Bartletts Ferry Fishing Report May 2012

Bartletts Ferry: Level: 1 foot below full pool. Temp: 65-72 degrees. Clarity: Light stain.

Bass: Tough. Dennis Hudson said he doesn’t know what to think of the bite at Bartletts. He said the majority of the fish have spawned, but there are still plenty of fish up shallow. A few are on beds, and some appear to be cruising. Either way, he said they are very spooky and tough to catch. Dennis suggested finding some clear water on the main lake and running the banks with reaction baits like spinnerbaits, Chatter Baits or swimbaits. A strong postspawn bite is yet to show up, and Dennis suspects the fish might be in a lull before they begin to stack up on the outer points and docks off the spawning areas. If you can find them stacked up, throw a swimbait, Trick Worm or Fluke. Also, don’t ignore the grass. It is starting to green up and if you can find the fish feeding in it, throw a swim jig or swimbait.

Crappie: Good, but this year’s weather has made the spawn very tricky to fish, according to guide Robert “Smitty” Smith. “We are catching fish, but they’re from 2 feet of water to 35 feet of water. Some females are still full of eggs, while others appear to be finished. Most males have beat-up tails, but some still look as though they haven’t been near a bed. Crazy year. The good news is the crappie bite is good. Most fish are now in 12 to 20 feet of water on brushpiles. That means you can longline troll, tightline live bait, fish live bait under a slip cork or cast jigs. All methods will produce fish during the month of May and into June. Any brushpiles you find around docks in deep water are a gold mine. With all the sunshine, crappie love the shade of docks. Don’t overlook a good dock for open water. We are starting the day longlining with double jigs at .7 to 1.5 mph. Dark colors work best until the clouds break up. Then we start fishing brushpiles to get the baits into the brush. When the sun is high, shooting docks is best, and as the sun falls, we go back to the longline or brushpile fishing. The night bite is also good in the mouths of creeks and coves. Some good catches are also reported under the long bridge.”

Bream: Good. “Bream and shellcrackers are also good right now and should even be better leading up to the full moon. Use red worms and crickets,” Smitty said.