Lake Nottely Fishing Report – February 2007

Nottely: Level: 15.5 feet below full pool. Temp: 44-45 degrees. Clarity: From Point 5 down the lake the water is clear; from Point 5 up the lake there is a good stain.

Bass: Slow. The fish had been up shallow, and the fishing had been good during the warm-up in January, according to Dwight Dilbeck, but the recent plunge in temperatures put a hurt on the fishing (the night prior to publication, the temperature dropped to about 10 degrees). “There was a good crankbait bite back when we were getting those 70-degree days, but since the temperature has dropped, the spots have gone deep. If I was going fishing tomorrow, I would probably be pumping a spoon.” Dwight uses a 3/4-oz. or 1/2-oz. Hopkins spoon. “The bait is pretty small right now,” he said. He would also have a Zoom Finesse worm in green pumpkin tied on, and he would look for deep brushpiles on points or straight banks and work the worm slowly through the brush.

Linesides: Slow. The fishing fell off with the temperature in late January. According to WRD Fisheries Biologist Reggie Weaver, it’s a bit too soon for the bluebacks, and therefore, the striped bass and hybrids to have moved into the creeks. “Look for bluebacks or shad suspended on the main lake over the channels, and you should find stripers,” said Reggie. When you find schools of fish, drop live bluebacks or swim something like a lead-head jig into the fish.