Lake Jackson Fishing Report – April 2008

Jackson: Level: 1.9 feet below full pool. Temp: 62-64 degrees. Clarity: Lightly stained.

Bass: “During April, you will be targeting shallow fish all over the lake,” said guide Aaron Batson. “Early in the month expect to find some early spawners and some fish still staging on transition areas. The staging fish can be caught with the same baits as last month — small crankbait, spinnerbait, etc.” Aaron looks for the main spawn to be from April 15-20. “Expect to find big fish locked on beds during this time frame,” said Aaron. “Look for them next to stumps and dock posts in the main lake. Up the Yellow and South rivers, expect them to bed in old blowdowns and in the oxbow lakes. For bedded fish, I like an 8-inch Zoom lizard in black, a 4-inch Zoom tube in white/pearl and a 1/4-oz. Net Boy Baits jig in white with a pearl-white Zoom Super Chunk.” Aaron likes a bait he can easily see in the bed, and he searches for fish that will aggressively attack a bait near the bed. “April is by far my favorite month of the year,” said Eric Perkins. “When the pollen falls, the big females are looking to bed. When the water hits the mid 60s, expect the first wave to move up. Usually on Jackson, it happens around the second week of April. By far my favorite method for catching these bigger females is with a Bang-O-Lure. I cover a lot of water and look for sandy pockets with some sort of cover in them, whether it be a stump, rock or a break-out in a seawall. If the water is a little more stained, a white spinnerbait cast shallow will catch a good fish also. I like a spinnerbait, a tube and a white fluke. I also keep a couple flipping sticks rigged with a tube and a white Net Boy Baits Flipp’N Jig. I fish the faster baits until I see one roll or chase my bait, then I slow down and work the fish with the jig or the tube.” For spots, Eric works a Pointer in chartreuse-shad around docks and on shallow, rocky-clay points. A Net Boy Screwball jig head fished under and around floating docks will catch magnum spots in April. “Late in the month expect the river bite to be much better than in the main lake,” said Aaron. “Work the South and Yellow rivers above the Hwy 36 bridges. Work any visible cover with a 1/4-oz. double-willow-bladed, chartreuse/white Ol-Nelle spinnerbait. Pitch the deep ends of blowdowns with a 3/8-oz. Net Boy Flipp’N Jig in brown/black with a green-pumpkin Zoom Super Chunk. A bream-colored topwater plug can be deadly early and late up the rivers.”