Great Weekend At Kerr Lake

[fishva]

I went camping at Kerr Lake, NC this weekend. The water level on the reservoir was very high because of a big rain storm last week. Bank fishing was difficult, on account of there not *being* a bank anymore in the area around our campsite. Basically, we were fishing in the woods. To give you an idea, here's a pic of the best spot we found (the water was only fishable while wading, which was equal parts cool and frustrating):

 

 

By mid day, the water temps in the flooded areas really started to rise.

 

In the flooded cove above, the surface water temps reached ~60 in the afternoon, compared to ~48 in the main lake. The cove was completely void of life in the mornings (no minnows, frogs, nothing), but as the water warmed in the afternoon, everything would start to move in. 

 

I caught seven bass in a span of 3 hours on Friday. I was wading, so I couldn't take pics or weigh the fish without dropping my rod, phone, or keeping the fish out of the water for too long, but I'd guess not one was less than 3 lbs. The biggest was probably 5-6, which is a really big fish for this part of the country.

 

All fish were caught on wacky rigged black senkos and 1/2 oz black and blue jigs.

 

The rest of the weekend followed the same pattern. Lifeless in the mornings, and filled with big bass & bait fish in the afternoons.

 

What I learned

 

Interestingly, there was a tournament on the lake. Fishermen kept coming back into the cove on their boats, and they were all completely skunked. They'd ask me if I'd caught anything, and I'd say no (since this was the only spot I could really fish, I didn't want them hanging out longer than they had to). But from my vantage point, I knew that they were fishing it all wrong.

 

All of the bass were staged behind trees, waiting to ambush bait fish coming in from the main lake. The people on boats couldn't see the bass, because they were on the wrong side of the trees. They kept casting at the front of the trees and inbetween the trees, but the bass wouldn't move for the baits. If they'd cast behind the trees from an angle, they would have had a chance at winning the tournament, as it sounded like everyone was having a hard time hitting their limit.

 

Just something to think about next time you're fishing an area like this from your boat.

[Wayne P.]

"The biggest was probably 5-6, which is a really big fish for this part of the country."

 

Just a little north of that lake there have been two bass over 16# caught.

[Teal]

5-7 lb bass are caught in Kerr and Gaston all the time.. still. A good catch. But 5-7 is pretty common. Ive pulled a 8lber and several 7s out of Kerr summer of 2012

[Sam]

With the dogwoods blooming the bass should be on their beds, soon.

 

With a lake the size of Kerr the spawn will be different in different parts of the lake. 

 

Great post and some good advice.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[fishva]

5-7 lb bass are caught in Kerr and Gaston all the time.. still. A good catch. But 5-7 is pretty common. Ive pulled a 8lber and several 7s out of Kerr summer of 2012

 

You're right. I meant to say a pretty big fish. Didn't mean to imply it was a monster.