Wade & Jacob Timmermann came up from Maumelle, Ark., to do a father and son outing Saturday while Mom enjoyed some down time in Eureka.
We had a good start at daylight putting in at the dam, and had the first fish in the boat within 30 minutes. Can’t tell you right where we caught our fish, but will tell you that the dam never left our view. With the water temps on Beaver Lake in the mid 80s the stripers and shad are looking for the deeper cooler water, which is in the dam area to Point 5.
We’re marking most striper activity from 30 – 40 ft. deep under big schools of shad running 18 – 30 ft. A top water bait can still work in low light conditions, but after the sun gets up good jigs and spoons fished deep can catch them, too.
We were running big shad off one side of the boat and perch off the other side with hits on both. Most all were marked in water 60 feet and deeper off the flats and holding in the river channel.
Here at Holiday Island the water’s in the mid 80s too, with most bass and walleye being caught 12 – 20 ft. deep early and late in the day. We are still doing best going out after 3 p.m. when they start moving cold water out of the dam. We just start moving up river till the water temp starts to drop below 78°.
Pods of shad will be on top here with the white bass, walleye and big trout feeding on them till sundown. Throw anything you have that looks like a 2-inch shad and you should catch fish. Water temp will drop into the 50s and these cooled fish are very active.
Well, that’s it for this week. Find cool water or shade and take a kid fishing. Now is also a good time to check out Lake Leatherwood for some crappie and bass. The dock can help you with fish, bait and boats, or just walk the shoreline till you see a good spot.
Robert Johnson, fishofexcellence.com, (479) 253-2258