A few blue cats, channel cats, and bullheads were scattered in deeper
regions of channels in the main lake, but some were also in some creeks
and on flats. Some crappies have been moving into spawning areas in
creeks during warmer weather, then leaving when cold fronts hit. Today,
we found moderate numbers of crappie spawning around cypress trees in
some creek mouths and in the main lake. Several groups have had
moderate success long line trolling for crappies in creek mouths and
channels. We have not encountered any white perch for the last month. A
very few bluegills and shellcrackers are starting to show up in mouths
of creeks. A few scattered pickerel and bass have been in creek channels
and channel edge flats.

Tom Porter, Sandra Rothrock, and I caught 20 nice crappies and one blue
cat today by fishing small minnows under bobbers around cypress trees in
several locations. All of the trees with fish were in 3 to 5 feet of
water.

A few blue cats, channel cats, and bullheads were scattered in deeper
regions of channels in the main lake, but some were also in some creeks
and on flats. Some crappies have been moving into spawning areas in
creeks during warmer weather, then leaving when cold fronts hit. Today,
we found moderate numbers of crappie spawning around cypress trees in
some creek mouths. Another group had moderate success long line
trolling for crappies in creek mouths. We have not encountered any
white perch for the last month. A very few bluegills and shellcrackers
are starting to show up in mouths of creeks. A few scattered pickerel
and bass have been in creek channels and channel edge flats.

Tom Porter, Sandra Rothrock, and I caught 11 nice crappies and one small
bass today by fishing small minnows under bobbers around cypress trees
in a creek mouth.

The lake level was about 2 inches above the top of the dam. The water
was light to medium brown, clear at the surface, slightly cloudy in the
top 3 feet, but much more murky for several feet below 3 feet,
apparently due to an algal layer.

A few blue cats, channel cats, and bullheads were scattered in deeper
regions of channels in the main lake, but some were also in some creeks.
Some crappies were moving into spawning areas in creeks. White perch
have occasionally been in loose schools roaming channels, especially at
the upper end of the lake, but have been hard to locate recently. Most
bluegills and shellcrackers have been in channel basins and have mostly
been inactive, but should eventually show up in the creeks. A few
scattered pickerel and bass have been in creek channels and channel edge
flats.

Tom Porter and I found a few active crappies, bass, and blue cats in the
creeks today.

The lake level was about 3 inches above the top of the dam. The water
was light to medium brown, clear at the surface, slightly cloudy in the
top 2 feet, but much more murky for several feet below 2 feet,
apparently due to an algal layer.

A few blue cats, channel cats, and bullheads were scattered in deeper
regions of channels in the main lake. Some crappies were still in the
traditional winter holes, but most appear to be moving toward spawning
areas. White perch have occasionally been in loose schools roaming
channels, especially at the upper end of the lake, but have been hard to
locate recently. Most bluegills and shellcrackers have been in channel
basins and have mostly been inactive. A few scattered pickerel and bass
have occasionally been in creek channels near creek mouths or on main
lake flats and channel edges.

Tom Porter and I found few active panfish today, but bass fishermen have
done well in several recent tournaments, and pickerel should be moving
into the creeks soon. We did find one school of crappie in a winter
hole in the river above the lake which had a few sporadically active
fish which we caught on minnows and on Gulp Fry, both fished near the
bottom.

A few blue cats, channel cats, and bullheads were scattered in deeper
regions of channels in the main lake. Most crappies were in the
traditional winter holes. White perch have occasionally been in loose
schools roaming channels, especially at the upper end of the lake. Most
bluegills and shellcrackers have been in channel basins. A few scattered
pickerel and bass have occasionally been in creek channels near creek
mouths or on main lake flats and channel edges, but many have moved
deeper.

We found no active fish today, but bass fishermen have done well in
several recent tournaments, and pickerel should be moving into the
creeks soon.

The forecast weather later this week and weekend will likely continue
the melting. As the ice breaks up, please navigate with caution.

Prior to freeze-up, a few blue cats, channel cats, and bullheads were
scattered on flats, along drop-offs, and in deeper regions of channels
in the main lake. Most crappies had moved to channel basins, and most
had subsequentially moved to the traditional winter holes. White perch
had been in schools roaming channels, especially at the upper end of the
lake. Most bluegills and shellcrackers had been in channel basins, and
were usually not very active. A few scattered pickerel and bass had
occasionally been in creek channels near creek mouths or on main lake
flats and channel edges, but many had moved deeper.

The forecast weather this weekend will likely re-freeze thawed edges,
but the following week may see some melting. If it breaks up, please
navigate with caution.

Prior to freeze-up, a few blue cats, channel cats, and bullheads were
scattered on flats, along drop-offs, and in deeper regions of channels
in the main lake. Most crappies had moved to channel basins, and most
had subsequentially moved to the traditional winter holes. White perch
had been in schools roaming channels, especially at the upper end of the
lake. Most bluegills and shellcrackers had been in channel basins, and
were usually not very active. A few scattered pickerel and bass had
occasionally been in creek channels near creek mouths or on main lake
flats and channel edges, but many had moved deeper.

Some coves above the no wake zones were ice-covered today, and the
forecast weather this next week will likely freeze the surface of the
rest of the lake. When it breaks up, please navigate with caution.

A few blue cats, channel cats, and bullheads have been scattered on
flats, along drop-offs, and in deeper regions of channels in the main
lake. Most crappies had moved to channel basins, and most have
subsequentially moved to the traditional winter holes. White perch have
been in schools roaming channels, especially at the upper end of the
lake. Most bluegills and shellcrackers have been in channel basins, and
were not very active today. A few scattered pickerel and bass are
occasionally in creek channels near creek mouths or on main lake flats
and channel edges, but many have moved deeper.

Over the past 2 weeks, Tom Porter caught 1 bluegill, 1 crappie, 24 white
perch, 2 yellow perch, and 1 largemouth bass. Larry Jenkins caught 37
white perch, 3 yellow perch, and 1 turtle. We also had 1 trip during
which we could not find the white perch schools and ended up skunked.

A few blue cats, channel cats, and bullheads have been scattered on
flats, along drop-offs, and in deeper regions of channels in the main
lake. Most crappies had moved to channel basins, and most have
subsequentially moved to the traditional winter holes. White perch have
been in schools roaming channels, especially at the upper end of the
lake. Most bluegills and shellcrackers have been in channel basins, and
were not very active today. A few scattered pickerel and bass are
occasionally in creek channels near creek mouths or on main lake flats
and channel edges, but many have moved deeper.

Prior to the ice cover, a few blue cats, channel cats, and bullheads had
been scattered on flats, along drop-offs, and in deeper regions of
channels in the main lake. Most crappies had moved to channel basins,
and will end up in the traditional winter holes, mostly deeper parts of
channels. White perch had been in loose schools roaming channels. Most
bluegills and shellcrackers had left shorelines and shallow flats in the
main lake and moved to channel edges or channel basins. A few scattered
pickerel and bass had been in creek channels near creek mouths or on
main lake flats and channel edges, but most had moved deeper. Fish
activity had varied over the last several weeks. Some trips had done
well. Other trips under similar conditions had not done well. This
lack of predictability has been typical of late fall and early winter.
Over the years, winter fish have typically been more active on many days
in the winter holes at the upper end of the lake.