By Ronnie Parris
Hey Folks! I hope everyone is well and enjoying these cooler mornings on the lake. I’m starting to see signs of fall around the corner and I can’t wait. Although the bite has been slower on Fontana this year, we are seeing some good action early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Mostly catching spotted bass and white bass with a few walleye and crappie in the mix, as well. The best bite has been on trolling with downriggers and pulling planer boards with artificial lures. The walleye have been scattered and seem to be hanging between 50 an 80 feet deep, with the spotted bass scattered from the surface to around 40 feet.
Most of fish are coming about half way up the river runs, but I have caught several on solid rock cliffs as the day heats up. If you have kids along you’re in for a treat as the bluegill are on fire right now. Crickets and Catalpa Worms are my favorite baits but they will hit a variety of live and artificial offerings. Most will be located close to shore on structures- be it trees, brush piles, or rocky banks. If you’re catching a lot of smalls, back of to a little deeper water and watch your fish finder; you should see the bigger bluegill there. Bluegill are great eating fish but be sure to take only what you need to eat. Some of the summertime watersports, such as skiing and wakeboarding should be dying down so that will help your luck, so be sure to have a good top water bait such as a Pop-R or a Sammy or an Ex-Rap to throw at the breaking fish; this can be exciting for sure. As always, stay safe and take a kid fishing!
Ronnie Parris is owner and head guide of Smoky Mountain Outdoors Unlimited-Fontana Lake Fishing Guides, headquartered in Bryson City, N.C., heart of the Great Smoky Mountains (www.smounlimited.com; (828) 488-9711).