Lake Chatuge Fishing Report – August 2007

Level: 6.3 feet below full pool. Temp: Upper 70s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Fair. There’s a brief topwater bite early, then move to deep brush with worms or jigs. The spots are schooling early and late on main-lake points and humps in the mid-lake area. Sammys, Spooks and Pop-Rs will work. Once the sun comes up, try Texas-rigged green-pumpkin or cotton-candy worms in brush in the 15- to 20-foot range. Also try a drop-shot rig with a Zoom Finesse worm in green pumpkin or watermelon. If you can’t stand fishing that slowly, slow-roll a 3/4-oz. chartreuse-and-white, double willow-leaf spinnerbait through the brushpiles or off the end of blowdowns.

Linesides: Though hybrids haven’t been stocked in years, some giant 15-lb. plus hybrids have been caught recently. Chatuge once held the world-record for hybrid bass, a 22-lb. plus fish.