Lake Weiss Fishing Report July 2011

Weiss: Level: 0.7 feet below full pool. Temp: 84-87 degrees. Clarity: Clear down the lake; lightly stained up the lake.

Bass: Good. Warren Barnes reports, “Bass fishing on Lake Weiss has been good and is getting better as it gets hotter. Both largemouths and spots are being caught. I have been catching some good quality largemouths around the whole lake using all types of topwater baits such as the Jackall Bonnie and buzzbaits on the flats early. After the sun gets high, I have been going to Texas-rigged worms and football jigs on the ledges and flipping around docks and other cover up shallow. Spotted bass are on the ledges as well but have been keying heavily on schools of shad. A Jackall Muscle Deep 15 is a good bait to catch these fish, and I have really been having to use my Humminbird to stay on them. Night fishing is hot right now as well. Try using black spinnerbaits and jigs around rip-rap and hard bottoms, and be prepared for some very hard strikes as the bass feed very aggressively at night. I look for the boat-dock and ledge bite to continue. Keep using football jigs, Texas- and Carolina-rigged worms and big crankbaits to get these deep fish.” Mark Collins reports, “Bass fishing is good, and the largemouth and spotted bass have moved to their summer pattern 8 to 14 feet deep on river- and creek-channel ledges, main-lake points and humps and road beds. Carolina-rigged plastics are working awesome right now. Green pumpkin and pumpkin seed seem to be the dominant colors. Medium- to deep-running crankbaits and 1/2-oz. spinnerbaits slow-rolled are also catching some good bass. A few bass are still being caught shallow on jigs and tubes under docks.”

Crappie: Mark reports, “Crappie fishing is poor, and the crappie are mainly under the docks and out deep on the channel ledges. Shooting 1/24-oz. Jiffy Jigs under docks is still producing some decent crappie fishing. A few crappie are being caught on minnows under dock lights at night.”

Stripers: Mark reports, “Striper fishing is good, and they are starting to show up in good numbers in Little River. They are also starting to show up in the main lake on points and river-channel ledges. The canal and the Powerhouse Lake are also producing a lot of stripers. Live shad is the key to catching these fish. Flatlines and downlines fished 8 to 10 feet deep and trolled slowly are producing some great striper fishing.”

Catfish: “Catfish are biting good, and they are being caught in the flats and coves in 6 to 10 feet of water on cut shad,” Mark said.