Water Temp. 72

Over the past few weeks I have been able to pick up several smallmouth bass on Strike King Spittin King Top Water Baits. Fishing these baits around rocky bluffs will pick up other fish as well and this will make your day a little more fun. Bass will get better and better throughout the fall. Although many fishermen complain about the size of bass, most agree that catching a large number of fish is easy. Some spots are more likely to produce larger fish. The most productive areas on the lake are the big grassy flats . Fish these flats with top water plastic frogs and you are sure to catch a lot of fish.Stike Kings new Burner Spinner baits and hard top water baits fished around the edges of the grass will also produce a lot of fish. I like to use Lews medium action rods for better action for these lures and the lighter action also allows for a little forgiveness for overpowering a hook set.


Stripers
Stripers are biting on the surface and they are also biting deep. You can usually find some way to catch big rock fish below the Dam if you keep trying different methods. One sure way to catch them right now is on live baitcaught below the Dam. You can use skip jack minnows that you catch on a live bait rig or yellow tail minnows you catch in a throw net, either way you will do better with bait you catch than you will do with bait you would find in a store. Drift your live bait on a live bait hook and a one or two ounce sinker by making a short cast into the boils and then drift downstream. Another way to drift live bait is on a live bait hook and a split shot, with this set up you will make a long cast and then let out additional line as you drift downstream and wait for the line to tighten and hope it’s a fish and not the bottom of the river( they fell the same sometimes as you drift) . We have a few good weeks of striper fishing left and then the will be a little harder to find as the weather gets cooler.

Catfish
I have witnessed a lot of catfish caught below the Dam where I striper fish. Most catfishermen that I see are using one ounce sinkers with dead skip jack or cut bait. I would say the most common store bought bait for catfish are nightcrawlers and shad guts.

Bream
If small fish are appealing to you or you just want to take a kid fishing you can almost count on catching several bream. Any shady area along the lake or river edge can be a good place to catch a large number of bream. Small red worms and crickets work well. Early morning hours are usually the best time to fish.


Compliments of Clagett Talleywww.pickwickareaguide.com 731-607-5266
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