Fishing Reports

Chatuge: Level: 6 feet below full pool. Temp: Mid 70s. Clarity: Clear. Bass: “This time of year, usually the cooler water temperature gets the surface activity going,” said John Hembree. “Sometimes you will see them breaking out in the middle of the lake, and other times you can call them up with a big topwater…

Chatuge: Level: 5.2 feet below full pool. Temp: Low 80s. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Good. Brothers John and Jerry Hembree won a mid-August night pot tournament with 10 1/2 pounds. “We caught a couple of 2-pounders right off when we found a school of breaking fish,” said John. He caught one on a Sammy; Jerry caught…

Chatuge: Level: Down 3 feet below full pool. Temp: Mid 80s. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Heath Pack said he has been targeting largemouths at Chatuge by heading into the creeks and the river and fishing a 1/2-oz. jig in brush and laydowns. On a late July trip he caught 10 largemouths, mostly around wood cover. The…

Chatuge: Level: 2.9 feet below full pool. Temp: Low 80s. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Good, said John Hembree. John and his brother won a recent night tournament on Chatuge with a four-fish limit that weighed 13.3 pounds. “The fish have been biting pretty good,” said John. “Second and third place both had more than 12 pounds.”…

Chatuge: Level: 0.2 feet below full pool. Temp: Upper 60 degrees. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Fair, according to John Hembree. “It’s not been wide open, but it’s been pretty good,” he said. “Over the last few weeks it has been taking 10 or 11 pounds to win a nighttime tournament. The last tournament we fished we…

Chatuge: Level: 2.3 feet below full pool. Temp: Mid 60s. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Good. The spots that are coming off the beds are running down Shad Raps and jerkbaits on rocky main-lake points and banks. The topwater bite has just begun. Sammys will work, but a smaller profile bait like a Pop-R is better. As…

Chatuge: Level: 3.8 feet below full pool. Temp: Mid 50s. Clarity: Clear. Bass: April is crankbait time on Chatuge, said guide Nathan Lewis. “The spots are up, and a Shad Rap is a good bait on main-lake points,” he said. “You might also try a small jerkbait like a Pointer 78, and I prefer to…

Chatuge: Level: 15 feet below full pool. Temp: Upper 40s. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Slow. March is usually when the winter doldrums end at Chatuge. With about 5 degrees more of water temperature, the spots will begin to move up on main-lake points and rocky banks staging for the spawn and the cranking bite will pick…

Chatuge: Level: 12 feet below full pool. Temp: Upper 40s. Clarity: Clear. Bass: Bass fishing has been slow in the depths of winter, but John Hembree is anticipating one of those February thaws to jump start the fishing season. “If we get three or four days of warm weather, the fish will start to stir.…

Chatuge: Level: 12.7 feet below full pool. Temp: 50 degrees. Clarity: Clear. Bass: December and January are usually good months to catch fish fishing vertically at Chatuge. “A spoon is one of the best ways to catch them this time of year,” said John Hembree. “You just start looking for balls of bait in 25…