Lake Blue Ridge Fishing Report – August 2007

Level: 13.1 feet below full pool. Temp: High 70 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Good. Blue Ridge guide Nathan Lewis said he has been doing well on smallmouths and spots using three different patterns: tube jigs, topwater and flukes. He has been catching bass on main-lake points and rocky banks with stumps by shaking a tube jig down the bank into the 12- to 15-foot depth. “I use a 3/16-oz. weight, and I pour my own with most of the weight forward. That way the tube drops nose-down, and when I shake the rod, the tube vibrates.” Early and late there has been some topwater on Pop-Rs, small Sammys or Zara Puppys. He has also been catching some fish by skipping a fluke back under boat docks. If you are looking for largemouths, he says move back into the creeks and throw a Texas-rigged worm around shallow brush. The drop-shot and tube bite has been iffy, said mountain lake fishing guide Nathan Stuart, but topwater has been good for smallmouths on top. Stuart was on the lake recently and caught six smallmouths in the 3- to 4-lb. range on topwater. “They are hitting Spooks, flukes and Sammys,” he said, “but you have to stick with the bait. You can’t go out and throw it two or three times and expect to get bit. But if you will throw it 200 or 300 times, you have a real good chance of catching a 3-lb. smallmouth.” Nathan said to fish rocky main-lake points and steep banks.

Walleye: Hit-or-miss. The fish are deep during the day, and the best bite is after dark under lights with nightcrawlers. On full-moon nights a No. 5 Shad Rap or curly-tail jig retrieved slowly just over the rocks may catch fish. Nathan Lewis said cooler weather coming in September may bring the fish back to the banks.