Greers Ferry July Forecast 2010

[Cody Smith]

Hello All and Happy Independence Day! July brings about great cookouts, picnics and fireworks for everyone to enjoy. I myself love the smell of burnt gun powder and the smell of meat cooking in the smoker. I have also been one to enjoy the early morning sunrise and fish breaking the surface chasing after this years shad hatches. Greers Ferry is currently hovering around normal levels and falling slightly due to the lack of rain we have seen so far this summer. Fishing overall has been good to excellent on most all species with few exception’s in between.

The White’s and Hybrids put on a show during the last half of June and are continuing into July. Days of 50 - 100 fish in the boat have and will be almost common place pertaining to these fish specifically. I look for this trend to continue throughout the month with superb action to be seen overall within this species. Early mornings are the very best and late afternoons are coming in a distant second with the overall bite and surfacing activity. However, late evenings the larger fish seem to be showing there faces more often than not with the smaller fish appearing in the morning hours. In-Line Spinners, Spoons of all shapes and sizes, small profile walking type top waters and jerk baits will all earn you some strikes when presented in the right areas.

Our Kentucky’s and small mouth are schooling along with the temperate bass early and late on main lake points, flats and ledges off the main river channel. Pop R style top waters and Flukes will get you a pretty good bite along with the in-line spinners. Once the sun gets high in the sky most all of the surfacing and chasing action ceases and the drop shot, shaky head and jig play a vital roll in boating some fish. Live bait rigging with whole night crawlers is hard to top. However, if you just can’t bring yourself to fish live bait small compact style artificial’s like 5" Zoom finesse worms, Strike King’s Bitsy Series Jigs paired with a good trailer will earn you some bites this month.

The very best largemouth bite has and will continue to be deep. Deeper Ledges with brush, rocks and wood are holding and producing some very nice fish. Carolina Rigs, Big Plastics and Jigs are all picking up fish in the 3 - 5 lb. class most every trip out. Look at depths of 22 - 35 feet deep along the old river channel to produce the best fish along with the most action. During select times throughout the day there is a decent shallow water bite, however for the shallow bite to produce you have got to have some sort of forage in the area along with immediate deep water access. While probing and area look for scattering bait to clue you in on likely locations for your game fish.

Wally's are being picked up here and there at depths from 12 - 45 feet depeding on time of day and amount of baitfish. The best bite has come from in and around the very large schools of gizzard shad that the temperate bass are feeding on. Our walleyes are simply playing cleanup. With these fish so keyed in on dead or dying baitfish this makes the spoon my go to bait, as it represents this forage perfectly. Fish up to 5lbs. have been taken using this method.

　

The catfish bite this year has been awesome and very consistent. Flat roll offs with deeper water adjacent and channel swings that touch shallow water bays are harboring lot’s of whiskered fish. Whole Crawlers, Prepared Baits and Live Sunfish are hard to beat when pursuing these fish. We have been having the best luck in 12 - 20 feet of water in these locations and I look for this to continue throughout the month.

July is a great time to hit the water early to beat the summer heat along with the recreational boat traffic. There is a good bite to be had you just have to look for it and maybe switch gears to produce. Be careful out there during this time of the year. Drink plenty of water and stay hydrated. If you have any question’s regarding our area or would like to book a day on the water please email or call and I will get back with you as soon as I’m off the water. Good Fishin` Cody S. Smith (501)691-5701 www.fishgreersferry.com