Lake Blue Ridge Fishing Report – June 2008

Blue Ridge: Level: 1.9 feet above full pool. Temp: Upper 60s, low 70s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Good, according to Blue Ridge fishing guide Nathan Lewis. “We are catching a few on worms and on topwater. The smallmouths are hitting a fluke or floating worm in white or pearl. When the sun comes up, the smallmouths seem to slide out a little deeper in to the 15- to 18-foot range, and you can catch them on a tube jig or a Fat Albert twister tail. It is a little bigger — about 4 inches long. I fish it on a 1/8- or 1/4-oz. jig head depending on the depth I’m fishing. If they are aggressive, you throw it and wind it back, other times you want to slow-roll it or hop it off the bottom. If I am fishing deeper, I use the heavier jig head. The smallmouths seem to like bright colors. If it is a wild, clown color they will go for it. Greens, chartreuse and pearl are good colors.”

Walleye: Fair. The walleye have spawned out and moved back down the lake. The fish are still scattered and suspended in the 12- to 15-foot range under bait, said Nathan. Deep-diving crankbaits in blueback patterns will catch the fish if you can find them, he said. He has been experimenting with big-lipped Rapala Tail Dancer plugs, pulling them far behind the boat or on planer boards. Another angler on the lake is weighing down a Shad Rap with a worm weight and fishing the plug deep. “Something like a Mann’s Stretch 20 would probably work,” said Nathan, “as long as you don’t get too big.” Some big walleye have been showing up. Heath Pack landed a 9.1-lb. fish recently that hit a crankbait cast to the bank. Later in the summer the fish will likely move deeper and concentrate on channel ledges. The fish also orient to bait. “Sometimes they will suspend just under a school of bait,” said Nathan. “If you watch your electronics, the bait will black out your screen, and under it will be lines that are walleye. It’s like what they see fishing for stripers on Lanier. If you can drop a spoon just below the bait and pull it up and down, you can catch some fish. They may be 5 feet off the bottom, or in 25 feet over 50 feet of water.” Walleye fishing generally has been pretty good at Blue Ridge. Nathan said that last year he boated about 700 walleye.