j percy priest fishing horrible
 

i know we have had a difficult spring with high muddy water but i have never
seen jpp fish so poorly. Is the lake in decline? what are you other fishermen
experiencing?

What are you fishing for? I've had an incredible spring bass fishing JPP. I've only fished the lower end. Hobson Pike to Elm Hill. This was my first spring fishing the lake a lot. Maybe I was lucky that I don't have much experience on the lake and didn't have any preconceived ideas where to find them.

It's been an interesting year so far for me.. hybrid fishing has been pretty good but crappie not so much. Went out today and caught ten between two ppl but holy crap the lake was up a good six ft not to mention there was a half mile wide/mile long debris field around long Hunter that had some damn near telephone pole sized logs in it. They have really messed up this year with keeping the lake levels normal. I have a feeling tho with this crazy weather snaps we've been getting with the drastic rise and falls of the lake that's what has messed up the fishing so far. This next week will tell imo

Sent from my H1711 using Tapatalk

thanks gordonc615 that has been my experience.. i guess i need to clear my head of those preconcieved notions.

I hope my post wasn't offensive. I apologize if it was as that wasn't my intention. Im certainly not trying to sound like I'm any better of a fisherman. I was just trying to give some insight to my experience on the lake this spring and what part of the lake I've been fishing. If your looking to catch bass I could maybe help. If your looking for anything else them I have no experience.

I’d say the bass fishing has been very up and down (more down) this spring. The spots that produced in the past just aren’t working this year. I’m spending my time looking for fish rather than catching fish. I can’t remember the lake ever being this cold for this late in the year. Hopefully the weather will steady out and the fish will be more predictable.

Last year at this time of year we were wearing the crappie out.Went yesterday and two of us cleaned 9. They were all about 13 inch.
The females were already spawned.

Will try Monday.

Fished JPP Friday morning around 7 Points area. Water temp 62, good color, fishing meh. Caught one stripe, lost two dink bass by the boat. Ran the boat awhile (first time out in it) and left. Next week I'm going to get serious about it. :D

thanks all for the replies

I agree CMdd. Very inconsistent. We got blanked Saturday morning in three areas that should have produced whites, hybrids and crappie. Thought I was on Old Hick with all the trash in the water.

I have not fished for crappie and bass as much as I normally do, so I can't say much about them. The hybrids and the white bass have been as good or better than I have seen in years. The topwater bite for hybrids has been really good. Saturday afternoon, I found hybrids and white bass together and literally caught one almost every cast for close to 2 hours. My girlfriend kept accusing me of catching the same fish over and over, so I put a few in the livewell (let them go, I don't eat hybrids or white bass) just so she would know they weren't the same fish. I don't know how many were there but it had to be several hundred fish. If you lost one, another one would hit before you got the lure to the boat. I am thinking, the topwater bite for hybrids will be prime, and maybe the best in years, the next few weeks.

I fished with my grandson Friday, water was up like you said and had to avoid a ton of debris. We fished Hong Kong area where we found water we could troll in. We trolled jigs in about 12 to 16 fow, we caught 14 nice keepers and threw back a dozen or so. Jigs were running about 8 to 10 feet down at 1 to .8 mph. All the black female crappie we caught were spawned out. The whites we caught had not spawned, egg sacks were still a darker yellow. I would say their a couple weeks away. One guy fishing brush piles in 4 fow was watching us and asked how deep we were fishing, when I told him he moved out to some brush we were trolling past, he picked up a couple fairly quick. When he left he said he was off to piles in deeper water. When we pulled out he was also coming out and said he had "a good mess" and thanked us for letting him know where we were catching fish.
Its been a tough year for all, temperatures and water levels going up and down, its tough to get a handle on it for sure, but know you have a lot of company this year. I've learned when you put a game plan together you stick with it till your not catching fish then have a plan B or plan C. My original game plan was to slow troll 4 to 8 fow, that was till I saw the lake, plan A went out the window, enter plan B.

Good luck
Ray

thanks again to all who posted very good comments with excellent tips!

topwater bite for hybrids, and nice ones, was off the chart yesterday evening. One important thing to remember when looking for them, you will most likely NOT see any surface activity other than baitfish. I caught 13 or 14 fish yesterday and never saw a hybrid bust the top.

Priest crappie
 

Fished Tuesday morning around 4 corners.
Had 17 crappie. Bite was slow. Friend went up above Bryant’s said he had 9.
Water temps around 65.
Caught in 6 to 18 fow. Brush piles and stake beds. Stakes around noon.
10 still had eggs.