Lake Burton Fishing Report – July 2009

Burton: Level: 0.2 feet above full pool. Temp: High 80s to low 90s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Good. Daniel Workman said there’s a good topwater bite that can last all day during the week on any main-lake point where you find bluebacks on the graph. Daniel said he’s been catching a mix of spots and largemouths with some good-sized fish mixed in. His favorite topwater bait right now is a ZZ Pop in natural colors, either blue or green, and he likes a little metal flake in the finish. A Spook or a Pop-R in similar colors will also work well. For the Pop-R, a bream pattern is a good choice, and baby bass works for any bait on Burton right now. The weekend topwater bite will be limited to mornings and evenings because of boat traffic. If you want to catch some pretty good largemouths, Daniel said they are up the lake in the creeks. He said a lot of people are worming for them right now, but he prefers topwater and crankbaits. Throw a crankbait that gets into the 8-10 foot range or deeper around grass or brushpiles in the creeks. Daniel likes a Deep Little N or a Bandit in the 300 or 400 series. Again, stick with natural colors. A spinnerbait will catch these fish also. You will catch some chain pickerel while fishing this pattern. Daniel said they are good eating.

Trout: Daniel said you can catch a lot of good trout wherever you see schooling activity. “There are a lot of trout in this lake,” he said. His favorite way to catch them is to burn a Rooster Tail through the surface activity. “What color is up to you,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to matter to the fish.”