Bartletts Ferry Fishing Report – June 2008

Bartletts Ferry: Level: Full pool. Temp: 70-72 degrees. Clarity: Gin clear on south end, slight stain near the mud flats in the middle of the lake.

Bass: Good for numbers, but the big fish are non-existent, said Dennis Hudson. With a 30-boat field, he won his Tuesday night tournament last week with a 9-lb., 5-oz. sack despite a lot of limits making it to the weigh in. The fish were still in all stages of the spawn when GON talked to Dennis, but he said most were off the beds and moving into the postspawn doldrums. “They’re getting to be a little more active; there just isn’t any size to them,” Dennis said. “Some are starting to move up onto brush and timber, laydowns and grass.” Try a Texas-rig in pumpkin seed or watermelon on these types of areas. If there is a stain on the water, go to darker colors like junebug. “About the first of June, the topwater bite should pick up,” Dennis said. Fish around the grassbeds with a buzzbait or a frog. Swimming a jig can also be productive around the grassbeds this time of year. Also, there should be a pretty good bite around the deep-water points. Dennis likes a green-pumpkin shaky head or a crankbait to fish points. “It’s hard to beat a Deep Little N,” he said, but a Fat Free Shad is also productive. Good crankbait colors are pearl or pearl with a blue or chartreuse back. The up-river bite should also turn on in the next few weeks. Try a ChatterBait, buzzbait or fluke around the shoals up the river. Work them fast for big reaction strikes. “All that should be picking up as the fish get out of their funk, come up and start chasing shad — especially early,” Dennis said.