Hope you all had a happy and safe 4th. We did get out Saturday morning and were putting the boat on the trailer with our catch about the time the wake boarders were putting in. That’s what I call sharing the water. Let them have the sun, just let me have those cool mornings.
This was the big fish for Matt Powers from St. Louis who told the wife he was fine with coming down to spend some time with his sister-in-law as long as he could have a day of striper fishing on Beaver Lake, so we went fishing. Here’s his biggest fish that made it to the boat.
He lost two bigger ones that ran like a freight train before the hook popped out. Just didn’t quite get it set in hard enough, but we still had fun, and marked fish and big schools of bait without ever getting out of view of the dam.
All the action came off balloon floats set about 28 ft. deep with 2 oz. weights.
Here at the Island we still have our best fishing upriver past Beaver in the afternoons when they’re generating that cool water from the dam. Whites and bass both mixed in with the trout feeding off small schools of shad swimming in the surface.
If looking for crappie it is best coming back this way and hit the sunken brush in the creek arms down 8 – 12 ft. deep on both minnows and bugs under a float. With both lakes running about 81° you should have no problems finding perch for the kids close to the shoreline, worms being the best bait. We’re still a little high with a lot of shoreline being blocked by the trees but there’s good cleared shoreline coming up every day now.
Lake Leatherwood is in good shape for crappie, bass, perch and catfish now or rent a canoe or paddle boat to get in the water.
Well, I better go for now. It’s time for fishing and swimming, so grab a kid and go.
Johnson Guide Service www.fishofexcellence.com (479) 253-2258