Lake Blue Ridge Fishing Report December 2016

Blue Ridge: Level: 20 feet low. Temp: 62-64 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Guide Eric Welch reports, “The lake is below winter pool. This is the lowest it’s been since the drawdown for the dam repair six years ago. We’ve been having some cold mornings, but the days have been warming up, so the lake temp is only going down slowly. We really need some cold, rainy days to bring the water temps down in the 50s. The topwater bite has stopped, and most of the bait you find on your graph now is deep. The bite has been changing from day to day. I’ve had some good days throwing an umbrella rig and a Z-Man 3.5-inch swimbait on a 1/16-oz. Z-Man swim-head jig. Most all of the brush and laydowns on the banks are out of the water, so you’re going to have to look for deep rocky banks and long points that have drop-offs to deep water, and throw a jig, tube or drop shot. I’ve also been catching fish on a Strike King 3XD sexy-shad crankbait while running red-clay bank lines and pockets. We’re hoping for some colder water temps this month so we can bring out the Float-n-Fly rigs. If you’ve never fished this before, you will be amazed how well it catches fish.”