Well, I’ve been doing this for 30 plus years. And it always amazes me when I get people that call that want to go fishing in the middle of the day. In some places I’m sure you can fish in the middle of the day. During the off-season here you can fish during the middle of the day, when it’s not so hot.
But most people are on Lake Lure from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Number one it’s hot. Number two we have a lot of traffic. Number three after the traffic gets going so much it’s hard to sit still and fish. Not to mention the people that call on Friday that want to go Saturday. Please give me a little bit of notice from Memorial Day to Labor Day, especially.
Now let’s talk about the fishing. Boy has it been good! We’ve caught largemouth, smallmouth, white bass on top water early in the mornings. It’s best just before the sun comes up or on a cloudy day. For thinking like a fish – rainy days are probably better than sunny days. Number one the fish live in water. Rain doesn’t bother them. I know it bothers the fisherman more than it does the fish. So, if you’ve got good rain gear getting out on the lake on a cloudy, rainy day is not a bad idea. Unless it is lightning, then it’s a good time to stay home!
After the top water bite subsides, I’ve been going around the boat docks and the retaining walls picking up largemouth and smallmouth with soft plastic baits. It can be slow and tedious sometimes, but for the last few weeks, our best fish and most fish have been coming using that method, not top water. Fishing with the soft plastic baits requires a lot more patience. You must slow down, take your time it’s not quite as exciting as top water action but as I said, it can be very effective.
I have taken quite a few locals out this year that told me they had a hard time finding and catching the fish here in Lake Lure. I found them some fish. Some were hard to catch and some just destroyed the bait.
Accurate casting has a lot to do with it. If you haven’t fished in a while, take a hula hoop or a trashcan lid and put it out in the yard and practice casting into that with a plastic casting plug so that you can be accurate. The worst thing in the world is getting hung up in all the trees or being out in the middle of the lake when they’re feeding on top and they jump 20 feet in front of you to the left. But you cast 15 feet to the right.
Although I have to say the biggest fish we saw swam up beside the boat while my client was pulling in the bait and right at the boat. It reached up and grabbed the rubber worm and pulled it off the hook and swam away. We call that how to make a grown man cry 101.
If you’re in town and want to try something new or you’re local and have had a hard time finding or catching fish please check out my website www.lakelurefishingguides.com or give me a call at 828-223-0269.
