By Aaron Kephart
The last few weeks have been interesting. The recent flooding on Hiwassee Lake has resulted in a lot of floating debris (be careful out there), and for a week or two, it rendered all but a couple of ramps inaccessible. It has also resulted in a ton of water being released into Apalachia, with the generators essentially running nonstop. However, the increased water levels have not had a detrimental effect on the fishing, and we are still catching a bunch.
The striper bite has been awesome. We are catching both big fish and big numbers, with multiple fish over 30 pounds being boated recently. A lot of these fish are still coming on light tackle, which is even more fun. Incidentally, I am still collecting DNA samples on stripers for the NC Wildlife biologists to be used in a study. I will most likely be done with this collection process by the time this is printed, but just in case, I wanted to make potential new clients aware.
The bass bite has been consistent. On the days that we target spots and smallmouth specifically, we are catching a bunch, and we are even catching quite a few “accidentally” while striper fishing. We have finished out a few striper trips lately by catching a boatload of scrappy spots. We have also caught some very respectable largemouth lately, although it seems like their numbers are going down every year on Hiwassee.
The walleye bite is starting to slow down with the increasing water temperatures, to the point that I am not specifically targeting them going forward for the rest of the Summer. However, we are still running into some on most trips. The flood waters had a bigger effect on crappie than any other species, simply because it scattered them in the woods instead of in the usual Summer night holes. The bite has improved dramatically with the receding water, and the night bite for the rest of the Summer should be good.
I apologize for the brevity of my article this month, but I have been on the water basically nonstop, and I am trying to squeeze in this writing between trips. Suffice to say that fish are biting and should continue to do so throughout the Summer, and as of this moment, I have a few July and August dates left, but they are filling up fast. If you are interested in a trip on Hiwassee, Apalachia, or Chatuge I would love to hear from you, and I will do my best to work you in. Please give me a call at 865-466-1345. I look forward to hearing from you, and have a great day!
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 at 865-466-1345 or by email at mtnlakesguide@outlook.com Check out his website at http://www.mtnlakesguideservice.com and catch him on facebook@mountainlakesguideservice.
