Lake Seminole Fishing Report – January 2009

Seminole: Level: 0.7 feet below full pool. Temp: Mid 50s. Clarity: Muddy.

Bass: Tough. Guide Mike Sloan said 14 inches of rain flooded the lake and made catching fish pretty tough. He said you can catch a few bass on a red Rat-L-Trap ripped around the grass lines in 6 to 7 feet of water if you can find some clearer water where the hydrilla has filtered out some of the mud. A spinnerbait should also do the trick for this bite. Mike suggested a 3/8- or 1/2-oz. spinnerbait with big Colorado blades in the stained water. Good colors are white and firetiger. This bite should continue through the month as the lake clears. As it gets clearer, a shad-pattern Trap should get more bites than the red. The flipping bite should also pick up as the water clears. Mike said to punch through the hydrilla mats with a Texas-rigged Gambler Ugly Otter in Bowen Silver. Use a 1-oz. or 1 1/2-oz. weight to get through the mat. Some of the clearest water on the lake is from Rattlesnake Point in Spring Creek south.

Crappie: Tough. Mike said the flood killed the crappie bite as well, but that should pick up as the water clears. Either target the stump fields in the 20-foot range with a downlined minnow or pitch jigs to the grass lines in 7 to 8 feet of water. Black/chartreuse is the color of choice.