Lake Nottely Fishing Report – July 2006

Nottely: Level: 2.8 feet below full. Temp: 80-84 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Jerry at Jerry’s Bait & Tackle said the bass fishing had been pretty slow lately, with catches under 10 pounds winning most nighttime pot tournaments. Topwater — Spooks, flukes and Sammys over brush on main-lake points — has produced some fish. Once the sun goes down, fish slow with a green-pumpkin Zoom Finesse worm on a Texas rig in the same brushpiles.

Linesides: Good for hybrids, but the stripers have gone AWOL. Nottely guide Jeremy Seabolt said there has been some schooling activity early and late on points on the lower end of the lake, but the fish coming up are almost always hybrids. For both stripers and hybrids, your best bet is to downline live bluebacks in the 20 foot depths. Jeremy recommends putting downlines out, and trail a freeline and then ease over main-lake points. While you are waiting for a live bait to get hit, you can cast a fluke, and Jeremy always has a Pencil Popper ready for any surface activity near the boat. The hybrids have been all the way in the back of Conley Creek and Ivy Log Creek, but as the water temperature rises, those fish will move toward the main lake. Point No. 3 is a good place to start. It is a community hole, but it produces a lot of good fish. For more on summertime Nottely linesides, see page 154.