FRESH SAUGER FOR SUPPER TONIGHT!
By Mike Faulk

Today was a good day. No, today was a great day.

With a weatherman’s prediction of a high temperature reaching the upper fifties, this day had more promise than most February days. We’d each heard reports from semi-reliable fishermen that the walleye and sauger are starting to bite on both Cherokee and Douglas Lakes.

Arising at my usual 5:30 a.m., my trip to the newspaper box was a quick one in that it was a balmy 27 degrees. Reaching a temperature in the upper fifties was going to be a stretch. But the stars were out and the late February sun can do wonders for warming old Mother Earth and all Mother Nature has to offer this time of year – like the little croqouses that were blooming above last week’s skiff of snow.

I baked four biscuits and fried a center-cut slice of Broadbent country ham sufficient to fill each. The thermos bottle was filled first with hot water to make sure the coffee wouldn’t cool down once it was finished and added to the preheated thermos. The collapsible cooler was also filled with beverages, granola bars, three bananas, and potato chips.

Knowing the cold would bite while motoring up Douglas Lake from Swann’s Marina just off Highway 25W near White Pine, Tennessee, I donned my long handles, dressed in layers, and made sure I put my insulated bib overalls and my insulated cap in the truck. The hour and fifteen minute drive was uneventful yet beautiful as the sun rose over the Blue Ridge on this frosty bluebird morning.

Art was backing the trailer down the ramp as I arrived. He had already purchased five dozen minnows. Rapidly, I loaded my things into his Jon boat and paid the attendant the $5.00 portage fee. Art was third in line and there were several trailered boats behind him waiting to launch. We embarked at 7:45 a.m. just as planned.

Less than a quarter mile north of the Interstate 40 Bridge, a flotilla of some two dozen fishing boats was clustered together. We looked at one another sharing the same thought without speaking a word: “the fish are here and we’ve come at the right time.”

But, as we worked our way to the periphery of the unscheduled gathering, disappointment was mounting because all these people were fishing but no one was reeling. Art knew one of the fishermen, Mike Salley, who confirmed our suspicion that nothing was being caught.

We then motored up the lake meandering along the old riverbed. This lake is at its low point and barely out of the river bottom this time of year. Tennessee Valley Authority keeps the lake low to handle flood abatement through the spring. I fired the depth finder to help navigate upstream. At times we had to slow to trolling speed in that the water was less than three feet deep.

Our destination was the sweeping bend near Lake Mile Marker 18. In the upper reaches of Douglas Lake the inflow from the French Broad River is steady and fairly swift running probably 5 or 6 miles per hour. This location is not far downstream from were the Nolichucky and French Broad rivers become one. The cold water (forty-two degrees on this day) from these two streams comes from the high country of the Appalachian Mountains with English Mountain dominating the background immediately to our east.

A couple of boats were there already when we arrived employing the same tactics we intended to try. A high bluff stands sentinel over about 800 yards of this bend. The water depth in this section of the lake ranged today from 8 to 12 feet. We would motor to the north end of the bluff and drift the length of the bend parallel to the bluff some 30 yards out into the lake.

Rigged with chartreuse flies or chartreuse grubs we tipped four-pound test lines with minnows. As we motored to the starting line, the depth finder confirmed a good concentration of fish suspended from a depth of six feet down to the bottom. On our first pass I landed a nice plump sauger that, when laid on Art’s cleaning board, measured just over the minimum “keeper” size of 15 inches.

Over the course of the afternoon we boated four more keepers. As usual, Art caught about twice as many as I did including a ten pound carp. In addition to the five sauger kept in the live well, I’d estimate we caught another dozen fish. The largest sauger was approximately 20 inches and weighed nearly two pounds.

By mid-afternoon, there were fifteen boats using the same tactics we were. Each would motor to the head of the line and drift the length of the bluff. It appeared everyone was catching fish. The one boat having the most success had eleven keepers. The two gentlemen in it were using a split-tailed chartreuse grub about four inches long.
Late in the afternoon we observed a nest and two bald eagles on the bluff above. The birds were quiet and not noticed as long as there were fishermen on the bank. Once the bank emptied, we started hearing these raptors. Although I didn’t see it happen, I suspect the two eagles were carefully watching this section of the lake for a meal of injured or discarded fish.

We trailered the boat at about 4:30 pm and used Art’s 12 volt fillet knife to clean the mess of sauger that were each full of eggs. After dividing our treasure, we were on our ways home by 5:00 p.m. Art took six fillets and I took four. Three of mine were washed and stored in my freezer.


The fourth and largest fillet was cut into three pieces, breaded in Andy’s Fish Breading, and fried in pure virgin olive oil. I had some cold slaw in the refrigerator. I made a serving of macaroni and cheese and ate the most delicious fruits of my “labors” from this day.

I’m kicked back in the recliner. My tummy is full. I’ve just reviewed the photographs taken today. Good food, good friends, and abundant bounty from God’s magnificent creation – today was indeed a great day.