Bartletts Ferry Fishing Report – July 2008

Bartletts Ferry: Level: Down 0.3 below full pool. Temp: Approaching 90 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Good, said Dennis Hudson, whose Tuesday evening tournaments are starting to draw quite a crowd. Out of 48 boats, an 11-lb. sack won the June 10 tournament, which had been averaging a 9-lb. winning sack. “The last couple of weeks, the average fish is picking up a little,” Dennis said. “It’s hot. We’re still catching a few fish, but I still can’t catch a biggun.” Dennis said there has been an explosive early morning topwater bite around the grass edges on the middle portion of the lake. Anglers have been catching some bigger fish with white buzzbaits and Pop-Rs around grass edges before the sun gets up. Once that settles down, the best bite has been on creek channels and off points in about 12 to 18 feet of water. “A little wood helps,” Dennis said. Dennis has been fishing a 7/16-oz. Stan Sloan Rattlin Booza Bug in green pumpkin, but some other anglers have had some luck fishing smaller jigs. A 1/4- or 3/16-oz. Bitsy Bug jig is producing a good bite. Texas-rigged Trick Worms fished on a 1/4- or 5/16-oz. lead are also a good choice for this bite. Try junebug or green pumpkin. The crankbait bite was not going on when GON spoke with Dennis, but he said it’s usually a good summer pattern at Bartletts. “I can’t get bit on a crankbait, and I don’t know why,” Dennis said. He did catch a couple of keepers at his last tournament throwing a Strike King Series 5 and a Deep Little N. Another bite that is coming on is the night bite. Dennis said he caught what would have been a winning sack when he went back out after weigh in. He and his partner caught some impressive fish bouncing Texas rigs off the riverbank rocks up the lake and around the grass. “The mayflies should show up pretty soon, but I haven’t seen any shad,” Dennis added. “I don’t know where they are.” The shoal bite way upriver is not gangbusters yet, but it is starting to come on. In the next few weeks, buzzbaits, flukes and other shad imitations should be very productive around moving water up the river.