Lake Chatuge Fishing Report – January 2022

Chatuge: Level: 7.8 feet below 1925. Temp: 53-55 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Guide Eric Welch reports, “Fishing has been fair. The lake is at normal winter pool. I fish a lot of the same baits that I fish in the summertime in the winter. I just slow way down and I’m not looking to cover a lot of the lake because I know the types of areas I’ve caught fish in for 30 years. I will start out fishing points and rocky banks in areas where the sun hits first in the mornings. I’ll work a drop shot, Ned rig, shaky head and a 3/8-oz. jig. By midday, I will start fishing docks. When fishing docks, I will throw a jig and an A-rig. You want to look for areas where the water will warm up quick but has access to deep water. Your electronics play a big deal this time of year fishing. Sometimes 2D sonar will show fish and at times it won’t. But then down imaging came out, and when 2D sonar didn’t show fish, the down image would show what 2D wouldn’t. Now we have live view, which will show what 2D sonar and down image don’t see. With live view, you can see 50 to 75 feet ahead of you, so it makes finding fish a lot quicker. Now if they would just come out with the one that tells us what the fish want to eat that day. Good luck.”