Greers Ferry Fishing Report 05-06-09

[Cody Smith]

Hello all, for those that did not know my trolling motor cables went out and i have been anxiously awaiting on the new set and they came in yesterday. After a brief installation period I hit the water with high hopes. Greers Ferry is currently at 468.1 ft above msl and rising after recent rains. We got close to another inch and a half of rain last night. It seems we are back to another high water spawn which is good for both fish and fisherman. I would suspect the lake to come up an additional 1.5 feet with this latest rain event. Water temperatures are ranging in the mid to upper 60's on the south end of the lake and main basin, the warmest I found yesterday was 69.6 degrees during the afternoon. These warmer temps really get those fish going and this area is also the location holding the majority of the black bass that are feeding and participating. Yesterday we saw a few walleye's show there heads as well. They are where they have been for the last 3 weeks. It seems the water rising has not affected them at all. Main Lake Points and transition banks, gravel with 6 - 18 feet of water and bait fish are holding some eyes. Live crawlers, Minnows or artificial are all working when coupled with light line and a slow presentation. The smallies have kinda backed off since the spawn and will be turning the corner here within the next couple of weeks. Don't get me wrong we are still seeing them show up just not in the numbers of a week or two ago. We did boat a really nice 3lb SM yesterday on a jig. With the high water we are experiencing look for main lake ledges with brush and timber to be a favorite smallie hideout. Use natural colors such as green pumpkin, pumpkin seed, watermelon, camo, pb and j, and so on. The water is back in and on top of most of the bush's around the lake and in select location's are absolutely loaded with bream and shad. This is where you want to be folks for all species, around the bait! I will be back out today looking for the white's and hybrids while also putting my hands on a few smallies and largemouth for coming trips in the next week. As always I will report what I find and don't let the high water discourage you, it's a blessing we got the water when we did!