New Bullards Bar Reservoir
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New Bullards Bar Reservoir Fishing Reports
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Reports from all past years within a 60-day time frame
Species
Spotted BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Texas Rigs (Worming)
Structure
Boulders
Water Temperature
76°
Species
Spotted BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Ned Rigs
Structure
Boulders
Went out on Saturday, Sept 3rd. Conditions were tough. Super high winds (that was surprise) made staying in position kind of tough. Plus, there were about 3 times as many wake boaters out as usual (not a surprise for Labor Day weekend) so it felt like I was out on the Pacific Ocean. I headed straight up the main fork until I got into the 5 mph zone, which thankfully took care of the wake boarder issue. Once I was up there, I started with a drop shot using a Yamamoto Shad shape worm in a blue/silver flake color, hoping to entice a Spottie into thinking he had himself a small kokanee...but they weren't falling for that. So I switched over to a Ned Rig, using the 3" Senko in Plum Apple and had immediate success! I stayed off shore about 20' and was getting all the way to the bottom (10-12') and bounced it back to the boat from there. I landed six bass in a couple of hours of fishing before I just got tired of battling the wind to call it a day. I love fishing this lake! Still looking for the really big ones that I hear are out there. But large or small, the fishing is great and it's really a beautiful lake.
Species
Spotted BassSeason
Fall
Technique
Shakey Heads
Structure
Humps
Water Temperature
71°
In my never-ending quest for a Big Spotty at Bullards, I forced myself offshore using techniques I'm not super confident in. But this day, I made some progress. No monsters, but had some fun pulling in fish at 30-40 feet using a shakey head, loaded up with a Strike King bullworm. When I got that first hit, I was so pumped!!! I spent the day using my mapping to fish extended points. It took some patience for my shakeyhead to get down to the bottom. But once it was there, I hopped and popped it, and when those spotties hit it, what a blast getting them up and into the boat! Ya just have to give it a try!!!
Species
Spotted BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Texas Rigs (Pitch/Flip)
Structure
Points
Water Temperature
78°
Man, I love this lake! Just get yourself up above and into the 5 MPH and start fishing. As usual, I had to go thru several different techniques to land on what they wanted. Today, it turned out to be a Texas Rig Craw. I bought these Christie Craws, with blue specifically for this lake. The bass love to eat Kokanee, so I've found sticking with blues and purples is the way to go.
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Carolina Rigs
Structure
Ledges
Went out to Bullard Bar July 23 & 24. After knocking out some morning trolling for Kokanee (Limit of 10 on Saturday, 6 on Sunday, which was fun!) I headed up the main fork for my real purpose of being there, in search of some bass. It was tough sledding all afternoon. It was very hot (100 degrees) and the water continues to drop, so there was very little cover. I settled on using a Carolina Rig and was fishing submerged boulders and any drop offs I could find. I spent the day in 10-30 feet of water and was only able to land 4 bass, all in the 1 lb range. Nothing much to brag about, for sure. But I caught two using a 4" Strike King Rage Craw in Green Pumpkin and two more with a 5 1/4" Zoom Super Fluke in White Pearl. I must have tried at least 10 other bait/color combos, but those were the two that worked on this day. For sure my toughest day bass fishing at Bullard's Bar. My previous 3 trips there, I caught at least 20-30 bass each afternoon. This is my first year of fishing Bullard's, so I'm still learning the lake and how each season impacts what I do. I love going there, so I plan to keep learning and happy to share the results....even if they aren't the best.
Species
Spotted BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Drop Shot
Structure
Ledges
Water Temperature
83°
I love this lake! First off....the Gee Crack Bellows Stick is fast becoming a favorite when I'm using a drop shot. It flutters so naturally, that even with a slow and steady return, it's wobbling all over the place. And the Natural Pro Blue is a perfect imitation for the kokanee those Spotties love to feed on. They can't resist. Those Woo Drop shot weights are pretty nice also. They slip through rocks and cracks very easily and if it does get hung (not often) the fact they slip off your line instead of breaking off your entire set-up saves you a lot of hooks and baits. Also, a strong recommendation for the Zoom Trick Worm in Plum for your Texas Rig set-up.
Species
Spotted BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Drop Shot
Structure
Boulders
Water Temperature
79°
Had a great day on my favorite lake within 100 miles of my home. It was a very hot, sunny and still day. The fish didn't want to work too hard, so slowing things down with a Strike King Magnum Dreamshot, Blue Craw RedFlake did the job. I actually started off with plum colored finesse worm wacky rigged on my drop shot. But I only had three of those and was out of them fairly quickly. They were the only plum colored finesse worms I had. So after trying a few other colors with no luck, I switched over to the Magnum Dreamshot....20 fish later, I called it a day.
Species
Spotted BassSeason
Winter
Technique
Spybaits
Structure
Stumps
Forage
Minnows
Water Temperature
73°
Took the W on this pond. Never fished it before but was rather easy to figure this place out. Right now the pattern is changing daily and throughout the day so you just have to adapt and keep moving. Start out on points, Move to secondary points, cuts, creeks, ditches, clay, isolated rock etc. Try it all until you find the better bite. Right now there is not a lot of fish up shallow. Most fish are deep or suspended. Getting a fish over 1.5lbs is very hard. 1-1.5lbs is good. You can even still get a topwater bite going if you want. Your best bet to get a big bite is to fish dangerously (to the fish's health) deep 50-80+ or to target suspended fish in open water. That being said I targeted my fish in the mornings with moving baits. Cranking with a 10-15' diver, X-Nanahan +2 and throwing a spybait or small swimbait when I saw fish suspended. Once the sun came up and the fish pulled out I decided to keep fishing the 0-30' range with a hula grub. As the day progressed I switched to isolated stumps with the hula grub and occasionally would mix in the spy bait and neko rig. The biggest fish came on the spybait. My rods of choice were a variety of ALX rods
Species
Spotted BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Texas Rigs (Worming)
Structure
Points
Water Temperature
70°
My first time out with the Geecrack Bellows Stick. They are incredible the way they flutter in the water. Spotties couldn't stay off them.
