Lake Chatuge Fishing Report – December 2022

Chatuge: Level: 6.9 feet below 1925. Temp: 60-63 degrees. Clarity: Clear

Bass: Guide Eric Welch, of Welch’s Guide Service, reports, “Fishing is good. The lake is down at winter pool, and we’ve been having some colder weather, which has helped the water temp come down. I’ve not seen a lot of bass breaking first thing in the morning, but midday, once the sun gets up, you will start seeing the baitfish get more active. I would recommend always keeping a topwater on the front deck, I like throwing a Berkley Cane Walker, Strike King Sexy Dawg Jr. and a Lucky Craft Gunfish. With the lake being down, you can get way off some of the clay points on the main body of the lake and you will see fish stacked up 12 to 25 feet deep before it drops off to deeper water. I’ve been targeting these fish with a drop shot, using a 6-inch Roboworm or switching it up with a 3-inch minnow bait to try and match the herring that they’re feeding on. You can also catch some on a Ned rig, jig and a shaky head. This time of year is a good time to start using small swimbaits. I like throwing a Strike King 3.25-inch Rage Swimmer on a 1/4- to 5/16-oz. VMC swimbait hook. If there is some wind, you can also throw a spinnerbait or a crankbait in a 200 or 300 Series size to match the bait. This is a great time of year to take a little time and work on your electronic skills. If you have any of the forward-viewing sonars, now is the time to check out your settings. If you set it up right, you will be able to watch a jerkbait or crankbait come right over the brushpile or school of fish. Once the water temps get down to 55 degrees, it’s a good time to drag the A-rig back out. It’s really fun to watch on the Garmin Livescope. You can watch the fish chase it, and you can also pause it and watch them run into it on the screen.”

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