Lake Chatuge Fishing Report – July 2008

Chatuge: Level: 2.9 feet below full pool. Temp: Low 80s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Good, said John Hembree. John and his brother won a recent night tournament on Chatuge with a four-fish limit that weighed 13.3 pounds. “The fish have been biting pretty good,” said John. “Second and third place both had more than 12 pounds.” They started fishing shallow cover with spinnerbaits and caught a 4 1/2-lb. largemouth. After dark they switched to throwing worms — a Zoom Finesse worm in green pumpkin or watermelon — around lights and brush. They also caught fish throwing a 1/2-oz. black spinnerbait with a single Colorado blade around lights. “We caught about 16 fish during a 5-hour tournament,” said John. “Our two best fish came before dark, and then we caught a bunch in the 16- or 17-inch range. There were some fish up shallow, and fish around boat-dock lights and street lights. We would pull up on a place and make a few casts looking for the aggressive fish. Some people try to force feed them, but we hit a lot of places looking for the fish that want to be caught.” John said the topwater bite is non-existent. “We are not seeing a bit of topwater,” he said. “I don’t know what has happened to the topwater bite.”