by Robert Eidson
Water temperatures is 80 degrees and clarity is 8 feet.
Lineside fishing is good! Downlining shad is still the ticket to catching big numbers. Downlines fished in the mouth of any creek, creek channel or river channel will get you bit.
The water temperature is rising and the dissolved oxygen levels are falling. Bait isn’t living very long on a hook fished deeper than 24 feet, so make sure you carry plenty of bait with you.
There are two bites going on right now. The first one is from the dam to Holiday Marina. The other one is from the mouth of Kellogg’s to Bartow Carver. Downlining threadfins and small gizzard shad is working extremely well fished 18-24 deep. Any deeper and the bait just doesn’t live very long.
Trolling is good! The U-Rig bite is finally taking off. We are starting to see multiple hook-ups on our trips. I am fishing my rigs 120–150 feet behind the boat at speeds of 2.4–3.3 MPH. The rig bite should be on fire by the end of next week. Live it up. Go fishing!