Claytor, 23 OCT 2016

[31airborne]

Got out for a few hours on SUN.  Wind cooperated . . . sort of. More importantly, the fish cooperated. Saw 67.5 degrees at the state park ramp when we put in. Water temps ranged form 67-69. Water is gin clear from top to bottom.

Made a short idle from the ramp to one of my favorite main lake cuts, primarily looking for baitfish activity. I did mark some small pods near the mouth. Nothing doing in the back of the cut. Some lite top water activity going on but nothing that got me excited. From there we motored uplake to a series of main lake cuts. Connected on the first keeper - a solid LM - on a jig. This fish was holding on chunk rock, at the first break, just inside a main lake point. Marked a little bait activity in the back of the this cut but again, nothing that got me excited. Motored a little further uplake and fished a feeder creek right at the 663 bridge. Connected almost right away on a fluke - a solid LM. Banged out a couple spots, one of them a keeper, as I worked my way to the back. I had a couple swings/misses on the jig before I connect on a small spot. From there I hopped my way back down lake, stopping at main lake coves/cuts as we went. If I didn't see bait I didn't stay. Final stop was at a cut near the BSA camp. I picked up the best fish of the day on a jig - a nice 2.5 lb LM. Had several other smaller bites on the jig as I worked my way back in. Picked up one more on a squarebill and that was it for the day. Maybe 8lbs for the best 5. Not a huge sack but I got some stink on my hands.

Observations: 1) No transition yet on Claytor. Fish are holding in summer patterns for the most part. Some baitfish pods in a few of the creeks but most of that activity is concentrated near the mouths. Most of the bait we saw is still deep. 2) Natural chunk rock was best. Did catch a few off of wood.  The wood fish tended to be holding at the end of the laydown or near the outer edge of the brush. 3) Bites were pretty aggressive. They were all over the jig. My lone crankbait fish throated the bait. 4) The wind was more of a distraction than an enabler. Sun was key. Lose the sun, lose the bite. Every fish I caught was in a place where the sun shone directly on it. 5) The lake has cleared up nicely from the heavy rains. Main channel was clear.

Came off the water at noon to make a quick biz trip to Kingsport.  Looking forward to the coming weekend.  I will get out again.

peace,
B

[Lipripper]

Thanks for the detailed report and glad you caught some fish.