takenoprisoners, Chickamauga, Bluegill & Mystery Fish, 10-25-14, Brudder

[FishNews]

Took my brother out for his birthday fishing trip. Launched from Wolftever, fished for just a sec in the creek before heading into larger (and equally fruitless) waters.<br /><br />Wound up skipping all over, trying to hit points with no...hits.<br /><br />Made our way into a magic cove that always produces. I was fishing BG electric chicken and monkey milk and then something with chartreuse on the tail. Nothing. He was fishing an assortment, including big ol' plastic worms for bass. Still nothing. Actually, take that back. He missed one.<br /><br />Anyway, we eventually decided to take advantage of the real worms he had on hand. Wound up catching 20 or 25 fish in about an hour after almost 3 hours of nothing. Almost everything he caught was a bluegill - some pretty big ones, too. He also got a bass on accident.<br /><br />I caught a few bluegill, but mostly caught what I initially thought were the largest yellow perch I'd ever seen. So I tossed 'em in the cooler. After tossing my 4th or 5th in, I started wondering if they really were the largest perch I'd ever seen or something else. Looked on my phone and got worried. Perch have two fins on top. These had one...like a common carp. Mouth didn't look carpy, but I was all . But I decided to take 'em home and try chopping 'em up anyway. As they were already on ice.<br /><br />When I got home, I showed one to a friend from church. He laughed, because they were big ol' minnows. All those things I caught were golden shiners. The good news: it's legal to have them and they're great for cat fishing. Bad news: They're not great table fare on their own. <br /><br />So they'll sit in the freezer until it's time to hit the water again.<br /><br />Learn something new every day...