July 18th Lake Stonewall Jackson WV Fishing Report

Water temp 76 / Cloudy and rain on and off / wind 15 plus

Started about 7:30. Fished with Harles out of Summersville WV. Ran to dam and fished steep banks with topwater. A couple of takers with no hookups on Poper R and wakebait. Slowed way down with worms rigged with splitshot and shakeyheads. Started catching some small fish. Ran to 4-5 shorelines with steep rocky banks. Found one bank with chunk rock that held about 10-15 small bass with one tree producing 8 of the 15. All caught on worms. Fished for 7 hours producing 15-20 small bass.

Lake info: Stonewall jackson is a long shallow lake often considered on the the most productiive in the area. Quality bass frequent the lake. Worth a stop if in the area.

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Capt. Frank Askew Up-Close Outfitters

July 16th Summersville Lake WV Fishing Report

Water temp 75 / Stable weather / Clear skies / No wind

Fished Summersville Lake for the first time. Ran up river to get away from pleasure boaters. CROWDED Steep canyon walls with extremely clear water. Caught 3 pound largemouth immediatly off of secondary small cove with timber in back. Came off a brown trick worm with no weight. 15 foot of water Fished lake for 2 more hours hitting rock transititions and points. No bites. Next time will fish to Northern end of lake which has more of slope to the banks. Not much fish but GREAT looking lake.

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Till next time, Capt. Frank

July 11th Lake Hartwell Stiped Bass

Water Temp: 84 / Stable weather / SE wind 10-15

Fished down by Dam hitting points and humps. Did alot of looking trying to find bait. Finally found good bait at end of point 2 miles from dam. Downlined bluebacks in 25-35 feet. Managed 6 with 2 at 10 pounds. All came from downlines. The fish will be getting deeper and deeper as the summer goes on. Start looking for the stripers in 40 -70 feet as the water warms. If bait is found in these depth it is always a good idea to give it a try.

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Keep fishing! Capt. Frank Askew

July 15 South Holston baitfish connection

South Holston lake / stable weather / light winds / water temp 79

First time to South Holston. Camped the night down towards the dam. Hit several humps, points and fished dam riprap with no bites. Fished in 20-30 feet with deep cranks, topwater wakebaits, and carolina rigs. Ran to marina and fished wide wake barrier made of tires residing in 150 foot of water outside marina. Ran 200 yd length with 6 inch swimbait. One about 7 pounds came up after and turned at the last second. Decided to go back down stretch again with suspending jerkbait, trout color. Managed 2 smallmouth at 2 pounds a piece. Not another look at the big one !!! Ran to back of several coves and found good bait in back of narrow cove and found the bass. Caught several on zara spook. Once bite slowed switched to pumpkin fluke and skipped up under overhanging limbs and trees. Caught several more quality bass before dark in the same cove. Back of cove had fresh water stream feeding into which is critical for finding bait this time of year!

Dominate Pattern: Finding the Bait for mid-summer blues. Once located look for simular geographic areas and hopefully the bait will be there. Once bait is found, fish the area fully.

Tip: On new lakes it is sometimes a good idea to do more searching with the sounder than fishing. Look for bait, arcs, structure, and always check the thermocline depth this time of year.

Capt. Frank Askew Up-Close Outfitters