Fishing has been tough this past week, as strong winds and rain came into the picture. Spring is a time to see winter and summer battle it out for supremacy, but hopefully we will see some moderation in the weather this month. Water temps are on the rise, with average surface temps hovering around the upper 50’s. Once warmer day and nighttime temps enter the picture, expect surface temps to make it into the 60’s, which should push the fish into ‘spawn mode’. Lake levels late last week were below normal, with New Johnsonville seeing levels below 354ft for a short time. As of Saturday, area lake levels were around 355ft and TVA is predicting a rise by mid week of around 356ft. Normally, lake levels begin to rise during the month of April from winter pool (354ft} to summer pool {359ft} by the end of the month. Flow rates have reversed, with more water coming into the system as leaving. We will be seeing around twice as much water coming in the lake as going out, with around 30,000cfs entering and only 18,000cfs leaving, so expect not to see much current and a constant rise in water levels. Boaters who are not familiar with where the shallow areas are, are encouraged to stay in well marked channels, as shallow flats and stumps may cause issues.
The water color across most of the lake has been clear and bass continue to be found around rocky points fishing crawfish colored baits. With the drop in water levels, most fish have pulled out of the shallows, but as we start to see warmer days and nights we should see both the bass and crappie moving up shallower looking for warmer water and preparing for the upcoming spawn. The bass bite has overall been a ‘one here, one there’ catch, with no discernible pattern coming together probably due to the water level fall this past week. Crappie seem to be experiencing the same issue, with most crappie fishermen not finding any concentrations of fish, or at the least, fish willing to bite.
Eddie Scott wants to say thanks for all the people that fished the district 40 ABA out of Pebble Isle on March 26th. These people braved the harsh winds and current to fish. Big fish was caught by Greg Salley with a fish weighing in at 4.60 lbs. Third place went to Eddie Scott with a weight of 10.59 lbs, Second place was Tom O’bryant with a weight of 10.65 lbs, and First went to Eric Hensley with a weight of 15.36 lbs. The next ABA tournament will be on April 9th out of Birdsong and Hunt’s Outdoors next tournament will be out of Danville on April 9th
Turkey season opened this past Saturday, the regular spring turkey season opened on April 2nd. Last year we had 113 turkeys harvested for the weekend, and Humphrey’s Co. had a total of 457 for last years season. I’ll try to keep everyone updated with the totals throughout the season. The juvenile hunt saw a harvest of 11 turkeys in our county, the state total juvenile hunt had a total of 397 turkeys harvested.