WILSON LAkE MARCH 2008

Bass: Good. Tournament angler Jimmy Mason said the bass have moved toward the spawning pockets, and the fishing is already good and will get even better in the next couple of weeks. “It seems like the Wilson bass are a little farther along than they are at Wheeler. The jerkbait bite is really good. Also try a small jig on bluff points or points at the mouths of good spawning coves. I’ve been fishing the first 50 yards into the pockets. Also try a small crankbait like a 6A Bomber in chartreuse-rootbeer color. The bass will concentrate on something a little different, especially a little shelf. Also key on any wood, and it seems like they’re more on the bigger wood and not the little brushy stuff. As we move into April, really concentrate on pockets. Go more to soft plastics like a lizard or finesse worm. You’re basically blind bed fishing. You can’t see them because they bed a little deeper on Wilson. This is also a great time to fish a floating worm in the backs of the pockets,” Jimmy said.

Crappie: Good. Guide Brad Whitehead said the crappie bite is on in this part of the world. “With the rain that we are getting, the crappie have started biting. Look for your numbers to increase and the big females to move into the shallows,” he said. For right now, Brad recommends long-lining with 1/8-oz. hair jigs. Guide Keith Dodd gives the same report for Wilson as he had for Wheeler. Push jigs along the edges of the creek channels in the 18- to 20-foot depth range, and with warm weather move more shallow and try pushing the jigs in 8 to 10 feet of water.