Focused Fishing Web Log

Most of the main lake is ice free, if you are planning on going to Pomme plan on launching on the lower end since most of the ramps on the upper end are iced in. Most of the fish being caught are relating to bluffs and bluff ends; jigs and jerkbaits have been the best presentations. A Smithwick Rogue in clown or chrome / black or Lucky Craft Pointer in American shad or Nishiki fished parallel to the bluff will result in a few fish each day as long as you fish it slow enough, allowing the bait to pause for as long as 45 seconds is critical to drawing strikes from the sluggish bass. A Jewel ½ oz. heavy cover finesse football jig in brown / purple flash fished from ledge to ledge will also result in a few strikes everyday, just like the jerkbait fish it slow to get results.

Just like all the lakes in the area Pomme is up and has current running through it, this has positioned most of the fish on both main lake and secondary points trough out the lake. On windy days a Smithwick Rouge or Lucky Craft pointer is hard to beat especially around isolated pieces of wood cover, on sunny days throw reflective colors like American Shad, Clown or Chrome / black and on overcast days throw more matte colors like Chartreuse Shad or Bleeding Tennessee Shad to be effective. On Clam days look for these same fish to be susceptible to an Eakins jig or a tube fished slowly on the bottom and tight to any wood cover on these points.

Pomme is much like the other lakes in the area two baits continue to dominate; Smithwick Rogues in chrome / blue, chrome / black and bleeding Tennessee shad or Lucky Craft Pointers in chartreuse shad, American shad and Nishiki have all been very productive around isolated trees and brush piles in creek arms and up the river. Cast beyond the cover and work the bait back to it allowing it to suspend next to the cover for 5 – 10 seconds. An Eakins jig in Missouri craw with a green pumpkin Eakins’ craw trailer fished on ledges through out the lake. Pitch the bait to the bank and work it back to the boat allowing it to fall from one ledge to another. Pay close attention to you line as the bait is falling, most of the bites will come as the bait falls.

The jerkbait bite continues to produce on Pomme, chrome and black Smithwick Rogues and American Shad Lucky craft pointers have been the dominate colors. Work these baits around isolated pieces of cover on transition and mixed rock banks. Most of the fish have been very aggressive so there is little need to pause the bait very long to draw strikes. A second pattern is to fish an Eakins’ jig in Missouri Craw or PB&J with a Paca chunk trailer on channel swing and ledge rock banks in creek arms and on the main lake. These fish have been any where from on the bank to 15’ deep and seem to be moving up shallower later in the day as the surface temperatures rise. Fish all of these ledges slowly and pay close attention whenever the bait is falling from one ledge to another.

Pomme remains strong; jerkbaits have been top producers this past week when fished around standing timber and brush piles on both main lake and secondary points. IF it is windy you will not need to pause the bait between jerks but if it is calm you will need to allow the bait to pause for as much as 20 seconds to draw strikes. There is still a good jig bite in these same brush piles with either an Eakins’ jig or Jewel ½ oz. Finesse Football jig in P&J or Missouri Craw being top choices. In addition fish channel swing banks toward the backs of the major creek arms with an Eakins’ jig and craw combo, paying close attention to any wood cover you find.

Pomme has really picked up this past week, while the best bite remains on steeper banks with either an Eakins’ jig or Ultra Tube there are a lot of fish being caught toward the back of creek arms on Smithwick Rogues and Lucky Craft Pointers. Look for schools of shad to key you into where you need to throw the jerkbaits. In addition the river bite has been pretty strong over the past week; flip stumps and log jams with an Eakins’ Flippin’ Finesse Jig in black / blue flash with a Zoom Super Chunk jr. as a trailer. Make multiple pitches into each spot, most presentations need to fall directly in front of the fish to draw strikes.

With the ramps opening up later in the week a few folks hit Pomme this weekend. Still fish being caught on steeper banks with brush piles on an Eakins’ jig and craw combo or Chompers ultra tube, let the water color dictate which color you use. Some better quality fish are showing up toward the backs of creeks and in isolated tree tops in deeper pockets on Smithwick and Lucky Craft jerkbaits, this is a five bite a day pattern right now but the quality is awesome. This bite will improve as the water temperature drops; don’t be surprised if you catch a toothy critter or two doing this as well.

Pomme has stayed pretty consistent again this week; Rattle Traps, Lucky Craft RC 1.5 and Norman Deep Little N crankbaits have all been producing on main lake flats and flat points. Up the river and in major creek arms a War Eagle spinnerbait fished tight to standing timber and laydowns will produce several bites on windy days. Day in day out though your best be continues to be fishing the deeper brush piles with either a Texas rigged green pumpkin tube or a Jewel Football or Eakins jig in brown / purple flash or Missouri craw with a green pumpkin Paca chunk trailer. Look for brush from 12’ – 20’ deep close to deep water to hold most of the fish.

Pomme remains pretty consistent; there are numbers of fish on windy flat banks that can be caught on chrome Rattle Traps, white Norman Deep Little N’s or Lucky Craft R.C. 1.5 crankbaits. The pattern is pretty simple; look for wind blown flats, cast and retrieve as fast as you can, while this will result in a mixed bag of fish few will be keepers. Deeper points and ledges with brush piles are holding the better fish; Eakins’ jigs, tubes and beavers are all producing fish from these spots but you will need to make multiple casts and work through the brush slowly to be effective.

Little changes over the past week on Pomme de Terre; main lake flats and points continue to produce fish on War Eagle buzzbaits and Spooks and Sammys producing early and late and War Eagle spinnerbaits and Lucky Craft BDS crankbaits producing through out the day. Wind is crucial for both of these bites, if you are on the water on a calm day your better off to move to deeper mixed rock points and ledge banks. These rocky areas will produce several fish on a brown or brown / purple flash Eakins’ jig with either a green pumpkin Eakins’ craw or a Chomper Jig trailer. In the clearer water near the dam an Eakins’ craw is more effective while up the river arms the Chompers’ jig trailer will work better.