APRIL 30th

Avery, Aleshia, & I headed up the lake to bluegill fish around 4 pm. A cold front had pushed thru a day earlier and the water temp had dropped from 65 to 57 degrees. Aleshia caught 8 or so bluegills of varied size and I caught ~10 on nightcrawlers. Avery sat on my lap and helped me reel. Aleshia and I took turns fishing with Avery. Avery found a stick and hung it over the side so she could fish too. The water was very stained and the fish activity was a little slower than usual due to the dropping water temps. Around 6pm I took Aleshia and Avery to the pits and they headed home because Avery was getting hungry and restless after over 2 hours on the water. After they had left I cranked the pit bank with only 1 missed bite. I then switched over to flukes and caught 2 spotted bass(~10 inches each) around offshore wood. I also had 2 more little buck largemouth chase a fluke back to the boat without hitting it.

April 27th

Aleshia, Avery and I headed up to the lake to do some Bluegill fishing on a very windy Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately we only got to fish for about 15 minutes before a thunderstorm blew in and we had to go home. Aleshia caught 2 and I caught 6 on worms with a bobber. Avery had a big time harassing the fish and looking over the side of the boat while saying, "Fish, Fish, Fish!" We will be going back again soon, just maybe on day with no wind or rain next time.

APRIL 25th

Dad and I went up the lake around 9am and headed up to Bertha camping area. We fished both sides of the lake both below and above the bertha camp grounds. The sun was out bright and the water temperature had jumped up to >65 degrees. We fished from 9 until 1pm. The water was clearer than normal. I caught 4 bass(1 smallmouth and 3 largemouths) and lost at least 8 more on white flukes. Dad caught 1 largemouth on a spinner bait and missed 2 more strikes. Most of the ones I missed were little bucks that where to small to get hooked by a 4 ought hook. I did hook and lose 3 pretty desent fish that were all > a pound. One of the better fish I hooked and lost was a big spot and the other 2 where largemouths. I did see a big fish (~2 or 3 lbs.) slowly following my fluke once but he never would hit. All day long the fish seemed to relate to shallow cover especially wood cover and they were not really all that interested in eating. When they did bite it was fairly half hearted, this could be due to water temps, pressure, or most likely how bright the sun was. The little bucks are up in shallow water now so the spawn can't be far off unless we get a cold front.

APRIL 24th

I walked down to the Greenbrier before work for about an hour. I threw a 3"black g-tail and 4" green pumpkin G-tail for about an hour. The river still had good spring time color but it was dropping some. I caught 1 smallmouth about 11 inches and 5 redeyes. It was a really sunny warm morning for April.

APRIL 22nd PM

Aleshia, Avery, & I went down over the hill to fish the Greenbrier River for an hour or so before dark. The river was in great shape, up a hair with some stained color. We took turns fishing and watching Avery. Aleshia caught one nice smallmouth bass and lost another bass that was well over a pound on a 3" black berkley power grub. I caught 2 small bass and a redeye on a stanley wedge 1/8 ounce spinner bait. Avery found a stick and played in the water with it. She had a ball grabbing the fish, watching us reel them in, and she generally seemed content to be hanging out on the river bank. Although we only fished for about an hour we caught 5 fish.

APRIL 22nd

Brian & I started fishing on a 50 degree overcast morning at Bluestone Lake. I lost a good sized spot and smaller largemouth on a white crankbait on the pit bank. We headed down next to the dam and fished up the first cove. Brian caught 6 or so bluegills and a spotted bass on nightcrawlers and I caught a crappie on a crankbait down there. We then headed decided to head up toward bullfalls and fish for a couple hours. The water coming out of the new river was cooler(56 degrees) compared to the main lake (60 degrees). I caught 4 smallies including the one in the picture that was 19'' and a little over 3lbs and also lost 4 more. I saw one other good sized small mouth chasing but no hook-up. I hooked and lost a largemouth up there that was at least 2lbs. All the strikes I got up at Bull Falls where on white 5 inch flukes and the fish were in 3 to 8 feet of water and seemed pretty active. It was April 22nd last year when the smallies on the Greenbrier first moved up and got to really actively feeding. We caught 11 total fish and losted/missed several more.

APRIL 21st

Dad and I headed up the lake on a 55 degree overcast morning. The water was up about 1 foot above normal summer pool and had a little bit of stain, just exactly how you expect it to be in the spring time. The water temp was around 60 and climbed as high as 62 by 2 pm. We started fishing around 9am. We caught 4 bass and lost one more by cranking the pit bank. There had been a Triton tournament up there a couple of days ago and those fish may have stayed there after being released there. The fish where hitting a white 300 series bandit crankbait well. I also caught a big redeye on a T-rigged lizard and 1 largemouth on a white fluke in shallow water. The majority of our hits came 10+ feet of water. I caught 3 spots over 1 lbs each, 2 largemouth, 3 big crappie, and a redyeye. Dad caught a largemouth and a big bluegill. We caught all but 2 fish in deeper water on crankbaits. We fished ~5 hours, caught 11 fish, 5 different species, on 3 different techniques.

BUGGS ISLAND 2008 HIGHLIGHTS

APRIL 18th

 

It was the last day of our Buggs Island adventure and we were only able to fish from 6am until 11am. We headed back to Bluestone Creek where we had good success the day before and tried to recreate our pattern by flippin white flukes in the backs of timbered pockets and coves. It was sunny and warm that morning but it just wasn't happening. We fished 6 coves and caught only 2 fish in them. It appeared that our pattern was and afternoon only deal. Greg did catch 2 good fish in the pocket where we both had missed a big fish 2 days before. We think it was the same fish we both missed and he hooked and lost. It was a real nice 20 plus inch fish. We cranked some grassy points and I caught 2 bucks and Greg caught a buck as well. By this time it was getting miserable hot and it was time for us to pack it in and head back to Hinton.

In the previous days we had caught over 70 fish, 6 of which were greater than 3lbs., and we had caught them by using 7 different methods: Flukes, Spooks, Crankbaits, T-rigged Lizards, C-rigged Lizards, Shakey head worms, and spinner baits. Had the 2 day cold front not gotten us we would have really hammered some fish. Despite the cold weather and dropping water we caught some good fish and descent numbers. It appears the 3rd week of April is "the" week or at least close to it. As the water warmed to 60 + ,the fish started moving shallow, and the number of bass boats seen in and around Clarksville went up dramatically.

APRIL 17th

We headed down the Ruggs Creek Ramp and hoped to start catching bass in shallow water in the backs of coves. It was the first full hot weather day of hour trip but the morning water temps were still below 60. We fished hard from 7 till 11:30am. I caught one big largemouth on a black spinner bait @ around 7:30am. I also caught a gaffed bluegill on a spinner bait. But that was it for the morning. We loaded the boat up and headed back to Bluestone Creek. The water back at Bluestone Creek was 3 degrees or so warmer that at Rudds Creek or Easland Creek. By 4pm we started catching good bass all over Bluestone Creek in back of every pocket and every cove with standing timber and buckbrush on white flukes. Early on that afternoon we saw to huge snakes chasing each other on the bank. By the end of the day Greg had caught 10 largemouth and I had caught 9 largemouth and a crappie. Once the water got >62 degrees we were wearing fish out in the backs of pockets and coves. Below 62 degrees it was hit and miss. Given the cold night were where having it made for a sorry morning bite and a great afternoon bite.

APRIL 16th

Greg and I got up and on the water by 7am. We put in @ Eastland Creek ramp and started throwing spinner baits and flukes in flooded timber in coves and pockets again. The water temps where still below 60 degrees but the sun was out strong and the air temp was in the 60's and climbing after a very cold 32 degree night. Greg caught a ~ 3lbs stripper on a spinner bait early on. In the first cove we came to I caught a nice largemouth on a fluke. But after that nothing. We decided to go on and Carolina rig some secondary points. On the first on we came to Greg caught a 2lbs. plus largemouth on a black and red floating lizard. Then I caught one nearly the same size on a green pumpkin C-rigged floating lizard. We tried fishing several more secondary points and fished Carolina Rigs for 2 plus more hours and where unable to repeat the pattern. So we loaded up the boat and headed to Bluestone Creek. But the afternoon it had gotten warm (water temps ~ 63degrees and air temps in the upper 70's). Greg caught a buck up shallow on a white fluke pretty quickly. I started throwing a Zara spook around some buck brush in shallow water. Not 10 minutes after I started throwing that spook I had a huge large mouth blowup on it. I set the hook and immediately it dove down into some buck brush. The spook got hung on some brush and the piggy got off. Right after this we found a pattern of catching bucks and good sized largemouths in shallow water on flukes in the backs of pockets and coves. Every cove we came to we would catch 3 to 5 bass, move to the next and do the same. We went to this cone cove and Greg missed a huge bass strike on fluke, I threw the spook in behind it and missed as well. Then Greg threw in and hooked this bass on his 3rd strike but lost him. It was a good bass of at least 3 to 4 lbs. We left that evening after fishing ~ 11 hours and hoping the pattern we had found would hold overnight. By the end of the day Greg had caught ~ 9 largemouths + 1 stripper and I had caught 8 LMBs. We lost 2 huge bass that day as well.

APRIL 15th

The cold front still hung in overnight and started pushing out with some heavy winds on this morning. We had 29 degree overnight temps, bluebird skies, and heavy winds. It made for some tough conditions and slow fishing. We launched from Rudds Creek ramp again around 7 am and fished there for 10 hours. Greg caught a 5lbs. + stripper on on a T-rigged lizard on an off shore stump. While I was taking his picture I saw something hit the water behind him. After taking his picture I picked up a white spinner bait and threw it at what I had seen hit the water. Two casts later I hooked and caught a 5 lbs. + stripper. It hit like a ton of bricks, had a big head shake, and was flat strong. Finally after much trying Greg caught 1 large mouth on a spinner bait around 2pm. I caught 2 more in a cove on shakey head worms around 4pm. We fished 10plus hours and caught only 5 fish, 2 of which where strippers. It was a very windy, cold, and tough day. But it was starting to warm up and there was some hope for tomorrow.

APRIL 14th

Greg and I got up and on the water by 7am to find ourselves in the mist of falling temps and an approaching cold front. The water was still up and stained but the water temps had dropped to around 54 degrees and dropping more as the day went on. We launched from Longwood park and fished Beaver Creek Pond and Buckhorn. The air temps were around 50 with overcast skies. We fished for around 9 hours. Fishing was good early and got worse as the day went on. Greg caught 5 large mouth the best being ~ 2lbs on spinner baits, flukes, & a T-rigged green pumpkin lizard. I caught 3 largemouth, 1 white bass, and a bluegill on white crank bait. Fishing was slow and it was cold all day long.

APRIL 13TH

Greg and I went left Hinton @ 5am and headed for Clarksville,VA to fish Buggs Island for a for 5 days. We got down there checked in the Lake Motel and got on the water by 12:30. The water was stained, ~63 degrees, the water was around 305 (lots of flooded timber and buckbrush) with overcast skies. We went to Ruggs Creek and started fishing. Greg caught a couple good largemouth right off on white spinnerbaits and I caught a big crappie on a white 5'' fluke. On the second cove we fished I caught a good largemouth on a fluke ~ 3 lbs. We fished till about 7:30 and headed back. Greg caught 5 good largemouth and 6 lbs. + stripper all on flukes and white spinner baits. I caught 2 bass(1 buck and good one) and a good crappie on white flukes and chartreuse spinner baits.

APRIL 11th

Dad and I went to the lake around noon. The air temps was in the low 80's and the water temps was 58 to 60 degrees. The water level was dropping. We fished with crankbaits and soft plastics for about 3 hours. The wind was horrible ~ 15 to 30 miles per hour. Dad had 2 bites and I had none. We caught zero fish. It seems like fish getting more active and moving up shallow should be happening in the next couple of weeks. The wind made it very tough to fish. Dad even tried a night crawler on the bottom with no luck.

APRIL 2ND

I fished below the house for about 30 minutes on the Greenbrier River today just to try and get a gauge on what the fish are doing. I threw a jig-n-pig some and a motor oil black g-tail. No bites or noticable fish activity. The water is still in the low 50's. The air temps for the last 2 days have been in the upper 70's so sooner or later the water is gonna warm up and the smallies are going to move up shallow.