Lake Blackshear Fishing Report January 2012

Blackshear: Level: Full pool. Temp: 56 degrees. Clarity: About 3 feet visibility.

Bass: Good. Jim Murray Jr. said the bite is good, fish are moving into their winter patterns and it’s taking about 17 pounds to win tournaments. He said there are some fish on the creek channels in 6 to 8 feet of water biting medium- and shallow-running crankbaits. He likes a CBT square-billed bait in a shad color. Also, there are still some fish schooling on the flats, but they are mostly 1- to 2-lb. fish. They can be caught on a rattle bait, like a 1/2-oz. Red Eye Shad in chrome/blue or on topwater. Jim’s topwater of choice for this bite is a CBT Hawgpopper in a shad pattern. The bigger fish are coming off isolated boat docks in 3 to 5 feet of water. Jim said to flip docks with a 1/2-oz. CBT Flipping Jig in black/brown with a Zoom Super Chunk in black if the water is dirty or in green pumpkin if it’s clear. As temperatures fall, Jim said more fish will move to the channels and isolated docks.

Crappie: Excellent. Rusty Parker said it’s been one of the best Decembers he can remember on Blackshear for crappie. Lots of people are catching lots of fish on the main channel ledges, and there are some good ones being caught, also. Rusty said you may catch 60 fish and throw back 30 small ones, but the 30 you keep will be good 12-inch and longer fish. He said the fish are suspended on the channel ledges at 15 to 20 feet over a 25- to 30-foot bottom around deep brush. He suggested looking for brush on your graph on the channel ledges in areas like the railroad trestle, south of Boy Scout Slough and at the community hole north of the ramp at Cedar Creek. Rusty said the best way to catch them is spider rigging or pushing with live minnows on a double-hook rig. This month, Rusty expects the bite to continue being good, and the fish should move tighter to the structure with falling temperatures.