Lake Blue Ridge Fishing Report – November 2006

Blue Ridge: Level: 13.4 feet below full pool. Temp: 67-69 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: The bass fishing has been improving as the water temperature drops, said guide Nathan Lewis. “The topwater bite early and late has been the strongest pattern,” said Nathan. “Then when the sun gets up, if it isn’t windy, try a white fluke around boat docks back in the pockets. We are seeing a lot more largemouths from those kinds of places. If it is windy, throw a Shad Rap — natural colored if the water is clear or on dark days go to firetiger, and you might pick up a walleye, too.” For numbers of topwater smallmouths, Nathan recommends downsizing your topwater to something like a Pop-R or Tiny Torpedo. For bigger fish, throw a Sammy, but expect a lot of smaller fish to just push the bigger bait. In the clear water of Blue Ridge, Nathan recommends light line, and he has had noticeable success by switching to fluorocarbon line. The spooning bite is just getting started on Blue Ridge. John Hembree was on the lake October 21 and caught five nice smallmouths and a couple of walleye on a jigging spoon. John said he was fishing a main-lake point and working progressively deeper. He said he caught the smallmouths in 10 to 20 feet of water and the walleye in 30 to 50 feet of water. John recommends a 6/10-oz. Flex-it spoon or a 3/4-oz. spoon for deeper water. He has also had good luck with a No. 11 Rapala jigging spoon, a spoon with a single hook on either end and a treble hook on the belly. Blue with a chrome back is a good color, he said.