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Fished Watauga Lake Saturday in the most miserable conditions I've ever fished. Air temp was a balmy 25 and wind chill of 10. We got 3" of snow between 9a and 10:30. Water temps in the river had dropped 13 degrees overnight but had only cooled off a mere 2 degrees mid lake. 18 boats fished and 6 weighed fish. We caught 10 fish, no big ones but weighed in a limit....not good enough though with small fish. Two 18+ lb sacks weighed in. Winner had 18lbs 10oz and 2nd was 18lbs 5 oz. A limit of the prettiest brown fish I've seen with 5 that looked identical over 4 lbs a piece. Also our big fish pot was broken with a 6.1 lunker smallmouth. There was also a 6lb largemouth weighed in. Congratulations to Rickets and his 3000 collection for that beauty. We caught fish on spinnerbait and shad rap fished painfully slow, but everything is hard to fish in 20+ mph winds and your reel freezing up on every cast. Would have been worth it for some of those big brown fish though. Tight lines

SB

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You can't spend your whole life just floating down the river!

I am glad to hear a report from this lake. I always wondered how the bass fishing was. It actually sounds ok considering the nasty weather.

I only had my line freeze up on me during a trip and I caught a 6lb LM in Hartwell.

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Release the fighter! Gators rule the SEC!!!!! Seminoles ruled the ACC!!!!! (now past tense)

Hey Coontie, Watauga is one of the most Frustrating lakes to fish but it is probably one of the best kept secrets as far as a smallmouth lake goes. It's deep and clear and cold and it seems the nastier the weather, the better the smallmouth bite. I've had some great days on the lake but for someone just coming out of the blue, it would be difficult to figure out. There is a great population of smallmouth and 5 lbers are not uncommon. Give me a shout if you're coming up this way and I'll try and put you on a few!

SB

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You can't spend your whole life just floating down the river!