Greers Ferry Fishing Report 05/19/09

[Cody Smith]

Hello Guys and Gals! Greers Ferry is currently 10 feet above normal summer pool which is 461.4 ft. The corp of engineers is letting water clear out down stream before they start releasing our water around the clock. This is good news for both fish and fisherman on both side of the dam. Most all species are finishing there spawn and are starting to feed at opportune times on the loads of bait fish scattered around the lake. During the last couple of weeks the bite has come on and stayed strong with most all species. Water temperatures over the last week have dropped 6 - 10 degrees depending on location.

The mornings have started slower and have definitely not been as good as the evenings, although there is a relatively good top water bite on smallies and largemouth for the first couple of hours if these are the fish your pursuing. Target them early with soft plastic frogs like the ribbit or horny toad fished relatively fast in and around flooded bushes and submerged cover adjacent to deeper water. We have had some good blow ups and some really nice fish boated using this method. Spooks and Chug bugs are also producing some fish during these times with spooks producing better on less windy mornings and the chuggers if you got some good ripple. The swim bait bite is OK, not exactly on fire but you can catch some fish on it. Hybrids and some smallies seem to prefer the swimmer better than the large mouth and spots. I have been contacting my spotted bass in 16 - 26 feet of water off of pea gravel banks, bluff ends and points. C-Rigs and Finesse Worms dragged around in these location's have been picking up the deeper of the Kentucky's that are out on the main lake. There are still a good portion of them up feeder creeks and river arms. You can really catch several at a time up the arms right now in very shallow water, they are using the current to position themselves at ambush locations and feeding on most anything that comes by. If you push the arms, ditches and creeks you will catch the largest concentration's of Kentucky's there.

The Hybrids are starting to venture out to typical main lake location's. Both early morning and late evening have been the most dependable action for this species. Some are still up the arms and on shallow flats with the majority feeding sub-surface 95% of the time. We have been catching them on 1/8oz. lead heads with crawlers pretty consistently, just not huge numbers yet. In another 2 weeks this will change and the spoon and top water bite will explode. Look for the last week of this month and the first couple of weeks of June to be tremendous fishing for these bull dogs.

Our walleye's are on FIRE right now. We have been boating limit's on just about every trip out and catching them anywhere from 6 - 28 feet deep all depending on light penetration, wind and bait. By far the lead head and crawler is out producing any other form of tackle right now. You can catch a few trolling or casting cranks, dragging bottom bouncers with harness and slowly walking a grub but you can't beat casting a crawler. Small rock and gravel banks that have a 45 degree pitch are holding some eyes along with flat's just off the main channel and points with deeper water and timber are key areas. You really need to be about 2 or 3 cast from the new bank in that 14 - 28 foot zone to catch them consistently. Be patient and if you locate one fish in that small area SLOWLY work it over and you will fire up the school and come home with a delicious meal or two.

This year I have seen some of the Biggest Bluegill's to date. I mean gills in the 1lb. class are showing up everyday. These tasty little guys are holding and schooling in the 13 foot range on the outside edge of all the new cover. The smaller ones are in the bush's with the larger gill's hanging on isolated bush's that are submerged by a couple of feet of water. Again, lead head jigs and half a crawler are the ticket. I guess you could catch them on a variety of bait's but if it ain't broke don't fix it!

Good Luck out there and I can't emphasize enough NOW IS THE TIME TO BE ON THE WATER, with the holiday coming in this weekend keep you eye out for reckless boaters and try to be patient with those that are not on the water with the exception of a couple of times a year. Be Safe and keep your hook wet! If you have any question's about booking a date or need information about our area give me a call or shoot me an email. I've got a date this evening so I'll keep you posted!