Brought to you by: Fishtale Lodge
Report for May 17th, 2001
From the fishing scene this week comes reports of
improvement for crappie anglers while bluegill and redear continue
biting as well.
Surface temperatures this week started out at 71 degrees in the
mornings but warmed to 77 later in the day. Observed lake elevation in
the Paris Landing area was 359.2. The lake was rising slowly at midweek
but still quite clear in the Big Sandy area. Some stained water is
available along the main river islands of the Tennessee River.
Crappie are still under the spell of post-spawn but appear to be
improving in the 12 to 14 foot zones. Activity was on the upswing as the
fish were relating to structure such as brushpiles, stakebeds, and
stumprows.
Some crappie are working their way back to the main lake ledges
and hitting in depths of 15 to 20 feet deep. However, fish are scattered
in the deep areas but should begin to concentrate in the weeks ahead as
the weather warms.
Live minnows are working best but jigs tipped with minnows are
producing too.
Bluegill and redear are still hitting but action slowed somewhat
this week as the fish didn't appear to be fanning the beds. Spawning
isn't over for the powerful panfish, however, so check out the shallow
coves and backwaters bays as there should be another week or two of
bedding action.
Crickets are working best for the bluegill but some anglers are
casting ultra light and using small grubs and Rooster Tails. Redworms
and meal worms are working well for redear, who seem to prefer the
gravel bottom areas where grass is mixed in.
Most of the redear action is coming from bays on the east side of
the lake. Depths of 1 to 3 feet are working best.
Catfish are fair but appear to have slowed down since last week
for bank fishermen. Some scattered fish were hitting off rock bluffs as
anglers dangled nightcrawlers and cut shad. The warm weather appears to
be sending the catfish back out to deeper depths.
Bass activity is fair and there's still a lot of small fish being
taken in shallow depths. Perhaps the most consistent technique has been
Carolina rigged worms and lizards cast on sloping ledges in depths of 6
to 12 feet.
Some surface activity is still occurring in the early morning and
late afternoon. Tossing a jerk bait or buzz bait has been producing fish
from grassbeds and deeper buck bushes in the backs of creeks and along
main river islands.
There's a lot of "fry" minnows relating to shallow
structure. It appears there was a good early hatch of shad fry and
perhaps bass, bluegill and crappie as these tiny minnows are traveling
in schools all over the lake.
That's a good sign, as the small fish will benefit from the
abundant forage. Look for shallow water action to improve for bass
anglers in the weeks ahead as these schools of tiny minnows grow and
begin to appeal to the larger bass.
There's a few scattered schools of white bass (stripes) showing up
along the main lake ledges lately. Keep a jigging spoon or small
spinners handy if you want some fast action.
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Steve McCadams
is a professional hunting and fishing guide
here in the
Paris Landing area and host of The Outdoor Channel's television series IN-PURSUIT.
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