NORRIS FISHING REPORT

10 August 2011

WATER CONDITIONS

The water elevation is 1,014.55-feet, which is 2.16-feet lower than it was last week.  The water level is expected to drop 9.8-inches over the next two days.

The main channel surface temperature is 85 degrees in the mornings, but rises to 89-90 degrees by late afternoon on sunny days. Shallow creeks and protected areas are as much as 2 degrees warmer than the channels on sunny afternoons. The water is clear in all locations. 65 degree water can be found at 33 feet.

The latest water quality report, with the temperature and dissolved oxygen profile, is available at: http://www.tnfish.org/WaterQualitySampling_TWRA/files/NorrisLakeWaterQualityProfilesJuly2011_TWRA_Negus.pdf

SUMMARY

BLUEGILL: Good. Bluegill are spawning in advance of the upcoming full moon (Saturday, August 13), with nice sized ones being taken from the nesting areas in the flats.

REDEAR (SHELLCRACKER): Moderate. Near the bottom. They’ve dropped to as deep as 25-feet during the daytime, with some being caught alongside the spawning bluegill. Red worms, night crawlers, wax worms, crickets, small crankbaits, Beetle Spins.

CRAPPIE: Fair. Best at night under lights on the upper half of the lake.

LARGEMOUTH BASS: Moderate at dawn through the early daylight hours, in the coves. Afternoon and evening catches are slow.

SMALLMOUTH BASS: Fair, at night and just before dawn. During the drawdown periods, especially, try the rocky points and channel cuts between the humps.

               A reminder: From June 1-Oct. 15, there is a 20-inch minimum length limit on smallmouth bass with a creel limit of one. The change replaces the 17-22 inch slot limit. The daily creel limit for largemouth/smallmouth in combination remains five per day on Norris Reservoir.

SPOTTED BASS: Moderate in early morning, then slow throughout the day. Crawfish pattern crankbaits and Finesse-worm rigs fished on the rocky banks near wood structure. They’re hitting plastic grubs on leadhead jigs, tipped with an inch of nightcrawler, fished down gravelly, rocky banks.

STRIPED BASS: Moderate at dawn, but the locations are scattered.  The most productive depth has been 25 to 30-feet. Improving on the Powell side, Point 10 vicinity, and from Sequoyah Marina to Norris Dam.

WALLEYE: Moderate. Trolling small, nickel plate spinner/nightcrawler rigs (#2 Hildebrandt or equivalent), Bombers, RedFins, or DD20’s at 25- to 30-feet, on the bottom during the day. Pre-dawn or night fishing action is best on the lower third of the reservoir with jigged Mann O’Lures or equivalent, and especially on snagged shad or alewife. Anchor in 25-feet of water for night fishing under lights on the rocky banks.

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BLUEGILL

Good.

10 to 25-feet deep.

The week leading up to the full moon is usually good for spawning bluegill at this time of year. Good catches are coming in for those fishing the flats and ledges near creek mouths.

Crickets, redworms, nightcrawlers, wax worms.

Beetle spins and other small spinners, along with ultralight (1-inch max length) crankbaits in the rocky areas.

CRAPPIE

Fair.

5 to 10-feet deep in brush and downed timber close to the shoreline. At mid-day, they’re dropping to as deep as 20-feet, in brush along steeper banks or shallower in brushy hollows.

The better fishing is mainly above Points 29 and 15, but some good catches have come from Big Ridge Hollow and Lost Creek, on the lower end.

On the steeper main channel banks and in coves, tightline vertically into the brush with small doll flies, mini tube jigs (red/white, blue/white) and 1/32 ounce hair or feather jigs tipped with minnows. Night fishing with tuffy minnows, under lights, has produced some crappie, but even that fishing has not been extremely productive.

LARGEMOUTH & SPOTTED BASS

Moderate at dawn, slow after 9 a.m. and through the afternoon hours.

Surface to 15-feet at dawn, as deep as 25- to 30-feet in midday.

Coves and main channel, boulder banks are equally good for largemouth right now.

Soft jerk baits and buzz baits and small topwater plugs in early morning. Crayfish pattern plugs and soft plastic lures are good; these fish are feeding heavily on crayfish right now.

Some of the 7 to 9-inch Zoom plastic worms are taking bass from the shallows to 20-feet. June Bug and strawberry-type colors are working.

Deep running crankbaits are taking some largemouth in the hollows and creeks, near the bottom.

SMALLMOUTH BASS                                                                                      

Fair after midnight, improving toward dawn. Slow in daytime except at the break of day when a limited bit of surface action is being seen.

25 to 30-feet in the daytime. Surface to 15 feet late at night through dawn, on the humps and points.

Live shiners fished on the steeper banks with no float, at night and at dawn, are catching some.

Large, deep running crankbaits are taking some on the humps and along the rocky banks, even in midday.

Crawfish pattern crankbaits or pig’n jigs, and spinners slow-rolled and dropped along the rocky shorelines to 25-feet. Walleye fishermen, casting alewife and shad at night, have caught some.

STRIPED BASS

Moderate.

Surface to 35-feet at dawn. Slow during the day, dropping to 30 or 35-feet, depending upon the location. (Refer to the water profile, link given above.)

Surface action is scattered. Striped bass are being caught mostly at dawn, with the fish in the channels more with the increased drawdown rate. Surface breaks can be seen before dark in some sections of the lake, but high surface temperatures have slowed that action.

Shad or alewife tightlined to the depth of the forage fish schools on the main channels of the lower end, or umbrella rigged jigs/trailers trolled through schools of forage fish in the main channels and in the larger creek embayments.

Cove Creek; Loyston Sea; between Bear Hole Bend and Dollar Island; Point 9 to Point 10 on the lower Powell; the Clinch channel from Norris Dam and almost up to Anderson County Park.

WALLEYE

Moderate at night.

25- to 30-feet deep, near the bottom.

Near the bottom during daylight hours, moving slightly shallower at night. Small spinners (#2) and nightcrawler rigs,  along the bottom, 25 to 35-feet deep. Bombers, Normans, RedFins trolled at that depth near the bottom.

Fish jigging spoons (Mann O’Lures, Hopkins) under lantern light for lower end fish, as deep as 30-feet, on moderately sloped rocky banks where wood structure is nearby.

Alewife, shad, minnows cast or vertically fished under lantern lights at night. Trolling with Red Fin plugs has taken some in the Loyston Sea area, but most are trolling the bottom with spinner/nightcrawler drop-sinker rigs.

phs

Good fishing from NorrisLakeInfo.com!!