Bartletts Ferry Fishing Report – May 2024

Bartletts Ferry: Level: 1 foot below 521. Temp: 74-75 degrees. Clarity: Clear with a slight stain up the river.

Bass: Tournament angler Tyler Morgan with Summerland Outdoors reports said that first thing in the morning to look for the last of the shad spawn. It seems late this year, so it should last well into May. Watch for white herons on seawalls or grassbeds to point them out. Shad will also spawn on floating docks, and that spawn will last later into the morning due to the shade. Cast a buzzbait around seawalls and docks and try a white swim jig or frog in the grass. As the sun gets up, skip a white-bladed jig under docks for those fish. Bream will be bedding, so look for them in the backs of pockets. Cast wacky-rigged stickbaits or bulky jigs in greens and browns in the beds. Stay back as far as possible and look for shadows that indicate a bass. Cast near it, not directly on top of it. The pockets in Halawakee Creek are especially good. There may be the start of a mayfly hatch if the weather warms a lot, but it’s usually a little later. Watch for fly husks on the water and bream feeding on flies. Cast a topwater popper or a wacky-rigged stick bait to them. Around bream beds and mayflies, tip your plastics in chartreuse dye, like J.J.’s Magic, to imitate the edges of bream fins in the sun. Also work a jig or wacky-rigged stickbait around docks and other wood cover in the outer one-third of coves and pockets after the early morning bite. Most bass have moved back near the main lake and creek channels.

Bartletts Ferry Page: Archived Articles, News & Fishing Reports