bad in Whelchel, I bet I saw 50 of them as long as my leg in the same cover we were catching bass from and I am sure they were looking for beds. I say they need to have some of those boys from Perry's come up there and clean'em out. As far as the wardens, there are two of them that seem pretty cool but there is one old guy who worries the pi$$ out of me everytime he is on duty. He has seen me there for years and at least 20 times this year but he still comes out there and inspects my boat sticker everytime he sees me. I have seen him there two days in a row before and he checked my sticker both days like it was the first time he had ever seen me. I think he just enjoys being a pain in the a$$. I completely ignore him now, if he asks me something I just act like I don't hear it. I guess if I want to fish there I have to put up with his crap but I don't have to talk to him. I won't be surprised to see a new sign up there one day that says "Rule #347 You gotta be nice to the wardens, they are sensitive and it hurts there feelings if you don't talk to them."

As far as Thicketty it is only 3 miles from my house so its hard to pass up sometimes. I usually do okay there, a big fish here and there but nothing spectacular. I have found some pretty cool structure on the bottom of that lake in places you would never think there would be any. Fish seem to bunch up in certain places on that lake so if you catch one its a good idea to fish that area thoroughly before moving on, just my 2 cents.

thanks fer the update bassslayer, the one you refer to as bein pain in the A**, is referrerd to us regulars @ welchal is sheriff wright , ive know him and the rest of em for long time, its just wright gets more honaray the older he gets im thinkin i may go monday comin up ...if ya over that way let me know..send me pm

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BASS FISHIN` IS NOT A HOBBIE FOR ME ITS A ADDICTION

I hate to call names but Mr Wright bugs the pi$$ out of me. he always want to help unload and I did left him try to help once and that was more than enough for me. He now has some sort of badge he wears. I miss Mr. Freeman that worked there years ago, he was always friendly and didn't pester the crap out of ya. Anyway.

Gaston Shoals Dam(Dravo to the older folks) is being worked on currently and should be truely fixed this time around. You can't be below the dam because they have it blocked off and construction equipment is everywhere.

Oh and I'm a rod and reel only guy for all true fishing but not for shad because theres no catching them on a hook. As far as sticking my arm in a hole to catch something, that sh@* is out. I've seen to many huge snappers and muskrats for that kind of stupidity.

_________________
Thomas Constant, Jr.
Loyalty before all else exept Honor.
Its all fun and games until they open the trunk.