Fishing Reports

Level: 6.3 feet below full pool. Temp: Upper 70s. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Fair. There’s a brief topwater bite early, then move to deep brush with worms or jigs. The spots are schooling early and late on main-lake points and humps in the mid-lake area. Sammys, Spooks and Pop-Rs will work. Once the sun comes up,…

Chatuge: Level: 4.9 feet below full pool. Temp: 81 degrees. Clarity: Clear. Bass: If you fish Chatuge, you can expect either to blank or to catch a lot of bass, said John Hembree. A Saturday, June 23 daytime tournament was won with 19 pounds, and it took 17 for second and 14 for third —…

Chatuge: Level: Down 4.9 feet below full pool. Temp: Mid 70s. Clarity: Clear. Bass: In June, the bass at Chatuge are still fairly shallow, said John Hembree. “I’d probably be throwing an unweighted fluke around boat docks and any wood structure — blowdowns or brushpiles. If you are fishing brush, the fish will be in…

Chatuge: Level: 5.2 feet below full pool. Temp: 62-65 degrees. Clarity: Clear. Bass: John Hembree fished a mid April tournament and finished third with 15.73 pounds. First had 20 pounds; second 19 pounds. John said he caught 17 keepers, mostly spots, with one 4 1/4-lb. largemouth. He was fishing main-lake places and primarily throwing a…

Chatuge: Level: 6.9 feet below full pool. Temp: Mid 50s on the main lake; 58-60 back in the pockets. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Mountain-lake fishing guide Nathan Lewis said Chatuge is red hot right now. A recent fishing tournament on the lake was won with five largemouths that weighed 27.15 pounds. The angler was Heath Pack…

Chatuge: Level: 8.4 feet below full pool. Temp: 45 degrees. Clarity: Clear. Bass: In February, look for the spots to begin to pull up on the flats getting ready for the spawn, and when they do, it’s a good time to throw a suspending jerkbait, said John Hembree. “If I was going to Chatuge in…

Chatuge: Level: 8.7 feet below full pool. Temp: 48-50 degrees. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Good. A recent tournament on the lake was reportedly won on jigging spoons, and as the water temperature drops, the spooning bite on main-lake points should improve. The fish are on their winter pattern, which means deep drops and brushpiles. Nathan Lewis…

Chatuge: Level: 6.7 feet below full pool. Temp: 53 degrees. Clarity: Clear. Bass: In December in Chatuge, slow down your presentation. Shake a 3/8-oz. brown on brown jig ’n pig or a green-pumpkin finesse worm in brush in 25 to 35 feet of water. A drop-shot rig is also a good bet in deep brush.…

Chatuge: Level: 6.5 feet below full pool. Temp: 65-67 degrees. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) biologists were on Chatuge sampling fish populations with electrofishing equipment in early October and found largemouth bass concentrated in downed treetops along the shoreline. The bass averaged two pounds, with one out of every 10 fish weighing more…

Chatuge: Level: 5.0 feet below full pool. Temp: 73-75. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Green-pumpkin worms fished in brush is the most consistent pattern on the lake right now. Rig finesse worms Texas style with a 1/4- or 1/8-oz. weight, and shake them through brush on the 15 to 20-foot range. Drop-shot rigs with the small, hand-poured…