Lake Blue Ridge Fishing Report – December 2007

Blue Ridge: Level: 25.6 feet below full pool. Temp: Upper 50s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Fair for smallmouths, said guide Nathan Lewis. He has been catching smallmouths early and late by throwing a Zoom Super Fluke or a small crankbait like a No. 5 Shad Rap or Bill Norman’s Deep Little N on rocky banks. Later in the day a green-pumpkin tube in the same areas will catch fish.

Walleye: Intermittent. “The fish aren’t concentrated,” Nathan said. “I think they have begun to scatter, moving back into the creeks ahead of the spawn.” Nathan has caught fish spooning in the creeks, but he has had better luck recently by trolling a deep-diving crankbait that runs down into the 20-foot range. He trolls deep banks until he catches two or three in an area, then he slows down and drops nightcrawlers. Rocky banks rather than stumpy banks seem to produce best. Nathan said he caught a 6-pounder as well as several fish in the 4-lb. range. Walleye fishing will improve from here to the spawn in February, and full-moon nights are likely the best time to be on the lake fishing for walleye, said Nathan.