Lake Seminole Fishing Report – February 2007

Seminole: Level: Full pool. Temp: 52 degrees. Clarity: Muddy in the rivers, light stain in main lake.

Bass: Slow. “The bass fishing over there is tough — about as tough as I’ve seen it,” said Butch Tucker. “The high water over the last few weeks and the cold front have gotten the fish confused, and it’s certainly got the fishermen confused.” He said the bass are scattered right now and not grouped up like they usually are this time of year. He thinks the fishing should really pick up, though, if the water conditions stabilize. “The big fish are being caught on flippin’ jigs and Rat-L-Traps. You don’t get many bites, but when they do bite, they’re normally a big one,” he said. Flipping jigs to dead hyacinths and grasslines is a tactic that is working to produce a few fish right now. Butch said the coots are thick in Spring Creek right now, and they are ripping up the hydrilla, producing lots of floating debris. He said fishing a Rat-L-Trap at Spring Creek is hopeless, but people are catching a few fish on drop-shot worms. Though conditions are poor at the moment, Butch expects things to pick up in February. “The normal staging areas, where they usually are this time of year — well, they’re just not there right now. It’s hit or miss,” he said. “But, if the water stabilizes, things will catch on fire. I expect the fishing to be pretty spectacular between February and March.”

Crappie: Butch said the crappie fishermen are finding the fish schooled up in deep water right now. “If you see a group of boats, that’s where the crappie are,” he said. “They’re finding schools and sitting on them, just fishing straight down. The fish are schooled pretty tight right now. They’re starting to bite out off the river channels in the 18- to 20-foot range.” Butch said he has seen lots of crappie boats around the Manmade Island, at the mouth of Spring Creek and at Sneeds Landing on the Chattahoochee Channel.