Lake Seminole Fishing Report – December 2006

Seminole: Level: One foot below full pool. Temp: 68-71 degrees. Clarity: Muddy.

Bass: Fair. With 5 1/2 inches of rain, the Flint River is pouring muddy water into Seminole right now. Jack Wingate, of Wingate’s Lodge, said high winds have made the fishing tough, but he saw an 8-pounder and a 10-pounder pulled out of the lake on November 17. The R&R Tournament was on Seminole that week, and it was won with 25 pounds of fish. Jack said most of the fishermen were catching largemouths cranking thin, long-lipped crankbaits along river ledges. “We had an enormous catch on spinnerbaits just a few days ago,” Jack said. Spinnerbaits ripped shallow over five to six feet of water in thin grass produced some good fish late in November. However, the water temperature has dropped since then and the bite has slowed. When the water temperatures drop lower into the 60s and the fish bunch up around humps in 18 to 25 feet of water, the jigging spoon bite should heat up.

Crappie: While the other species have slowed down, Jack said the crappie bite is gangbusters right now. “Crappies are doing real well,” Jack said. “We’ve had the best crappie year we’ve had in a long time.” Black jigs with chartreuse tails are producing good numbers of crappie along deep grass right now. And Jack said the bottom of the Flint River, at about 18 to 20 feet deep, is covered up with crappie right now. They can be caught with small minnows or using the same black-and-chartreuse jigs. As water temperatures drop, jigging spoons will also catch crappie schooled around the humps.