Fishing News - 12/14/02
Lake Weiss Fishing Report
DATE: 12-14-02
LAKE LEVEL: 559.3
NORMAL FULL POOL: 564.0
SURFACE TEMP: Mid 40's
WATER CLARITY: Overall fishable but some coves are
muddy.
CRAPPIE: Crappie fishing reasonably productive.
Most fish being taken in 16 to 20 feet of water on structure. One of the best
places to find structure is out along the old river channel. However, for some
unknown reason, Alabama Power is jerking water thru here which makes it almost
impossible to fish the old channel edges. One of the best ways to find
structure beyond the old channel is to ride around the banks where there are
no homes and look for stumps as big as your arm or bigger. They have obviously
been cut off for structure purposes. The brushpiles will be on the breakline
in deep water. Some of the deeper docks are still holding a few fish also. If
you can find some docks in deep water ( 8-10 feet deep) and look what
direction the owners chairs are pointed along with their rod holders and
you will find their brush piles. Rocket science right? I hate to say this but
at this time of the year you need to be minnow fishing. When your wife sells
jigs for a living that is a terrible thing to say.
BASS: Bass fishing is pretty slow. They are in
their wintertime mode of not moving much. You are going to have to put the
bait right in front of them. If you didn't read my crappie report, go back and
read it as to where it relates to structure.
WHITE BASS: Bad slow because the shad have gone
deep, so you will not be able to see them in the jumps.
STRIPE: Weiss Lake probably has the best stripe
population in Alabama. Now after saying that they can also make you pretty dog
gone humble. I am going to give you some places that have traditionally been
good places to catch them during this time of the year. Mouth of Yellow Creek,
The point at Sailboat Club (both sides of it), The point on your right as you
go into Churchouse, and there are a lot of other places that are up river but
I would not advise you to go up there while the water is down this low unless
you have a lot of experience on that area of the lake. Best bait is still the
"Little Fishy". Rat'l Traps will work but there is something about
taking multi treble hooks out of the mouth of a large violently shaking its
head fish that takes a brave man to put his hand in there. One of the easiest
ways to find the stripe are the diving sea gulls on the water. That means the
stripe have run the shad to the top and they are picking them off. But there
are some days that the gulls just don't want to fly. Other days they move all
day. I like to troll for them a little bit in the areas I mentioned above. I
am using my trolling rig that I use for crappie for stripe. I set the lines up
with 6 lb. test line and use different colors of 1/16th oz jigs, a medium
action rod and I back the drag off as far as it will go. Most of the time they
won't break the line and I just start tightening the drag up a little bit at a
time and bring them to the boat. Anybody can catch a fish with a broom stick
and a plow rope.
BREAM: Bream on Guntersville are still doing quite
well but it is getting harder and harder to find bait. You can catch them on a
small jig but they aren't real aggressive and you won't catch many this way.
Best bait is wax worms if you can find them. Next best is crickets. You could
probably get them on red wrigglers too. Too messy for me. Something about red
wrigglers dirt up under you fingernails that I don't care for.
CATFISH: If you are a catfish fisherman you
already know this is a great time to catch the big un's. Catfish do relate to
structure. Some of the best fishing will be out on the old river channel.
Unlike crappie fishing the water pull will not effect you much.
Let's be careful out there. You know the drill. No
1/2 off prop sales. The water is low. If you need some help don't hesitate to
holler. Unlike most of the marina's I am just going to tell it like it is.
Hope everybody has a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I can't wait
for spring so I can get back to fishing. For those of you thinking about
booking a trip in the spring, the good days are going fast and you need to be
booking ASAP. Not only do the guides get busy but sometimes motel reservations
can get skinny. If you get down here in the spring and you aren't having any
luck or the water is muddy or the wind is up, remember that it is the spring
of the year. I know of several places to fish where you can find clear water
and you can duck out of the wind.
Sincerely, Steve
www.lakeweissguideservice.com 256-927-6617
