Sardis fishing

[Papermouth62]

Hey, has anyone been fishing at the spillway below sardis lately?
I am planning on going down there Thursday and Friday and try fishing from
the bank . am I too early to catch a mess?
Thanks, Mike

[Pops]

Papermouth, I have been going to the spillway a couple of times a week since early Dec. As always, the amount of water flowing thru the spillway pretty much determines the bite. There were a lot of nice fish caught until about two weeks ago when the spillway flow went to zero because there was no more water in the main lake.

Right now it's sorta hit or miss. There are some fish being caught right below the walls, but they tend to run small. I did catch 12 keeper fish Monday and 7 this afternoon (needless to say, there was not a crowd today!). With the recent rain, the lake has come up 3'-4', and will probably rise another foot or so. The COE will turn the spillway back on as soon as the weather settles because the lake is now above rule curve, and the COE can't stand that. After a day or so of water flow, the fish should be biting again.

[Papermouth62]

Thanks pops for the info . I am going to try down there thursday and Friday
if the rain will let me . My wife is going to be in class those two days at ole miss. Could you give me any suggestions as to what kind of baits I will need to bring? and what the size limit is below the spillway ? Thanks again , Mike:D

[Pops]

P'mouth, the spillway was opened to 1900 CFS this morning. The fishing should be decent if there are not any changes in the next day or so.

The usual baits are small jigs in various colors, red/chart, black/chart, black/pink, etc. Folks usually fish two jigs under a small float. Look for the eddy water, or better yet, just see where other folks are fishing and colors they are using. Spillway fishing is truly a "community hole" affair.

There is no size limit in the spillway, just a 30 fish limit. Some folks keep almost everything they catch!