The Avid Angler

Fishing at Gillis PFA

2006-04-26T14:12:00.000-05:00

We went fishing at the Hugh Gillis PFA on Tuesday evening. I had my new video camera along, and Hunter decided to show us advanced baitcasting techniques -- you'll be impressed . . . guaranteed.

Outdoor Fishing Adventures with Hunter Bennett, Take I

Windows Video Format/Large File

After Hunter's demonstration, Will, the rank amateur, went on to catch more fish than Hunter and I put together.

Fishing Beds at Bienville: The Let-Down of the Once-Trusted Culprit Worm by Hunter Bennett

2006-03-28T18:57:00.000-05:00

The fishing trip to Bienville Plantation turned out to be nothing less than an awesome experience! We entered the lake at about 6:45. It was turning into a beautiful morning and I almost couldn’t contain my excitement. As Joshua told me that the lake was 1,300 acres and he hadn’t fished it much, I knew that we would have our work cut out for us. Finding fish in only one day’s time on 1,300 acres of new territory was a great challenge that I think we were all looking forward to accepting.

After baiting my hook with the old trusty salted, black plastic Culprit worm, I was sure I would catch a fish every other cast. Joshua was rigging his line with something that I thought to be ridiculous. He was using a Tiki Stick (made by Wave Worms) fished wacky style (hooked through the center). Nobody had much luck until about 9:30 when Joshua caught a bass that tipped the scale just over six pounds. We soon discovered why we haven’t been having much luck: the bass were going on bed… This added a new problem to finding the fish. We now had to figure out where the fish had grouped together to bed.

We immediately started the search for the bass beds and we found them just before noon. They had made their beds in the shallow water next to the points of islands where cattails provided shade-cover and protection -- although one cattail island was guarded by an alligator.

After Josh and Erik had caught fish regularly for an hour, and I had gotten not so much as a nibble, I couldn’t help but wonder if I should just quit and take notes. There was no way I was going to trade up my trusty Culprit for a “stupid, wacky worm”!!

When we returned from dinner we knew exactly where to go. After a short while of watching them catch fish I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to bait my hook with the “stupid worm”. It did not take me long to start closing the gap although I never did catch up. We fished right up until dark and continued to have great luck fishing the beds. No sportsman should have to catch or kill something on every trip to have a good time, but I must admit I was definitely glad to be catching fish.

We left the lake looking at a beautiful sunset with a successful day of fishing under our belts. I hope I am able to make it back there soon!

Hunter B

Night Fishing in Cedar Creek

2006-03-11T01:15:00.000-05:00

Luckily my buddies have lots of good farm ponds for fishing. Last Thursday, Hunter and I went to his grandmother's pond in Cedar Grove. It's only about three acres, but for the hour before sunset and the hour after we caught some nice fish there. Hunter got his line all twined up on his first two casts, and while he was putting on a fresh spool, I caught several small ones on a green pumpkin/red flake Tiki Stick worm. Once Hunter finally got some new line on his baitcaster, he quickly caught up with me using a black culprit worm with a small weight. The pond was shallow and the fish were tucked in against clumps of grass and sticks. Hunter had a good fight with this fish, which came in over two pounds.

After it got really dark, I put on a buzz bait and got the bass below, which was probably just over three pounds.

As it got later, the wind blew us all over the lake and the bite died, but while it lasted we pulled in about 9 bass and had a great time on the water fishing and talking.

Fishing at Bienville Plantation, Florida

2006-03-08T00:03:00.000-05:00

My favorite place to go fishing is Bienville Plantation in Florida. Just over the Georgia state line, it takes about three hours to get there from Dublin, but it's almost always worth the drive. Rob Shuman and I first went down there a little over a year ago, and at first the fishing was very tough. Then, on our worst day, when we were about to give up on the place, an old man came to our rescue. He told us to use Tiki Sticks hooked through the center (called "wacky-style"), especially the watermelon-red-flake color.

Almost immediately we began catching fish, and using the wacky style, we haven't stopped since. Several friends have made the trip down there with me, and every time it only gets better. The fishing is always exciting because every cast brings the possibility of a lunker, but even the normal bites are consistently in the two pound range.

Brian Clark had especially good luck last November. In his first ten minutes on the water, he caught this seven pounder on a crankbait.

A few minutes later, casting to the same spot, I snagged my own seven pounder using the watermelon red Tiki Stick .

The lakes at Bienville Plantation are unique because they are formed from old phosphate pits that have now developed a wide variety of tree and vegetation cover. Because the lakes are old mines, depths change rapidly and are unpredictable from the shoreline. Hydrilla spreads out all over the lake, but recently the staff has cut back on the weeds in most areas of the lake -- they say this has released the baitfish out of their cover and jumpstarted bass growth again. The best spots for bass seem to be floating hydrilla beds and areas where the hydrilla abuts cattails or other vegetation types.

The moss can be annoying, especially when fishing with an exposed hook, as this picture demonstrates:
But sometimes the weeds hold good-sized bass.

But the trouble is worth it when you keep pulling in fighting bass like these:

The best way to do a trip down there is to stay at one of the cabins around the Lake.

When they're booked, you have to go to one of the motels in White Springs or Jasper, and some of those hotels can get sketchy.

In the afternoon, the bite shuts down. Between eleven am and four pm, all you get is a sunburn. Even in winter and spring, all the action comes in the morning and afternoons. Summer can be even tougher, with hundred plus temperatures driving the bass deep and unresponsive. When this happens, the best bet is to fish in the mornings and go to the Jai-Alai/Poker Room on Interstate 75 about 15 minutes from the Plantation. They have an easy $2 texas hold 'em game and Jai-Alai tournaments running most afternoons.

Or you can stick around the lake and see if a summer storm comes through. That happened to me and Rob last year -- after the storm turned into a downpour with lightening we retreated to the landing and tried to wait it out in the truck, but after an hour we decided the fishing was over and headed back to Dublin, soaked and a little disappointed, but with a few good bites to show for the effort.

Our last trip there, Rob caught a bass that up-chucked his last, partially-digested meal just as he hit the plastic worm. If you look carefully at the bottom of the picture, you can see the baitfish flying into the boat.

When we went in February Rob and I caught nineteen, with Rob catching the biggest and the most bass. His heaviest weighed in at around five pounds with several other good ones.

In March the fishing picked up a lot. I've been twice this month and each time, we could see large bass guarding their beds at the ends and edges of cattail points near deep clear water.

On our last trip, Eric edged out his brother Jordan by one ounce for the big-fish bet with this 4 lb 12 oz bass:

Alligators are common sights at Bienville -- in the daytime they sun themselves on islands and as the sun goes down you can see their eyes prowling the water. The Plantation offers alligator hunts and pictures at the ProShop prove there are monsters lurking in the lake. This one was a baby by comparison.

The day Erik, Jordan, and I went we pulled in a total of fifty-seven bass, almost all weighing two pounds or more. The previous week, Hunter, Erik, and I did pretty good too, although Hunter's early attempts to use anything other than the wacky worm left him with only five for the day. Here are some of our catches:

Several times, we caught bass at the same time.

More fishing pictures:

The bream and crappie fishing isn't bad either. We had a good time last summer catching bream on fly-rods and with crickets when it was too hot for bass.

Sunset in February

Sunset in March

Weekend Pond Fishing -- Spring Bite Begins

2006-03-06T22:55:00.000-05:00

Erik has just caught the first pregnant bass of this spring. The first spot we went to on this farm pond was a protected shallow-water cove near the deep-water dam. We immediately saw five bass swimming around in the clear water. Over the next several hours we caught at least five in that cove, along with over a dozen others.

We caught almost all of the fish using Tiki Sticks by Wave-Worm. They don't look like much -- no arms or tails or fancy moldings, just a plain piece of plastic. But when you hook the plastic through the middle (called wacky-style hooking) and let it fall slowly down through clear water, the bass eat it up. Part of the attraction comes from the wiggling motion of the bait as it falls through the water; also, the licorice scent (from anise oil) and salt-infusion help attract the fish and keep it in their mouth longer. It's a great bait for clear water and in springtime when the bass prowl a little more.

About one-third of the fish we cleaned that night had yellow roe-sacks in them. Despite what my grandfather says, a pregnant bass tastes just as good as a regular one . . . after you deep fry it.

After catching enough for dinner, we moved over to a big pond that didn't have as much bank cover, but where the bass grew bigger. Again, we had the best luck in the smaller side coves.

Andrew caught the biggest fish of the day -- four pounds, four ounces -- using a buzzbait as it was getting darker. Somehow I caught a white perch on a plastic worm. It was a large perch, probably weighing about a pound.

Our luck was a lot worse on Friday, when we spent six hours on the water and caught fewer than ten fish total. The pond we spent the most time had a stream running through the center, trees in the water, and lily-pads everywhere. It looked like it would hold a monster, but all we got was this minnow that Erik pulled in.

Erik ending up beating me on our side bet for biggest bass with this one, which barely qualified at 2 pounds 2 ounces.

Lake Tugaloo & Lake Yonah: Scenic North Georgia Fishing Lakes

2005-08-18T23:26:00.000-05:00

For Christmas last year my uncle gave me a book called Fishing Georgia by Kevin Dallmier (Falcon Guides, 2000). In flipping through the pages on Christmas morning, I came across an entry for Lake Tugalo:

Arguably the most scenic lake in Georgia, 597-acre Lake Tugalo is also one of the most remote. The incredible beauty of 1,000 foot walls rising straight up from the water's edge and the possibility of truly trophy-sized largemouth bass make Lake Tugalo an interesting trip indeed.

I immediatley decided that I wanted to experience this lake for myself, and this August, I finally got the chance. From personal experience I can now tell you that, although the beauty of the reservoir is indisputable, much of the rest of the information was in serious need of updating.

Before setting out on the long trek to north Georgia, where Lake Tugalo forms the state's northeastern border with South Carolina, I purchased a copy of Bass Fishing in Georgia by Jimmy Jacobs to help guide me through the trip. Jacobs promised detailed directions to the "remote and nearly inaccessible" boat ramp and instruction on how to catch the lake's purportedly prodigious population of ten pound largemouths (according to Jacobs seven percent of the bass weighed in over the ten pound mark).

Following Jacobs' directions, my fishing partner and, most importantly, boat-owner, Rob Shuman, and I travelled north through Georgia, crossed into South Carolina, and finally found Damascus Church Road off Highway 76. Turning off there, we wound our way down the side of the mountain on dirt roads until we came to the remote and distant South Carolina boat landing.

Getting the boat into the water was no easy task, as the ramp designers had apparently forgotten to take into account the swing-out needed to get a truck and trailer down from the parking area to the ramp. On my first pass, the truck almost went over the guard rails before I got the brakes to stick and hit reverse.

Once on the water, however, these frustrations quickly evaporated. The place is flat-out beautiful. I've never spent a lot of time in north Georgia, and after boating around Lake Tugalo, I definitely intend to correct this mistake. As promised in the fishing guides, at places cliffs do rise up a 1,000 feet from the water's edge, and everywhere there's a sense of floating at the tops of mountains -- which in fact you are, as the lake sits on top of a deep gorge at the confluence of the Chatooga and Tallulah Rivers. Tugaloo dam, built in 1922, is 155-ft high, and doubtless parts of the lake reach even deeper than the dam waters.

Once you're on the water, you realize that the thousand foot cliffs and towering mountain views are worth every bit of the trouble.

Although the Lake is only 600 acres, we spent several hours sight-seeing around the two arms of the reservoir. I was especially impressed with the areas where the Tallulah River rushes into the Lake. An elaborate three story building (Georgia Power's Tallulah Falls power plant) hovers over the entrance of the river to the Lake. The picture of the scene on this page barely does justice to the reality of the sight.

The Tallulah River runs through steep rapids in its last stages before entering the lake.

Not that many fisherman were on the Lake. A couple had marked out a great spot on the mudline where the turbid waters of Tullulah entered the lake. We watched for a few minutes as they added a few white catfish to their impressive stringer. A few other boats drifted along the 18 miles of shoreline, but the reservoir was largely empty.

At the far right of this photo, you can see the mud line marking the the entrance of mountain river waters into the reservoir. The turbidity of the river water was a tell-tale sign of recent North Georgia rains. Locals fishing the mud line pulled in a stringer full of white catfish.

After exploring for a while we came across what appeared to be a campground and boat ramp on the Georgia side of the Lake. According to the sources I had consulted, no such place existed. Naturally we had to find out what this place was, so we stopped and talked to a husband and wife pair who had hauled their big camper trailer down the side of the mountain with an old red Ford pickup which they had, appropriately, dubbed "Old Red." This wizened old pair hailed from Rabun County and apparently knew all there was to know about Tugalo -- at least since 2001 when Georgia Power had constructed a new boat ramp accessible directly off Highway 441 at the Tallulah Gorge State Park. Arghh! (Remember Fishing Georgia was published in 2000 - before the new boat ramp had been built.)

The new boat ramp had opened the lake up to hordes of Georgia fisherman eager to catch the abundant 10-pounders. After several years of Lake Tugalo supplying mounted monsters to the new anglers, today less than 5 percent of the bass weigh over four pounds (see the Ga DNR's website on Lake Tugalo Reservoir 2005 fishing prospects).

Nevetheless, the old couple gave us hope, telling us that if you run into a Tugalo monster, you've "got to have some lead in your britches to get 'em in the boat." They recommended using big plastic words. They seemed to prefer the white cats, though, and indeed, all over the Georgia Power cove, limb lines were strung about like Christmas lights.

According to lake regulars, when the dam is generating, the flow causes logs to start rolling just under the water's surface throughout the lake. These can create a boating hazard. When the flow stops, however, birds take rest on the floating debris.

As evening came on, we finally got out the rods and starting fishing. We tried using buzzbaits, trick worms, speed worms, and wacky-hooked worms. A couple hours fishing yielded four smallish-sized bass from the backs of coves.

The fishing wasn't easy, but when the sun went down, we pulled in several small fish from the backs of coves.

That evening we decided to do some more internet research about Lake Tugalo and found out that the typical forage fish at the reservoir is blue-backed herring, so the next morning we stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up a few crankbaits that mimicked the herring.

The next day we decided to try to find the Georgia Power ramp, but stopped to take a look at Tallulah Falls first. Allegedly the largest gorge east of the Mississippi, Tallulah Gorge is definitely worth the detour. A couple of observation points are an easy half-mile walk from the Jane Hurt Yarn Interpretive Center at the Tallulah Gorge Park.

The next day we sought out the Georgia boat ramp maintained by Georgia Power. But first, we stopped to take a look at Tallulah Falls. According to the signs, this is the deepest gorge east of the Mississsippi River.

Fast running out of daylight, we took the first road that seemed promising and ended up getting lost. Instead of finding the Georgia side of Lake Tugaloo, we found Lake Yonah, which is directly downstream of the Tugalo Dam.

Even though we could clearly see Tugaloo Dam holding back the waters of Lake Tugaloo, we never did find the road leading down to the reservoir . . . Instead, by accident, we found the road to Lake Yonah, which spreads out below the Tugaloo Dam.

Lake Yonah spreads out over 325 acres between the Tugalo Dam and the Yonah Dam (constructed in 1925). A couple of fisherman had tied up against the dam wall and had pulled in a couple dozen white cats and two large bass using blue back herring cut-bait fished on the bottom. These were all the fish of Lake Yonah we ever saw. We ended up riding around the Lake more than we did fishing, which was probably just as well.

Due to the heat and humidity -- and our unfamiliarity with the Lakes -- our prospects of actually catching fish on this fishing trip had, realistically speaking, always been quite poor. After several recent years of frustrating fishing trips, I've finally learned that I can't just pop onto a body of water and start catching big bass. I'm still at that amateur stage where I know how to fish familiar environments, but am still learning how to deal with new fishing conditions. This constant learning process, however, is what continues to engage me in the sport.

Directly underneath the dam, a pair of local fisherman had caught two dozen fish, including two large bass, by using cut blue herring.

Unlike Lake Tugaloo, which has no development (apart from a rustic campground), Lake Yonah is ringed with vacation homes.

Long drives, overcast skies, tough fishing. But the mountain views and the chance to fish remote and largely untested waters made the trip worth the effort.

A topographical map of Lake Tugalo and, at the bottom of the rendering, Lake Yonah.

Fort Stewart Military Base: Georgia's Big Bass Headquarters

2005-08-08T20:48:00.000-05:00

Here's an astonishing fact: 25% of Georgia's 33 largest bass have been caught at Fort Stewart Military Base. After a friend told me the military ponds were open to public fishing, I started doing a little research, and discovered how much I'd been missing.

The military base sprawls out over 280,000 acres from Claxton to Savannah -- it runs about 40 miles from easternmost to westernmost point. Most of the land is just timber, but hidden among the trees are over twenty ponds, several of which are specifically managed by the Department of the Army for trophy-sized bass.

I went there a few weeks ago with Rob Shuman, and apart from the 3 lb 11 oz bass pictured here, we didn't catch much.

Despite the near empty creel, I'm excited about the possibilities of the place. Here is some information you can use to make your trip there a little smoother than ours was.

If you're going after big bass, there are three ponds to focus on: Big Metz (Pond #26), Pineview (Pond #1), and Dogwood (Pond #28). Each of these ponds is specifically managed for lunkers and has produced bass over 15 pounds.

According to fish surveys by the Dept of the Army, Big Metz is especially looking good this year, with over 13% of the bass measuring greater than 20" and virtually half over 15". To keep the Metz bass growing, the Army recently added threadfin shad into the pond. The pond is about 57 acres with an average depth of 7 feet, and includes areas of standing cypress trees. The Army keeps it limed and fertilized to keep the fish fat.

Unfortunately, Big Metz isn't open every day. You have to check the website or call the Pass and Permits Office (912-767-5032) to see which lakes are open on which days. When we went, Metz and Dogwood were closed, so we went to Pineview.

When we first pulled up, my spirits sunk a little, because Pineview looks like a big, tough-to-fish, mature (ie no visible cover) lake. It was constructed in the 1960's and is over 80 acres in size. There are very few trees shading the water, and virtually no lay-downs, stick-ups, or rip-rap. Almost all the fish we caught came from a back cove that had a nice weed cover along the banks. We pulled spinnerbaits and buzzbaits in front of the weeds to try to entice out the bass with a little success. I also caught a couple of small ones on a trick worm twitched in front of the weed line. Of course, it was a hot July day with few clouds and lots of sunshine, so all considered, our total catch wasn't unrespectable. My recommendation, however, would be to go on a day when Metz is open, because that ponds sounds a lot more scenic and easier to fish than Pineview.

Dogwood Lake also seems good on paper, with 37% of surveyed bass exceeding 15" in length. The Army has forecast excellent fishing in 2005 at Dogwood, and the lake has the added benefit of its situation very near to the Pass and Permit Office.

Pond location turns out to be very important at Fort Stewart. Unless you have an annual pass, you first have to take Highway 144 right into the center of the bas to the Pass and Permit office, where you can purchase your $5 daily decal. In our case, coming from the west, we had to drive into the base center for 30 minutes and then backtrack another 30 minutes to Pineview, which along with most of the other ponds, is at the base's western entrance. This is why I strongly suggest springing for the $20 annual pass.

Fort Stewart requires that you check into and out of the ponds using an automated phone system. If you fail to check out -- as we did -- then you get suspended from the base for seven days.

Also, in order to fish at Fort Stewart, you have to have on your person your Georgia Fishing License.

If all this trophy bass talk has you interested in Fort Stewart fishing, then go to the base's website -- it has a ton of useful information, including depth and structure maps for all of the ponds. Fort Stewart Fishing Home

As soon as the weather cools down some, I'll be back down there trying to catch a big one at Big Metz.

Summer Bass Fishing on the Oconee River by Derek Edge

2005-08-02T19:36:00.000-05:00

Here are pictures of some of the bass I managed to catch over the weekend on the
Oconee River below the Dublin bridge. The two pictured above were caught
Saturday, around large rock piles on the middle of the river. I caught 3
more around the same places but they were a little short so I threw them back.
All fish caught that day came on a texas-rigged, watermelon/red flake Yum
Dinger, fished on a 2/0 hook with a 1/4 oz bullet weight. My technique was
to bounce the worm off the rocks, and into the current breaks behind the
rocks.

The fish shown in the picture to the left was caught the next day (Sunday) and came on a blue/black Strike King Bitsy Jig, with the FLW blue/red jig trailer. I also managed to hang a bass that broke off on a limb and somehow manged
to stay on it for a few minutes, until I tried to get him off, and he just came
loose. The one other bass I caught was a nice fish, probably around 3
pounds or so, but almost half of his mouth had been bit off somehow. He
really looked rough, so I let him back imediately. The two fish came on a
pumpkin type color Yum Dinger, fished on a texas rig with a 2/0 hook and a
1/4 oz bullet weight also, though this time I was just drifting down the
river and casting it to the bank.

The fish were not real big, but still decent fish for the Oconee. Oh, one other thing, all fish were safely returned back to the river after pictures were taken.

Altamaha River Flathead Hunt

2005-07-20T14:55:00.000-05:00

Bad Forecast, but Big Fish

We pulled up to Pat's Bait Shack in Jesup under mean looking skies. One of our party had already dropped out because of the winds, storms, lightening, rising river, and other fun stuff forecast for the weekend. Hurricane Dennis was rolling through the Gulf Coast but we thought we could still get some fishing in. At the baitshop, Pat gave us some words of wisdom, "Well, you never know if it's going to rain or not until it does." She told us the fish were biting, then sold us three dozen goldfish and a hopper of crickets.

The Altamaha is known as one of the country's best places to catch really big catfish. Flatheads were illegally introduced into the Altamaha River system -- in the Warner Robbins area of the Ocmulgee River tributary -- in the mid-1970's. Today, the flathead can be found in every deep hole on the Ocmulgee, Oconee, and Altamaha. According to the DNR, however, the most and the biggest flatheads are in the wide, deep waters of the middle and lower Altamaha downstream from Jesup. Last year, just before our trip, a couple of guys from Thomaston caught an 85 pound monster out of the river a few miles from Pat's Bait Shack, which is located at the Jaycee's Landing in what is called Doctortown (click here for interesting information about "Doctortown, its founding, its role in Georgia history, and its significance in the Civil War). Click on this photo to read the story of their catch.

It's hard not to get excited about fishing for flatheads when you consider that any line may be shaking with a giant like that.

Equipment

Before the trip, we tied 6/0 circle hooks and 8 oz weights to 75 lb test "Big Cat" line using a quick-jig knot. We wrapped the lines around a styrofoam block to keep the hook points from scattering around the boat. We also had four charged spotlights, tinfoil for marking the lines, and a new heavy-duty net. Pat supplied the goldfish, but we also brought along some light tackle to try to catch some small bream, if we had time. Because we planned on staying out two nights, we also had our tents, bags, mosquito repellent, and chainsaw. We also got two battery-powered bubble makers from Wal-Mart and they kept the goldfish alive the whole weekend.

High River Lessons

The river was at 8' 3", about four feet higher than last year when we went, but still manageable. Once we got launched from the landing, we decided to go down river a ways to find a sandbar to set out the camp. Near the Rayonier plant there were plenty of sandbars still above water, so we thought it'd be the same further downstream, and we kept going. Then it started raining, and we said, let's stop at the next one, but the next one never came. Almost 17 miles downstream and completely soaked, we finally pulled over onto a high cliff ledge that had a camp clearing and set up for the night. We didn't even get to fish because of all the rain.

It can be frustrating trying out new places to fish, because no matter how much people tell you, it seems like the important stuff you just have to learn by experience. So now we know that when the water's high, go to the sandbars near Jesup because there won't be any above water downstream.

The next morning we motored back up the river to set up a new camp closer to the boat landing. Bringing the small chainsaw (Stihl MiniBoss) turned out to be a good idea, because we were able to cut up enough trees to keep the campfire going all night while we were fishing.

Setting the Hooks

Thirty hours into the trip, we finally started fishing. The general consensus on line placement for big cats is to find deep holes with debris in them. The fast current on river bends usually cuts out deep holes, so that's an easy feature to look for. Another good area is where streams come into the river.

Ideallly, we would have covered a lot more territory to find better places to put out the lines, but we were tired, the current was fast, and it looked like it was going to rain. So we just put out ten lines at the best looking areas closest to our camp. We only got to check the lines a few times, but one spot -- where a stream came into the river at a bend -- produced twice for us. This was Michael's first time setting limb lines, and he was really impressed when he saw the branch thrashing up and down from our first catch. The sight gets your adrenaline racing.

The Catch

The fish we caught weighed in between 11 and 14 pounds, not bad, but still less than our 20 pound goal. I think if we'd been able to set more lines and spend more time checking them we could have gotten some really good ones.

The Altamaha versus the Oconee

In comparing Altamaha fishing to Oconee fishing, my thought is that, on the Altamaha, the fishing's harder but the catching's easier. In other words, it takes a lot more effort to fish on the big river, but if you put out that effort, you're more likely to be rewarded. Specifically, the current is a lot stronger on the Altamaha, making it harder to keep the boat in place for setting and checking the lines. Also, with a wider river and flatter banks, there's a whole lot more bushes sticking out into the water. On the Oconee you only have to worry about snakes falling out of tree limbs; on the Altamaha, every tree is filled with huge spiders and lots of bugs. When Michael was checking a line, he grabbed onto a tree limb that had a spider as big as his hand on it. Everything was fine until he saw it, and then he almost jumped into the water. Of course, on the positive side, the Altamha seems to have a lot more creeks feeding into it than the Oconee -- which makes finding good fishing spots easier. And according to fish surveys, the Altamaha has a lot more and bigger fish of all species than the Oconee.

One of my favorite parts of fishing on the Oconee is when you get to drift back downstream after checking the lines. That's not possible on the Altamaha because the river's too windy and the current too fast to just turn off the boat and drift. When I want a low-key relaxing fishing trip, you can't beat the Oconee River. When you want to catch some monsters and don't mind the extra work, that's the time to go to the Altamaha.

Fishing But Not Catching/Plastic Lure Storage System Perfected

2005-07-19T22:31:00.000-05:00

Trust me, it's not easy to write a fishing story if you don't catch fish. What is there to say other than, "We didn't catch any fish"? In the past, I have resorted to talking about how pleasant it is simply to be on the water, or how fishing (even without catching) has increased my appreciation for God's creation. But really, that's the kind of thing that needs to be said only once, or maybe twice, and after that starts sounding like an excuse.

Well, here goes again: I went fishing on Saturday. After a week of rain, the sun was bright and it felt great to be on the water. Although we visited three ponds in five hours, we didn't catch many fish and they weren't big. Nevertheless, the experience did make me better appreciate the beauty and fickleness of God's creation.

On a more helpful level, my recent pond fishing excursions has helped me perfect a system for storing my soft plastic baits. I don't use spinnerbaits or crankbaits that often, so I have lots of worms, tubes, crawfish, flukes, creature baits, etc., but was always frustrated at how they seem to come out of their little plastic bags and spread into the tackle box. Then when it rains, they get swollen and smelly and their colors run into each other. So, this is what I do now. I got the new gallon size ziplock bags that have the easy-pull plastic zip handle across the top and put all the packs of a similar type into a bag. For example, I have a gallon bag of trick worms packs, a bag of senkos, etc. Then I placed all these easy-zip bags into a six gallon $3 hard plastic waterproof container from Wal-Mart. The bottom line is that the easy-zip containers make it easier to keep everything separated and the clear plastic container is large enough to hold all of them and keep everything dry. (A picture of this set-up is at the top.)

Because no fishing story would be complete without a fish picture, here's one from earlier in the week when Matt Kitchell had the same mediocre experience at a local private pond:

The Perfect Time and Place for Buzzbaits

2005-07-14T15:14:00.000-05:00

With hundreds of lures to chose from, sometimes I wonder how important finding the "right lure" is for any particular place and time. For most situations, I think that if you go with a lure that you're confident with and know how to fish correctly, then you'll probably get the fish that are biting, and probably won't get the ones that aren't.

Then there are the times when there simply is a right lure. For example, yesterday. In the afternoon a front blew in, creating deeply overcast clouds and isolated rain. We were fishing a 10 acre private pond, and the dark skies called out for a buzzbait.

While I went bite-less with my usual senko hooked wacky style, Rob started pulling in a few nice fish on a large black buzzbait. Then, Rob tangled up with a seven pound monster (pictured above)that struggled mightily against the line in a classic bass fight. He finally pulled him into the boat, and as soon as the pictures were taken, I switched over to my own black buzzbait.

As most fisherman know, a buzzbait is basically a large loud blade attached to a large sharp hook. It works best in the summertime during early mornings & dusk and whenever the sky is overcast. Because buzzbaits are retrieved fast and loud across the water's surface, they don't mimic any natural prey. Instead, their squeaky, churning sound provokes a reaction strike from both active feeding fish and, if repeatedly cast over their home, from frustrated neutral bass.

Buzzbaits are so fun to fish with because bass really hate them. Bass explode up through the water and attack these baits viciously. The very vehemence of these strikes, however, causes me to miss a lot of fish. My first instinct on seeing a big bass engulf a buzzbait is to jerk the rod back. I do this instinctively, even though I know that you're supposed to wait until you feel the weight of the fish on the rod before you set the hook. Done correctly, you might have to keep steadily retrieving the bait through three different big strikes before a bass finally gets the buzz hooked in its mouth.

As it got darker, we moved from a creek channel to a large shallow cove. The water in this cove was only a couple of feet deep and underneath was a maze of grassbeds and cut-over stumps. This afternoon, I read in the book "Baits for Bass" that pros say an ideal condition for buzzbaits is when vegetation lies just under the surface, a fact I didn't previously know, but which was verified last night: almost immediately upon casting to the cove, huge bass started jumping out from the weedbeds attacking the buzzbaits.

I pulled in the four-pounder pictured here, and Rob got another seven pounder right next the boat before it lurched away. We kept landing big fish until the sun went down, proving that sometimes there is a perfect lure for the time and place you're fishing.

Georgia Enacts New Catfish Noodling and Spearing Laws

2005-06-28T10:04:00.000-05:00

New Noodling Law

This year the Georgia General Assembly joined the roster of states now allowing catfish to be taken by noodling (aka "grabbling" or "hand grabbing"). Here's an excerpt from the new Georgia Code Section 27-4-37:

Flathead, channel, and blue catfish may be taken by hand without the aid of any device, hook, snare, net, or other artificial instrument and without the aid of any scuba equipment, air hose, or other artificial breathing apparatus between March 1 and July 15 each year.

The law prohibits altering any natural features to aid in the noodling and requires noodlers to have a fishing license. Georgia legislators are noodling "purists", as they specifically disallowed artificial breathing devices, but showed a lack of confidence in people's own good judgment by limiting the sport to a four month season.

Changes to Fish-Spearing Law

The legislature also tackled the pointed issue of fishing by spear. Under the old laws, anglers could only spear non-game fish. This year, the General Assembly buckled under to the spearfisherman lobby and passed a new law allowing the spearing of channel and flathead catfish on the Savannah River. To reassure the general public, however, the legislature did specify that "It shall be unlawful to use spears with poisonous or exploding heads." As always, "persons engaged in the act of spearing must be completely submerged."

Here's a link to the House Bill 301 as passed by the Georgia House and Senate and now enacted into law:

http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2005_06/pdf/hb301.pdf

In Search of Big Catfish on the Oconee River

2005-06-26T22:25:00.000-05:00

This weekend, five friends enjoyed a trip on the Oconee River in search of big flathead catfish. As with any fishing trip, we had three goals: one, not to get shut out; two, to catch a big one; and three, to catch a lot of 'em. We went two for three. Here's the story in photos.

Afternoon Preparation: Catching Bait Fish

Preparation for limb-lining takes as much work as the actual setting of the lines. On Saturday afternoon we went out to Brian Clark's pond to catch some bream to use as bait later that night. After feeding crickets to the sneaky blue-gill for a while, Rob decided to cheat by using a casting net.

I, on the other hand, perservered with a good old-fashioned cane pole, and was finally rewarded with a nice little bream.

Our bait bucket was hooked up with battery-powered bubble makers ($5 each from Wal-Mart). Brian's black lab pup, Trigger, tried to help out by staying right under our feet.

Once we got enough bait, we tied the lines, using 75 test-lc catfish line with 6/0 hooks and heavy sinkers. We tied the big hooks up to the styrofoam so they wouldn't be all over the boat while we were on the water.

On the Water

Finally, on the water. Just after sunset, we scanned the banks looking for green limbs overhanging the bank, preferably near a stream-mouth. Once we found a good spot, we put Jason to work tying the lines up to the bushes. We scared a snake away from that tree before we put him under it.

After all that hard work, here's the reward. Seventeen pounds!

Back on the land, he looks he even bigger.

The Next Day

The work doesn't end when the night-fishing finally wraps up. The next day, Rob and I go back out to clean up our mess, taking down tinfoil and lines.

But occassionally, luck strikes the clean-up crew. Another catfish, this one a channel cat weighing in at over seven pounds.

There's got to be a great big one lurking in the murky waters of the Oconee River south of the Dublin bridge, and maybe next weekend we'll find him pulling on the end of a line.

High Fertilization Creates Big Bass Mecca

2005-06-19T09:53:00.000-05:00

This pond has been specifically managed for big bass, and the owners have done a terrific job. By consistently applying high levels of fertilizer, fattening up the bream with feeders, managing the catch rates, and adding a mechanical oxidizer to keep the water in balance, in only five years they have created a big bass mecca.

On Saturday, Dave Harper and I caught about thirty bass and virtually every one of them was over two pounds and several around four pounds. They fought aggressively, pulled hard, and jumped big. You can tell these are big healthy bass and they're only going to get more massive in the next few years.

One of the owners was there with us and he saw I was catching several fish in a row with Wave Worm's Tiki Stick -- which is the Wal-Mart version of the senko. (WaveWorm's TikiStick knock-off of the original Yamamoto Senko runs only about $4 for a pack of 10, so I've started using those for
wacky style fishing unless I want a special color or size from Yamamoto.) In any case, he told me to smell the bag of worms, and I noticed a distinctive familiar smell but couldn't place it until he told me to think of licorice. Sure enough, that's exactly what they smell like.

He said that licorice smell comes from anise oil . Back when he started bass fishing, he got a bottle of anise oil and added it to his worms as a "secret scent" fish attractant. WaveWorms (a company that, despite its South Pacific-style marketing is actually based in Lake Fork, Texas website) says their worms are "MoLoPo Infused" but Molopo is apparently just a created name for anise oil.

I'm intersted in some of the equipment the owners of the pond have used to keep the pond in balance while adopting a high fertilization program, so hopefully after a little more research I'll have another post on this topic.

Boat Ramp at Gillis PFA Now Open & the Fishing's Good!

2005-06-14T21:48:00.000-05:00

Finally back on the water after two weeks of incessant rain. Roy and his brother Ray are heading to Detroit for the summer on Thursday, so I promised to take them fishing before they left. Despite unpromising conditions (100 º temperature, muggy air, cloudless sky), we loaded up the boat and the truck and went to test the back pond at the Hugh Gillis PFA.

The front pond is over a hundred acres, but there's a small spillway that connects that larger body of water to the ten acre back pond. The GA DNR has just finished building a boat ramp and gravel road out to the small pond, and we wanted to see what the fishing was like back there.

Considering the conditions, we did really well. (Well, they did; I got skunked.) They caught a total of six bass , five of them on worms hooked wacky style, one on a crankbait. The water in the back pond is shallow, about three feet deep, but there's plenty of sticks and trees and it's a little deeper near the spillway, where we caught most of the fish. All in all, I think this is a great area to fish, because it's more contained and a lot less pressured than the rest of the lake. Although we were banging around in the boat a lot, the fish didn't seem spooked at all.

Ray caught his very first bass, pictured above, and his mother's going to cook it and the others for them before they head back to Michigan.

Catching Trout In Downtown Atlanta by Ron Rogers

2005-06-13T21:04:00.000-05:00

This weekend I was forced to stay in Atlanta because of a Thermo-Dynamics test I have coming up Thursday. Saturday, after 3 or 4 futile hours in the library I decided that I would do just as well on the test if I went fishing. It was about 2 p.m when I made the decision to go fishing and naturally I was ready to be in the water immediately. I really have never understood why but when I actually start the process of going fishing, I get in a bigger hurry than for anything else I do.

Living in Atlanta really sucks when you want to go fishing. Within ten square miles of my residence you can find almost any thing on earth, except a Wal-Mart. I knew I would need some rooster tails and small hooks to have any chance at a trout. I was forced to negotiate Peachtree Street at Phipps Plaza and Lenox Road to get to Dicks Sporting Goods. This is not fun when you are in a hurry to go fishing.

Finally, seemingly hours later, I reached the Chattahoochee National Recreation area, which is located about a mile from I-75 on Northside Drive.

I was glad to see there were quite a few fishermen wading the river, as I hoped this would mean there were fish there. My trout fishing experience is limited; I went twice the first time I was in college, neither trip being very successful. Having this in mind I really was not expecting much but none the less was looking forward to a relaxing day wading the cool waters of the ‘Hooch.
Once I finally got into the water I noticed that I was not in the company of your average fisherman. These were the fly-fisherman I have always heard of. They were all wearing chest waders which I thought was odd because it was so hot that walking from my truck to the river left me drenched in sweat. They had their vests with all manner of flys and warbling gerblers attached and were whipping there lines all over the place. I watched them(and they disapprovingly watched me) while fishing my rooster tail unsuccessfully.

After an hour of looking but not catching, I decided to switch to live bait. I had already gotten some dirty looks from the fly fisherman for using a spinning reel, but when I pulled out the corks and crickets, they all immediately moved to the other side of the river. I did not care, especially since I caught a little rainbow on the first cast. I caught about 15 or 20 rainbow and brown trout by the end of the day. They were mostly small. I think one of them may have been 10 inches long, but they pulled hard and that’s all I can ever ask of any fish.

As you can probably tell I really have a problem with snooty fisherman. While I enjoy a challenge, I enjoy filling up a cooler more and am proud to be a gut-chunking meat hound. I do not believe there is any disrespectable way to catch a fish. I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces next week when I bring my cast net.

Editor's Note: Ron Rogers, former star football player for Georgia Tech, is back in Atlanta to finish out his Tech engineering degree. An all-around angler, he's most succesful when fishing alone without a camera, but we enjoy his stories and look forward to his continuing to post us on his fishing exploits.

Are Shallow Ponds Bad for Fish Productivity?

2005-06-05T21:21:00.000-05:00

As you can see from the picture to the left, a good portion of the Shuman pond is under three feet deep. Although the trees and brush now present will soon die off, creating a more scenic aspect, the question remains, is two feet deep enough for fish productivity? It should be noted that approximately 20% of the pond (the area near the dam) is 6-8 feet deep.

Here are several problems with shallow ponds noted by the sources cited below:

Water Loss Due to Evaporation & Seepage. In areas like Georgia, where summer is long and hot, the owner can expect substantial loss of water due to evaporation. This factor combined with normal pond seepage suggests that areas only two-foot deep might experience occasional loss of water cover, unless the pond will receive a steady influx of water throughout the summer months.
Excessive Weeds and Vegetative Growth. Shallow ponds, especially when unfertilized, can receive sun energy right down to the bottom, promoting the growth of nuisance weeds and vegetation. This factor doesn't mean you can't have a shallow pond, just that if you do have a shallow pond, you'll probably have to take alternative or more aggressive measures to control growth. For example, steep slopes along the shoreline will help prevent weed growth, or, if that's not available, the owner may consider fertilization, winter draw-downs, introduction of grass carp, or use of chemicals.
Boat Navigation. From a practical standpoint, it's can be very difficult to navigate a pond in water less than three feet deep.
Super-Heated Shallows. Unless deep water is available, summer heat can kill off fish trapped in super-heated shallow water during Deep South summers.
Winter Freezes. This factor obviously doesn't apply in Georgia, but only in those unlucky areas of the country where fish will suffocate in shallow ponds that become covered in ice. So, in the North, all things equal, ponds need to be deeper than in the South.
Bird Predation. For what it's worth, one source noted that blue herons pick off fish in waters less than three feet deep.

Everyone agrees that water deeper than 15 feet is not necessary, as there's little oxygen available for fish past that depth.

My take-away point from reading the various sources cited below is that it's just a lot easier if the pond is at least three feet deep through most of its area. However, a pond with large shallow areas (less than 3 feet deep) will not detrimintally affect fish production so long as

Deeper water is available for fish to retreat to during the hot summer months,
The pond's water source is constant enough to counter-balance summer water-loss due to evaporation, and
Other methods are employed to control shallow-area weed growth.

Sources
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/extension/fiw/fisheries/pondslakes/pondproblems.html
http://www.butlercountyohio.org/conservation/Urban/ponds.htm
http://www.ponddoc.com/WhatsUpDoc/PondIQTest.htm
http://kdwp.state.ks.us/news/content/pdf/2477

See also,
http://warnell.forestry.uga.edu/warnell/service/library/index.php3?docID=41&docHistory[]=1

Homerville's Guest Mill Pond: Black Water, Black Bass

2005-05-29T17:09:00.000-05:00

Pictured above is Michael Harper with a 4 lb largemouth he pulled out of the dark waters of Guest Mill Pond in Homerville, Georgia last April. The dam that created the pond was constructed in 1840, so it's an understatement to say the bass have had time to grow big. I haven't been there myself, but apparently there's an old cemetery with Civil War graves and the remains of a historic grist mill and ante-bellum trading post.

The fishing's good there, but you have to be patient because the bite's not always on. It's also hard to maneuver in it because it's large (600 acres), shallow, and full of stumps. You have to follow a path of PVC pipes just to get through the maze of cypress trees to the main pond area.

The bass above was caught on a green pumpkin Zoom speed worm in the afternoon. It has a striking black colored body that matches the dark swampy looking waters of the pond. Apparently it's the high pH of the water that causes the dark color. I'll do some research to try to find out more about why the water -- and the bass -- are so often black in south Georgia.

Hopefully, I'll get a chance to go fishing with Michael down there soon, and come back with more pictures.

EDIT: OK -- Thanks for the comments below. As I should have known, in swamp-like environments, organic matter containing tannis creates tannic acid as it decays, and this acid gives the water its low (acidic) pH level and its tea-colored stain. Most freshwater fish, including bass, prosper best in neutral pH environments (5.5 - 7.5) and thus fish populations in swamps and other acidic environments are often low.

Biologists Work to Save the Rare and Endangered Robust Redhorse Fish on the Oconee River

2005-05-23T21:07:00.000-05:00

Surprise Discovery at Commissioner's Creek

On August 8, 1991, Jimmy Evans, a fisheries specialist with the Georgia DNR, was hard at work electroshocking the waters of the Oconee River. He was preparing a survey of fish populations for a Georgia Power federal relicensing application. That afternoon he worked his way downriver without incident -- until he reached the mouth of Commissioner's Creek in Wilkinson County. Near the creek mouth, something unexpected happened. As he pulsed the electric current through the rods hanging from the front of the boat, several extremely large red-scaled sucker fish floated to the top. He netted the fish and took a closer look. The fish had thick robust bodies and rosy-colored fins. With an average weight over nine pounds, these red monsters were much larger than any sucker fish he knew of. Little did Evans know that he had just rediscovered a colony of fish lost to science since 1869

Once back on land, and curious for a precise identification, Evans shipped several specimens to Bud Freeman and Robert Jenkins, noted icthyologists at the University of Georgia and Virginia's Salem College. The scientists knew they was seeing something strange; at first, even they were unable to identify the fish. Over the next two years, these and other scientists collabarated with the Georgia DNR to finally unravel the mystery of the red-scaled catostomids.

These large sucker fish were actually robust redhorse fish -- and they had last been identified in 1869 -- over 120 years ago. Their range once spread from the Pee Dee River in North Carolina to the Altamaha River in south Georgia, but now their population seemed confined to a small creek mouth on the Oconee River between Dublin and Milledgeville, Georgia.

Out of this surprise discovery in 1991 has sprung an extensive and expensive effort to learn more about the rare and endangered robust redhorse and to save the species from extinction. This spring, biologists from the Georgia DNR, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the University of Georgia set up a base camp at the scenic Beaverdam Wildlife Management Area on the banks of the Oconee River in Laurens County as part of their annual effort to capture elusive redhorse specimens for breeding.

Breeding Redhorse at the Beaverdam WMA Base Camp

I met up with the scientists near the end of their three weeks effort to find out how they had done and what lay ahead for their efforts. Reaching the camp required bumping down a seven mile single-track road through the Wildlife area. Once I finally emerged into the boat ramp clearing, two graduate students from UGA jumped up to greet me. Jackie Zelco, the project manager from US Fish & Wildlife, was out on the river with Jimmy Evans -- the species re-discoverer -- trying to find some more redhorse. While waiting for their return, the students displayed the eight large blue holding tanks they had set up on the river bank. The tanks circulated with water pumped up from the river. Earlier in the week, the team had trailered a large propane tank out to the landing area to power the project and set up a card table with the various instruments of the scientists, including a microscope, scale, measuring board, clamps, and scissor.

Several redhorse swam lazily in the tanks, and student Drew Taylor graciously netted one for us so that Leah Stanley, a reporter with the Courier Herald, could snap some quick pictures. After a short wait, we heard Zelco and Evans' boats powering up the river. We ran down to meet them and bring any fish up to the tanks, but they had come empty-handed. But I was not out of luck, as Zelco agreed to let me observe her work with the fish already in the tank.

She started by mixing MS222, a harmless but effective anesthetic, into a smaller holding tank. The anesthetic is necessary because the fish are, as their name implies, quite strong and difficult to handle. Once the fish were sedated, Zelco snipped off a small piece of the fin of each fish and stuffed it into a vial. The fin samples -- valuable for their unique DNA pattern -- were sent to to the Georgia Museum of Natural History in Athens for permanent storage.

Each fish was fitted with three tags: a PIT tag, which is a small cylinder with a unique ten digit number that identifies that particular fish; a Floy tag, which is printed with a phone number to call in case the fish is captured by an unsuspecting angler; and a magnetic coded wire tag, which the biologist run inside the fish's body -- the placement of the wire in the fish's body indicates the year the fish was caught.

After tagging and clipping the fish, Zelco brought out a large towel and lifted a female fish up by the tail. She wrapped the towel around the fish's body and then began to vigorously squeeze its underbelly. As she squeezed, Taylor held out his hand to cup the small yellow eggs that flowed out of the fish's body.

Zelco explained that redhorse mating in nature requires at least two males to each female. The males line up on either side of their mate and squeeze the female between them, causing the release of the eggs. Michael Abney, Georgia Power's point man for the redhorse resoration project, later told me that for the first time this year he observed four males mating with one female, and then a veritable fish orgy, with five males squeezing two females. Triad mating is not unknown in the family of redhorse fishes, but the multiple mating he observed this year is certainly unusual.

In nature, the spawning occurs over shallow gravel bars, so that the released roe fall into the protected interstitial space of the gravel, where the current flows over them, turning and oxygenating the eggs until hatching. Evans hypothesizes that the widescale soil erosion precipitated by the first hundred years of cotton farming in the South covered these gravel spawning beds with sand, pushing the robust redhorse to the verge of extinction.

Learning to mimic the squeezing action of redhorse mating had taken trial and error, but Zelco is now a professional at the fish ritual, and she quickly induced the female to release a thimbleful of tiny yellow eggs. Normally, these eggs would be mixed quickly in a bucket with sperm harvested from the males, but Zelco had already collected over 15,000 fertilized eggs this year, so these eggs were merely examined for quality and then swished back into the holding tank.

Fertilized eggs are boxed and shipped off to several hatcheries across the state, where they are hatched and reared until fingerlings are ready to be released into new rivers across the south. The DNR has even esablished "armageddon" ponds at the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge near Macon, Georgia. These refugial areas are dedicated to raising a permenent colony of redhorse fish, so that if some natural disaster befalls the Oconee River population, the redhorse will survive as a species.

Once Zelco had finished with the fish, a grad student carted them down to the river and released the redhorse back to their home. In a few days, they will make their way back to their old stomping grounds upstream of the landing.

The Redhorse's Uncertain Future

The three fish we watched swim away that afternoon were some of the twelve collected this year -- an extremely low number by past standards. At least the crew was able to achieve substantial egg production from two captured females, producing a total fry production of 11,000. Hopefully, the low numbers of sample redhorse do not indicate more problems for the Oconee population, which probably numbers no more than a few hundred specimens and is dominated by aging adult male fish.

The DNR's breeding project is aimed at creating enough fish to stock other rivers historically part of the redhorse's range, including the Ocmulgee River. Sampling on that river immediately below Juliette Dam indicated for the first time this year that stocked redhorse are breeding in nature. As further counterbalance to the bleak Oconee numbers, scientists on the Ogeechee River reported large juveniles, spawned out of the Oconee population, are thriving throughout the rivercourse.

With significant efforts by the Georgia DNR, Georgia Power, and numerous public and private partners, many Southern rivers now boast small but active populations of the elusive robust redhorse fish.

Surf Fishing at Amelia Island

2005-05-22T21:50:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I went to Amelia Island for the first time, for one last trip with Jeff and friends before his upcoming wedding to Jennifer. While Jeff, JJ, and Ron took Ron's fiberglass boat, Brian C. and I piloted Rob's aluminum boat out to a large sandbar island roughly between the Island and the mainland. Brian commented that we were probably the only folks on the Atlantic Ocean at that moment in a camouflaged aluminum duck-boat (and with a 25 hp motor at that). The craft was up to the task, though, and we made it out to the sandbar intact. We had picked up some cut mullet at a baitshack near the boat ramp, and put slices of it on large circle hooks, then we waded out into the surf, cast it as best we could, and waited.

In the two hours or so we were out there, we hung up on two stingrays. JJ got the first one and it was a monster and not at all willing to be brought close enough to shore to gander at. For one hour, we took turns fighting it, at that time not so sure that it wasn't something a little more desirable. After a while though, the battle became tedious, so some of the group got into the big boat to drive out to it, to check out its size and to cut it loose.

The second one hit my line and was much smaller. I pulled it close enough to see it's white thin body flip up in the water and then let it go.

So the fishing wasn't great, but I got some good photos -- here's two:

Problems Surface Again at Dublin's Wastewater Outfall on Oconee River

2005-05-22T21:32:00.000-05:00

Last Monday evening, Santiago and I went fishing for bass on the Oconee River. The fishing wasn't succesful (see details below) but significantly, we did see discharges again from the City of Dublin's wastewater treatment facility. We put in at the Brickyard Landing in East Dublin around 5:30 and cruised upriver close to the Highway 80 bridge, and floated back down, casting to the banks. When we reached "Soap Creek" -- the creek the sewage plant's pipe drains into -- we saw the namesake white soapy foam cakes floating into the river, a sight that last year was so common, but which I hadn't witnessed recently. Several of the soap cakes were about a yard in diameter, surrounded by numerous smaller ones.

Santiago caught a small bass at the creek mouth -- as is usually the case -- but entertained no thought of keeping and eating it. The smell was nasty and chemically, and when we drifted into the creek a little, you could see the plant's inky-stained thick water slowly spreading down the creek into the river.

For a river so beautiful to be stained by these discharges is disheartening. At the rock shoals upstream from the creek, closer to the bridge, several children were playing in the river water. While I have no idea that the discharges are dangerous, they certainly are unsightly and smelly, and, in my opinion, interfere with the use and enjoyment of the river. The river belongs to all of us, and we deserve to be able to swim the river and eat fish caught from its waters. I hope that the City of Dublin is taking appropriate measures to keep their discharges as clean as possible.

On Friday evening, Rob and I put in at the Brickyard Landing to go check the pipe, but by the time we got to Soap Creek, it was flooding, and the pipe was almost all the way underwater, so we couldn't see any foam.

As for the fishing last Monday, it wasn't so good. Santiago's fish was the only one caught. For the first time on the river I tried out senkos hooked wacky-style, but found they caught up in river debris and laydowns too often to be effective. Plus the water was still murky, reducing their impact. I switched to a spinnerbait without luck, and as it grew darker a small black buzzbait, also without luck.

Bad Fish for Private Ponds and Basic Pond Management Ideas

2005-05-22T21:18:00.000-05:00

Here's the second post reporting with Ted Will's recommendations for ponds under 10-15 acres. Mr. Will is a senir fisheries biologist with the Ga DNR.

Do Not Recommend List:

Crappie -- for ponds under 15 acres, crappie will over-populate and take over the pond.
Green Sunfish -- they breed like rabbits and compete with the more-popular bluegill. Here's a picture of the Georgia state records green sunfish, caught in April 2004 and weighing in at 1 pound 4 ounces:
Hybrid Bluegill -- this fish is a combination of bluegill and sunfish, they get huge and aggressive, but if you put them in a pond, that's all you're going to end up with. Here's a picture of one:
Flathead Catfish -- some people have actually taken these out of a river and put them into their pond. One -- just one -- can eat all the fish, that is all the fish, in a whole pond. So stocking or transplanting a flathead is both illegal and a bad idea.

The third part of Mr. Will's presentation concerned pond management tactics, includin

the need for 2-3 tons of lime per acre per year, in order to facilitate growth of a green phytoplankton bloom
the futility of wholescale pond fertilization when you have lots of water flow-through, as with stream-fed ponds
the selective benefit of feeders in fattening up bluegill
the fact that most structure artificially placed in a pond simply concentrates the fish for easier fishing, except that pea gravel is good for helping bluegill bed

Mr. Will said of all the pond problems reported to DNR, too many small bass (8 to 10") comprises 80% of the complaints. The best solution is simply to let fisherman take 10 pounds of bass per acre out out of your pond annually.

Update on Updates

2005-05-22T21:06:00.000-05:00

I've been neglectful of the site the last couple of weeks, in part because I felt swamped by the technical demands of creating the new site, www.avidangler.net, which, despite my efforts, is still definitely in an "under construction" phase. But nevertheless, I have in mind several more posts that I will start working on tonight.

Here's the articles I plan to post in the next two days:
1) bad species for pond stocking
2) pictures and a report from surf fishing on Amelia Island
3) report on fishing with Santiago on the Oconee River last week
4) exclusive preview article about efforts to protect and restore the rare and endangered robust redhorse sucker fish on the Oconee north of Dublin
5) report on bream fishing at Hugh Gillis and the Jeff Davis pond from this Saturday
6) pics of the new 10 acre Shuman pond in Laurens County

Also, I plan to do the following technical improvements on the new website:
1) create a quick link to existing archives of past articles
2) begin organizing old articles into subject areas for easier reference
3) clean up links and pictures so that they work correctly -- I just corrected the Altamaha Riverkeeper link, so that it now takes you to the right place
4) improve lay-out of site for viewing with Internet Explorer browsers

If you have any suggestions related to the above, just drop me an email at
joshua@avidangler.net

So here goes . . .

Good Fish Species for Pond Stocking

2005-05-09T21:48:00.000-05:00

Ted Will, a senior fisheries biologist with the Ga Dept of Natural Resources, gave a presentation to the Dublin Rotary Club last Frdiay about stocking small ponds. Here's information he relayed about fish species, along with some links and other info I looked up on the web.

Most people manage a pond for Bluegill and Largemouth Bass, so with that in mind, here are other species that interact well and poorly with those primary two.

(1) Shellcracker, common name for the redear sunfish. Here's a picture of a recent record shellcracker, weighing in at over 5 lb, caught by a man from Homerville, Georgia:

Here's a link to the article that describes the catch.

Shellcracker live a little deeper in a pond than bluegill, and don't spawn as often, once sometimes twice a year. Bass don't eat them, and they do consume some of the available energy of a pond, so they are, at most a slight negative to the bluegill/bass fishing, but, on the positive side, they do add fishing variety to a pond.

(2) Grass Carp In their native China and Siberia, where they are prized for human consumption, grass carp can grow five feet long and weigh over a hundred pounds. In this country, they're a little smaller and used exclusively for vegetation control. In general, Ted says don't go out and put in grass carp immediately, bc they may do no good and could become a problem. Wait until there's a vegetation problem and then analyze the type of vegetation to see if it's one that grass carp consume -- here's a list from Mississippi DNR.

If you think grass carp might help, remember they're only effective for about five years, or until they grow about two feet long, because then their metabolism slows down so much that they consume hardly any of the problem weeds. They will however, continue to devour fish food pellets, which is their favorite food. If they become a problem, they are very difficult to catch; the most effective method mentioned on websites is using a bow and arrow. Really. Here's a picture of a rare US carp angler and his grass carp catch:

(3) Hybrid Striped Bass. In small ponds, these work as an alternative to largemouth bass. In three years, they can grow to two pounds and become very aggressive.

(4) Channel Cats. These fish don't reproduce well in ponds with largemouth bass and if they do survive and grow over five pounds, they start eating bluegill. Ted recommends using these only if you like eating them regularly and don't mind re-buying often -- in other words, stock them, catch them, eat them, repeat.

(5) Flathead Minnows. Ted says a lot of folks use these to give a big boost to their bass population when they first start a pond. Bass eat them up and then they're gone.

Next post is about fish species Ted recommends that you do not stock in a small pond.

My New Site Is Now On-Line

2005-05-06T23:46:00.000-05:00

try

www.avidangler.net

It should be loading correctly now, although I haven't gotten all the links straighted out. Let me know what you think about the format.

The Sounds Bass Love, Hate, and Ignore

2005-05-04T21:45:00.000-05:00

I've been reading Dr. Keith Jones' book titled Knowing Bass and just finished an interesting chapter about how bass hear. Here's what I learned:

First, I didn't know bass had ears, but they do. Bass have two inner ears tucked under the skin behind the eyes. The inner ears can detect sounds from a great distance but only at a relatively limited frequency range -- around 100 to 200 herz, or what humans would perceive as a low bass (music bass) sound. These are the types of sounds produced, for example, by a school of feeding shad.

Second, I was vaguely aware of bass's lateral lines that run down the side of their bodies, but I didn't realize the specialized hearing role they played. The lateral lines are perceptive in hearing really low-frequency sounds, in the 0 to 100 herz range, but the lateral lines only work at very close distances (a few body lengths). These are the types of sounds produced, for example, by the frantic back and forth tail swishing of an escaping bluegill.

Bass simply can't hear most of the noises that humans can. Their hearing is limited to sounds in the 0 to 600 herz range (low bass), while humans can hear sounds between 0 and 20,000 herz.

So, how do bass use their hearing to eat? Same way they use their other senses. A sound may first arouse their interest, then they may follow the sound to its source, and finally they can use the precise hearing measurements of their lateral lines to direct their final kill-thrust. Anglers can use methods that mimic at least one phase of this natural auditory process.

Arousal
What sounds arouse bass in the first place? Fast, irregularly pulsed, low frequency sounds that are louder than the background noice of boats, wind, rain, etc. These are the same sound patterns that attract all predator fish, including sharks searching for injured sailors thrashing in the water. Unfortunately, most crankbairs produce a type of sound that do not attract bass from a distance, but which may trigger a bite if presented close to a bass. Topwaters, spinnerbaits, and prop baits may be used to achieve this effect. Sound attractants are not likely to be effective when there's a lot of background noise.

Search
Once aroused, bass will try to use their eyes to search out the prey, but if the conditions are too muddy will rely on their ears. Thus, sound attractants work best in poor visibility conditions when bass can't use their eyes. If bass are using their ears, then give them what they want -- slowly present lures that create large water displacement/low frequencies, the best example being a spinnerbait with deeply-cupped Colorado blades.

Attack
Finally, once the prey is located, the bass will orient itself using its lateral lines. Perception is best when the bass faces directly into the vibration and worst perpendicular to the vibration field -- this is why bass almost always lunge at buzzbaits and spinnerbait from the rear.

Super-Attack
Of course, bass sometimes skip the arousal and search phases and go straight to the attack. When annoyed or protecting their territory, bass will sometime lash out at any loud intruding sound source: Buzzbaits, I guess I don't really need to say more.

Repellents: The Sounds Bass Hate
Bass have nerve cells that rund down both sides of their back, called Mauthner cells -- these direct the startle and run reflex. Any sudden loud noise near a bass will cause it to rocket away from an area, and stay away for a long period of time. These nerve cells are activated by the change or rise in intensity of sound. In other words, a trolling motor running steadily will not trigger the startle reflext in a bass, but one that is turned on and off will definitely run the bass away. Also, low frequency sounds, as noted above, are the only ones bass can hear and react to.

So, in addition to intermittent trolling motors bass will definitely startle away from the following sounds:

dropping items in the bottom of the boat,
scraping the boat on the bottom,
hitting a stump with the boat, and
splashing a lure too loudly.

Interestingly, bass can't hear humans talk, so that's not a problem.

OK, last point. Bass can learn to associate sounds with negative consequences, like being impaled on a hook. Big bass have been observed by an underwater film crew to retreat into cover at the sound of every approaching bass boat.

Weekend Efforts Yield Big Bass (Updated Monday Night)

2005-05-01T23:28:00.000-05:00

Great weekend of fishing. On Sunday, I caught my third biggest fish ever, weighing in at 8 pounds even. Fish was caught at Stuckey's Pond, a private pay pond ($5 per person) in Wilkinson County, Georgia. I went with Devoris and he helped bring in the fish by handling the net. I was using a senko worm hooked wacky style, naturally.

Here's a 3-D map of the pond, from DeLorme's Topo 5 software. The big fish was caught in the big back cove along the northern bank:

As you can see, the pond looks great, with several coves, a couple of prominent points, two streams feeding into it, and a high dam with deep water. Moreover, it's a large pond with lots of cover hanging over practically all the bank areas.

On Saturday, Rob and I fished at Bienville plantation in Florida again, and, before the rain chased us off the lake, we caught these two nice fish. Mine weighed in at 4 lb 11 oz, and Rob's somewhere over three pounds.

All fish were caught on the same method.

I feel like I've been extremely lucky this season in catching so many large bass, especially as compared to past years. In thinking about it, I can think of three factors beyond luck that have contributed to this success, to wit:

(1) Wacky-worm style fishing. This technique is just a constant producer of fish, both big and small, in practically all conditions. I can't say enough good things about it.

(2) Fishing a lot. I've put the hook in the water more often this year than in the past, and that of course means I've caught more fish. In fact, fishing has sort of become an addiction this spring, but one with lots of positive benefits, including spending time with friends, being outside and enjoying the sun and nice spring weather, catching good food to eat, exploring new places and new water, and enjoying the thrill of a big fish pulling on the line.

(3) All my backlashes. I really think I'm not very good at casting with baitcasters and I backlash a lot. These backlashes have left the worm sitting in the water longer than usual, and I've caught a large number of fish just because of this mandated pause. On highly pressured water, as at Gillis and Stuckey's, the backlash method seems especially important.

It's late again, and I still have lots of regular legal work to do, so I'll try to post more about this and other fishing topics tomorrow.

Fishing Lighted Docks at Lake Sinclair

2005-05-01T15:04:00.000-05:00

The last day of spring break, Rob and I went to a private pond in Wrightsville to try to improve upon a vacation week's worth of small fish. Over the last two years, both of us and a couple of friends had caught huge fish out of this pond. But to no avail -- we spent several hours on the water and caught just a few fish. I was able to get one just over three pounds and that qualified as the largest fish of the week by far.

As it was getting dark, we decided to go try night fishing at Sinclair no matter what the weatherman was saying on the radio. The conditions were terrible: high muddy water and more rain forecast, plus cold temperatures dropping even as we pulled out of Wrightsville. But really, how could it be any worse than what we had already experienced?

The Recommended Crankbait for Dock Fishing at Night

Rob had been a few times with other people, but this was my first experience shooting the docks. The general pattern is to find docks with bright lights shining as close to the water as possible, preferably near deep water. As in this picture:

(You can see the fog rising from the water -- another weather condition difficulty we faced along with all the others.)

Our buddy Brian Clark highly recommended the yellow and white crankbait you see in the photo below. The tactic was to run it pretty fast as close to the dock pilings as possible. Realizing that the bass fishing was likely to be bad, we brought along some crappie lures as well -- represented by the two you see below, a hairjig and a roadrunner.

You can guess the outcome. We stayed on the water until about 2:30 a.m. and caught nothing. In any case, as usual with my fishing, no matter the bad results, I still enjoyed the experience, especially since I had never done night fishing at Sinclair before. If anyone's got some specific suggestions for night fishing docks (e.g. lures or techniques), I'd appreciate the help. You can e-mail me at joshua@avidangler.net .

My Uncle Larry says he's a pro-Sinclair-crappie-fisherman and that he'll take me out this summer to show me how it's done. His method apparently involves a big pontoon boat, flourescent lights, and lawn chairs. I'm looking forward to it.

End of Fishing Vacation: Lighted Docks at Lake Sinclair, Stormy Weather at Ben Hall

2005-04-28T17:13:00.000-05:00

Last Efforts of Fishing Vacation Week Fail

After returning from Bienville to Dublin to finish out the spring break week of fishing, Rob and I decided to try the secret spot at Ben Hall that never failed to yield loads of big fish.

The day was overcast and stormy, and, very quickly, it seemed that even our favorite fishing spot had turned its back on us. The photo below shows one of the few fish caught that day. (If you look closely, you'll see the worm hooked wacky style at the end of Rob's line).

After leaving Ben Hall Lake, Rob and I tried to go to Lake Sinclair for night fishing, but the bottom fell out of the sky and we had to divert from the mission.

The next day, the last of spring break, we went to a private pond in Wrightsville to try to salvage the fishing vacation week. Over the last two years, both of us and a couple of friends had caught huge fish out of this pond. But to no avail -- we spent several hours on the water and caught just a few fish. I was able to get one just over three pounds and that qualified as the largest fish of the week by far.

As it was getting dark, we decided to go try night fishing at Sinclair no matter what the weatherman was saying on the radio. The conditions were terrible: high muddy water and more rain forecast, plus cold temperatures dropping even as we pulled out of Wrightsville. But really, how could it be any worse than what we had already experienced?

The Recommended Crankbait for Dock Fishing at Night

Rob had been a few times with other people, but this was my first experience shooting the docks. The general pattern is to find docks with bright lights shining as close to the water as possible, preferably near deep water. As in this picture:

(You can see the fog rising from the water -- another weather condition difficulty we faced along with all the others.)

Our buddy Brian Clark highly recommended the yellow and white crankbait you see in the photo below. The tactic was to run it pretty fast as close to the dock pilings as possible. Realizing that the bass fishing was likely to be bad, we brought along some crappie lures as well -- represented by the two you see below, a hairjig and a roadrunner.

You can guess the outcome. We stayed on the water until about 2:30 a.m. and caught nothing. In any case, as usual with my fishing, no matter the bad results, I still enjoyed the experience, especially since I had never done night fishing at Sinclair before. If anyone's got some specific suggestions for night fishing docks (e.g. lures or techniques), I'd appreciate the help. You can e-mail me at joshua@avidangler.net .

My Uncle Larry says he's a pro-Sinclair-crappie-fisherman and that he'll take me out this summer to show me how it's done. His method apparently involves a big pontoon boat, flourescent lights, and lawn chairs. I'm looking forward to it.

Sixty-Nine Bass & One Bream

2005-04-26T22:15:00.000-05:00

Jeff and I weathered a downpour, got soaked, kept fishing, and brought back a mess of good eatin'. Every one (inc the bream) caught between 5:30 and 8:00 pm on senkos hooked wacky style. Largest weighed in at just over a pound, but even the smallest was fun to catch.

Crappie Fishing was Crappy

2005-04-26T22:10:00.000-05:00

Ray holds up the first fish of the day -- after nearly four hours we caught only three more.

2005-04-26T22:08:00.000-05:00

Not exactly a full meal deal. Using little jigs, roadrunners, and beetlespins, we caught as many bass as we did crappie, but not a lot of either.

Tough Day of Crappie Fishing

2005-04-26T21:57:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Davoris & Tyke and Ray & Roy and I went fishing at a family friend's pond near Wrightsville. The day was hot and cloudless, and the fish weren't biting. I had the younger fellows in the boat with me, while Davoris and Roy took the small jon boat out on their own. We had little jigs, road-runners, and hair jigs to catch crappie with, but the fish weren't cooperating. We tried all over the pond, shallow and deep, in shade and in sunshine, but we couldn't scare up a bite. In the picture above, you can see the full catch of five fisherman on the water for three and a half hours above. At least Ray caught his first white perch (although his brother Roy got skunked).

Despite not catching many fish, everyone had a good time, because being outside fishing on a nice afternoon with friends always beats sitting at home watching TV.

Stocking a Small Pond for Bass and Panfish

2005-04-23T20:52:00.000-05:00

Four issues for a new pond in construction:

(1) Q: How many bass, redbreast, and bluegills do you start with?
A: These two reputable sources both recommend 50 bass fingerlings & 500 bluegills per acre or 50 bass fingerlings & 350/400 bluegills & 100/150 redbreast

http://www.cfr.msstate.edu/courses/wf4313/pondart.pdf
http://georgiawildlife.dnr.state.ga.us/

(2) Q: When do you stock each of the fish species?
A: Both sources suggest that you stock the sunfish in the fall and then wait until spring to stock the bass fingerlings

(3) Q: After stocking, what about fertilization?
A: The GA DNR says expect 50-175 pounds of fish per acre without fertilization and
300-400 pound of fish per acre with proper fertilization. That's obviously a big difference. Their suggested method, however, includes fertilization every three weeks throughout summer for a total of about 12 applications per year. It's outlined in the on-line pamphlet Managing Georgia Ponds available at the link above.

(4) Q: Any steps to take before stocking?
A: Sources recommend killing all fish in the pond before embarking on a stocking program, to get rid of any trash fish. Application of rotenone is a common method. The DNR suggests waiting two weeks for detoxification of rotenone applications when temperatures are warm and a month or more when temps are cooler.

Other suggested links about pond management are available at the post in the April Archives labelled "Small Bass at the Jeff Davis Pond".

Info on a Senko Fished Wacky-Style

2005-04-23T01:13:00.000-05:00

A Senko hooked wacky-style: best bass catcher ever? Absolutely.Works best in clear water 2' to 6' deep. Doesn't work well in dark water. Picks up and snags on woody stuff in water, like sticks or branches, so avoid using in those areas, but it's surprisingly weedless. Any color with red or red flakes has worked best for me.

Two Fish Over 7 Pounds and a Hundred Others (Really)

2005-04-23T00:19:00.000-05:00

Thursday was the greatest day of fishing I've ever had. First off, I want to thank the kind gentleman who allowed me and Jeff to fish at his pond. This beautiful ten acre lake is right behind his house, so I can certainly understand why he keeps the place private -- and I appreciate his generosity in letting his friend Jeff come and fish at his place and bring a friend too.

Both Jeff and I were fishing with five inch watermelon red Senkos hooked wacky style (picture above). This presentation (described in the post "Redemption" in the April Archives) looks weird, but it works better than even a speed worm when the water's clear and free of sticks and wood debris.

Jeff and I caught fish on practically every cast. We estimated approximately a hundred fish over the three hours we were out there. Yet, for all those fish, we had only two over two pounds -- but they were far over two pounds, so that was just fine by me.

Typically for me, the big one, the nine and half pounder, I can't honestly take much credit for, because I kind of made a mistake with the whole cast. As with our every cast, I tried to put it as close to the bank as I could -- this time it was a plain, non-descriptive bank without any cover. As a matter of fact, we were trolling by it fast to get to better-looking water -- but on this cast, my line fouled up, so I had to stop the trolling motor to straighten it out.

So, I was looking at the line sitting in the water as I was messing with the spool, and after about eight seconds of my fumbling with the knots, I saw the line move slowly to the left. I imemdiately gave up on the kinks and reeled in the slack as fast as I could, and set the hook. It felt like a log, but because of the movement I knew it was a fish.

After pulling at him for a little while, he rolled on the surface and I yelled at Jeff "Get the net! Get the net!" He said, "I don't see any net." Then, I realized I had lost the net last week and forgotten to get a new one.

Well, I finally got that monster pulled up beside the boat and yelled to Jeff "Lip him into the boat" Jeff looked at me skeptically: "You want me to lip him?" It didn't look promising -- the bass' mouth was wider than Jeff's substantial hands. I then tried to swing the bass into the boat, but as I lifted the rod tip, I felt the line grow real tense, and immediately eased back on it -- I definitely did not want to break the line on this fish, so I said "Go for it Jeff" and he reached in and put an iron grip on his mouth and pulled the lunker into the boat.

Up to that point, I had been calm, but once he was in the bottom of the boat, I started jumping up and down and yelling. I really thought he was going to be ten pounds, but how can I say I was disappointed at 9.5? I can't. It was great. My biggest bass ever.

I thought my day was made at that point, but little did I realize what excitement was just around the next bend of the pond.

About an hour later, I hooked our 76th half pounder and started reeling him in fast, when I saw a monster fish take a lunge for the bass I had on the line. I was so shocked that I could actually see this happening right in front of the boat that I just froze for a second. Then the big bass jumped on top of the water and nipped the small bass in the tail. I thought "Holy Cow" or something close to that.

I don't know why, but I kind of let out some slack on the line to see if the big one would come back and really eat the small one, but pretty soon I realized that was kind of foolish, so I then reeled in the little fish I had as fast as I could. Quickly I unhooked him, threw him out the other side of the boat, straighted out my wacky worm, and threw back to where the big one had floated off to.

BAM! That quick, he took the worm. I was in disbelief. He was the meanest fightingest fish I've ever caught. He must have jumped five times. If I had better skills I probably could have stopped all that jumping and mouth-shaking, but thank goodness he had engulfed that worm so strong he wasn't getting off. Plus, it was really beautiful to see a seven and half pound bass really fighting for all his pride on the end of line.

Jeff grabbed this one by the lip to and swung him into the boat. I just stood there for a momebt thinking, how could this happen? All those days upon days on the water just searching for one good fish and getting nothing -- then, in one evening, two monster bass over seven pounds.

Well, that's the story of the two big bass in three hour's fishing on ten acres water. As nice as the fish were, though, I really had a good time hanging out with Jeff and just being out in the sun on the water on a beautiful day. It was the kind of day that makes you really appreciate being alive, having your health and friendships, and having been blessed with all the wonders of God's Creation.

Ten Acres of Water, Three Hours Fishing, Two Monster Bass, One Great Day!

2005-04-21T22:58:00.000-05:00

What a day!!! 9 pounds 9 ounces . . . and then, an hour later, the bass you see below! Thanks to Jeff Davis for taking me to this incredible pond and hossing the fish safely into the boat with an iron grip. I hope to return the favor soon, but next time I'll have a net in the boat. (I'll post details tomorrow.)

2005-04-21T22:45:00.000-05:00

7 lb 6 oz !

2005-04-20T21:31:00.000-05:00

Derek Edge and Ben Cheeks hoist up their 42 lb flathead catfish caught on a hand-sized bluegill on the Oconee River downstream of the Dublin Bridge. Caught 4-18-05.

Edge and Cheeks Report on Their Big Flathead Catch

2005-04-20T21:08:00.000-05:00

That's a big flathead pictured above. I asked Derek about the catch and here's what he reported:

We caught the fish between the Dublin bridge and the I-16 bridge, using a hand-size bluegill for bait and a bushhook for the method. Time of night was about 11:00 p.m. (4-18-05) and the weight was 42 pounds. I'm sending the pic of me and a friend (Ben Cheeks) that helped me pull the flathead in. The only thing I wish to add is that his name be mentioned also in the caption because I surely didn't do it alone.

Derek says he fishes the river several times a week, usually for bass, redbreast, and bluegill, and that he'll send me some more pictures and fishing advice as he keeps catching this spring and summer.

I was on the Oconee River in Treutlen County last Saturday (4-17-05) and thought the water was about as muddy as I've ever seen it. Based on Derek's info, I'm assuming that when the water is high and muddy, even if you can't go for bass or panfish, catfish are still a good excuse to get out on the river.

By the way, I've got some interesting background information I researched last year about flatheads and their history on the Oconee River. I'll try to get it posted up as soon as I get some time.

Also, anyone else reading this who's got some good pictures, stories, or advice, just email me at joshua@avidangler.net and I'll be happy to post it up.

Thanks for the Feedback -- Keep It Coming

2005-04-19T22:41:00.000-05:00

I appreciate the feedback all of you have given about this website and the posts so far. Non-fisher friends seem to like the stories better, while my fishing friends seem to appreciate the more technical stuf that I don't actually personally know but which I enjoy researching and reporting on. Having this web space to write about fishing has gotten me more interested in learning about fishing and becoming a more complete angler. I hope that anyone who sees mistakes will let me know so I can correct them.

If anyone has any fishing-related questions that they'd like me to research and write about, I'd be happy to take suggestions. Just post a comment, to this post or any other, or email me at joshua@avidangler.net and I'll do what I can.

Also, if anyone has a good nugget of fishing knowledge they want to share, just email me, and I'll be happy to post it and credit you. The post below about river fishing comes from just such a comment, provided by Ron Rogers in an email correspondence with me earlier today.

Thanks again.

Fishing Hydrilla: Recommended Methods

2005-04-19T21:33:00.000-05:00

What to Fish With in Hydrilla

Throw a spinner bait into the weedy area and then rip it through the hydrilla as hard as you can. When it bursts through the mat get ready for a strike. Thanks to Brian Clark for this contribution -- he learned it on a trip to Lake Seminole a couple years ago, and I still haven't forgotten his demonstration of "rippin' the 'drilla" with a spinnerbait.
During direct sunlight periods, throw a 10" worm with a swimming tail, pegged with a small weight (1/16 oz), into the hydrilla and swim it through the weed slowly. Thanks to an old fisherman at Bienville who made this suggestion to me and gave me a pack of 10 inch crawfish-colored culprit worms to use.
When the hydrilla is really dense, treat it like a wall and fish tubes and jigs vertically down the side of it.
When the weed dies in the summer and fall, and turns to top slime, fish hollow rats and frogs slowly across the top.
When the weed is still submerged in spring, during morning and evening, try top-waters to get them to rise to the surface, like buzzbaits, torpedos, and soft-plastice jerkbaits.
Of course, I'll probably stick with Senko's deadsticked, because that was the magic bullet that worked for me and Rob during our trip.

Everyone says the same thing about rigging -- 17 lb minimum or some type of superline plus a long heavy or med-heavy rod.

Where to Fish Within a Hydrilla Lake

The places where hydrilla converges with other vegetation types, like cattails, milfoil, or lily pads.
Changes in the weed line -- indentations and points in the weed mat, and islands of weeds, which according to some are where the big bass hang out.
Other structure, cover, and depth change areas where hydrilla is present -- stumps, humps, and points, e.g.
The area where underwater hydrilla (seen only by sonar) drops into deep water, fish this during summer with a carolina rig.

After having researched all this, I concluded that you should fish any areas you
would normally fish, except it's even better if hydrilla's there.

I'm ready for another trip to Bienville to try all this out.

River Fishing: Better in Falling or Rising Water? And Why?

2005-04-19T21:16:00.000-05:00

The Oconee River is still retreating from its early April flood stage. As you can see from the USGS graph under the link in the right-hand column, it's around 8' now, down from a 24' high just a few weeks ago. I was under the impression that falling water was better for river fishing. My friend Ron Rogers set me straight in the following email:

Everyone knows that fish bite better in the river when it is on a slow rise. The reasoning is that as the water rises it is covering dry land which is covered with insects, worms etc, Also [during] a slow rise the water will stay clearer longer. However, in my experience river bass bite the best when the water is low and clear, the lower the better. I think the reason behind this is that there is less food and the bass tend to school up in the deeper holes. In dead lakes the lower the water the better. For bass, in the river the best days I have had it seem like I caught on every other cast. I think the best conditions for bass would be a very low clear river on a slow rise. That's my two cents. Ron

Knowing Ron, I decided to check his observations against what others were saying. First, my father, who knows everything, agreed with Ron. More importantly, two unknown people posting stuff on the internet also agreed with him, so I guess it's true. Here's what others said:

BEST ARTICLE: http://www.fishingtennessee.com/Articles/Summerlin/RIVR-BAS.html

When the water is rising, bass turn on. They move into the shallow areas along the bank. Water on the way up offers baitfish and bass more feeding opportunities.

Water rising on areas that have been dry may provide worms and other forage. This applies to banks, the mouths of small streams and run-off. Look for ditches and small streams that run into the river after a rain. These are rich with food and fish congregate to take advantage of the smorgasbord flowing their way.

http://www.riversmallies.com/guestart_dmotes5.html

On a rise, most river fish change their behavior. Large smallmouth tend to go on a feeding binge as rising water disorients baitfish and breaks loose nymphs and other bases of the food chain . . . As levels rise, all manner of stuff is washed downriver. Dirty water to us is nutritious water for the food chain, so everybody bellies up to the smorgasbord.

I never knew the word "smorgasbord" was so popular, but apparently that's the way people on the internet describe the food situation presented to bass by rising river levels.

The site marked "Best Article" above has some really good comments about river fishing in general and I highly recommend it. Also, the Georgia River Fishing site in my Links list in the right-hand column has some great info too.

2005-04-18T21:50:00.000-05:00

Jeff Davis thinking about how removing these small fish will increase the chances of a real lunker at his pond. (If you've got a better caption let me know, this one kind of sucks.)

Small Bass at the Jeff Davis Pond -- Solutions Researched and Implemented (aka A Fun Evening of Fishing)

2005-04-18T20:19:00.000-05:00

This evening I went fishing with Jeff Davis IV at his family pond, and we spent some time discussing an issue he's been having with the pond -- almost all the bass weigh in under a pound, really under 3/4 pound. We spent a couple very relaxing and fun hours harvesting some of those small bass -- Pictured above is Jeff on the boat with a dozen tiny bass. (They jumped all over a 4" red Senko texas-rigged weightless pulled through the shoreline sticks.)

But then I got to thinking, maybe I ought to do some research to make sure harvesting the small bass is the right thing to do. Here's what I found about small ponds with lots of small bass:

When you want to improve bass quality in a pond, you have to think about the sunfish population, because the relationship is symbiotic. According to most sources I reviewed, if a pond is left unmanaged -- with no fish harvests for many years-- you end up with many small bass and many small-to-medium size bream.

Abundant panfish compete with each other for food, and growth slows. Likewise, as sunfish sizes becomes stunted, the bass end up spending more energy catching the little sunfish than they actually derive from the morsel meal itself. Fingerling sunfish are eaten by small bass, and small but hungry sunfish start eating bass eggs and fry. Everybody's hungry, everybody's thin.

This is apparently the problem with Jeff's pond. The solution suggested by the sources referenced below is pretty simple: harvest the smaller bass. The reducuction in bass competition will lead to larger bass, which will help eat up the small sunfish, which, in turn, will help reduce food competition among the remaining sunfish, leading to larger sunfish.

The sources agree that about15 small bass (12 inches are less) per acre should be harvested in as quick a time-frame as possible. Also, you can try to harvest the sunfish too, but a 2 pound bass will do the job better for you -- it will eat up to 50 sunfish each month during the summer.

If the small bass harvest doesn't work, you can add 3-8 large bass (over two pounds) per acre to help cut into the sunfish population.

Once a better balance is established, the sources recommend harvesting about 10 pounds of bass per acre per year, and always to harvest 10 pounds of sunfish for every pound of bass.

here's some resources I looked at:

Best article:
Managing Small Ponds for Bass
by Hal Schramm of Mississippi State University
found at http://www.cfr.msstate.edu/courses/wf4313/pondart.pdf

See also

http://www.bagelhole.org/article.php/Water/108/

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife/Fishing/pond/managementoptions.htm

http://floridafisheries.com/docum/pond-bro.html#fish

I'm still working on the finishing the fishing vacation story, including fishing hydrilla info, but I wanted to go ahead and post this while I was still interested in it.

2005-04-17T10:37:00.000-05:00

At first, hydrilla's good for fishing. Then the weed takes over and starts suffocating the fish. This picture says it all.

2005-04-17T10:34:00.000-05:00

Hydrilla was named after the Greek beast the Hydra, seen here. When Hercules cut off one of the Hydra's head, two grew back. Just like hydrilla.

Hydrilla -- History of the Seven-Headed Serpent in Southern Waters

2005-04-14T22:49:00.000-05:00

Seeing all the hydrilla at Bienville Plantation got me interested in learning more about the weed. So, here's what I picked up by doing some internet research:

Hydrilla was introduced into the US through Florida in the 1950's as an exotic aquarium plant. (Discover magazine has an interesting cover story about invasive species and south Florida as the common entry point into the U.S. (www.discover.com/issues/may-05/cover/))

The story goes that, in the 1960's, a marina owner in Knoxville, Tennessee imported some hydrilla from Florida for his aquarium and pretty soon got the idea that it might be good for fishing at his marina. He reputedly released the plant at his boat landing on the Tennessee River, and, over time, this one small act eventually led to the spread of the weed throughout the southeast. (espnoutdoors.com story called Jungle Love: Of Bass and Grass)

Why does hydrilla spread so pervasively? Well, chopping the plant up doesn't kill hydrilla -- it propagates it. A single tuber of hydrilla, if cut off and dropped into a new area, can produce 6,000 new tubers per square meter of water area. (Univ of Florida website on hydrilla) Hyrdilla is picked up by motors, trailers, and in live wells, and transported by fisherman to other fishing lakes. New colonies, naturally, develope first near boat ramps.

Once introduced into a new environment, hydrilla out-competes native vegetation. It generally establishes itself first in deeper water, where it is able to survive despite low-light conditions. Hydrilla also tolerates salinity and waterflow better than other native plants, and, as noted, chopping it (as by motors speeding through a lake) only helps spreads it. Because hydrilla doesn't root into soil, it can be present on both hard and soft bottom areas of lakes. (Univ of Louisianna website on hydrilla)

Hydrilla can be great for bass fishing -- at least in its early stages. The weed harbors plant and animal food for bass and provides safe harbor and shade.

As the plant comes to cover a lake, as in the picture above, the consequences can be devastating. Hydrilla can choke all the oxygen out of the water and suffocate fish. The most startling example of this effect came at the 10,000 acre Rodman Reservoir in Florida. In 1985, the lake became totally infested with hydrilla. More than 8,000,000 fish died from suffocation.

Because of this danger, states have often undertaken expensive programs to keep the plant at bay. After years of intensive management, Lake Guntersville in Alabama has been able to limit the hyrdilla cover to a mere 20,000 of its total 68,000 acres. Hydrilla at this relatevely -contained level has helped make Guntersville one of the nation's top ten bass lakes according to In-Fisherman Magazine.

Finally, a legal fact: Hydrilla is classified as a noxious weed by the US Dept of Agriculture, and its importation into the US and transport between states is now illegal. (USDA Noxious Weed Act)

2005-04-11T21:45:00.000-05:00

"L" is for "Lunker". Day Four of the trip and we finally started catching fish. Now we were complaining about their size.

The Great Bust -- Part Two: Redemption, or, Why You Should Listen to Old Men Talk About Fishing

2005-04-11T20:56:00.000-05:00

So it's late Tuesday afternoon, and we're covered in sulphuric dust from our unintentional tour of the phosphate pits while searching for Low Bush Bay earlier that day. The sun is beating down hard at Lake Number14, and we haven't caught any fish. Both of us are sort of leaned back into the boat, lines drifting aimlessly in the water, when we see a boat turn the corner of the cove where we had just finished fruitlessly plunking the water. There's an old man with professor-like glasses leading the trolling motor and a younger fellow in the back of the boat. In contrast to our sorry condition, they both seem happy.

Rob yells out to them, "How you doin' - caught any fish?", expecting only the familiar gripes in return.

The old professor calls back, "Oh, 'bout thirty or forty. How about you?"

We both jump out of our seats. Surely he's lying. "Are you serious -- we haven't caught anything." Professorman sticks the knife in now: "Well, it's been pretty slow today -- on good days we'll get fifty or more."

So we begin to interogate them on their methods, or actually, their one method, or, The Method. The old man instructs us to take a watermelon red stick bait (not the expensive Yamamoto original speed worm, but rather the cheap Bass Pro Shop imitation) and stick a hook through the center of it -- this is called "wacky style" worm fishing, and we've heard of it, and even have some watermelon red stick baits in the boat, but have never really tried the technique, because it always seemed to us that the exposed hook would catch on every possible branch and weed -- then the old man says the key is to cast it up to the hydrilla near the bank and let it sit.

At this point, the younger fellow chimes in -- "Let it sit for just as long as you can stand it." The old man, not really appreciating the interruption, begins again, "Let it sit for just as long as you can stand it, then shake your rod tip to impart action to the worm. If there's no fish, reel in and cast again."

He began to reset our expections for fish-catching at Number 14, saying that we should catch a minimum of 30 per day, on really good days up to 90, and that most bass would be around two pounds, but that, with that many fish bites, there will always been some "good dinks" -- fish in the four to eight pound range. He said he's caught several over nine, the biggest around 11 pounds. He said that others have suggested that there aren't more monster lunkers at Number 14 because the staff may shock the waters and take out the big ones to stock their smaller ponds, which are used for guided trips and TV fishing shows (like Charlie Moore's -- he doesn't deserve it if that's true). While the old man was at it, he also held forth on proper crappie fishing techniques and the influence of rains and weather on the fish bite.

We were understandably dubious, but too desperate not to try his suggestion. In his first five casts with the stick-worm hooked wacky style, Rob caught two bass. In the next two hours, we caught twenty. The next day, fishing wacky-style, we caught forty. Rob got a five-plus pounder (conservative estimate) on the hook, but his line snapped as he maneuvered the fish up to the boat.

By Wednesday, we had grown so accumstomed to catching fish, we forgot to be grateful for all the fishing action. Our complaints had shifted to a new level -- all these 1 to 2 pound fish, but no big ones. Pictured above is me making an "L" for "Lunker" next to a typical fish of the day, just over a pound.

Lessons

The first lesson of Part Two of the Great Bust is that sometimes fish in an area are keyed to a particular bait or presentation style, and that local knowledge can be the critical difference between no fish and lots of fish. As Part Three -- All About Weeds -- will describe, I now know that a lake with lots of hydrilla (like Bienville in Florda and Seminole in Georgia) requires special tactics, which I was totally unfamiliar with before the trip. The good thing about this experience is that I've learned the importance of learning about the specific environments I intend to fish. I'm familiar with the most effective methods in my part of Georgia and always assumed they'd apply elsewhere. Because of the awful, fishless days of last week, now I know better, and I'm actually looking forward now to exploring new water, while realizing success will likely depend on good research and good conversations with locals. Which brings me to the second lesson I learned.

The second lesson of Part Two of the Great Bust is that young folks have a lot they can learn from old folks. Sometimes they talk more than you'd like, because even though they're old, it always seems like they've got all the time in the world, but making the effort to ask questions and listen to their answers can add to your understanding and enjoyment of the world. I've often been told this, and maybe understood it in theory, but seeing that immediate turn-around in my sprits and understanding on Tuesday afternoon really brought home how valuable a lesson this one is.

2005-04-10T23:41:00.000-05:00

Rob says good-bye to one of the few fish caught during the first three cloudless, high-blue-sky afternoons of fishing. At least the lake looks fishy.

The Great Bust -- Part One: The Fishing Sucks . . . But at Least I Paid a Lot of Money for It

2005-04-10T22:32:00.000-05:00

Ah, Bienville Plantation! Ironically, I think the name means "the good village" in French.

Last year, we went in May, caught hardly anything, but left believing the hype -- because the place looks so fishy. (See the picture above.) The big lake is known in the brochures as Lake Bienville, but on the "Plantation" as simply "Number 14". It's an old phosphate pit and covers about a thousand acres, most of it in a confusing maze of small coves and narrow alleyways of water.

Sunday we fished for eight hours and caught about seven fish between the both of us.
Monday we fished for about nine hours and caught two bass.
Tuesday, figuring anyone can catch panfish, we got crickets for bream, rigged up crappie reels, and ventured over to Low Bush Bay -- or, as everyone at the "Plantation" called it, "a world-renowned crappie hole." We got lost trying to find the place and drove around for an hour and half. Apparently it's so famous they don't feel the need to put up signs. Of course, once we got there, we didn't catch anything.

So we moved back over to Number 14, fished for a while, but we didn't catch anything.

Many hundreds of dollars in the hole, expectation dashed, vacation fast dawdling away while we floated sun-burnt on the flood-stained water-maze of an over-grown mineral pit, our spirits hit their lowest point.

In those evenings, as I reflected on the days without fish, I tried to find some excuse to make for the place and the performance -- and to find something to look forward to. But the only thing that actually made me feel better was when I overheard a guide report to a manager that he and his two customers had caught only five fish from a whole morning of fishing -- we had caught seven!

Then at lunch on Tuesday, we got a further boost when we ran into ESPN fisherman Charlie Moore and his TV cameras (espn's website for Charlie Moore). Moore was doing a fishing challenge against two members of Lynard Skynard (including Johnny Van Zant, Ronnie's younger brother)(www.lynyrdskynyrd.com) and they were all eating lunch at the lodge talking about how the fishing sucked. Despite being a professional fisherman with a big TV camera following him around, Charlie still couldn't catch any fish. His producer was on the cell phone worrying about how to get twenty minutes of footage for the show. I don't know how talking about it on the cell phone was supposed to help. In any case, Charlie Moore is truly the most obnoxious person I've ever had the misfortune to share a restaurant with.

Lessons

All over Bienville, complaints about the weather, the water, the moon. And I guess there's some petty solace in knowing that others are suffering as much as you are, and maybe that's the only lesson to draw from Part One of the Great Bust. That and the surprising revelation from Charlie Moore that just because you love fishing doesn't necessarily mean you're a nice person.

2005-04-10T22:30:00.000-05:00

Better times: Last year, camping on the Altamaha. This year, floods.

Spring Fishing at Its Best

2005-03-28T09:52:00.001-05:00

Santiago and I caught over 50 bass on Saturday. With skies overcast all day long, consistently warm temperatures, and tornado weather coming in later that evening, conditions couldn't have been better.

We fished a local pond (GS) of about 40 plus acres, but concentrated on one ten acre cove that had lots of shoreline sticks in medium depth water leading into a large shallow spawning area. The water temperature reached a suprisingly high 65 degrees, and you could see bass beds all over the cove. The bass bit everything you threw in front of them -- worms of every color and variety, jigs, brushhogs, frogs, buzzbaits, you name it. We fished from around noon to six and the action never lulled.

We kept about thirty of the smaller ones and had a fish fry Saturday night. In cleaning the fish, you could see that many of them were still holding their roe. So, that means there's still time to catch a massive pre-spawn bass.

Saturday affirmed many of the reasons I love fishing. I can't think of a better way to celebrate Easter than enjoying the bounty of God's creation with family and friends.

Posted below are two pictures from the trip.

2005-03-28T09:52:00.000-05:00

Big bass of the day, caught on a green jig with green pumpkin crawdad trailer, weighed in at 4 lbs 3 oz.

2005-03-28T09:50:00.000-05:00

Santiago shows off one of several 2-plus bass.

Best Fishing Tactic for Gillis, 3-23-05

2005-03-24T22:57:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I took a young friend of mine fishing at the Gilis PFA. We caught five bass, and, in the process, I figured out the most effective fishing tactic for current conditions. Three of my last seven fish out there have been caught using the "backlash technique" : I throw a worm or jig or lizard out, my line gets fouled, the bait sits still for 20 second while I work it out, and when I begin the retrieve, I've got a fish.

Maybe the fishing pressure got them spooky or maybe they're just not aggressively feeding, but whatever it is, next time I go out there, I'm just gonna let the bait sit for a while before I start my retrieve.

The wind was blowing pretty hard again, but the very back of the back cove, where the creek comes into the pond, was again the calmest and most productive spot. It's getting crowded with anglers, however, so I don't know how long they'll still bite over there.

2005-03-21T23:37:00.000-05:00

Deformed bass caught at the Gillis PFA on 3-20-05.

Some Amazing Oconee River Lunker News

2005-03-20T22:16:00.000-05:00

Although we didn't catch any great fish Sunday afternoon at Hugh Gillis PFA, we did hear a great fish story.

As we were loading the boat up to leave, we met a young couple from Treutlen County. They hadn't had any luck that day either, but they did show us pictures of some huge lunkers they'd caught on the Oconee River south of the Highway 46 bridge. Last March, they pulled in three fish weighing between 9.5 and 10.5 pounds. All came from the couple's secret spot just off the river. The largest was caught by the wife on a Zoom brushhog and has recently been certified by GON as the largest verified bass caught on the Oconee. They told me that that area of the River has almost no bass fishing pressure and grows some real monsters.

They've been trying their luck at Gillis PFA this March because the River levels have been so high (above 12 feet again this weekend) that there's not much use angling for river bass right now.

Next weekend, if the river levels fall some and I can find a fishing partner, I may give up on the Gillis PFA and head out for the River.

Ben Hall at Full Pool Again, Gillis PFA Pressure Rises

2005-03-20T21:50:00.000-05:00

After three days of cold and rainy weather, I was ready for some Saturday morning fishing with my friend Jeff Davis IV at Ben Hall Lake in Laurens County. The good news is that the lake is fishable again. The association had drawn the water down for the last two months to give homeowners a chance to work on their docks. The pond is full now -- and even a little high, and the water is very clear.

At the spillway, we could see thousands of bait fish swarming in tight clumps on top of the sandbar to the right of the dam. The bass were suspended in the deep holes on either side of the bar, at about six to eight feet deep. Jeff caught about four of them on a green pumpkin speedworm. I foul-hooked one closer to the bank on a suspending jerkbait.

Once the sun burned off the fog, we navigated through the stump field to get to the back cove, but we didn't even get a bite back there. A friend later suggested that maybe the fish hadn't had a chance to move back that far yet, since for the two months of the drawn-down that area had been surrounded in mud. Hopefully by next weekend, the fishing at Ben Hall will be back to normal.

On Sunday afternoon I went fishing with Santiago at the Hugh Gillis PFA. We went to the back cove, where the creek comes into the Lake. Unfortunately, about six boaters had beat us there. That area is rapdily becoming the most popular and most pressured acreage on the lake. Practically the only thing we caught was the deformed bass pictured above. After several very pleasant but largely fruitless hours, we packed up the gear and headed in.

Gillis Fishing Report 3/15/05

2005-03-16T18:53:00.000-05:00

Summary: Afternoon fishing at Gillis PFA -- about 5pm. One small fish caught in three feet of water at top of point on trick worm. Lizards, worms, and crawdads pitched to trees didn't work at all.

One of the best looking spots on the lake features a long point heavily dotted with pines. The point tapers out from two to ten feet deep pretty quicly, and that's where I caught the 3.6 pounder pictured at the bottom of this web page.

I spent a long time there on Tuesday too, pitching a lizard and a crawfish to the trees, but without luck. The water was very clear and calm so I was probably spooking them. I then put on a trick worm and cast it up to the shallowest water and got a 1 pound fish on my second cast. Finally, I gave up on the spot and went into the cove there, thinking the bass might be committed to the shallow water already, but didn't get a single bite.

I read in Bassmaster later that night that the best approach in this pre-spawn season of warm days and cold nights is to focus on the fish who've moved shallow early because they're the easiest to locate. The pro recommended flipping and pitching to trees and branches in 3-6 feet. Maybe I was focusing a little too deep for that pattern, but there's always next time.

2005-03-15T08:46:00.000-05:00

Tyke shows off his first bass from the Gillis PFA.

2005-03-13T23:25:00.000-05:00

Devarus swings in a 2.6 pounder.

Gillis PFA Bass Moving Shallow

2005-03-13T23:14:00.000-05:00

Despite strong winds, fishing this Saturday and Sunday brought several fat, 2-3 pound bass (and many smaller ones) at the Gillis PFA. The bass were caught in the afternoon on structure in shallow water at the back of coves. We also picked off a few smaller bass in medium depth tree clusters standing at the mouth of the coves.

The most productive tactic was a six inch green pumpkin lizard, swimming weightless through and over shallow water branches and logs. In the picture above, Devarus is swinging up a 2.6 pounder he caught in about three feet of water using a plastic lizard. A pig and jig caught another slightly smaller bass, and the zoom speed worm brought in several good-sized fish in 4-6 foot water.

2005-03-12T00:20:00.000-05:00

8 1/2 pounder caught on Oconee River south of Dublin.

2005-03-12T00:19:00.001-05:00

Fish with red lesions, caught near Soap Creek off Oconee River south of Dublin.

2005-03-12T00:19:00.000-05:00

Soap Creek at Oconee River south of Dublin.

Bass Problems from Oconee at Dublin

2005-03-12T00:01:00.000-05:00

Last year, Rob Shuman caught an 8 1/2 pound bass out of the river directly south of the river-bridge at Dublin. (Picture above.) That was one of the largest bass many have ever heard of coming from the Oconee. He pulled it out near the intersection of Soap Creek -- the City of Dublin's wastewater discharge creek -- and the main river. This area has consistently been the best producer of bass in both size and number that we've found, but unfortunately most of the caught fish have been marked with disgusting lesions and sores. There's no way I'd eat them. (see photo above of fish with red sores)

I sent a few photos of the lesions to James Holland, the Altamaha Riverkeeper, (www.altamahariverkeeper.org) and he forwarded them on to someone at the University of Georgia, who identified them as Aeromonas hydrophila -- a relatively common fish-pathogen. What's unusual, however, is that so many fish are infected. This may be due to compromised water conditions at the wastewater facility's discharge area. Here are a few websites about the bacteria:

>http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/classes/MB492/hydrophilahayes/
>http://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/1991/aeromonas.shtml
>http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=170596

Since last year's fish catch, the City of Dublin appears to have made a lot of progress in limiting the soapy and inky water that used to regularly flood out of the pipe. (The photo above was taken last year at the City's discharge pipe.) It will be interesting to see if the clean-up has had an impact on both the fishing conditions and the condition of the fish at that area.

Current Oconee River Conditions

2005-03-11T23:31:00.001-05:00

The river at Dublin is a little over 10ft still (see the website compiling the government's data on Oconee River Conditions at Dublin), not as high as late February, but still a little high for effective bass fishing. As it continues to fall and the sun keeps heating up, hopefully it'll soon be a good time to test the waters again. Also, I'm looking forward to setting bush-hooks again this season, to try to get a big yellow cat. Pictured below is our biggest from last spring.

2005-03-11T23:31:00.000-05:00

18 lb apaloosa from Oconee River south of Dublin early April 2004

GA DNR's Fishing Report for Gillis PFA

2005-03-11T09:11:00.000-05:00

Georgia Department of Natural Resources PFA Fishing Reports

Hugh M. Gillis PFA - Report for February 2005

Water level: full pool.
Water temperature: 54-56 degrees F.
Water clarity: Clear
Bass: Good. Most of bass are less than 12 mixed with several 2- to 3-pound fish. We are also expecting anglers to start reporting fish pushing 6- to 8-pounds this spring. The bite throughout March should be tremendous as the fish are moving into their pre-spawn pattern. A good bite can be expected on soft plastic baits fished slowly in 6 to 8 feet of water and then move shallower and pick up presentation speed with suspended jerk baits later in the month.
Crappie: Fair. The crappie population is still in its early stages of growth. We are expected anglers to catch a few fish in the 10-12" size range. Fishing minnows around structure in 3 to 6 feet of water should provide the best bite for crappie throughout March.

Insect Sprays and Their Effect on Bass

2005-03-11T09:03:00.000-05:00

From Keith Jones' book "Knowing Bass" --

Bass hate the taste of insect repellent ingredient DEET and they can taste less than one part per million of DEET mixed into their food. A single application of insect repellent with DEET to the hands can contanimanate your lures enough to repel bass for ninety minutes of longer.
here's a link to Jones book on Amazon.com

Laurens County Fishing Report 3/10/05

2005-03-10T21:35:00.000-05:00

Fished at a Laurens County private pond, appx. 50 acres, afternoon and evening.
Conditions: upper 50's, wind moderate, water very clear.
Fished medium depth water on outsides of coves. One of us was fishing spinner bait, and I flipped a lizard to structure. Each of us caught three good sized bass, but the bite, as before, died as evening came up and temperatures began to drop. Still pre-spawn behavior.
Think warm afternoon sunshine is still best time to fish, and on structure in medium depth water.

Zoom Speed Worm Shortage?

2005-03-10T08:38:00.000-05:00

Last year Zoom introduced the Ultra-Vibe Speed worm. This was just a regular speed worm with a slit in the back paddle. A lot of people were cutting the paddles themselves in order to increase the vibration of the paddle as it is pulled through the water. In contrast, however, we like to fish speed worms Texas-rigged, with a 3/8 ounce weight, over 4-10 ft waters, letting it drop for about 5 seconds then pulling up quick enough to get the tail vibrating, then dropping again, and so forth, retrieving back to the boat. For this type of application, the original speed worm has a better feel in the water than the ultra-vibe and, in any case, has been the best all-around bass-catcher for me and my friends for the last few years.

So when a sales person at Bass Pro Shops told one of my friends that Zoom would be discontinuing its old speed worms in favor of the new "ultra-vibe" style I started looking for sources for the original type. Since they're no longer in stores, I started searching the internet.

www.zoombait.com no longer exists. instead, it appears they are using this site to sell products:
http://www.orderoutdoors.com/zoom/z051.htm but when you try to purchase any speed worms, a pop-up window informs you that only ultra-vibes are available.

Several on-line stores have some speed worms left, but only in limited colors. So if you want speed worms, better hurry and order because they'll probably all be gone pretty soon.

Fishing Report from Gillis Public Fishing Area (PFA) Laurens County Georgia

2005-03-09T23:25:00.000-05:00

For anyone interested in general fishing conditions at the Hugh Gillis PFA, here's what I know from this weekend:

General impressions -- surprisingly not that much fishing pressure from boat anglers, just a few well-scattered boats -- the banks and the docks were crowded however. Fish seemed scattered -- on shallow banks near deep water and main points, and on structure in medium depth water, typical pre-spawn. They definitely had not moved up to the large shallow coves. A little suprised the bite wasn't better given the new, warm conditions.

Specifics:
Friday 3/4/05 -- first warm weather in March -- only a few boats on water and only a few fishing off docks. Caught two bass in about an hour, sizes were 1.5 to 2.5 pounds, so not bad. They were located pretty far off a main point on the far east side of the lake with soft plastics to structure and rattletraps.

Saturday 3/5/05 -- second day of warm weather, storm coming in -- on west side of lake caught approximately 15 bass in about 4 hours fishing, almost all were tiny. Most were holding right on top of large shoreline rocks near deep water, biting to soft plastics.

Sunday 3/6/05 -- warm, but high clear blue skies -- tried a rattletrap all over the main points on the east side of the lake but only caught two small ones. Then, as darkness approached, tried a buzzbait along a main point with submerged pines on the north west side and got nothing.

Monday 3/6/05 -- fourth day of warm weather -- in about an hour of fishing caught one 3.4 pounder pictured, about ten feet off main point among some partially submerged pine trees

2005-03-09T23:17:00.000-05:00

Three and half pounder from Gillis PFA Laurens County, Georgia.