Greers Ferry Fishing Report 06/04/09

[Cody Smith]

Greers Ferry is currently at 469.48 ft and rising after yesterday's rainfall totaling close to 2.75 inch's. I would suspect the lake to level back off once it reaches 471.??. The corp. of engineers has not been able to lower the lake after May's rain event's because of down stream flooding that has finally receded. Look for heavy generation periods in a day or two in an effort to get the lake down to normal pool of 461.3 ft.The bite on all species has continued strong into the first few days of this month with very few exception's.

Since the first week of May the walleye's have been feeding aggressively with most days seeing 10 - 20 eyes brought to the boat. Not all of these are keeper fish though, 21 - 25 inch Slot fish and beautiful smaller 10 inches have accompanied the eating size fish of 17 - 19 7/8" fish. The walleyes are really feeding heavy on large gizzard shad and 3 -4 inch bluegill's. The best bite has come in 12 - 26 foot of water in mixed rock location's. Brush piles on the main lake are producing alot of the bites with creek arms coming in a very distant second. Large minnows or Whole Crawlers on a Lead head jig fished slowly around these prime location's are producing the fish.

The small mouth bite is going good as well, lot's of fish in the 12 - 17 inch range are being boated daily with a few fish in the 19 - 21 inch class showing up occasionally. C-Rigs and Shakey heads are catching the majority when it comes to artificial. Points, secondary points and Channel swings in deeper water of 18 - 32 feet are holding the majority of these bronze fish. Crayfish is there main deal right now. All the crayfish I have seen have really bright orange and brown configuration and depending on depth the claws are tipped with Blue or bright Red colors, keep this in mind when focusing on the smallies.

The Spotted Bass are moving around in larger schools and focusing on shad and crayfish. The largest concentration's of Kentucky's have been found suspended in 35 - 40 feet of water around pole timber located on channel swings really close to shore. When not considering live bait as an option focus on Cranks and Spoons to get the job done.

Our catfish population will be spawning this week and into next. This will mark the first wave of the catfish spawn and the bite is getting better everyday. We have been boating 4 - 8 of these fish while targeting other species. Look at the larger flats on the lake and back in some of the pockets when pursuing our whiskered friends. Live sunfish, shiners and crawlers will produce best in depths of 8 - 18 feet.

The majority of the crappies are suspending in 10 - 18 feet of water over depths as deep as 110 feet. 2" tube jigs, small minnows and smaller swim baits will produce when you locate a school. Look for these fish to continue pushing deeper as the water temps warm and the days continue to get longer.

Have a Great time out there and I'll See ya on the water~