Bartletts Ferry Fishing Report – October 2009

Bartlett’s Ferry: Level: 0.2 feet below full pool. Temp: Low 80s. Clarity: Halawaka Creek is clear, but the river is swollen and muddy with tons of trash in the water. Watch how you run because there are trees floating in the water.

Bass: Good. Dennis Hudson said the creeks are about normal with a slight stain, but the floodgates are opened up on the main river run, and it is moving. He said with all the trash in the water it’ll be tough to throw anything with treble hooks, but the fish should be pretty well stacked up on rock banks, blowdowns and any little bit of cover where they can find an eddy to ambush prey from. He suggested pitching a jig to these eddy areas. His favorite is a Rattlin’ Booza Bug in black/blue or black/red. Dennis also said it shouldn’t take too long for things to calm down, depending on how much more rain rolls through. Then it’ll be back to the normal patterns. The best bite he’s been on recently is for spots on the main-river rocky points in less than 10 feet of water. He’s been doing pretty well on a Netbait T-Mac worm in either green pumpkin or Bamabug on both a Texas rig and a shaky head. Dennis also said there have been hybrids and spots chasing shad on top in Boat Club Slough. Catch the hybrids on a shallow-running crankbait. If you’re after the spots, drop a 3/4-oz. chrome Hopkins spoon through the school. The bass are down under the hybrids. There are plans to draw the lake down 8 feet starting on Oct. 5. It will stay down for probably a month, and Dennis said this usually makes for pretty good fishing, as the fish will be concentrated. During the low water, a jig on any piece of cover will catch fish. Dennis likes a Rattlin’ Booza Bug in black/blue or black/red for stained water. He’ll go with green pumpkin if the water is clear. The crankbait bite will also turn on. The bass will be running shad around rocky main-lake points and on secondary points in some of the sloughs. Any shallow-running shad imitation should be good for this bite. Keep your eyes open for fish breaking in these areas. There can be a good topwater bite on Spooks and buzzbaits.