Power Plant Lakes

[Montanaro]

Thinking of taking my dad to Mount Storm lake in January or February which is a power plant lake. It does not freeze over and stays in the 60s.

I was curious how to approach this. Will the bass spawn early in the year? Would bass orient on docks? Tons of gizzard shad in lake, should we focus on those? I'm sure going there and trying different things out would be the best bet, but was curious about others experiences.

[Matthew2000]

If your going that time focus on the shad and go from there as far as bait choice

[everythingthatswims]

The closer you get to the discharge, the warmer it gets, go to the source and try topwater

[Bluebasser86]

That's a good looking lake. Just did a little searching and it looks like it has good populations of largemouth and smallmouth as well as bonus walleye and striped bass. The fun (and frustrating) thing about power plant lakes is you can go from fishing topwater right in the discharge, to have to drag a jig in the cold water. Fish are very influenced by the power plant also. If they aren't generating at the ones around here, fishing them is basically a waste of time. I usually start at the hot water and work my way out. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits, jerkbaits, swimbaits, flukes, traps, jigs, shakyheads, even topwaters can be effective in the discharge. As you work away from the warm water I'd put away the fluke and topwater and work away from the warm water until you find the fish. 

[papajoe222]

There are two things you need to really focus on when fishing powerplant lakes early in the year. First and foremost is current. If the plant isn't generating, there isn't any and if there isn't any current, the fish scatter. The second is water temp. Although the temps. will be higher than normal lakes at that time, there will be bigger differences depending on where you are (colder by the intake and warmer at the discharge). Despite the warmer water temps, the bass won't be in a spawning pattern. Temperatures will be fluctuating and the sun's angle and amount of daylight will hold that off for a while. 

Look for the bass to be in more of a pre-spawn situation, shallower in the warmer water and deeper in the colder. Also, look for active fish to position themselves in areas off of the main current nearer the discharge when the plant is generating.