by Keith Hudson
Water temps are in the 80’s over most of the lake. Water is very clear and a couple of feet down.
Bass: Fair – Topwater baits such as Pop R’s, Zara Spooks and buzzbaits can be effective for shallow and aggressive fish, especially around bream beds. Some big tournament sacks of largemouth are still being weighed in by guys who sight fish, targeting bass that are around these beds feeding on the bream. Also you can try fishing rip rap around bridges with spinnerbaits, small crankbaits, and shaky head rigs. Later in the month, some fish should start showing up on deeper brush piles and road beds as well as the water warms. Try deep crankbaits or Texas rigged Ol Monster worms.
Some spotted bass are being caught by casting Spot Remover heads loaded with shaky tail worms or just dragging a Carolina-rigged Zoom finesse worm or mini lizard around sloping gravel banks. These tactics normally works very well for numbers.
Linesides: Excellent – Spawned out hybrids and stripes showed back up down lake in good numbers. Expect the downline bite on live bait to be awesome! Some fish starting surface schooling on the main lake and can be caught on small crankbaits, topwaters, pop-n-cork rigs and Storm Swim Shad lures.
Crappie: Good – Spawned out fish will typically move out and hold on deeper brush and structure or under docks. Try dropshotting minnows or shooting docks for the best results. Night fishing is usually good in June.
Bream: Good – Don’t forget about our bream and shellcracker. Finding an active bed can take a little effort, but when you do, you can have a ball! Bedding usually takes place on the full moon cycles in June. Look for shallow cover in the backs of pockets. Sandy flats and stump beds tend to draw the fish like a magnet. Use live pink worms, crickets and small jigs for the best results.
Catfish: Good – Lots of channel cat are being caught by the few anglers that target them. Live and cut baits (and worms of course) fished on bottom will catch cats all over the lake, as long as fairly deep water is nearby. Jug fishing is also fun and productive. To target flatheads, go to a larger bait like a 4-5 inch bream or large shiner and fish the same areas. Be sure to increase the size of your rigs as fish in the 20 to 30-pound range are fairly common.