Lake Blue Ridge Fishing Report September 2011

Blue Ridge: Level: 11 feet below full pool. Temp: 84 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Good. Eric Welch, of Reel Job Fishing, reports, “Early in the morning and late in the evening there are a lot of fish breaking. Mostly white bass, but the spots and smallmouth are mixed in. Try throwing a Zoom Fluke Jr. and a Pop-R. There has been a lot of baitfish suspending around 12 to 20 feet deep. Find them on your electronics, and you will see fish following them. We are catching a lot of them drop-shotting a 4 1/2-inch Roboworm in morning dawn color or a 3-inch Alive Shad. You can still pick up fish on deep docks and bank lines. If the wind’s blowing, try a War Eagle spinnerbait in blue herring and a Sebile Magic Swimmer 95 in natural shiner.” Eric Crowley reports, “The lake looks much better than it has all summer. With water temps coming down, the fish should really start feeding more on a daytime schedule than this evening bite they have been on. Lots of fish are busting in the morning, mostly chasing herring out in open water. Small schools of smallmouths are working the area from the marina to the dam just at sunrise, and it lasts for about 45 minutes. After the sun is up, the bait goes down, and bigger fish are moving to the shade — either docks, down trees in deeper water or the back sides of points with tall trees. Soft baits like a Zoom Fluke or the paddle tails in white or silver are doing good. For the hard baits, I like the Smack Tackle Wake Bait and the Sebile hard swimbait both in herring colors.”

Walleye: Fair. Eric said, “The walleye should be starting to move back into the shallows by mid September if the evening temps stay in the 60s, and this can be a great time to catch a mess of ’em.”