Lake Seminole Fishing Report May 2012

Seminole: Level: 0.5 feet low. Temp: 77 degrees. Clarity: Stained.

Bass: Matt Baty reports, “The fish are starting to group up together in schools and are beginning the postspawn patterns. Look for the first breaklines that are near the edges of the spawning flats. These breaklines can range anywhere from 7 to 10 feet or 11 to 20 feet. The fish will be relating to both of these depths depending on which area of the lake you are fishing. There are several different techniques to use to catch fish off these areas. My personal favorite is to fish a crankbait. There are two crankbaits that are working particularly well on Seminole right now. The first one is a new one by Spro called a Fat Papa 70. I like the Tennessee River gizzard shad pattern, as no one else is throwing it. This bait runs about 7 to 10 feet, so it will work real well on those shallow breaklines. You need to fish this bait on 14-lb. Sunline FC Sniper fluorocarbon. The other crankbait that works well is a Stanford Cedar Shad in the deep version. Summer color is the best one, and this bait runs to depths of 12 to 14 feet on 12-lb. Sunline FC Sniper fluorocarbon. Once you find a school of fish and they quit biting the crankbait, switch to a Big Bite Baits 6-inch Jerk Minnow in pearl or alewife. Fish this on 10-lb. Sunline FC Sniper fluorocarbon to get it to its maximum depth. I like to insert a little nail weight into the head of the bait to get it down a little deeper and give it more action. Fish it deep and slow to entice strikes from postspawn fish. Use a 6/0 Gamakatsu Superline Monster Hook because this is a big bait.”