Lake Blue Ridge Fishing Report – December 2019

Blue Ridge: Level: 13 feet down. Temp: 53 degrees. Clarity: Eight to 12 feet.

Bass: Guide Eric Welch reports, “We’ve been catching fish on main-lake points and rocky banks, throwing 3.5-inch tube baits, Z-Man TRDs and fishing a 4.5-inch Roboworm in red crawler on a drop shot. I’m still keeping a Strike King Sexy Dawg Jr. tied on to throw on long points and around any breaking fish. This is the time of year to throw jerkbaits. I’ve been throwing a Strike King KVD Series 200 in the clearwater-minnow color. As the water continues to drop, these fish are feeding up for the winter, and there’s nothing out there that looks more like a ball of baitfish then the A-rig. If you like throwing a Shad Rap, you need to try the Strike King Pro Model Lucky Shad in the chart perch and the chrome sexy shad colors. I’m also going to throw a shaky head with a Strike King 6.5-inch finesse worm and a 3/8-oz. pb&j jig. All these baits will work up the river on the step rocky banks. It’s also that time of year to start throwing the Float-n-Fly. If you’ve never tried it, smallmouth and spotted bass love it in the winter.”

Multiple Species: Guide Eric Crowley reports, “We are still catching good numbers of big perch, walleye and spotted bass on both live bait and artificials. The fish are held up in areas holding lots of bait. Live shad, herring and minnows are key on the live-bait side, and deep-running cranks are my go-to artificials. I like the Rapala Down Deep Husky Jerk 12, the Berkley Flicker Minnow in the 11 size and the Rapala Deep Tail Dancers in size 11. All of these plastic hard baits have rattles, and big, deep-diving lips are the key to drawing a strike in the cool water. Troll these baits from 1.5 to 3.5 mph near river bends, rocky flats and main-lake basins with rocks. Look for this to continue until the water dips into the high 40s. I like to fish the river, Star Creek, Wilscot and the Tilley Bend area this time of year. Look for bait balls, and watch your sonar.”