# anybody fishing below lake somerville dam?



## dynal (Jul 5, 2012)

Plan to fishing below the dam of lake somerville this weekend with friends. Dose anybody have experiences of fishing below that dam? what's the water level now? 

Which type of fish should expected? Is it possible to target crappie or white bass now? which bait and rig is suitable?

Any input is appreciated.


----------



## big-john (Jan 6, 2011)

Sorry ,I can't help much other than to say I know from a very well known post here,there was at very least one very nice catfish there at one time...lol

Someone will probably post a link to it soon.


----------



## dynal (Jul 5, 2012)

Thanks, John. 

Tried seach within 2cool but didn't get the link.lol


----------



## Freight Mover (Feb 17, 2013)

Not sure of the water level as I have not been there since March.

I've fished there a lot over the years. When you are going down the stairs - go left when the stairs open before you get to the bottom. Walk around until where the rocks stop and meets the grass. Watch out for snakes around the rocks.

I cast straight out or back toward the dam. There is a hole there. There are a lot of places to get hung up so be prepared to break some lines. 

I put a live minnow 2-3 feet under a cork for crappie. Worms and shad on the bottom using a Carolina rig will get you some cats.

I have seen a lot of big yellow cats caught there as well. 

I have only caught white bass there when there is a god flow.

Good luck


----------



## dynal (Jul 5, 2012)

Thank you for the tips, Mr Freight Mover.

I think the spot you talked about is where the guys stand in the picture. I'll try there. 
The snakes is really a nuisance. Hope the cold front will induce wintertime hibernation.


----------



## Freight Mover (Feb 17, 2013)

Yep. My spot is closer to the grass line - maybe where the person on the left is standing.

Good luck. Update the post on how you do. My son and I will be there when it cools off a little more so we can camp.


----------



## dynal (Jul 5, 2012)

The results of my first trip to Lake somerville are as following.

Arrived at the dam about 11 am sunday. It's not so cold as expected. But the water level is very low. The dam should be closed completely for a while.


















There were already three guies on the left side of Mr. Freight Mover's spot. So we just fished dam outlet. Got a 15 inch gar, a 20 inch catfish and 2 crappies about 8-9 inch with minnow.

The action was really slow. Didn't see other fish catched although there did are big fishes (bass?) jump up in the down stream occasionally. At about about 2:30 pm, a school of bass (more than 20 big fishes could be seen!) swimmed in the labelled area. Tried with live perch, shad, spinner, jig with grub and powerbait minnow, etc. No biting at all. So we gave up and headed to the Big Creek park.










Arrived at Big Creek Park at 3:30 pm. Payed fishing fee (5$/person) and bought some minnows (2.5$/dozen) at fair price. During walking to the marina, met 2 men who already limited out with crappie! Look like a lot of fishes are there. However, the minnow did not work well that day. We got only 4 keeper crappies before we left (they closed the marina at 6 pm) while the men beside of us got fish almost every minute with a black fly jig. The guy told me the crappie is at 9 feet. Saw the other 2 men got limit of crappie (with the same jig) and blue catfish.

For next trip, we definitely will go to the marina of Big Creek Park and take some fly jig for crappie.


----------



## Freight Mover (Feb 17, 2013)

Big creek is good for crappie. It's too bad they have let the floating building and the piers go to ****. I grew up fishing there.


----------

