John H. Kerr Reservoir
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John H. Kerr Reservoir Fishing Reports
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Jeff DionneBronze AmbassadorSpecies
Largemouth BassTechniqueSoft Body Swimbaits (Small/Medium)SeasonSpring (Pre-Spawn)StructurePointsI met up with a friend from Watts Bar, Tennessee to fish Kerr for a few days. Started on Wednesday, 32 degrees when we launched at Henderson Point. Water temp was 54. Our host said water temps had been in the low 60s the week before. We knew it was going to start off a little slow. First fish in the boat at 0630 on a swim bait. Next fish came at 3pm. We hit main lake points, flats, secondaries, back of creeks and threw soft plastics in the bushes. They had a bad case of the lockjaw. By 4:30 the water temps were approaching 60 and the fish started to turn on a little. We found them on sandy shoreline and red clay banks and we could only get bit on small swimbaits (Megabass Okashira Screw Head jig) and underspins. As the sun was dropping we found a few more all the way at the backs of creek arms on wood with flukes. Ended up with 10, but man, what a long day! Thursday we launched from Ivy. Water temps 57. Fished Butchers and Eastland. Water warmed fairly quickly and the bite was much better. Traps, swimmers, and underspins were the go to baits. Again it was red clay and sandy stretches and not many relating to wood or rock. Caught 22 and 1 striper. Nothing over 3 pounds but fun fishin nonetheless. Could only fish the morning on Friday due to other commitments. Launched again from HP due to better access to laydowns in the backs of creek arms. Water temps 59 - 62. We got hit on C-Rig, traps, swimmers and jerkbaits. Caught 15 by 10:30. Had to head to the ramp. The last fish we hooked was a good 3+ but broke off at the boat and stole my favorite jerkbait. (If anyone sees is floating, pick it up for me) It got better every day and we had a good time. Gonna head back down in 10 days. Topwater should be on by then and I'm thinking the bass fishing should be prime.
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueWacky RigsSeasonSpring (Spawn)StructureDocks
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueTexas Rigs (Worming)SeasonSpring (Spawn)StructureFlooded Brush
Worming flood bushes. Catching bass that have just spawned and still on beds.
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueSwim JigsSeasonSpring (Post-Spawn)StructureDocks
SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueSwim JigsSeasonSpring (Post-Spawn)StructureFlooded BrushLot's of fish biting in flooded brush, hard to come by quality though. Depending on conditions the bass were either tight to brush or laydowns or in some cases they would strike 5-10ft away from the cover. I used the swim jig in clearer water in Butcher and Eastland and the spinnerbait in the dirty water in the main lake pockets.
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueSpinnerbaitsSeasonSpring (Spawn)StructureLaydowns
Expected fish on beds but did not find them. 15mph wind with gusts to 30 kept things interesting and hard to fish main lake points. Caught one good one off a letdown in the back of a windy cove.
- SpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueSwim JigsSeasonSpring (Post-Spawn)StructureDocks
I started off the morning targeting the shad spawn with a spinnerbait on main lake red clay banks. As I was trolling the bank I would skip a swim jig under the docks I passed. This allowed me to pick up some valuable fish.
- Southern mud VaBronze AmbassadorSpeciesLargemouth BassTechniqueShallow Diving Crankbaits (0-6')SeasonSpring (Pre-Spawn)StructureBrush Piles
Hey guys as of last week in the tournament tour I’m in. We locating fish with a red rattle trap, sinco green pumpkin, white spinnerbait, and red square bill crank baits. The males were starting to move up shallow on flats up next to submerge bushes. Water temp was up 50s.
