Bartletts Ferry Fishing Report February 2013

Bartletts Ferry: Level: 1.1 feet below full pool. Temp: 50-53 degrees. Clarity: There’s a little bit of color after the rains a few weeks ago.

Bass: Fair. “The crankbait bite is running pretty good,” Dennis Hudson said. The best bite has been in Halawakee Creek because that’s typically where the shad move to in the winter. “The fish are between the primary points and halfway back in the pockets on secondary points,” Dennis said. The shallow-running, square-billed crankbaits are working best. “The jig bite is hit and miss, and so is the bite for bass under the boat docks, skipping Trick Worms.” He said the crankbait bite will be the primary pattern through February and until the first of March when bass will start moving up on seawalls and spreading out on the banks more.

Crappie: Good. Robert “Smitty” Smith reports, “This has been a strange winter with all the long warming trends. The bite has been strong all winter; it has just taken place in different depths than normal. We have caught crappie in 40 feet of water, 15 feet water and in between. Right now we are taking nice fish long-line trolling jigs in 15 to 25 feet of water in the creeks. When the bite slows, we move to deeper water along the old creek channels and slow-troll double drop-shot rigs from 10 feet to the bottom until we find where they want it. Most of the time it is bumping the bottom with the weight. Just use your sonar until you locate the schools of shad. Look for the fishing to only get better over the next few months as we are in the prespawn right now because of the water temps. Look for crappie along the channels and ditches leading into spawning areas as the month comes to an end.”

Linesides: Good. “Striper, whites and hybrid are still chasing shad in Halawakee Creek from the points and humps around the powerlines all the way back under Prince’s bridge. Seeing them caught on minnows, big shiners, crappie jigs, spoons, trout and pulling U-rigs,” reports Smitty.