Lake Nottely Fishing Report – July 2009

Nottely: Level: 1.7 feet above full pool. Temp: High 70s to low 80s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Decent. Nathan Stuart said there’s a good mid-day to evening topwater bite for a mixed bag of spots and small linesides. He said to go wherever the wind is blowing and the bait is being pushed up on main-lake points and pockets. “The middle of the day is best if there’s a good, strong wind,” he said. Topwater plugs like Spooks, Sammys or Gunfish work well for this bite. A fluke is also a good choice. Nathan Lewis echoed Nathan Stuart’s thoughts on the topwater bite, but added that it’s tough to catch them if you don’t find them schooling. “If you get ’em schooling, you can kill them,” he said. “If not, it’s hard.” When the fish go down, Nathan Lewis suggested dropping a finesse worm down to 15 or 20 feet on rocky points. If you know where a good brushpile is, doodle your Texas rig in it. If not, criss-cross the whole point with the regular sweep. Nathan Lewis likes a Trick Worm or some other straight worm for spots. He’ll fish a U-tail if he wants to catch largemouths. Either way, he likes a 3/16-oz. weight. You can also catch some largemouths around docks and wood cover right now, Nathan Lewis said. Fish a jig ’n pig or a Texas-rigged U-tail. You can sometimes get them to hit a buzzbait in the mornings.