Lake Blue Ridge Fishing Report – April 2008

Blue Ridge: Level: 5.9 feet below full pool. Temp: 50 to 53, a little warmer back in the pockets. Clarity: The main lake is clear, up the river and backs of the creeks are a little dingy.

Bass: Good. April is a good time to fish on most of the mountain lakes, said guide Nathan Lewis. Crankbaits on shallow main-lake points is a prime pattern this time of year. The smallmouths have moved up, and you can catch them shallow. Some fish may already be bedding. “You can’t really see most of the beds, because they bed in a little deeper water,” said Nathan. “If you were trying to catch the bedding fish, I would fish red-clay banks and throw a tube jig.” Nathan said he is seeing a little surface activity — not a lot, but enough to have a topwater plug tied on. For the crankbait bite, Nathan likes a No. 5 or No. 7 Shad Rap. “I like the Shad Rap RS which is a suspending model. You can stop and twitch that crankbait.” For largemouths, Nathan says target the upper end of the lake and look for wood structure in the dingier water. He gives the nod to spinnerbaits or a jig ’n pig for largemouths.

Walleye: There are a few fish coming on spoons from deep river-channel ledges, but not many, said Nathan. “I think most of the fish have moved shallow because of the spawn. Nighttime is definitely the best time to fish with either a small crankbait like a Shad Rap or a curly tail worm or nightcrawlers. “We aren’t killing them, but six or 10 walleye in the 2- to 3-lb. range between dark and midnight is a pretty good night, and there will be some smallmouths mixed in, too.”