Fishing News - 2/19/02
Lake Weiss Fishing Report
DATE: 2-19-02
LAKE LEVEL: 559.9
NORMAL FULL POOL: 564.0
SURFACE TEMP: 49.9 in am - 52.6 pm
WATER CLARITY: Decent (possible flood on the way)
Alan sent me an unhappy email. Alan came fishing when I told him it was tough as
nails. He fished out of Riverside and stayed at Riverside when I told him there was not any water
upriver. I told everyone that we are going to have a 1/2 off prop sale if you try to fish upriver and do not know the water. Guess What? Alan is having a 1/2 off prop sale and he is a VERY unhappy camper! He had some problems at Riverside and I felt very bad for him. I do not ever remember giving away a fishing
trip, a night's lodging, and a home cooked meal to try to make Alan a happy
camper. But I have done it! I hope that Alan accepts my offer. I have been where he was and I didn't like it! I do not need any unhappy campers whether they hire me or
not. Alan, please accept my apology. By the way it was Not a guided trip.
CRAPPIE: You know what I did thru the 13th. The 14th I was off (Had to get new teeth, mashed potato's and scrambled eggs wasn't getting it!) I fished Mike & Deb on the 15th & 16th. We didn't do too
good. We might of had 25-30 in 2 days. Fish were DEEP and locked-jawed. Blue and blue/green/blue seemed to be the
color. Slow troll fish suspended 12-13 deep in 14-15 feet of water.
When they get that deep they are TOUGH!
Fished John and his son out of Birmingham on the 17th.Fish shallowed up a little bit. Tried to get John to cancel the trip, high wind and a cold front. I tried to make the fishing sound as bad as I thought it was going to be, especially with a 6 year old, but John would not take no for an answer. What do I know? We probably caught 40-45 fish and kept 15. Little John was great! Focused on them rod tips! Saw the bite before his daddy did. But, his motor started knocking about 1pm and he flamed out. But he regained focus about 2 and finished out the day. Geat Boy!
I fished Darrell on the 18th and the fish were right back to the same old problem. Right dead on the bottom. We had 13 keepers. We did have one that went right at 3 pounds. All good fish. Fish John Phillips, a sportswriter, and his brother Archie today. Archie has a TV show that is syndicated. Started off in 18 feet of water. I was convinced that is where they would be. Wind was howling! 25-35. Fished where I could fish. I was pretty humble. If you fish very much, crappie can make you pretty humble!
Fished slow, about 1.0 on the troll speed indicator. In my boat that is about 10 feet deep with 1 long cast and one long pull on the rod. NOTHING! After bumping the bottom for about 30 minutes I started thinking, I am not marking fish, and if they are not on the bottom then they got to be on the top. I changed out to Bubble Gum jigs, brought troll speed up slowly to about 1.7, which when I finally reached about 1.7 all the rods went DOWN! We probably caught 150 fish. Kept 41.No really good fish but nice keepers. I have fished John Phillips several times and I am not good, he is just lucky! Made a heck of a TV show and several magazine articles. John is bragging on me and I am thinking that the good Lord had just given me all I could take.
He wanted to do an article and show on catfish on Weiss Lake and I cheated. I got a little feller upriver to catch me 2 pretty good ones so he could get pictures and talk about catching catfish off of fish cleaning stations. We had about a 22 pounder to work with and about a 16. We came back to my dock and he conned me into fileting the crappie and Mrs. Cheryl had to convince him to fish off of my dock. Ten minutes later he has about a 65 pounder laying up on my dock while I am cleaning his fish. Again, John brags on me and Mrs. Cheryl. Polished off the catfish article, catch and release. John is such a good guy that he hooked the fish and let his brother Archie land him. Archie immediately grabs the camera and adds it to his crappie fishing show.
Now, lets get down to the bad news. They are calling for a cold front to move thru here, high winds, heavy
rains. If the weather man is right he just shot me in the foot. Lets all hope he is
wrong. I convinced the guide party for the 20th to stay at home. My next day fishing is with Mike on the 21st.I will be forced into making a fishing report after the 21st and probably a short one everyday as it
changes. Everything depends on Mother Nature!
BASS: Bass fishing has started picking up. They seem to be concentrated in the warmer water in the backs of the
coves. Some of them surprisingly shallow. But I must be dumb as a board because all the bass fishermen I see are fishing on the old river channel.
CATFISH: Look at the crappie report.
STRIPE: Stripe have not been predictable this year at all! I am starting to see more and more birds
work. Some of them awful shallow. Hadn't had a chance to run thru them and see but it is past time. Fished a hump out in front of Yellow Creek, where she drops over into the
Coosa, it is not hard to find, fishing for crappie but marked stripe off the hump in about 24 feet of water. That hump is loaded with brush tops.
Again, as you can see the lake is still low! If you are going to fish upriver, and you don't know the water, don't go! If you think I am joking about a 1/2 off prop sale then take your bones on up there. The water is getting in pretty good shape. Mother Nature has been pretty hateful to us in
February, This is a most unusual February! Even though I did well today, thank the Lord, we are going to have have another frontal system and they are
forecasting heavy winds and rain. What will it do to the lake and the crappie fishing? I don't have a clue. I will do my very best to keep you undated but if I put on a bad fishing report and you decide to come, and you decide to fish upriver, please do not send me an upset
email. I am going to go bankrupt giving away fishing trips! Good Fishing and keep your fingers crossed! Thanks, Cheryl, Steve, Butch & Harry
Sincerely, Steve
www.lakeweissguideservice.com
256-927-6617
