Bartletts Ferry Fishing Report March 2011

Bartletts Ferry: Level: 1.1 feet below full pool. Temp: Mid 50s. Clarity: Good stain.

Bass: Good. Dennis Hudson said the fishing has been good over the past month, and winning weights in his Saturday tournaments have gone from 12 to 13 pounds up to 15 to 17 pounds. He said in early February they were catching good numbers, but that has switched over into lower numbers and better fish. “It’s unheard of,” he said, “but it’s all largemouths. I don’t know where the spots went.” Crankbaits on windblown points and concrete boat ramps had been the best patterns going, and that hot pattern may come back, but recently the best fish have fallen for jigs pitched around boat docks. Most of the fish are still at the mouths of the creeks and around the outsides of the pockets, but everyone is looking for the fish to push up when the temperature stabilizes in the low 50s. Once that happens, it’ll be time to move into the creeks and start skipping Senkos, shaky heads, weightless finesse worms, stick baits or whatever kind of bait you can skip way up under a dock. The shallow-running crankbait bite should also turn on around secondary points and brush or blowdowns in the pockets. Dennis likes a Lucky Craft RC 1 1/2 or a Bomber Fat Free Shad both in shad patterns. Any shad imitation bait should work. A smaller profile seems to be working best on Bartletts right now. On into March, the fish will move up tight on the seawalls looking for a place to settle in. At that point Dennis said it gets fun trying to pick out what bait they’re biting best. Try spinnerbaits, shallow-running crankbaits, finesse worms or stickbaits. Green pumpkin and watermelon are always good colors for soft plastics at Bartletts.