By Shane Goebel
Summer is finally here. The weather is beautiful, the water is warmer, and the fish are going crazy—it’s the perfect time to hit the lake and catch some amazing fish! What’s the best way to do that? By booking a trip with Murphy, NC’s #1 striper guide: Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service.
Lake Hiwassee is unbelievable for summer striper fishing. There’s nothing like starting your day off with the birds chirping, morning fog lifting and an explosion of stripers slamming all your rods. It’s a feeding frenzy of schooled-up stripers and mass chaos of loading the boat with tons of fish. It’s not uncommon for us to boat 30-50 fish per trip out here on this serene western North Carolina lake.
Currently, Lake Hiwassee is 2 feet below full pool. Water clarity is clear from the main lake to the rivers and creeks, and water temps are in the mid to upper 70s.
Striper fishing remains excellent and I mean excellent! We have been catching big fish in good quantities. Just days before writing this, we caught a monster 35 pound striper out here. This lake is unbelievable right now. We’ve been averaging 25 to 30 stripers a morning now. The early-morning and late evening bites are your best times to see action. In the early-morning hours, there are days we are still pulling planer boards and free lines with live blueback herring and there are days it’s been all downlines. As the sun comes up in the later morning hours, we definitely start to focus on deeper water and switch to all downlines. Target creek mouths and rocky points. As the top-water bite has also been excellent, keep a spook or a Red Fin at the ready to snag those surface-busting fish. Remember to keep an eye on your electronics and watch for schools of these fish. Also, please remember to get these fish back into the water ASAP and keep them swimming. This will be an amazing trophy lake if we follow good catch and release practices.
Smallmouth and spotted bass fishing has been outstanding, too. These fish are finally off the beds and are schooled up. We’ve been wearing out some nice smallmouths and spots every trip lately. Work shallow humps, creek mouths, and clay banks. Also, target brush piles throughout the lake. Downlining blueback herring has worked best for us, but we are also picking up some quality fish on jerkbaits, flukes, and spooks. Look for these bass to continue to school through the rest of next month.
June is a fantastic month for catching a lot of stripers on this lake. Give Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service a call and let the area’s #1 striper guide service put you on some of Lake Hiwassee’s best trophy fish during the fishing trip of a lifetime. We are Murphy, NC’s only full-time guide service, with over 20 years of striper guiding experience. We specialize in striped and hyrbrid bass. We also serve Lakes Nottely, Chatuge and Blue Ridge. And for all your live bait and tackle needs, check out Hughes General Store in Blairsville, GA. They carry everything you need for a successful day of fishing. So, come fish with the pros for the opportunity to be featured in Angler Magazine—let us help you get your fish on!
Shane Goebel is the Owner of Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service and a member of The Angler Fishing Team. Contact him at www.bigolfish.com or (828) 361-2021 / 1-(844)-4-ANGLER.