YELLOW RIVERS
Look for: Black crappie (speckled perch), redfish, spotted (speckled) seatrout, sunshine (hybrid) bass and striped bass.
Comments: Crappie are hitting off the main channels in deep water. Troll jigs or sink minnows. In a month or so, these freshwater specks will be looking for gravel bottom beds near banks. Also look for places with cover such as lily pads or overhanging brush. Meanwhile, make sure you’re over a bottom with jutting structure. River and creek mouths are drawing the typical motley crew of species, stripers, reds and specks. Of the three, reds tend to be the most abundant.
LAKE TALQUIN
Look For: Black crappie (speckled perch), channel catfish and striped bass.
Comments: Crappie are in 10 feet to 15 feet of water around points or steep shorelines near shallow ledges. If fishing deep water, look for submerged structure. Stripers are bigger below the dam, while smaller ones are schooling around the lake. Jigs and light spoons are good for smaller stripers. To catch bigger fish, troll deep-diving lures below the dam. Also work the reservoir’s river channel or other deep water. The catfish bite remains good, though the cold weather slows them down a touch.
