Lake Blue Ridge Fishing Report – October 2024

Blue Ridge: Level: 9.4 feet below 1686. Temp: 71-80 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Guide Eric Welch, of Welch’s Guide Service, reports, “Fishing has been good. Fall is in the air, the acorns are falling and the leaves are starting to turn. This is one of my favorite months of the year to fish. The bass are starting to transition from their summer patterns and are beginning to feed up for the winter months. Our lake levels are dropping and the water temps are gradually coming down, even though we’ve not been getting any rain. I always like to start the morning out with some topwater. On Blue Ridge Lake, I like a variety of lures—Strike King Sexy Dawg Jr., Zoom Fluke, Berkley Cane Walker and a Pop-R. While fishing topwater, if I see fish on my forward-facing unit, I will throw a jig-head minnow to see if I can get any fish to react to it. I know the jig-head minnow and FFS is the most talked about on all social-media platforms, but it works and catches fish. However, I see myself throwing a drop shot on these fish. I like a 6.5-inch Roboworm or a hand-poured worm. I’m going to spend most of my morning on the main body of the lake throwing on humps, ditches and long points. I’m then going to run up the river and start fishing deep banks and laydowns with a shaky head, drop shot and 3/8-oz. jig. Good luck.”

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

Walleye: Guide Eric Crowley, of Lake And Stream Guide Service, reports, “As the water level and water temps fall, the walleye bite on Blue Ridge heats up. The falling temps push the bait down, and the walleye and perch couldn’t be happier about it. Put the trolling gear away, and get the vertical stuff ready. Spoons, jigs, blade baits—whichever you choose—will get bit if you hit ’em in the face. They are pretty lazy fish in the fall, feeding as heavily as possible with as minimal effort as possible. This means no chasing or very little, so work an area and move on, sometimes move only a boat length at a time, but keep moving. We are working the 25- to 50-foot contours searching for active fish just off or on the bottom. Old grassbeds, structure—both natural and unnatural—and rocky outcroppings are all target areas for walleye this month. The perch bite will get good starting mid month as these tasty yellow fish start to school heavily. Live bait, little spoons, spinners, anything they can fit in their mouths, they will eat. They like grass and hard bottom in the 15- to 40-foot zone and are exclusively daytime feeders. If you find one, there’s typically more around. Good luck and watch for shallow hazards as the water drops until Thanksgiving.”