Greers Ferry December Forecast

[Cody Smith]

HO, HO, HO, Merry Christmas All! It's really hard for me to believe it's already that time of year again. Seems like just yesterday we where catching spawning walleyes and whites! Well, not to long from now it will be that wonderful time of year again. Ok, don't let me get ahead of myself. First things first, Ducks are bombing into decoy spreads, Deer are feeding back up after there rut and you know what? There are some of us out here on the water taking advantage of the solitude and the tell tell tap tap of Ol`Mr. Walleye fixing to have a meal. This month here on Greers look for the action to slow a bit with the overall quality of bites to rise. As water temperatures approach the low 50's and upper 40's this month metabolism's will slow and feeding times will tighten up a bit, however there will still be a very good opportunity to land some fish. Look for the Corp. of Engineers to increase the water releases and put the reservoir back on a consistent falling pattern. This pattern will definitely help position the fish where they are more susceptible to the angler. To wards the end of this month look for a deeper water pattern on both Main lake points, Ledges and Bluff banks. Fish will start to suspend in the more stable water and feed only at opportune times, the deal is you need to be their when this time presents itself. Mid-Day will be an excellent time to take advantage of this bite.

Our walleye's will be holding on long tapering points with wood and a hard bottom, deeper ledges with a second steep drop into the main river channel as well as suspending with the shad that are harboring the depths of the reservoir. The key this month will be to pick these first two areas apart, the latter of the three areas listed above will all be bait dependent and can change from day to day. As the water temperatures get below the mid 50's range large shiners will out produce any other form of bait or lure. When I say large I mean 20 grade shiners in the 4 - 6 inch range not your traditional bass size minnows you find in the bait shops. Reason being for this change is you want to offer a large meal, when the water cools these fish and other fish alike want to eat one meal rather than several meals throughout the day. You need to be able to offer this one meal and capitalize on this occurrence. Look at depths of 30 - 45 feet deep when pursuing our world record species.

The whites and hybrids will have there days during this month. Meaning select days during this month they will be corralling shad from the depths and pushing them to the surface. These are the best times to take advantage of them, a good run of some stable warmer weather will get them going. Mid day will be a great time to see these fish feeding. The rest of the time look in larger flats off the main basin as well as the main channel runs that swing in really close to shallower depths. Knowing how to ready your electronics will definitely pay big dividends this month if this species is what you are after. When the fish are in depths of 50 feet or more I like a 1oz. Fish Dinner spoon in White with the Blue Back. When you have located the fish in shallower depths I really like using the 1/2 oz. version with the 3/4 oz. having it's place as well. If the fish are up and churning I fish the 5/8 oz. Glitter Spinner exclusively. In my opinion there is no other tool that gets the job done like the Glitter Spinner (Fish Dinner Lure Company).

The Kentucky's and the small mouth will be locating themselves on Main lake Points, ledges and our bluffs both in the main lake and tributaries. Look for the steeper and deeper location's. When considering the spot's there is almost no cutoff line to being to deep, depths of up to 70 feet deep will hold numbers of these fish with the larges concentration's being in the 32 - 45 foot zone. You can also bet there will be some type of cover adjacent to these location's for the fish to hold too. It may be as simple as a small rock pile or even standing timber or a brush pile but there will be something for them to relate to during there inactive feeding times. The shaky head will definitely be coming back out of the box until spring, 3/16 oz. will be the best overall size when paired with a 4 - 7 inch finesse worm.

Well, I surely hope all of you have had a very productive 2009 fishing year and I am looking to 2010 to be even better. We have certainly seen extreme condition's on this reservoir and all have there place in mother natures handbook of preserving what is hers. Over the last couple of years we have had extremely good shad spawns of which we are already seeing signs of this impressive reservoir getting even better. I hope I get to see each and every one of you on the water sometime over 2010. As always if you have any question's regarding our area or reservoir please call or shoot me an email and I will get back with you in a timely manner. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Good Luck and Good Fishin`