Buggs Island Lake Report April 2015 by Jason Houchins

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Well finally spring is here at Kerr Lake, I think. Water temperatures are still struggling to stay in the mid-50s depending on where you are on the lake. The range I have seen is 52-55, with cooler temps in the clearer water down the lake. In some portions of creeks I have seen water temperatures close to 60, but that is late in the day and only surface temperatures. The bass are still behind and struggling to commit shallow, but it’s only a matter of time. This year has already produced numerous good fish with a couple well over 7 lbs. have been brought to the scales in tournaments. I would have to say this place is on the rebound.This April will be all about the spawn. All phase should come into play by the end of the month, but I wouldn’t look for a big move until the new moon phase. My most productive bait in the last few weeks has been a spinner bait. The wind seems to have been blowing every day, and nothing says shad better than a blade. I would concentrate on the mouth of spawning coves and secondary points until they commit shallow. A chatterbait, shallow crank bait, and a fluke are all good choices early on this month. Look for some chunk rock, rip rap, or other hard bottom areas. Shad are starting to look for spawning areas as well and these are perfect places that will hold the warmest water and best habitat. You will find the big girls feeding up and getting ready to spawn.After these fish move up to spawn I change gears a little and start to pitch bushes and gum trees. I love a jig or a creature bait for pitching the bushes and mix it up a bunch. I also keep a wacky rigged sinko or trick worm on the deck for that cruising or bedding fish I can see. I lot of us love this tactic on this lake and can’t wait to get up in the bushes and flip. I noticed a few males cruising around yesterday way up shallow, the females will not be far behind. The biggest key is to know where the fish are within the bushes. As much as I love it, it spreads them out and can almost give you too many targets. In my experience right before the spawn buck brush seems to dominate. Now during the spawn, definitely the base of gum and willow trees. The tricky part is figuring that part out when your fishing. I can’t help you with that, I have a hard time figuring it out myself. In my experience the larger fish seem to like the deeper trees and bushes. I assume they are used to the water levels changing constantly and adjust their spawning habits accordingly. I think 303 is the absolute best water level to flip and pitch bushes, there’s plenty of stuff in the water, but not too much.Well from what I’ve seen this year, April is going to be awesome. I think the average fish has definitely increased over the last few years. Usually some of the best action will come during this month and fish can be caught many different ways. The size a fish overall will go down some compared to March, but the numbers will be up big time. So come out to Kerr this month and load the boat with a big limit, it’s going to be fun!

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