Lake Nottely Fishing Report June 2012

Nottely: Level: 1.3 feet below full pool. Temp: Mid to upper 70s. Clarity: Clear.

Stripers: Darren Hughes reports, “Bait is still scattered all over the lake, and it also scatters the fish. We have seen some fish starting to school up in the summer pattern on humps, points and against rocky banks. The rocky, steep banks have been producing more fish for us. The herring are spawning against these steep banks in huge schools, and fish are holding in these areas. You can catch these fish by pulling bait on planer boards, freelines and downlines. We’ve been pulling freelines on outside boards and a split-shot up to 3/8-oz. on the inside board with a straight freeline out back and downlines. They are all catching fish, and you can cover lots of water. Later in the day when the sun gets up high, we’ve been switching to only downlines. Look for suspended fish. They have been over a 20- to 40-foot bottom against these steep shady banks. I recommend having live, frisky baits already out and troll up to these fish. They won’t hang around long before they scatter out, so your best chance is when you first see them on your graph. Stay in the area, because they are still there, just more singled out. Use weighted freelines in the upcoming month since they will start schooling up in bigger suspended schools on humps, points and rocky banks as the water warms up and finally drives the bait to deeper water. The fish should stay on the mid to lower end of the lake throughout the summer. We have been catching some good fish on our trips. We’ve caught fish in the 20s and several in the mid to high teens.”