Lake Nottely Fishing Report – June 2009

Nottely: Level: 0.8 feet above full pool. Temp: 66 to 72 degrees. Clarity: Stained in the creeks and the backs of the pockets; muddy up the river; crystal clear on the main lake.

Bass: Great. Guide Nathan Lewis said Nottely is fishing great right now, with the bass still feeding up in a postspawn pattern. Early in the morning or on overcast days, catch fish busting on top on the main-lake points. He likes a Sammy or a Zara Spook for these spotted bass feeding on top. If you’d rather target largemouths, move into the backs of the creeks, and try a buzzbait early around bank structure. Later in the day, Nathan will slow it down and throw a Texas-rigged worm on main-lake points. He likes a cherry-seed or green-pumpkin worm. A finesse worm will catch more spots. A U-tail worm will catch more largemouths.

Linesides: Good. Guide Jeremy Seabolt said the numbers bite has slowed, but the big fish bite is on as the fish transition from the spring pattern into the summer pattern. By the time this hits the newsstands, he said the fish should be schooled up, and the downline bite should be wide open. “They’re starting to stack up in the 20- to 25-foot range in the mouths of the creeks and in the backs of deep coves,” he said. “The small pods are just starting to school up.” Jeremy said there’s a pretty good bite on planer boards and freelines for the first hour of daylight, and then the fish go down, and it’s time to fish downlines. The fish have been keying on big gizzard shad. Jeremy likes to rig his boards and freelines with a free-floating, 1/4-oz. sinker so the bait will drop a little when he backs off the trolling motor. With the downlines, find a pod of fish and drop the same big gizzards down 15 to 18 feet on a 1/2- to 1-oz. sinker. Late in the day, there is a good umbrella-rig bite down by the dam. Jeremy likes a Mack Farr U-rig. He fishes eight bucktails and puts a 1- to 1 1/2-oz. swim bait in the middle of the spread. He likes the gizzard-style swimbaits with a built-in hook and weight. The best bite is between point two and point five.