Lake Julian Phil Shope Team Tournament
The Phil Shope team bass tounament was held on march 14 and 15. A large cold front rolled in the day befor the tournament leaving a high of 37 and rain for the first day. Needless to say the fishing was SLOW. With the leader on the first day coming in at just over 5 pounds with a three fish limit. Sunday was much the same with a high of 41 and rain. Frank Askew and Todd Plating fished the tounament and had a combined weight of 3.02 pounds on the first day. “Breaking one off and pulling the hook on a solid 3 pounder was hard when you only get a couple of bites”, Todd said. The second day went sour for the team with several mistakes leading to a null for the weigh in. The only things that seemed to produce for the team were shakey head worms and suspending jerkbaits left suspending for up to 45 seconds. The next tournament in the Phil Shope series will be held on Saterday April 18 on lake Hartwell. Will keep you Posted.
3-17-09
Fished Lake Jocassee today for trout in the morning and bass in the afternoon. Started out good putting a 19 brown in the boat on a firetiger color spoon about 15 ft down. I started at the dam but moved to the mouth of the three rivers soon after and put about 10 stockers in the boat. (released) About 10:00 went for bass. Think the front that cleared last night still has the bass a little dizzy. Caught two small mouth jigging. Left about 2:00 with no large mouth. It should pick up real soon!
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Capt. Frank Askew
March 19-22
Went to Fontana lake to camp on an island in the Smokey National Park for the past few days. The fishing was hot. Got there with about 3 hours of light left on Thursday and put 8 small mouth in the boat all above 2 pounds with the biggest pushing 4 12 . They were really relating to hard gravel rocky points anywhere from the main lake to about half way in the creeks, specifically around Chambers Creek. It was overcast and windy which is essential on the clear water of fontana. All fish were active hitting a Strike King series 5 in Sexy Shad. (Its hard to not copy KVD sometimes) The next day the bight had ended but managed about 7-10 smaller ones on points and small chunk gravel banks. Most were cought on a small translucent spinner bait and a shakey head. Did fish up the Little Tenn. River with only one small taker. On Saturday the bite was on again. Went up Forney Creek in the morning. The water temp was 4 degrees warmer up the rivers because of the recent rain (57 degrees). Started half way in and fished to where the creek comes into the lake, looking for a pre-spawn staging large mouth. No Such Luck. The fish seemed to be in the colder water towards the Dam. Finally found the fish relating to the steep dark bluffs around Price creek. Suspending jerk baits were the key. Smithwick Suspending rouges in Trout and gray shad were the ticket. We caught 20-30 with several really nice ones mixed in. Could of caught more but eventually went looking for the quality fish I found on Thurs. Did manage to put one nice Walleye in the boat on this patten. Sunday Chris and I fished for an hour and 12 with only one fish that fell to a shakeyhead. On a side note the camping was excellant and the customers could not believe just how beautifull the park and lake can be even in the winter. “I had one of the best fishing experience of my life. Never caught small mouth that fast and that big.” Chris Stywinter
March 30 & 31
Fished Lake Murray for 2 days leading up to Spring Turkey season in SC. Fished with Ron Hornsby out of Columbia SC. The fish have really moved shallow down there. We fished for staging and spawning fish for the two days. Fish really were relating to any wood structre and grassy points we could find. Started on Shallow coves with emerging vegitation. Caught 10 or so on texas rigged finesse worms. Tried Floating worms but think it is still a bit too cold. The water temperature was around 63 degrees. Did manage to get a reation on a buzz bait. First bite on the old buzz bait this spring! Later moved to grassy submerged points, the water level was real high, and boated several nice 3-5 pound fish. For the rest of the day we fished shakey heads and crankbaits in timber in the far back of creeks. Caught them pretty consistently but no real big ones. Fish were real shallow The second day we tried the same techniques and pulled close the same amount of fish out. (20 or so)
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