Lake Seminole Fishing Report December 2016

Seminole: Level: 1 foot low. Temp: 65 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Good. Tournament angler Matt Baty reports, “The bass are starting to get grouped up in schools all over the lake as they are getting ready to gang up for the winter. There are multiple ways that you can catch them right now, and I will share a few. With all the grass on the lake, you can still concentrate on the edges. Parallel the edge of the hydrilla, and use a Spro Aruku Shad on 50-lb. Sunline FX2 braid. For color choice, red works well this time of year, but shad patterns seem to work better. Use the Aruku Shad as a search bait until you find a school of fish. Then you can slow down with a Spro McStick 110 in clear/chartreuse. When fishing the jerkbait, you need to use 12-lb. Sunline FC Reaction flourocarbon line, a medium-action rod and a super-light reel, such as a Lews Team Lite Reel. These reels only weigh 5.7 ounces and can cast a mile. Another pattern that is about to be on fire is to fish deep standing timer in Spring Creek. A Texas-rigged 8-inch Big Bite Baits Finesse Worm in blue fleck or green pumpkin rigged on a 4/0 Gamakatsu hook and a 1/4-oz. Fish Catchin Fool tungsten is a good technique in the standing timber. Also, a 1/2-oz. Buddha Baits Football Jig with a Big Bite Baits Reel Deal Craw as a trailer is a good technique that catches giants. The Buddha Baits Football Jig features an oversized 6/0 hook that increases power and catch ratios tremendously.” Guide Aaron Crews reports, “Bass fishing is slow. Flipping and Rat-L-Trap fishing is working at present. The best color Rat-L-Traps are smokey joe, blue chrome, shad pattern and bass pattern. This time of year the bass eat the smaller bass while building their fat reserves for winter. In the future, drop-shot fishing will become productive. As the weather turns colder, drop-shot worms will catch numbers, but the fish will be smaller than those caught on a Carolina rig. Also, vertical fishing will become better. The lures I use are a Hopkins jigging spoon and a Little George. On the Hopkins, I remove the saltwater hook and replace it with a freshwater hook with feathers. I usually trim off the treble that sticks off to the side from the opposite two. This will eliminate most hang-ups. Fish Heddon Sonar and a Silver Buddy for casting in deep water for winter bass.”

Crappie & Bream: Mike at Westside Bait and Tackle says the crappie are being caught on minnows 14 feet down in 21 feet of water. There are a few panfish being caught in 12 feet of water near grasslines on worms.

Linesides: Matt Baty reports, “Stripers and hybrids are also starting to bite on the main lake and the Chattahoochee River. Use your Lowrance electronics with insight mapping to look for these fish to be ganged up on main-lake humps and at the mouth of Trails End on the Hooch. For stripers and hybrids, you need one bait—an A-rig. Use an A-rig with Big Bite Bait Cane Thumpers and 1/8-oz. jig heads. Use braid and a big rod because you are liable to catch some monsters.”