Just booked a house for the week to take my 3 kids (9,7, and 4 by then), as well as my sister and brother in law and nephew, and my dad on a lake vacation for the week. House is near the Walnut Run Marina. I assume that time of year I will see a lot of pleasure traffic during the daytime, even mid week.... What should I know about the fishing? Is there something there that can keep the kids busy off the dock at all? Bluegill, sunfish, etc?
There are typically sunfish around the docks but more likely to be green sunfish than bluegills. Midweek is reasonably calm in mid August, weekend can be nuts with Saturday worse than Sunday but early mornings are reasonable. The number of anglers in August actually drops off as the number of striper boats drops off a lot (this time of year they are everywhere) and a lot of bass anglers either fish at night or just wait for cooler temps in the fall. Few tournaments are held in August.
One thing I will warn you about is the lake goes up and down. A place where you could fly over with your boat might be to shallow the next time. Just be aware that the lake level does fluctuate daily. You will notice most docks have a floating dock to safely tie up a boat.
I'm not a big fan of the lake mainly because of the traffic mixed with a lot of alcohol. Just watch coming out of coves or for those coming out of coves.
Now if your home is back in a cove it's not a bad place to for the kids. They can spend some time in the water and they can certainly fish from the dock. Hopefully your house doesn't have a step hill from the house to the lake.
Now to be fair your house is up the river and I'm not as familiar with the fishing there. Just be cautious when you head down river through the S bends. Some idiots like to fly through them going a little wide.
Take the kids down to Hales Ford Bridge, a lot of shops and restaurants.
Now I like to fish near the dam, there are islands and really nice areas. In addition I always did very well along the park. There are countless areas to fish, with a lot of coves too. The main channel will be busy even during the week.
You should take a trip to the dam. The view of the mountains is just fantastic.
I lived in Virginia and fish SML back late 1980's when it wasn't invaded with Snow Birds. Now they rule the lake. I was back in 2019. However I switched back to my favorite lake, Lake Anna.
Be safe and have fun with the kids.
when you see this on the water stop and say hi.
I recall that your rental is on Beaverdam Creek and it is a pretty busy creek with no speed restrictions. Don’t worry much about the water level, it fluctuates by a foot each day but does sometimes have a low period late summer. The depth drops off rapidly in the area near your rental. If the kids want to paddle around with their life jackets on just boat around the corner into Jumping Run Creek where I live. We have lots of folks who anchor their pontoons in front of our place because it is calm and safe for the kids. My wife regularly swims laps in our creek.Originally Posted by BasserJim
Beaverdam creek is great for fishing. I used to run up there from the Hales Ford bridge to get away from all the pleasure boats and usually caught some fish. You'll have a blast, especially with those younguns
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