Bartletts Ferry Fishing Report – August 2010

Bartletts Ferry: Level: Full pool. Temp: High 80s to low 90s. Clarity: Slight stain on the main river; clear in Halawaka Creek.

Bass: Fair at best, said Dennis Hudson. Dennis said the grass bite seems to have petered out. You can still catch a few small fish off the edge of the grass with a green-pumpkin Texas rig or a fluke, but most of them are short fish. The mayflies finally started hatching last month, and they should continue on bank bushes sporadically through the month. Try throwing a Pop-R in bream colors or a Trick Worm, finesse worm or fluke. There’s always a chance at some shallow action on Bartletts when the fish move up to feed, and Dennis said he’s been able to catch some fish off of blowdowns and overhanging trees. A fluke or a Texas-rigged creature bait like a Sweet Beaver are likely to draw strikes. There is still a huge school of small fish under the bridge at Halawaka Creek. In his most recent tournament, Dennis said he and a partner picked up a limit in just 30 minutes fishing the pilings. That limit only weighed a little heavier than 5 pounds. The fish were hitting green-pumpkin and watermelon finesse worms fished about 15 feet down on the pilings. The deep-water bite on Harding has been hard to find. The best bite going on right now is up the river in the shoals. There is a team that fishes Dennis’ tournament regularly that heads way up the river. They have been returning with the best sacks of late. Most years, the summer shoal bite is best on reaction baits like buzzbaits and flukes, but those anglers told Dennis a jig has been providing the most consistent bite upriver.