Sept 12 Hartwell Striper report

water temp: 79 degrees / sunny / stable pressure

Started at sunrise South of Broyles landing. Fished points and deep water with trees reaching 60-70 foot. Another boat caught a few downlining in middle of channel. We were trolling slowly with downriggers and one flat-line. Ventured to east side of lake and ran across a small school. Fish held tight to 150 foot diameter area and hooked up every time we came around. Lots of bait present in area. Managed five in the boat and lost about the same in trees. Trees topped out at 55-60 foot in 90 foot of water. All came from downriggers. Later ran to where rivers meet and had three or four hits with no hookups. Fish were hitting real lightly today, not the normal slam. Ran South toward dam and fished steep banks in 70 foot of water. Marked a little bait but no fish. Later ran back up river to area we fished this morning and boated one more.

Fish should be schooling more and more as we get into October.

Tip: Constantly adjust downriggers or downlines to stay just ontop of tress. Fish will come out of the trees just far enought to grab a bait.

Keep fishing,

Capt. Frank Askew
www.mappingandguides.com

Sept. 8th Lake James Bass Report

water temp 79 – air temp 75 – rain and cloudy w/ sever thunderstorms

Fished points and docks on main channel in the SW portion of the lake. Fishing was slow with full moon. We managed 5 bass all caught on dark blue spinner baits. Fish were relating to docks and cover in 25 foot of water.

Pattern: When nastiest storm rolls in switch to largest spinnerbait in the box and find the edge of large flats adjacent to the main channel. Large deep dwelling bass will slip up under these conditions to feed. The bait needs to be reeled fairly fast just under the turbid waves to create distortion. Darker hues work best in low light conditions. WATCH OUT FOR LIGHTING

Catching live bait on Lake Jocassee

Lake Jocassee on the SC and NC line is home to several species of baitfish. Blueback Herring and Treadfin Shad are the main source of protein for bass and trout throughout much of the year. The lake can be extremely hard to fish at times so live bait is often sought after to overcome the clear water challenges. The simplest way to go about catching live bait is at night. Simply take a flood light or any other source of bright light and shine directly in the water. Often Shad and herring fallow planton which is carried around the lake by a consistent wind. This said, it is a good idea to start looking for shad on wind blown banks. After 20-45 minutes there should be several hunderd shad all schooled up around the light. If not try somerwhere else. Often sandy bottoms on the main lake adjacent to deep water will hold fish. There are no cast nets allowed on the lake so sabaki rigs are needed to catch the bait. Bluebacks can be a bit hesitent so it might be necessary to try to snag one on the up-swing. GIVE IT A TRY YOU MIGHT BE PLEASENTLY SUPRISED

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