General Overview

The summer pattern has peaked. 

The water temps did NOT climb to the temps of “normal” summers.  The bite remained shallower than normal with much activity 16 – 18′  We briefly hit 82 degrees on the surface.  Now, the nights are longer and steady temp decline from here….water has been hovering around 76 degrees and should loose 10 degrees this month. 
1.  The night temps will be consistently cooler than the water temps from here…expect heavy fog almost daily in the mornings.
2.  Expect the main lake “channel” to be full of bait, mostly this year’s hatch of 2 – 2-5″ long steadily moving up the channel over the next month.  With them, numbers of schooling size Stripers (5 – 15 lb.) and white perch will follow them with nose in the channel.  Focus around standing timber along the original channel.
3.  As the general move occurs; moving up lake toward new water, it also happens on a smaller scale inside creek channels but more sensitive to the day-to-day weather patterns.  Some bait as they reach alternative small feeder creeks, will work up or hold in these smaller creeks or deep hollows with a fair supply of new water coming in the backs. Locations such as Henderson Hollow, Browns Hollow, Bakers Hollow, Trough Creek, Brumbaugh’s, Aitch, James Creek, Tatman Run and Coffee Run fit the bill.
Focusing in and around the mouth of these areas will also be productive.
1.  Stripers –  Mid lake will see numbers increase from seven points to 17.  Schooling size Stripers will increase in these areas. Not all Stripers are on the same program, though.  In general terms, continue to use live bait in that 18′ – 25′ range spending much of your time in the mouth of secondary creeks, basically fishing a funnel as the bait move out to deeper depths or suspend over the trees in the channel as the sun burns off the morning fog.  After using a creek for awhile, many bait balls will just stay in the channel and keep pushing forward up the river.
Striper fishing traditionally can be difficult in Sept.  Its usually a split pattern as we deal with late summer water that has warmed to the deepest depth of the year, depleted oxygen levels under the surface, and decrease in the micro organisms feeding the young bait. The shallower or “new” water will have more oxygen and is often cooler from the longer nights.  The AM fog is telling you the surface water is cooling.  These fish have not flipped to the more aggressive “fall” patterns yet.  Mid size schooling Stripers will buy in to what this year’s bait are doing, however,  big Stripers are still doing their own thing.  Sparky Price (founder of Trophy Guide Service) holds the state record of over 53 lb as a “September” catch.  These large fish dont buy in quite yet to everything going on above them.  They are usually still in a slow late summer pattern of 25 – 30′ and slower styles of fishing. They arent schooled, and will spend much time on the bottom.  It is surprising how many crawfish you’ll find in them. The strike windows are small, not much chasing like schooling size Stripers.  Bottom fishing to more advanced live scope and a single rod placing baits inside their 3′ zone will encourage a bite.

Panfish – Focus in those secondary creeks in the last 15 – 25′.
Stay centered in the channel.  You don’t need to locate structure. The Crappies, White Perch, Yellow Perch are on this years bait daily pulling in and out of the coves.  Use shiners or even night crawlers in a drop shot method.  If you go for main lake panfish, again go to the edge of flats close to the channel and do the same.  From marker 16 to above Shy Beaver to markers 23 and 24 is a good area.  The further up, the more small bait and the more condensed  these types of panfish.  It’s probably the best month of the year for this. Focus around 25′ in general.  You may see them shallower or coming up on bait in the channel but is temporary and they will settle on the deep flats by mid morning.

Bass – Are roaming, following all this years bait.  They can often suspend or cruise over deep water following bait balls.  Try topwater in the mornings and fish a lot of minnow style baits.  Smallmouth are schooled.  Largemouth will/can do the same, however the weeds are at their thickest point. Dont shy away from heavy cover using frogs and buzz baits.  They are opportunistic around structure.  Largemouth can be surprisingly shallow now.  The “weeds” and surface wind gives them all the oxygen they need up shallow and still take advantage of the warm water they prefer.

  “Summer Fishing Knowledge”