Fishing Report From Cape Fair Marina

[Outdoor Girl]

Fish and humans share a lot of the same traits. When it’s been as hot as it has this last month we all headed for the coolest spot we could find. The A/C works for us and deep water is where the fish find that cool comfort.

Back bass: Want to have some fun and you’re not fishing in a tournament. Go find some old standing timber, even a single big old tree out by itself in deep water will work. Grab some night crawlers, a # 4 or # 6 bait hook, a small # 3 split shot and get right over the top of that old tree and drop the hold works straight down as close to the tree's trunk as you can get and keep searching different depths until you get a bite. Most of the bites will be nice bass, but don't be surprised if some nice cats jump on your worm.

The bass are deep during the day and can be caught with deep diving crank baits. You may have to trick them a little with extra weight or by long lining, but they have to get down to at least 25 feet somehow. Deep cranks without a noise chamber seem to be turning the bass on better than a noisy one. The bass seem to holding or suspending on deep channel bends and deep humps or really long sloping points. The Alabama rig is starting to come back and if you can get it down to the depth the bass are holding at and just run it at a modest speed to keep that depth; you will catch some nice bass.

Drop shotting is also coming on, along with Carolina rigs and if you can spot the shad schools on your graph and can hold your rigs close to that depth you will catch some good spots at least. There’s a new trick that is as simple as letting the wind or your trolling motor drift you along at that depth (strolling it’s called) and go from one school to the next.

Crappie: Now these guys are serious about finding cool water and staying out of the sun. We have a great night time bite under lights that’s been going on for a couple of weeks. We have some guys bringing in some really dandy crappie and are at the cleaning station when we open the marina and they aren't giving away any fillets either. They've been working the bigger cove arms around any private boat docks that look like they have brush piles around them. They are putting their lights over the brush piles, waiting a few minutes and then dropping a crappie minnow down to 15 or 20 feet and having a ball all night long or until their lights go out.

Catfish: They are biting, but it's not all that good and then mostly after dark. Deep trot lines baited with perch and gold fish will take cats, but you have to run your lines really often or they will die on the hooks. Some of the guys around the marina are using night crawlers after dark and catching some smaller good eating channels from the bank.

It’s just a question of if you’re chilling or fishing, your choice.

[Ozark Ranger]

love it. probably calling yall this week to get a boat rental for a day.

[Quillback]

Great report, thanks!

[powerdive]

Yours are absolutely the most fun-to-read reports in the area. Very much appreciated!

[mic]

SHE'S BACK.... Thanks

[Champ188]

What a great report ... you can read the knowledge between the lines.