By Aaron Kephart
February has been an awesome month for Mountain Lakes Guide Service. While we have had a couple of post frontal trips where the fishing was a bit slower (and by slower I mean 18-20 fish days), we have still managed to average 30 fish a trip for the month. We have also been catching a pretty good variety of species, which always makes for an interesting day. As good as February has been, March is probably my favorite month of the year to fish, simply because it is so productive.
The smallmouth fishing has been exceptional. Our average fish has been pushing 3 pounds, and we have been catching one in the 5 pound range basically every trip. The biggest so far this month was a 5.84 pound bruiser. While the fishing itself is good, the baits, tactics, and locations we have been using to catch them have varied greatly from day to day. Last Saturday, I did a trip where we caught 31, and all of them were on the shallow sides of the points and partway back in the creeks. The very next day, I did a trip on the same lake, under similar conditions and temperatures, and the first school of smallmouth we found was in 46 feet of water on the main channel. You have to keep an open mind and be willing to hunt, but when you do find them, you find a bunch (we have caught as many as 21 out of a single school). We have been catching fish on a wide variety of baits (umbrella rigs, hair jigs, vertical presentations, live bait, and jerkbaits, just to name a few). The spotted bass fishing has also been very good, with most fish coming on main river points, and some out of creek channel bends and secondary points. These guys will be sliding up and eating jerkbaits and swimbaits any day now.
The largemouth fishing is a bit “hit or miss”. The warmer days seem to be better, especially after a big rain. Look for them in the creeks, up the rivers, and on the flats on warm days, in off colored water. The fishing for them will improve tremendously in the next couple of weeks. In fact, the fishing for smallmouth, largemouth, and spots should only get better in the near future. They have to prepare for the spawn, and that means they have to eat. While high pressure, super windy days, and cold fronts can, and do occasionally, occur in March, the fish are still programmed to eat that time of year, nature dictates that they start moving shallower, and the weather tends to stabilize a bit. While I do still expect to catch quite a few fish out deep, especially early in the month, I will also start spending more and more time up shallow, and will begin relying more on reaction baits (jerkbaits, crankbaits, traps, spinnerbaits, etc.).
We have also been picking up quite a few random surprises while we’ve been bass fishing the past months or so. We have intercepted a few big walleye on their way up the rivers. We have also been running into quite a few brown trout, with a couple of good ones in the mix. The biggest so far this month was a 26 incher. Last weekend, we found some jumbo yellow perch mixed in with the smallmouth. The crappie are also starting to move up and are congregating around brush and rockpiles in the creek channels. And we have had some A-rigs absolutely destroyed by stripers in the creeks while hunting for bass.
As of this writing, I do still have a couple of March and April days left, although they are filling up fast. If you are interested in a trip with Murphy, North Carolina’s premier trophy smallmouth and spotted bass guide service, give me a call at 865-466-1345. You can also check us out at mtnlakesguideservice.com, or on facebook@mountainlakesguideservice. References are available, and we hope to hear from you soon!