Lake Stillhouse

The lake is down about 5 feet right now and the water temperature is ranging from about 59 in the morning warming to about 62-63 degrees in  the evening.  The fish are in somewhat of a transition period right now, with some fish shallow and some deep.  The shallow fish will be susceptible to rattle-traps, spinner baits, flukes, and shallow running crank baits.  The deeper fish are susceptible to a jigging spoon, football head jig, drop shot, deep diving crankbait, and a shaky head.

The shad are currently spread out around the lake and the water has not gotten cold enough yet to really bunch them up, but look for the spoon bite to turn on when they do.  This can be the quickest way to load the boat in the wintertime, especially during a tournament.  I use a 3/4 oz. chrome, white or chartreuse spoon, (depending on the water color) at around a depth that the shad are holding.  Once you get a wad of fish, it pays to have several PG143-6'10" or PG142-7'0" rods rigged with spoons during a tournament where you can catch one, swing him in the boat and drop the other spoon down into the school.  It is kind of like dropping a jig in the grass and hitting a scrape.  If you start catching a mix of whites, crappie and blacks in the same area, go to a 2-4 oz. spoon to try and mimic a white bass or crappie, because that is what the larger fish 6-10 lbs. will be eating.  Last year I had alot of fish spit up whites and crappie in my livewell.

Make sure to keep several fizzing needles in your boat over the next few months,a s many of these fish will be caught deeper than 20 ft.  If you do catch one and she won't turn right side up, make sure to fizz through the throat behind the crusher (it heals faster and has less tendency to get infected),  and only fizz enough to allow the fish to turn right side up and maintain a neutral bouyancy.

Good Luck and see you at the TuffMan!

Adrian Brnes