Largemouth Bass:
The lake is currently three feet from full pool. The weather has once again kept the water from warming much, if any. The bass continue to be caught in the deeper rocky areas, bluffs and walls leading into spawning coves.  Our best action is in 10-20’ of water in the Fish Arm of the lake. Not much has changed since my last report but the period of warming weather next week and the upcoming full moon should help trigger the bite. The 5” Senko in green pumpkin black flake has been our go-to bait. Adding a touch of chartreuse dye to the tail helps in getting the more finicky biters to commit. The dropshot and finesse Carolina rig with a C3 Baits Ice Pick in the Neptune Shad color continues to be effective when the sun is on the water. Texas-rigged 7″ RoboWorms in Aaron’s Magic and MMIII are also getting bites. The Keitech 3″ Spider or Power Teams Texas Rig Jig are also worth fishing when the bite slows down.

Striped Bass:
Striper fishing has improved dramatically since we started stripping Producer flies on our “fly-coring” rigs. We have found schools of five pound Stripers in the Ski Arm in very deep water. Trolling the convential spoons, swimbaits and scroungers hasn’t been effective in the same areas. The fly’s action calls these fish up from as deep as 100′ and the strikes are vicious. We are getting bites every five to ten minutes once we locate the schools. We are one of the few boats, if any, trolling right now and the only one employing this relatively scarce technique.

Jim Taibi – 661 Fishing