Lake Burton Fishing Report August 2012

Burton: Level: 1.9 feet below full pool. Temp: 87 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Good. Wes Carlton reports, “The large-mouths are in their normal routine, feeding on bream and yellow perch early mornings and late in the evening. Try using a pumpkin-colored Zoom frog or a white Buckeye wake bait fished up shallow in the creeks. Spotted bass are from 13 feet to 50 feet deep. The bigger fish have moved out over the 40-foot bottom. A drop-shot rig with a Robo Worm is working good for these bigger fish. White Spro crankbaits are working well for the fish in the 20-foot depth. And last but not least, blueback herring work awesome this time of year for spotted bass, but the availability on these lakes is tough.”

Brown Trout: Excellent. “Although the water temps continue to rise, these fish are hungry and aggressive,” Wes said. “We have been catching most of them on medium crappie minnows suspended over 60 to 80 feet of water close to submerged timber and brush. Dropping the baits 20 to 30 feet deep seems to be working best. Last week 25 feet seemed to be the exact number they would bite best. Some of these fish are big, with several in the 6- to 7-lb. range. One fish this week was over 8 pounds and 25 inches long. The trolling bite mid-morning and afternoons has been working well, also. We have been trolling Swarm rigs with white Zoom Flukes on jig heads. The depth on these varies. I have been clipping them on the downriggers 17 to 24 feet. The size of these trout are 1 1/2 to 3 pounds, and they are healthy. I look for this pattern to hold for the next three weeks or so. Concentrate on the main-lake channel when trying to target the brown trout. Good electronics this time of year can be the key to finding these fish.”

White Bass: “The white bass seem to be making a strong comeback. We have been averaging two or three every trip out on both Lake Burton and Rabun. Most of these fish have been caught on bluebacks,” Wes said.

Yellow Perch: Good. “The time for catching yellow perch is upon us. These fish school together tight this time of year,” Wes said. “We have been catching them in 18 feet of water and as deep as 30 feet. Most of the perch are in the grass mats. Look close on the fishfinder for this grass 20 to 26 feet deep. The perch bury deep and usually come out when a crappie minnow or small fluke rigged drop-shot style are presented. The size of the yellow perch this year is amazing! It is not uncommon to catch a 1-pounder right now. A trip this week yielded two fish over 1 1/2 pounds out of 65 fish. These fish are great table fare, and in my opinion yellow perch are a better-eating fish than crappie.”