Bartletts Ferry Fishing Report March 2012

Bartletts Ferry: Level: 1.1 feet below full pool. Temp: 54-55 degrees. Clarity: Stained.

Bass: Good. Dennis Hudson said the weights are increasing in his weekly pot tournaments, and it’s taking a 15- to 20-lb. sack to win on Bartletts right now. The largemouths are starting to pull up and stage on primary and secondary points, and a crankbait is a good way to catch them, especially on windy days. Dennis said to look for fish in the 4- to 6-foot range and to throw a crankbait that will dig into the point. There are also some largemouths starting to, or at least flirting with, staging up shallow under docks in or near spawning coves. Dennis said he’s caught some fish skipping a Senko under docks in as little as 2 to 3 feet of water. Watermelon red has been the color of choice, and Dennis said a shaky head skipped under the docks is another good choice. If you want to catch a pile of smaller spotted bass, they are there for the taking in 5 to 10 feet of water on the main-river points. Dennis said a shaky head is hard to beat for this bite, and he likes a Senko in any of the green colors. Dennis expects the prespawn and spawning bites for largemouths to be full blown in early March. When water temperatures steady out another 3 degrees higher than they are now, Dennis said it will be time to run the banks, seawalls and spawning coves with a shallow-running crankbait. Or slow down and drag some type of soft plastic. Dennis said a Carolina rig, Texas rig or shaky head should all work. He said a wacky-rigged worm or Flick Shake worm are also good options.

Crappie: Fair. Dennis said he’s been spending a few nights fishing lights, but the crappie aren’t quite there yet. He’s caught some fish but expects the full-on dock bite to coincide with the first full moon of March. After that the crappie should spread out down the banks, and the daytime trolling and pitching bite should heat up. Robert Smith, of The Crappie Guys, said the fish are itching to go shallow, and a few males are being caught around docks and blowdowns near deeper channels. “The best fishing is just ahead of us as the waters warm. Right now water temps are around 55 on most of the lake. We have caught a good many long-line trolling the major creeks in 20-plus feet of water. Use pink/blue and acid rain. My best fish have come off the bottom in 25 to 35 feet of water using double drop-shot live minnows.”

Linesides: Good. “The stripers and hybrids are headed upstream to Riverview and any major creek with a flow,” Robert said. “I have found them to be stacked in bottlenecks of creeks on the lower Georgia side of the lake just gorging on schools of shad.”