Bartletts Ferry Bass Fishing Report – May 28, 2024

Bartletts Ferry: Level: Changing about 18 inches each night and a foot low during the day. Temp: 72 to 75 degrees. Clarity: The river is stained; the main lake and Halawakee Creek are clear.

The Spalding County Sportsman Club and Lazy Man tournament fished Bartletts Ferry May 25-26. Dennis Hudson says they had 12 boats in the Lazy Man tournament Saturday fishing 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The winners had 9-lbs., 12-ozs. with bass caught on ChatterBaits up the river on points. Second place was 9 pounds even. Dennis and his partner placed third with 8-3. They fished wood cover up the river with Texas-rigged worms and weightless Trick Worms. Only one fish over 3 pounds was weighed in.

On Sunday, May 26, the Sportsman Club fished 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. I won with five at 9.35 pounds and big fish with a 3.05-lb. largemouth. Niles Murry had five bass at 8.94 pounds for second. He said he caught about 10 bass on topwater early down the lake. His biggest fish, a 2.80-lb. largemouth, hit a spinnerbait in mudlines from boat traffic that afternoon. Raymond English had four bass at 6.81 for third and said they hit a weightless Trick Worm.

I camped at Blanton Creek Wednesday to Monday and had a lot of hope and confidence in the waterwillow bite, but after three days looking around, I had three bites on a buzzbait around grass—a small keeper, short fish and a miss! I did find a big mayfly hatch Friday.

Sunday I started fishing grass and missed one on a buzzbait that hit right at the boat. I finally caught a barely keeper on a weightless Trick Worm in grass at 7, then a small keeper spot on it on a seawall. A few minutes later another small keeper hit by a log, then my second biggest, a skinny 2.7-lb. largemouth, hit the Trick Worm under a dock at 8 a.m.

I decided to check the mayfly hatch, but there was not a live bug there, just dead ones in spiderwebs, even when I shook the bushes! I went to a nearby dock where I had missed a bite Friday and caught a barely 12-inch spot on a wacky-rigged Senko to fill my limit.

I started junk fishing, hitting everything I came to, and caught several short fish on a jig. About 10 a.m., I landed my third biggest fish from a dock on the Senko, culling the little spot. By 1:30, I had pretty much given up. Boat traffic got bad after noon, so I went into backouts trying to hide. At 2:10, the 3-pounder hit my Trick Worm on a shady seawall in about a foot of water.

Dennis said he had been catching fish around grass and shallow brush, but the grass bite ended. My fishing agreed, maybe because the water dropped a good bit each night and was about a foot low Saturday and Sunday.