Lake Nottely Fishing Report – January 2008

Nottely: Level: 15.4 feet below full pool. Temp: Upper 50 degrees. Clarity: Clear. The back of the creeks are stained.

Bass: A lot of spots and largemouths were caught the first half of December on worms, jigs and crankbaits worked in shallow water. There was a little topwater activity, too. As the water temperature drops, the majority of the fish will move to deeper brush and breaks. Watch for bait, and drop a Flex-it spoon or green-pumpkin Trick Worm on a drop shot.

Linesides: Nottely is finally trying to turn over which means the fish will move up in the water column, said Nottely linesides guide Josh Garrison. “The problem is the fish are eating tiny threadfins. Look for scattered surface activity early and late in the day around the major creek mouths from Point 7 to the dam. Freelines and planers with trout and bluebacks should do good with small swimbaits, spoons, and Sammy’s on the surfacing fish.” Nottely guide Jeremy Seabolt has been fishing up the lake between points 6 and 8 and catching fish on both downlines and umbrella rigs. He has been using a mix of bluebacks and gizzard shad on downlines and fishing them mostly in the 30-foot range depending on what he marks on his graph. The umbrella rig has been a life-saver, he said. He pulls half white bucktail jigs with chartreuse trailers and half 4-inch swimbaits on his U-rig. On the main lake he is pulling the rig over points. Up the lake he is following the river channel and pulling the rig at about 3 mph. “You have a lot better chance pulling an umbrella rig in Nottely than in most lakes because there is less brush,” he said. In January and February, Jeremy expects schooling activity to pick up on the lower lake from the dam to Point 5. In December the topwater activity was minimal.