Went and fished Woods Reservoir this weekend. It was hot and the bite was very tough. Tried trolling crankbaits over the deeper schools to no avail. Switched to pulling jigs and found, what seemed like, every strip in the lake.

We moved up river, switched colors a dozen times and finally found some crappies. Water temps were around 84-84 degrees and the fish were much more shallow that I would have predicted.

All in all we caught a dozen or so and learned volumes about the lake.

We decided to brave the potential storms, and the swarm of holiday boaters on the 4th. It was not a bad call as we caught some good crappies as well as our share of throwbacks. Based on the amount of 9 inch fish we are seeing the spring could be a great one.

Today the fishing was pretty tough, all things considered, We used about every single color that both Kalins and Big Bite Baits has and never really established a pattern. I think the rain overnight made things difficult. Lake temp is still in the very low 80’s and water clarity was a little stained. Still the fish were holding in the 10-12 foot depth and seemed to be feeding early.

The good news is the lake is on fire, the bad news is the kayaks, ski boats, and jet skis are almost upon us. By 1030 the boat ramp has been a cluster flop of the 3 day a year boaters, Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day. Be careful around these folks as they, for the most part, do not possess the skill set to back a trailer, load, or unload a boat. The will run into you and it will be your fault…

Both days fished great and we had the lake to ourselves for the first 4 hours of daylight each day. The Crappie had moved up into shallow water when the lake came up. They were feeding on small shad from about daylight until 10 in the morning.  We caught a lot of fish, of which probably 50% were to short to keep but they were a blast to catch.

Slow trolling jigs in 10-12 feet of water was all it took to get bit.  Today the main course was Kalins triple threat grubs in Tennessee shad and bright orange. The fish are changing constantly so you cant stick with a single color bait very long.

Priest lake has been fishing well as of late. Water temps have hit 80 and the fish are settling into their summer patterns. Crappies are still biting well if your trolling through the schools, that all seem to be suspended about 12 feet over 17-20 feet of water. Pulling crank baits over brushpiles is also starting to work well.

The striper and Hybrid bass bite is on fire. We are marking large schools of them under bait balls near steep bluff walls around long Hunter. Zara Spooks, Whopper Ploppers, and black buzz baits have been the ticket so far. Fishing bait with a dropper rig has been very productive using both threadfin and gizzard shad.