By Aaron Kephart
Mountain Lakes Guide Service has had a great winter on Murphy-area lakes. The unseasonably warm weather kept fish in shallower waters than normal for the time of year, but late December and early January saw the fish starting to congregate in big numbers in traditional wintering locations.
With all of that said, February is by far my favorite month to pursue winter bass patterns, particularly for trophy smallmouth bass, simply because fish are at their absolute heaviest this time of year, and it also offers shots at other species that can sometimes be elusive.
I have focused more on smallmouths this winter than last. They have always been my favorite fish to target in the cold months, but last year we focused a lot on stripers because of client request. That focus has really paid off. We have had some incredible smallmouth trips lately, averaging over 30 fish per morning. We had two trips with more than 50 bass in the boat in January. Our biggest smallmouth so far this winter was a 6-pound, 4-ounce brute, and we have had numerous fish heavier than 5 pounds. We have caught too many 4-pounders to count.
We are also catching some good largemouth bass, with one over 8 pounds boated recently, and a whole bunch over 6 pounds caught. This winter bite is truly something special, and about the only two things that can affect it are a high-pressure, bluebird day—during which you will still catch fish, but it won’t be as easy—or so much snow and ice that we physically can’t get to the lake. This bite should remain productive until around mid-March, when the fish will leave their winter holes, spread out, and start to head to shallower waters in preparation for the spawn.
Remember, I am 100 percent catch and release on smallmouth and largemouth. So if you are looking for a meat trip, these aren’t the trips to hire me for. If you are looking for a shot at the smallmouth of a lifetime, call me now and see what openings I still have left.
Speaking of meat fish, our walleye spawning run traditionally occurs sometime in February, depending on water levels, rain, water clarity and temperature. This bite didn’t really occur at all last year because of river flooding, but based upon the number of walleye I caught in the spring and summer last year, I have high hopes for some impressive numbers of walleye in my boat this February. If you are interested in one of these trips, flexibility is required. This run won’t happen without the right combination of water temps and clarity, so my suggestion is to start checking in with me around mid-February, and to call often to check on progress. The crappie will also be moving into shallow brush and rock formations by the time you read this, and most can be found from 1/2 to 2/3 of the way back in the creeks.
Spots, as always, are everywhere from the bank to 100 feet deep, and have taken over just about all of our mountain lakes. They have had a dramatic and lasting impact on a lot of our fisheries, and I would personally like to see a lot more of these delicious, but destructive, fish kept.
We have been running into some big brown trout on occasion, but not in the numbers we have over the past few winters. I think most of that is attributable to the warmer-than-average winter, and I sincerely believe more will start showing up in the next few weeks. We have also been running into some giant yellow perch among the smallmouth on occasion, and actually had one New Year’s Eve that was an ounce off of the state record. The striper bite has also been good in our area, with shallow flats and warm days producing best. These fish are about to put on the feedbag through the spring months, and I am definitely looking forward to watching my clients boat a bunch of these hard-fighting monsters.
Reading back through this article, I realize just how blessed we are to live in an area that offers so much opportunity for quality fishing for so many species, and I pride myself on my knowledge of and versatility on our local lakes. If you are interested in the smallmouth trip of a lifetime, incredible striper fishing, a big brown trout, want to gamble on a cooler full of walleye, have some other species in mind, or just want to catch what is biting best, call me at (865) 466-1345 and book today. My spring and early summer dates are starting to book up, but as of this writing I do still have some February and March availability, and I would love to hear from you.
Aaron Kephart is the Owner of Mountain Lakes Guide Service. To book a guided trip on one of the Murphy area mountain lakes, contact him by phone or by email at mtnlakesguide@outlook.com Checkout his website at http://www.mtnlakesguideservice.com and catch him on facebook@mountainlakesguideservice.