Matt Powers from Fenton, Mo., took home a couple nice stripers from Beaver Lake last Tuesday. We caught both these fish on top even with the water temp creeping up to 80°.
We’re now running 1/2 our bait rods with no weight and 1/2 down between 20 – 30 ft. deep with an ounce of weight. Best baits are shad and large shiners. For casting, keep one rod tied with a top water plug and a spoon tied to another.
Best striper fishing now is between Lost Bridge South Park and Rocky Branch Park. The soft water not catching the wind seems to be paying off best, with most bait and fish relating to the points and bluffs near the main channel.
Here closer to Holiday Island on Table Rock, walleye are being caught in the deeper water suspended about 15 ft. deep and liking to hold close to the standing timber. Bass are being caught on the flats as shallow as 3 – 5 ft. deep, before the sun gets high, with plastic lizards and top water working very well.
Then when the sun starts getting you warm, try using crankbaits and spoons closer to that 10 ft. water. Perch and crappie are both in the shoreline brush, so if you have no boat it’s a good time to try some shoreline fishing.
Those redear sunfish on Lake Leatherwood should also be sitting on their nest now. Look on the shallow end of the lake. Leatherwood has a hiking trail around it with good shoreline access, but if you wanted to rent something to paddle they can also help you with that, too, with a rental price pretty close to what it was when I was a kid and that was some years back.
You can also find bass, crappie and catfish there.
Well, I better go get some bait just in case my phone rings. Till next week be safe and courteous to others, and since school is out now, take a kid with you.