Annual Prospects Report
Hamilton City Lake (90 acres) offers good potential for nice-sized largemouth bass and hybrid striped bass (white bass x striped bass). During recent electrofishing surveys fish over 20 inches were collected for both species. Unfortunately, the number of largemouth bass in the lake appears to be in decline with electrofishing catch rates trending down since 2016. Many earlier stockings of hybrid striped bass have now grown to harvestable sizes (>20 inches) while many fish from later stockings are smaller but surviving well.
Largemouth bass concentrate near shore to spawn in the early spring and then orient to submerged structure or deeper channels during other parts of the year. Obvious brush piles are limited in the lake so a boat equipped with a sonar unit is very helpful to find bass. Shore anglers should target fallen trees, over-hanging brush, and edges of aquatic vegetation. Hybrid bass are often caught by casting and trolling in open water areas (where schools of shad occur) with larger jigs, spinners, crank baits, and other active lures that mimic baitfish.
Recent surveys showed some improvements in potential for nice-sized black crappie and white crappie with good numbers of fish over 10 inches. Bluegill remained small (less than 7 inches) due to competition for food with an extremely abundant population of gizzard shad.
From Hamilton, take Business Highway 36 west 1 mile, then NW Golf Course Drive north to lake.
