Lake Jackson Fishing Report January 2011

Jackson: Level: 3.7 feet below full pool. Temp: Mid 40s. Clarity: Some stain.

Bass: Josh Kelly said January is his favorite month to fish Jackson. “The lake is drawn down, concentrating the fish, and the water tends to stay a little muddy during the winter,” said Josh. “Muddy conditions and sunshine are a good combination to make bass pull up in shallow water.” Josh likes to target rocky, clay banks with deep water nearby. Josh’s first choice of bait is a medium- to deep-running crankbait, preferably with a tight wobble. He chooses bright or dark color combinations in stained water and natural colors, like shad, for clear-water conditions. He fishes the baits in 2 to 10 feet of water. And the later in the day it is, the shallower he will look for the fish to be holding. He also like a jig. Josh’s jig of choice is a 1/2-oz. Net Boy Baits Flipp’N Jig in a black/blue color combination. He tips the jig with a blue Zoom Chunk. For really tough conditions, Josh sizes down to a shaky-head worm on a 3/16- to 1/4-oz. jig head with a Zoom Trick Worm threaded on. Josh pretty much stays on the main lake in the winter, fishing rocky banks between the Highway 212 bridge and Tussahaw Creek. After trying rocks first thing in the morning, Josh will move out to main-lake humps when the sun gets high. These humps are generally about 8 feet deep on top with water as deep as 25 feet or more on the sides. While the rocky shorelines are typically haunts for largemouths, these humps are havens for spotted bass and linesides. When Josh approaches a hump, he moves around it slowly looking for balls of bait on his graph. For this pattern, Josh adds an old standby to the arsenal — the Little George. For more on Josh’s tactics on Jackson this month, turn to page 62.