Lake Blackshear Fishing Report – April 2010

Blackshear: Level: Full pool. Temp: Mid 50s. Clarity: Good stain.

Bass: Good. Ernie Broughton said the fishing has turned on over the last few weeks. There were a few fish on the beds at the time this report was taken, but they weren’t quite there yet. His Blackshear Buddies tournament is beginning to weigh in some good sacks. The most recent weigh-in boasted a 20-lb. sack caught by Larry Cromer. It’s been taking about 15 pounds to get into the money. Larry was mostly fishing Texas-rigged worms. Ernie said a Texas-rigged Zoom Trick Worm in green pumpkin has been a good bait of recent. Throw it right up on a cypress stump, and let it settle. Leave it on the bottom, and they’ll pick it up. A slow-sinking bait has been best. Go with a light weight. A split shot will work, but Ernie said to check out tube-style weights called Mojos. The spinnerbait bite is beginning to get cranked up, and it’s been better on the south end where the water temps are warming more quickly. Brain Davis pretty much echoed Ernie’s report. He said Cedar Creek and Collins Branch are good places to look for the kind of shallow flats with trees and grass where you can throw a weightless Senko or a Trick Worm with a light weight. He also pointed to green pumpkin as the go-to color. The strong spinnerbait bite should be right around the corner, said Brian.

Crappie: Excellent. Rusty Parker said the fish are on the move into the shallows to spawn, and the next few weeks should be on fire at Blackshear. “If you’re a blind person, and you’ve never fished before, you could probably go out there, throw a hook in the water and catch fish,” he said. Longline trolling in Swift Creek between Smokes Bridge and the burnt railroad trestle has been good just off the creek channel. Any jig with some chartreuse in it should catch fish. Also, some of the fish have already made it up shallow into the trees, and they can be caught shooting jigs or dabbling minnows under a bobber. The standing timber at Smokehouse, north of Limestone Creek, is a good area and so is Cedar Creek. Rusty said the fish should be in full-blown spawn, and all of them should be up in the shallows by early April. He expects this year to be a good one for quality fish on Blackshear. A 2-lb., 11-oz. crappie came out of the lake late in March.