Lake Weiss Fishing Report September 2011

Weiss: Level: 1.6 feet below full. Temp: 87-90 degrees. Clarity: Light stain.

Bass: Slow. Guide Mark Collins said they have really turned off over the last couple of weeks. “Some bass are being caught very early and very late. A few good fish are being caught in the upper Chattooga River and the upper Coosa River where there is more current and higher oxygen levels. Carolina-rigged plastics are working right now, and green pumpkin and pumpkin seed seem to be the best colors. Medium- to deep-running crankbaits and 1/2-oz. spinnerbaits slow-rolled are also catching some bass. Topwater baits are working fair early and late around deeper seawalls. Look for this pattern to hold for the next month or so, unless we get a lot of rain that really puts some oxygen back in the water. Weiss always gets a big algae bloom in late summer which depletes oxygen from the water and makes the fish very lethargic, so the dog days can be tough.” Guide Warren Barnes reports, “The early topwater bite is still working around the entire lake using all types of topwater baits such as the Jackall Bonnie. Also try buzzbaits on the flats and points early in the morning. Throughout the day, both largemouths and spotted bass are being caught using shaky-head finesse worms, jigs and Jackall Muscle Deep 15 crankbaits on the ledges. The bass are keying heavily on the drops that have hard bottoms and transition areas. As always there is a good shallow pattern on the lake as well, and this should only get better later in the month as these fish start to school up for fall. Use buzzbaits early, and have a spinnerbait close by throughout the day. Flipping and skipping under docks and log jams during the midday is still a good pattern and will get better as September progresses. A great area to try is the log jams around Riverside. Though not known for producing numbers of fish, these log jams will produce some quality fish through out the month. As we get into October, I look for the largemouths and spotted bass to move shallow into the mouths of the creeks to feed on large schools of shad to prepare for the colder months ahead. Crankbaits like the Jackall Mc60Sr and Tn70 lipless crankbaits are excellent baits to use.”

Crappie: Poor, according to Mark. “The crappie are mainly under the docks and out deep in 8 to 14 feet of water on the channel ledges. Night fishing with live minnows with lights on the edges of the old Little River channel is producing some fair crappie. Shooting 1/24-oz. Jiffy Jigs under docks is still producing some decent crappie fishing, and a few crappie are being caught on minnows from under lights at night off docks,” Mark said.

Stripers: Fair. “They are in fair numbers in Little River and the upper Chattooga River. Little Spring Creek is also producing some fish. The canal and the powerhouse lake are also producing some stripes. 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.”