I am starting to see more and more top water action early in the morning and at sunset for black bass. We had a husband and wife team last weekend that caught over fifty fish one morning. They were throwing a shiny blade bait and caught many spotted bass, largemouth bass, bluegill and catfish. They also found some top water fish and started to throw a Zara spook. They said not many of the fish were of legal size, but they sure had a lot of fun. I caught several nice smallmouth earlier in the week. I was throwing a Cicada blade bait and a Zara spook. I let the blade bait fall about 20 feet, then start to reel in, then stop and let it fall again. This seemed to work with the spotted bass and smallmouth. I caught several small spots on top water. You will find bass on points at the end of a deep bluff lines and also on brush piles in the 25 - 30 feet range. The fish will be anywhere from 10 - 30 feet down. Jigging spoons or a drop shot rig are working if you are fishing over a brush pile. Of course live bait is also working great for bass around brush piles.
Crappie have also come into the brush piles. Again find your brush in 25 - 30 feet of water and the crappie will be suspended from 15 feet on down. Live bait is working the best, but spooning is producing some nice fish. Grubs tipped with a crappie minnow will start to work very soon if not already. I am also starting to see crappie come under my dock. One of our guests caught a nice 13 inch crappie under our dock yesterday.
Catfish are hitting trotlines and jugs. Live bait is working well, but chicken livers are also producing some nice fish on a rod and reel.
Pan fish are everywhere. Night crawlers and crickets are the baits of choice. Some really nice slabs are being caught from 3 feet to 25 feet down.
Walleye are being caught in 25 - 28 feet of water around brush piles and also on flats. Trolling a crankbait is working as long as you can get the bait down to this level. Lead core line will do the trick if you don't have a down rigger. Drifting with a crawler harness with a bottom bouncing weight is also producing some nice fish.
Striped bass fishing is still slow, but starting to pick up with the cooler water temperature. I would expect over the next couple of weeks the striper bite is going to just take off. With the current warm water these fish just are not feeding normally, but when they get back to it, it is going to be fun. I also expect a fantastic fall bite as well as a good top water bite for stripers once the lake cools. I hope I am correct in my expectations!!!
The Norfork Lake level is still falling about 4 - 5 inches per day and currently sits at 555.17. Just slightly above normal pool. The lake surface water temp in our cove this AM was 76 degrees, a drop of 4 degrees over yesterday evening. The main lake is clear with coves and creeks still stained and cloudy.
Happy fishing and see you on the lake.
No comments:
Post a Comment