Lake Blue Ridge Fishing Report – May 2024

Blue Ridge: Level: 3.1 feet below 1686. Temp: 64-67 degrees. Clarity: Clear to stained.

Bass: Guide Eric Crowley, of Lake And Stream Guide Service, reports, “The bass are thick but mostly of the spotted variety on the main lake. The only pattern I’ve been fishing for the bass is a topwater bite at dawn on main-lake points or back in Star Creek.”

Eric Welch, of Welch’s Guide Service, reports, “Bass fishing has been good. For the past month, the fish have been trying to spawn. You can find the spotted bass in all the small finger pockets on the main body of the lake, which has pebble rock or a sandy bank. We’ve been catching them on a Ned rig, 3.5-inch tube and a shaky head. The largemouth are in the backs of the bigger pockets and around shallow docks that have brush. We’ve been catching them on jigs, tubes and Strike King Rodents. Once the last stage of the spawn is over, you should start seeing some topwater action. I like throwing a Whopper Plopper and the old-school Pop-R. You should be seeing bass protecting their fry around docks and brush before they leave and start moving out to their summer areas. I like throwing a fluke and a Trick Worm around these areas. Once the fish get moved out to their summer areas, I will start throwing a drop shot with a 6-inch worm. I will be looking at depths around 18 to 35 feet. Good luck.”

Walleye: Guide Eric Crowley, of Lake And Stream Guide Service, reports, “Hopefully we are done with these cold fronts and the water starts to warm up steadily versus the up and downs of April. The walleye are still holding near the grass and shoreline cover relatively shallow. Slow troll crankbaits or fish worm harnesses this month. Start shallow and work out to 15 and 35 feet of water as the day goes. Finding the areas holding fish that particular day is key. Then focusing on that area will put numbers in the boat. Sometimes small adjustments to size and color can make all the difference in getting bit.”

Trout: Guide Eric Crowley, of Lake And Stream Guide Service reports, “The offshore trout bite will turn on this month, as well. The freshly stocked rainbows have been up shallow for the most part in 12 to 20 feet of water, but look for them to push offshore and deeper as we get into 70-degree water temps. There’s lots of great eater-size fish to be caught all over the lake, but the bigger ones seem to prefer the main lake. There are some bigger fish mixed in, but most are around 12 inches. Don’t be surprised if we see much bigger ones this year and next as the conditions are really good with all the baitfish in the lake.”

Lake Blue Ridge Page: Archived Articles, Fishing Reports and Official Lake Records