FISHING
COLUMN
BIG
BASS
QUEST
BIlly Wheat’s chIcKamauGa GIants
I
HOW A TENNESSEE GUIDE KEEPS HIS CLIENTS ON TROPHY BASS
Joe BaloG
joe balog is an accomplished
tournament fisherman from
the upper Midwest who relo-
cated to florida to scratch his
lifelong itch to chase trophy
largemouths.
photos courtesy bIlly wheat
n order to make a living, a fishing guide
must stay flexible. after all, the goal at
the end of each day is a boatload of
happy clients, anxious to sign up for
another trip. If those clients are satisfied
with catching little fish, so be it.
I get the impression that, at times, billy
wheat has to remind himself of this con-
cept. a full-time guide on tennessee’s
famed lake chickamauga, wheat is one of
the most popular – and heavily booked –
commercial operators on the lake, requir-
ing him to keep the rods bent at all costs.
but, I think he’d rather just fish for one
bite.
“you can catch a big fish at any time
here,” wheat says. “but, if you’re out chas-
ing schoolers, or finesse fishing, or just
out to catch fish, it’s a no-go.”
big-bass fans will recognize
chickamauga as the Mid-south’s premier
lunker destination, thanks to aggressive
trophy management by the tennessee
wildlife resources agency. florida-strain
bass-stocking efforts began in 2000, but
were tweaked a few years later to ensure
better survival of the fingerling stock. the
results were magnificent. by 2012,
chickamauga was home to loads of bass
exceeding 10 pounds apiece. catching
them, however, is never as simple or easy
as it may seem.
locating loners
wheat believes the entire procedure
for targeting chickamauga’s monsters is
different from the norm. he says even the
most predictable big-bass locations are
only occupied for short windows, for rea-
sons we may never know. finding them
starts with understanding their habitat
preference.
“they’re the most isolated,” he says,
referring to both the biggest bass and their
preferred locales. “It may be one big, isolat-
ed stump. a single big fish will set up there.
but you might have to visit that stump 20
or 30 times before you’ll catch it.”
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FlWFIshInG.com I Fall 2019