Bruce Cunningham never considered himself much of a fisherman, but he’s now a state recordholder for a striped bass he caught at Bull Shoals Lake.
“We knew it was big, but we didn’t realize how big it was until we got it in the boat,” said Cunningham, a Fordland resident who was fishing last month with his two younger brothers.
Here’s a video listing all the winners of our June Weekly Fishing Gear Giveaway.
Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to all that entered!!
General Conditions
The very hot weather has certainly slowed the fishing down although anglers fishing with bait continue to score nice numbers of striped bass! Most of the bass caught range in size from 5lbs to 15lbs. Most of these fish are being caught on anchovies or shad. Trolling for stripers has slowed but a few anglers continue to catch fish on rattletraps and other minnow like lures. Two boats scored limits Sunday trolling at 15 feet to 90 feet of water. Best shore spots for stripers include the mouth of the south cove, oak point and the point between the 2 piers. Anglers fishing with bait from boats are catching stripers in sunken oak and peninsula coves.
Water conditions for fishing are still good. The water temperature came way up with the hot weather. The water temperature is between 70 and 73 degrees at the 5 foot depth. The water temperature around 40 feet is 68 degrees.
Our water level is currently at 49%. The reservoir has been drawn down to for the Dam expansion work that started in March. Except for evaporation this is the level the reservoir will stay at for the next 4 months. The South entrance to the watershed remains open for fishing and other recreational activities.
There’s a new Rhode Island state striped bass record and it’s owned by Peter Vican. His monster catch weighed in at 77 pounds 4 ounces which is one pound shy of the world striped bass record. Peter is not new to setting records as the old record of 76 pounds 14 ounces was set by none other then Peter Vican himself.
General Conditions
Striped bass fishing continues to provide the best action here with stripers averaging 8 to 12lbs. Anglers are also catching a few big catfish, a few trout as well as some largemouth bass.
Water conditions for fishing are excellent. The water temperature is increasing but remains on the cool side at 63 degrees. Our water level is currently at 50%.
Trout
Trout fishing is still rated fair to slow but we saw many more trout this week than in previous weeks. No trout have been planted in over a month so these are all hold over fish. Most of the trout are being caught in 5 to 10 feet of water by anglers fishing with bait. Many anglers are using bobbers or very small sliding sinkers to fish effectively in the shallow water. Trout are in great shape and averaging between 2 and 3lbs. Nightcrawlers or powerbait take most of the trout. We saw a couple limits that came out of the south cove. Trolling is slow. Trout are receiving pretty light pressure as most anglers are going after striped bass. We have even seen a half a dozen trout caught on anchovies by anglers working for stripers.
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