Bartletts Ferry Fishing Report – January 2009

Bartletts Ferry: Level: 0.8 feet above full pool. Temp: Low 50s. Clarity: Good stain in some of the creeks, decent stain on the main river.

Bass: “It’s slowing. The numbers are down, but there are still some good fish being caught,” said Dennis Hudson, whose tournaments are taking 12- to 15-lb. sacks to win. Dennis said a Trick Worm, a shaky head or a Senko will catch bass on the docks, and a jig will, too. “They could be way up under the docks, or they could be out on the fronts, so skip it all the way under there.” He said to go with green or other natural colors in clear water, or use junebug, black or other darker colors in stained water. The crankbait bite has been very slow recently, but Dennis expects it to pick up, and the possibility of a shad kill is pretty good this year. If it gets really cold, and you see shad starting to move up, either dead or dying, tie on a Shad Rap or any other shad-imitating bait. The bass should be nearby. If there are a couple of warm days back-to-back, fish will sometimes move up into the backs of the pockets, and a shallow-running crankbait pulled along the banks in 3 to 4 feet of water can produce a very good bite. A Shad Rap or a Rebel Wee-R works well for this bite. Otherwise, when they’re pulling water or it’s windy, the fish will suspend in 15 to 20 feet of water off the ends of the points and sometimes on the bluff walls in the same depths. For this bite, fish a Deep Little N or a Fat Free Shad. A jig also works for these fish. Dennis likes a 7/16-oz. Rattlin Booza Bug in black/blue or black/red for stained water and green pumpkin for clear water.

Stripers: Dennis reported some schooling activity on the lower end of the lake when they are moving water. He said you can catch these feeding fish on top with a fluke.