Greers Ferry Fishing Report 8/04/09

[Cody Smith]

Hey folks, Greers is currently at 462.00 feet and on the fall. We experienced over 12"'s of rain during the month of July which ended up as the wettest on record. The lake still refused to get above a foot high with all the rain. We had water releases from the dam the helped keep the stage close to pool or slightly above. Water surface temps are ranging from 85 - 89 degrees depending on time of day and location on the reservoir.

Thread fin Shad, Shad and More Shad..... Basically the key to success right now all over the lake. If you have got the bait, you have got all types of game fish in and around your area.

We have been catching some really nice walleye's mixed in with the hybrids as of late. Best I can figure is most of the eye's are coming in from open water with the bait. We have been catching them with a variety of tactics; spoon's, harness rigs, c-rigs, drop shot's and the old stand by lead head and crawler. Depth's that are holding the greatest numbers have been in the 25 - 37 foot zone depending on location.

Our hybrids have been a little tuff during the day but early morning's and late evenings are starting to shine. They have finally bunched up pretty good and when they are going you have a chance to boat a whole load of them. Custom Large in-line spinners,(Fish Dinner Lures, FRED, 501-362-5303) can not be beat when the fish are surfacing. We have been catching our bigger fish much deeper while presenting 1/2 oz. spoons to cruising fish in the 40 foot range over 80+ feet of water. Main Lake Channel swings and minor creek channel turns in the pockets are holding most of the hybrids and whites we are catching during the day.

Our smallies are really relating to smaller rock piles that are located on large chunk and boulder rock at bluff ends and longer points with sheer drops into the main channel. Finesse worms and smaller jigs like the Strike King Bitsy bug are catching these fish. Stick to natural colors and smaller profile trailers with solid paddles that create a swimming action like the rage craw to prevent short strikes. There are also some good fish schooling on bait early and late in these location's. Pop-R's, spooks and baby flukes are killer when you have got actively schooling fish.

The largemouth are stuck on long tapering points at the roll offs and relating to any cover available on these location's. It can be rock, wood, gravel, or just a mixed bottom. Depths have been as little as 16 feet all the way out to 28 feet depending on the point. There are some smaller fish shallower but the majority of the larger fish are deep and holding tight to the bottom. Crawlers, Finesse Worms, Jigs and c-rigs are boating fish with the smaller profile bait's collectively getting more bites. The crawler is still number one when it comes to numbers and size. Use live bait if you have the option right now.

Our catfish population is finishing up the last spawning phase of the summer. With that being said you can catch them shallow just inside pockets and creek mouths up on the flats and top of points with sand and gravel mixed over a hard bottom. Crawlers fished on an 1/8oz. lead (6- 15 feet) head jig are producing the whiskered fish in my boat. Some location's are better than others and we have not been waiting around on the fish, they are either there and ready to eat or not. If we give it 15 min. or so and no action I'm off to another location when trying to catch these fish.

School is going to be starting back up over the next couple of weeks and lake traffic will be starting to wind back down for the summer. With us being just a month away from Labor Day, I can hardly wait to have this lake to myself again. Good Luck and please contact me if you have any question's about our area or would like to book a day on the water~<;><