Monthly Archives: October 2015

Where Can I Catch Fish In Georgia Each Month of the Year?

You can catch fish in Georgia each month of the year – Angling Calendar

If Larry the Cable Guy asked “What is great about Georgia fishing” it would be a trick question. The only sensible answer is “Everything!”
We can fish from small streams to wide open oceans. Rivers and lakes as well as saltwater bays and inlets are open to the public and full of a huge variety of game fish. And our water never gets hard on top, so we can fish year round without chopping holes to get to the water.
Try these places and species this year for some fun and great eating, too.
January
Species: Largemouth Bass
What To Expect
Jackson Lake is a very old Georgia Power reservoir in the middle of the state. It has many rocky shorelines and points, shallow flats and docks around the lake.
How To
Shad are the most common baitfish and there are lots of crawfish in the lake, too. Jackson is known for its trophy largemouth and you have a good chance of a five pound plus fish in January. Fish a shad colored crankbait like the Series 5 Sexy Shad from Strike King around docks, rocks and seawalls with sand. Also try a big jig and pig in the same locations.
I landed an eight pound, thirteen ounce largemouth in a club tournament three years ago in January on this pattern. You won’t catch a lot of largemouth but every cast could produce a trophy.
Contact : Berrys Sporting Goods in Griffin – 770-227-3048
Trout on the coast are in deep holes in the bays and rivers. Work a small curly tail jig very slowly in these holes or use live shrimp fished on the bottom, crawling it along close to the bottom. For big spotted bass try a float and fly on bluff walls at Carters Lake, or jig a spoon under schools of baitfish.
February
Species: Crappie
What To Expect
Lake Walter F. George is a big, shallow Corps of Engineers lake south of Columbus on the Chattahoochee River. Many of its creeks and sloughs are full of standing timber and crappie hold in the tops of it.
How To
Drift or troll small jigs and minnows from near the mouths of creeks and sloughs toward the backs until you find the schools of crappie. Keep trolling the area or stop and work a concentration of fish carefully.
You can also tie up to stumps sticking above the water near channels in the creeks and drop your baits down to wait on passing schools of crappie. Try different depths until you find the depth the fish are holding. You will catch lots of crappie and most are a good size.
Contact Capt. Sam Williams’ guide service (334) 687-6266 or (334) 355-5057.
Walleye are not common in Georgia but you can catch some with a chance at a big fish on Lake Blue Ridge. Fish rocky points at night with earthworms or small jigs. Try the Savannah River below the Thurmond dam for large numbers of good size yellow perch. Drift in deeper water and fish small live minnows or jigs tipped with minnows.

March
Species: Stripers
What To Expect
Lake Hartwell is a big Corps of Engineers lake on the upper end of the Savannah River. There are many good boat ramps and campgrounds on the lake, making it easily accessible. The lower lake usually stays clear in the spring and schools of stripers roam it.
How To
Stripers congregate and feed on wind blown banks in March. Cast bucktail jigs or Zoom Flukes to any stained water and mud lines caused by the wind in the lower lake, especially in major creeks on secondary points. If there is no wind, fish live blueback herring in deeper water along creek channels in the same areas.
Check out Lightwood Log Creek, Eastanollee Creek and Little Beaverdam Creek on the Tugaloo River arm of the lake for concentrations of stripers.
Contact: Ricks Guide Service 864-356-7271.
Go to West Point Lake and fish jig head worms on gravel points near creek mouths for large numbers of spotted bass. Try the lower parts of Rock Creek in Fannin County with flies for stocked rainbows.

April
Species: Largemouths
What To Expect
Thurmond is the biggest lake in Georgia and it produces huge numbers of bass. Located on the Savannah River near Augusta, some of the lake is in South Carolina but a Georgia fishing license is good anywhere on the lake.
Last year in the Georgia Bass Chapter Federation Top Six tournament in April, 250 fishermen weighed in 2239 bass over 12 inches long weighing 4172 pounds in two days. There were many reports of 30 plus keepers per fisherman per day.
How To
The lake has been down several feet for several years. Bass stack up on clay and rock secondary points in coves and can be caught on Carolina rigs, jig head worms and crankbaits. Try watermelon worms if the water is clear and green pumpkin if stained. Contact Dave Willard, Crockett Rocket Guide Service – (803) 637-6379 Boat: (706) 214-0236
Troll crappie jigs at Lake Oconee up the Apalachee River or the back of Lick Creek. Follow the creek and river channel. Put a small boat in the Etowah River upstream of Rome, motor up above its junction with the Oostanaula River and fish small spinners and jigs for the white bass spawning run. Cast to trees, rocks and the mouths of creeks.

May
Species: Smallmouth Bass
What To Expect
Lake Blue Ridge is a Tennessee Valley Authority lake on the Toccoa River in Fannin County. This small lake has rocky shorelines and deep bluff banks. It is the one lake in Georgia where you have a good chance to catch a smallmouth bass.
How To
Fish Zoom Flukes and topwater poppers on rocky points and pockets early and late in the day. In the morning watch for any shad spawning on the shoreline and fish it hard with the Fluke or spinnerbait.
After the sun gets on the water back off the points in deep water and fish a jig head worm or drop shot rig. Watch for schools of shad with bigger fish under them on your depthfinder and fish them.
Contact: Bob Borgwat, Reel Angling Adventures – 866-899-5259
Sight fish for triple tail off the coast of Jekyll Island this month. Look for fish floating on the surface or holding under anything that will cast a shadow, like a floating palmetto frond. Cast a live shrimp in front of the fish. Bluegill will bed on West Point on the full moon this month. Find the beds in protected sandy pockets and fish them with crickets
June
Species: Shellcracker
What To Expect
Lake Seminole is a sprawling grass filled Corps of Engineers lake in the corner of Georgia, Florida and Alabama. It is very shallow with miles of sand and mud flats less than five feet deep. Stumps and standing trees cover the lake, too.
How To
Shellcracker spawn late April through May and they grow big on Seminole, with fish weighing a full pound common. Beds are easy to spot in the shallow water. Look for saucer shaped marks on the bottom one to four feet deep in protected areas.
Cast a red wiggler near the beds on light tackle or use a cane pole to dabble them over the beds. Use a cork to suspend the worm off the bottom and a small split shot above a #6 hook will work well. Contact: Wingates Lunker Lodge – 229-246-0658
Take a wade/float trip on the upper Flint River for shoal bass. Put in at the Highway 36 Bridge and arrange for a pickup at the next ramp. Fish small worms, topwater plugs and small spinnerbaits in the shoals. For giant flatheads, fish deep holes with heavy tackle and live bream in the Altamaha River near Jesup.
July
Species: Tarpon
What To Expect
The bays and inlets on the coast around Brunswick are cut by river channels, sloughs and creeks. Oyster beds attract baitfish and many species move into them to spawn.
How To
Tarpon move into the bays and rivers in the summer and offer the chance to hook into some big fish. They feed on mullet and menhaden, locally called pogies. You can see the tarpon rolling on the surface as they feed, making this exciting fishing.
Use a cast net to catch pogies and small mullet and fish several live baits when you see feeding fish. Freeline a couple of baits and suspend a couple more under big corks. An incoming or outgoing tide is best.
Contact: Captain Mark Noble – 912-638-7673
Lake Andrews between Walter F. George and Seminole produced the state record 80 pound, 4 ounce blue cat. Fish live bream and cut bait on heavy tackle in riffs and current breaks below the George dam. Blueback herring in Hartwell draw topwater schooling action on sunny summer days. Cast a big topwater plug over shoals and points on the lower lake and watch for surface activity.
August
Species: Blue Catfish
What To Expect
Lake Oconee is a Georgia Power lake near Madison. It has current moving both ways most summer days due to power generation at the dam and a pumpback system. The catfish population has exploded in the past few years and there are many big blue cats in the lake.
How To
Anchor in 15 feet of water off river channels, humps and points on the main lake. Current moving across these areas makes the bite much better. Cast out a variety of live bream and cut or whole shad on a slip sinker rig. Use a heavy enough sinker to keep your bait near the bottom.
Put out several heavy rods and reels with 20 pound line, casting down current of your anchored boat. Put them in rod holders and watch for a catfish to pull the rod tip down as it swims off with the bait. Circle hooks will hook the fish better.
Contact: Chad Smith Guide Service 706–207-2411
The Chatthoochee River upstream of Poor Boy Ramp on Lake Harding is lined with grass beds. Fish a buzzbait or jig head worm around the edges of them for large numbers of bass. Bait a point at the mouth of a cove on Lake Thurmond with sinking catfish food and fish on the bottom with earthworms or kernel corn on a short shank hook for fast action from some big fish.
September
Species: Spotted Bass
What To Expect
Lake Russell is a Corps of Engineers lake on the Savannah River between Hartwell and Thurmond. It is undeveloped with a natural shoreline but crossed by many bridges. Spotted bass are plentiful and hit well in September.
How To
Riprap holds large numbers of spotted bass in September. Start early in the mornings with topwater baits like a Pop-R around the rocks and pilings. Also run a big crankbait parallel to the rocks and beside pilings.
When the sun is on the water fish a light jig head worm in the same areas. Also find brush piles and rocks around the pole channel markers and fish them with topwater baits and jig head worms. Spots will come to the top to hit topwater all day long on some days.
Contact: 72 Marine – 866-575-8847
For grouper, fish live cigar minnows or Spanish Sardines on the bottom on ledges surrounded by sand on the Savannah Live Banks. At Allatoona, follow the shad as they migrate into creeks with the bass following them. Throw a square bill crankbait or spinnerbait on points going into the creeks.
October
Species: Rainbow Trout
What To Expect
The Toccoa River below Lake Blue Ridge dam is very scenic and offers several good access points. It is stocked with Rainbow and Brown trout and high catch rates are normal, with a good chance for a trophy trout.
How To
You can use live bait, artificial lures and flies on the river. Live nightcrawlers are good choices for live bait but minnows are illegal. Rooster tails and small spoons are good minnow imitations for bigger trout. Fly fishermen should match the hatch when trout are rising, otherwise use nymphs and streamers.
Fish your choice of baits anywhere there is a current break. Boulders, riffs, logs and trees in the water all provide feeding stations for trout. Also drift bait through deeper pools for trout holding there.
Contact: Kent Klewin – 770-330-7583
Fish live minnows straight under the boat beside standing trees along the river channel on the upper end of Lake Blackshear for large numbers of good size crappie. Fish buzzbaits around grassbeds on Lake Sinclair early and late. During the day run a crankbait or jig head worm around seawalls and rocky points.

November
Species: Redfish
What To Expect
The Georgia coast is lined with barrier islands and shallow sand bars are everywhere. Bull red drum, usually called redfish, come in to feed on those sandbars in the fall. They are big, with some up to seventy and eighty pounds.
How To
Anchor on shallow sand bars so the current takes your bait out across the bar. Let your bait drift into deeper holes just off the sandbars. Cut and live menhaden and mullet work well.
This is sport fishing since you can not keep the big redfish. Use heavy tackle and a big 7/0 to 9/0 circle hook to help release fish alive to spawn again. They are exciting to catch and will offer you all the fight you can handle.
Contact: Captain Bob Barnett – 912-727-5335
Cast in-line spinners around the Lake Burton dam, the Murray’s Cove boat ramp and Moccasin Creek boat ramp to catch recently stocked ten inch brown trout and some bigger ones that come to feed. For fliers, fish a Yellow Sallie fly in backwaters and sloughs on the upper reaches of the Suwannee River near the Okefenokee Swamp.
December
Species: Rainbow Trout
What To Expect
The Chattahoochee River from the Lake Lanier Dam to Peachtree Creek is cold enough to support trout. Trout are stocked in the river and fishing can be excellent, especially in the delayed harvest area from Sope Creek to U.S. Highway 41, with catches of 30 trout a day reported.
How To
Access the river at Cochran Shoals, Whitewater Creek and Paces Mill and fish single-hook artificial lures and flies only. This is during the delayed harvest time and lures are restricted, and all trout must be released. About 50,000 trout are released into the river between November 1 and April each year, so there are large numbers of fish here.
Fly fishermen use black or olive wooly buggers and #18 – #20 Parachute Adams. For recently stocked fish high visibility flies like the Y2K purple warrior are good. For spinning tackle, use a small yellow Rooster Tail or the smallest yellow Rapalas on two to four pound test line.
Contact: Chris Scalley – 770-650-8630
Fish Lake Lanier brush piles in 30 feet of water with four inch fruit colored worms on a drop shot rig. Fish near the pump outlet and the dam on Lake Juliette with cut or live shad in deep water for some trophy size stripers.
If you want to go fishing this year, you will find something hitting near you every month of the year.

Bull Trout Recovery Plan

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Completes Final Bull Trout Recovery Plan

Today’s feature comes to us from the Boise office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
from The Fishing Wire

Focus of Plan is Effective Management of Threats to Native Fish

Bull Trout

Bull Trout Credit: Joel Sartore/ National Geographic & Wade Fredenberg/ USFWS

BOISE, Idaho – Efforts to conserve a key cold-water fish species got a boost recently when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) released the final Bull Trout Recovery Plan, which outlines the conservation actions needed to recover bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus).

Bull trout occupy cold-water stream and lake habitats in western North America. Once abundant in Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, Idaho and Montana, bull trout are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in the lower 48 states.

The final recovery plan was developed after more than a year of collaboration with interested and knowledgeable federal, tribal, state, private, and other parties. At the core of the plan’s strategy are six geographically specific implementation plans, which identify specific conservation actions needed to address threats such as loss of habitat connectivity and passage barriers, non-native fish competition and predation, and the effects of poor land-management practices.

“The final recovery plan is a conservation compass to guide the recovery of bull trout, especially in places where the threatened fish has the best chance to persist for years to come. The focus is now on the threats to bull trout at the local scale and how we can abate them to stabilize or increase populations,” said Mike Carrier, state supervisor for the Service’s Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office. The Idaho office led the Service’s five-state planning effort.

The overarching goal of the recovery plan is to conserve bull trout so that the fish are geographically widespread with stable populations in each of the six recovery units. Accordingly, the plan’s recovery criteria focus on effective management of known threats to bull trout. The Coastal, Columbia Headwaters, Klamath, Mid-Columbia, Saint Mary and Upper Snake are the six designated recovery units that are home to the threatened population in the lower 48 states.

Bull trout were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1999. Recovery plan drafts were completed, but never finalized in 2002 and 2004. However, those draft recovery plans helped guide past recovery efforts and laid the foundation for the final plan adopted today.

To view the recovery plan, including the six Recovery Unit Implementation Plans, and learn more about bull trout conservation, visit: http://www.fws.gov/pacific/bulltrout/.

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals, and commitment to public service.

For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/. Connect with our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/USFWSMountainPrairie, follow our tweets at http://twitter.com/USFWSMtnPrairie, watch our YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/usfws and download photos from our Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsmtnprairie/.

Fishing Alabama’s Lewis Smith Lake and Georgia’s Lake Lanier

I got to fish two very similar lakes last week, one in Georgia and one in Alabama. On Friday I drove the four hours to Smith Lake north of Birmingham and met David Kilgore to get information for an Alabama Outdoor News article. Then on Saturday I got up and drove to Lanier to fish a charity tournament. So in two days I was fishing Alabama’s Lewis Smith Lake and Georgia’s Lake Lanier

David Kilgore impresses me. He is an excellent bass fisherman and has qualified to fish the last two Bassmasters Classics. I got to ride with him on the practice day and be his “Marshall” at Hartwell last February. And he has qualified to fish the BASS Elite trail the last three years. That is the top trail and the dream of many fishermen.

But David chose not to fish the trail. He has a couple of fairly young kids and knew how traveling to fish the Elite trail would disrupt his family life, so he did not do it. He does fish almost all tournaments on Smith and does well in them. He finished sixth in a 248 boat tournament there on Saturday.

Smith is a deep, clear lake with a very rocky shoreline, much like Lanier. He showed me ten spots that will be good places to catch bass in November and explained how to fish each spot and which baits to use.

Those tips would help anyone not familiar with the lake catch fish. Once they see David’s patterns they can use that information to find similar places to catch fish all over the lake.

Jennifer Sell is a member of the Flint River Bass Club and helps run the Georgia Outdoor News forum under the name Bayou Betty. She loves to fish and for the past few years has organized and run a charity tournament,

This year it was for The Center for Children & Young Adults a nonprofit organization that takes care of homeless children 12-20 years old in the Atlanta area. Entry fee was $100 and a local business donated $1000 for first place. Second place was $500. With that much money the tournament attracted 25 teams to fish.

Many other businesses also donated items for prizes for lower place teams and a raffle held at the end of the tournament. Most of the fishermen bought at least $10 in tickets, more money for the charity.

I don’t know Lanier very well and knew we had little chance of winning, so I went with the idea to enjoy the day, explore the lake a little and try to catch a few fish. It poured rain all day on us but that didn’t dampen the attitude of the fishermen.

Jenifer and I decided to not run all over the lake since the rain would make riding in a boat miserable. So we stayed near the ramp, fishing one creek. I like to fish that way anyway, picking apart a small area, trying to find some key spots where bass are feeding.

The first couple of hours were frustrating and we got no bites. Then I decided to try a spinnerbait. The cloudy, rainy day seemed to call for that bait. Within a few minutes I landed two keeper spotted bass on it.

We had a lull in catching until about 11:00 then our biggest spot, one a little over 2.5 pounds, hit a jig head worm under a dock. About an hour later we found the key spot, a rocky bank with a lot of baitfish holding on it.

I landed our fourth keeper there on a jig head worm then Jennifer filled our limit with a keeper on the same bait. Then she caught two more in a row that culled two smaller bass, so we had what for me is a decent limit on Lanier.

Our five bass weighed 8.87 pounds and I knew there would be some big stringers brought to the scales. And I was right. It took five weighing over 18 pounds to win and five over 14 pounds for second and third. There were a lot of limits in the 11 to 12 pound range weighed in.

I was not too surprised the winning team had a spot weighing well over four pounds, and there were five or six more weighing between four and five pounds. But big fish was a largemouth weighing almost six pounds!

Bass fishing at Lanier is good right now and will get better and better until late November. Five pound spotted bass are not uncommon and seven pounders are caught. And some local fishermen say they have lost spots that would set a new state record. They say there are nine pound spots in the lake, but spots fight so hard they are very hard to land, even if you are lucky enough to catch them.

The rocky points on the main lake and back in creeks are all good. And you can ride any point or hump with a depthfinder and find brush piles put out by fishermen. I did an article with one local fisherman a couple of years ago and he told me he had 1100 brush piles marked on his GPS!

Give Lanier a try. Or if you want to drive for four hours head to Smith. Both will be a lot of fun to fish this fall.

What Are Albies?

Yamaha Fishing Feature: Fall Light-Tackle Brawl
from The Fishing Wire

Albies are false albacore tuna

It’s That Time of Year When Albies Are Back in Town. So what are Albies?

Inshore anglers along the East Coast, from Florida to New England, look forward to fall for a lot of reasons. But those among us who enjoy a really good fight on very light tackle tend to rejoice more than our brethren. That’s because fall is when one of our favorite adversaries moves inshore, often right along the beach fronts, offering us some fast-and-furious, run-and-gun fishing with the lightest of tackle. It’s albie time!

False albacore, also called little tunny, albies or bonito in southern waters, are one of the smallest of the true tunas. While most encountered inshore are in the three-to-10 pound range, they can grow to weights in excess of 30 pounds. The world record, according to the International Game Fish Association, was caught on the edge of the Continental Shelf in the Washington Canyon, 80 miles off southern Maryland, and tipped the scales at a remarkable 36 pounds! They are relatives of the yellowfin, bigeye and bluefin tuna and when you hook one, you’ll realize they possess the same strength and fighting spirit as their much larger cousins, just on a scaled down level. So the trick to getting the most out of fishing for them is to scale down your tackle, hang on and enjoy the ride.

Albies, fishery biologists tell us, are the most abundant tuna species in the Atlantic where they range throughout temperate and subtropical waters, but if you chase them on a regular basis, you might sometimes question that statistic. At times, they appear to be everywhere at once crashing bait on the surface and at others, they can be almost impossible to find. In U.S. waters, they range as far north as Maine and as far south as the Florida Keys and throughout the Gulf of Mexico. We’ve personally caught them from Narragansett Bay to the Marquesas to the Mississippi Delta, and pretty much everywhere in between!

Fighting an Albie

Albies feed on a wide range of small schooling baitfish including silversides, bay anchovies, sardines, small menhaden and herring. Anything shiny and moving fast with lots of company is a target for these speedy predators. When they key in on large schools of small baitfish they usually travel in wolf packs, so if you find one, you’ve found a lot. How long they stay in one place is always a contributing factor to how many you’ll catch because they tend to move quickly from one school of bait to the next, popping up in a confusion of surface splashes only to disappear almost as quickly as they surfaced. Albies are aggressive when feeding and quick to hit artificial lures, particularly small, shiny metal jigs and flies. What makes them so much fun to catch is their speed and stamina.

If fall is albie time in southern New England and the Mid-Atlantic states, then you might guess that they are migratory and you would be correct, although their migratory habits can be difficult to predict from year to year. They tend to spend much of the winter in their southern haunts, and then begin a northward migration that takes them up the Eastern Seaboard where they provide loads of fishing fun for anglers in Northern Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. But as they move further north, they tend to push well offshore. It is also thought that large schools transit the North Atlantic, but little research has been done to test that theory. By late summer, they will start to move inshore off Massachusetts and Rhode Island where they will hunt bait schools in bays and sounds, around inlets and areas where currents collide. As they begin the fall run southward, they tend to stay closer to shore moving into the Long Island Sound, where they take advantage of massive schools of small baitfish moving out of the many estuaries into the Sound proper.

October, along the eastern end of Long Island, offers some of the best albie fishing to be found anywhere, as millions of bay anchovies in massive schools make their way around the Point at Montauk right into the path and hungry mouths of thousands of albies and small striped bass. They are so close to the beach surf fishermen catch their share standing on the rocks, but boat fishermen really cash in on the fast-paced action.

A little later in October, albies show en mass along the south shore of Long Island and the Jersey Coast. The fishing is different, but can be just as frenetic when a school of albacore finds a school of small baitfish, and there are plenty of those exiting the estuaries in both locales. The parade just keeps happening slowly, moving to the south. At the same time this is all going on, albies show up off Harkers Island, North Carolina, where they do a repeat of performance similar to that in Montauk. By this time, the action takes place around Cape Lookout National Seashore around the southern-most barrier island, Shackleford Banks, and around the inner waters of the island itself. The key to their presence is always the same—massive schools of small baitfish.

Most anglers fish for them with light spinning tackle. A seven-foot light-action spinning rod loaded with six- to 12-pound test line does the trick and makes the fight loads of fun. Hook a big one and you just might find yourself cranking up the outboard to chase it, and to keep from running out of line on the reel. Albies are the ideal inshore fish for challenging with fly tackle. A nice eight- or 10-weight rod matched with a quality reel with a super smooth drag that holds at least 300 hundred yards of backing is a must. Floating lines are best for casting to surface-feeding fish, and small flies that match the baitfish will get you plenty of bites.

Fall albacore action usually takes place around a boat. The fish move fast when feeding, popping up close to the boat, then a hundred yards away a couple minutes later, so you have to have someone at the helm ready to crank up and move to stay on the fish. This is called run-and-gun fishing, using the boat to get you to where the fish are busting quickly so you can drop in a few well-placed casts and hook up. Small outboard-powered boats are at a great advantage because of their speed and maneuverability, so if you’ve got one, make the best of it.

If there are albies around, but not surface feeding, you can try chumming. This technique seems to produce best results around nearshore structure such as lumps and ridges. Anchor and cut up handfuls of whatever small baitfish you can acquire. Then start tossing a few pieces at a time into the water to create a slick scented trail for the fish to follow to your boat. Don’t chum heavily because the fish will hang back and just eat the freebies. Pin a small, light wire hook in a whole baitfish and float it back with a few pieces of chum. You usually don’t have to wait very long for the fish to find you. If you don’t get a bite, try adding a small split shot to the line a couple feet up from the hook to get your bait a little deeper.

Bait for Albies

False albacore have very keen eyesight and they use it to distinguish and track prey when in hot pursuit, so keep your terminal tackle sparse and small, including your hooks and lures. Don’t use snaps and swivels. Tie your leader directly to your running line, and your lures or hooks directly to the leader. Always use a light fluorocarbon leader, 15-pound test or lighter, which is far less visible underwater than regular monofilament. If you use braided line on your reel, use at least 10 feet of flourocarbon leader between the end of the braid and the hook or lure. And be sure to check your leader after each fish because they do have teeth and they will scuff or nick the line. Change your leader as soon as you see any damage, or you can be sure you’ll lose a fish or two as a result of not paying attention to details.

Albies are the fun fish of fall for millions of saltwater anglers. If you haven’t chanced them before, you’re in for a treat. If you have, I’m sure we’ll be seeing you on the grounds again this fall to get in on the action.

What Is Dropshotting for Crappie?

Get The Drop On Crappies – Dropshotting for crappie

Crappie caught dropshotting

Drop shot rigging not just for bass anymore

Drop shot rigging is a staple presentation of serious bass fans from coast to coast. But it remains a largely overlooked option for anglers pursuing other species of gamefish, including crappies.

That’s unfortunate, because in the right situations, drop shotting can yield banner catches, and even outfish textbook strategies.

“Drop shotting is a great choice whenever the fish are relatively close to bottom and you want to cover water a little faster, or with more precision, than you can with slip bobbers or vertical jigging,” says veteran fishing guide and lifelong panfish fanatic Scott Glorvigen.

Case in point: the late summer to early fall crappie migration.

“When crappies abandon withering shoreline weedbeds and head toward the main basin where they’ll spend the winter, they often follow bars and points that serve as travel corridors on their way out to deeper water,” he explains.

Drop shot rigs excel at presenting a tantalizing softbait or minnow at or just above the level of fish, and allow anglers to customize the speed of retrieve and amount of animation, without fear of the rig falling to bottom or drifting out of the strike zone.

Glorvigen admits his fall panfish epiphany came while chasing bass on a north-central Minnesota lake.

“I was drop shotting bass with a 6-inch worm on a long finger bar leading from a shoreline saddle straight into the basin,” he recalls. “I was catching bass, but noticed on my sonar there were a lot of crappies and bluegills mixed in with them.”

Glorvigen credits the ultra-sensitive readings from his Lowrance Elite 9 CHIRP electronics for revealing the difference between bass and panfish.

“I was also catching the occasional crappie here and there, which told me that drop shotting might be a winning presentation in this scenario,” he adds.

To tempt more crappies into biting, he traded the bass-sized worm for a more panfish-appropriate, 3-inch Impulse Angleworm from Northland Fishing Tackle.

Small crappie dropshot baits

Panfish-sized softbaits excel on drop shot rigs.

He also down-sized the business end of the setup to a size 4 VMC Spinshot Drop-Shot Hook. “The Spinshot hook is great for drop shotting because it spins around, allowing the bait to move freely, without causing line twist,” he says.

After threading on the worm so the tail remained free for maximum gyrations, he added a live crappie minnow for extra attraction.

“The plastic bait’s constant movement and water displacement makes it easy for crappies to find it, even in stained water, and the minnow is icing on the cake,” he explains. “Plus, if the minnow comes off halfway through the retrieve, I still have a chance to catch fish because the plastic is still in place.”

Glorvigen’s rigging also included a 7-foot, medium-light Lew’s spinning outfit spooled with 10-pound-test Northland Bionic Braid mainline and an 8-pound-test monofilament leader tethered to the hook’s lower line tie.

“The setup works great for crappies, and can still handle the occasional big bass that grabs the bait,” he says.

Leader length was tailored to how high crappies were above bottom. “On structure, the fish were close to bottom and an 18-inch leader worked the best,” he says. “But when they occasionally moved off to suspend over deeper water, leader lengths up to 36 inches produced fish.”

Glorvigen compulsively keeps sinker weight as light as possible when drop shotting panfish, and this was no exception. “It’s important to use the lightest weight you can get away with, so you can feel the fish but they can’t feel the sinker,” he explains.

Glorvigen says pencil-style weights ranging from 1/8- to 3/16-ounce were perfect in the 11- to 19-foot depths he was working.

Once rigged up, he’d cast out, let the sinker settle, and then tighten the line for a direct connection that allowed him to detect bottom as well as subtle bites.

“You can move the rig across by reeling, drifting or using your trolling motor to slowly cover key areas,” he notes.

No matter which means of propulsion you choose, Glorvigen recommends toning down the amount of action you give the bait.

“If the bait jumps around too fast, it’s hard for them to hit it,” he cautions. “I’ve had the best luck with a more subtle approach than what I’d use when bass fishing. Simply shaking and gently twitching the worm is enough. If you get too aggressive, the number of fish drops off dramatically.”

High-quality sonar and GPS can help you find and catch fall crappies.

Find crappie on depthfinder

Glorvigen notes that a good GPS chartplotter is a big help in mapping out structural thoroughfares and waypointing key areas that hold the most fish.

“Custom mapping systems like Lowrance’s Insight Genesis, which allow you to map structure in fine detail, can really help you get the lay of the land and learn why the crappies are attracted to certain areas over others,” he adds.

While the fall crappie transition is a great time to throw drop shot rigs, Glorvigen says there are plenty of other times it pays to keep an open mind on the water.

“Anglers get stuck in our ways and pigeonholed into certain presentations,” he says. “But it’s always good to experiment, adjust, and pay attention to what the fish are trying to tell you, all the way from early spring to last ice.”

Check out this video for more of Scott’s drop shot tricks.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Glorvigen & Glorvigen LLC – 29 County Road 63, Grand Rapids, MN 55744
[email protected] – 218-301-9072

Young Bass Tournament Fishermen

There are a lot of very good young bass tournament fishermen in the Griffin area. For some reason Georgia has not produced many top level tournament pros but maybe these young fishermen will start a trend and make it to the top. A couple already are there.

I have enjoyed doing articles with several of them, and one fishes with me in club tournaments. Jordan McDonald from Jackson made the regional tournaments on two trails, the Bulldog BFL and the Weekend Series, in the past couple of weeks. He qualified to go to the next level through fishing state tournaments. And he won the point standings for no boaters in the Weekend Series.

At the two regionals he will be fishing he has a chance to win a boat and also to move on to the next level. And there are cash prizes in them, too.

Cody Stahl is in high school here and he and his partner on the state high school tournament last year then placed tenth in the national high school tournament. I did an article that is in the current October Georgia Outdoor News magazine on Lake Oconee and he showed me how good he is. His knowledge of bass fishing and his techniques are excellent for someone his age.

Byron Kenney is from Griffin, fished with the University of Georgia college team, and is doing great in the qualifying tournament for the bigger trails. Last weekend he won the two day BFL tournament at Oconee as a boater, the same one Jordan placed 9th as a no boater.

A couple of years ago I did an article with Dawson Lentz. Dawson is from Peachtree City, went to North Alabama College where he was on the fishing team and they won several big college trail tournaments. Dawson was a very good youth angler while growing up and will try some of the big trails next year.

Micah Frazier is from Newnan and he was the youngest angler to ever do so when he won a BFL when he was only 16, beating all the adult fishermen in that tournament. He is now fishing the BASS Elite Trail. As its name implies, it is the very top trail in BASS, and he had to do well in a lot of the lower trails to qualify for the Elite Trail. And he is doing pretty well on it.

Last Monday I went to Lake Sinclair to fish with Clayton Batts for a November Georgia Outdoor News article. Clayton is from Lizella near Macon and is now fishing the FLW Tour trail, the top trail for that organization. He worked his way up through the BFLs and FLW Rayovac trail to qualify for it and has been successful on the top trail.

We started fishing at 7; 30 and stayed until 5:30, and the whole time Clayton threw a top water plug. He landed a 5.6 pound largemouth and lost two more almost as big when they just pulled off the hook. He also caught five or six bass in the two pound range. His best five landed weighed over 13 pounds.

In my club tournaments it usually takes less than ten pounds to win, often a lot less. And the last time I fished a tournament at Sinclair I didn’t catch a keeper in eight hours. Not only does Clayton know the lake very well, he lived in a cabin on it while in college, he knows how to catch fish.

It is hard for me to fish with just one thing all day like he did. I keep thinking I need to try different things to find out what the bass want. But Clayton, and other pros, have so much confidence they will stick with just one bait, knowing it will work.

Clayton told me he wanted only five bites in a tournament, if they were the right ones. Pros like him concentrate on big fish. They know catching keepers won’t win their tournaments so they hope to land a five fish limit with each weighing at least three pounds, rather than dozens of one pound fish.

Tournament fishing is very competitive and youth and stamina help a lot! Clayton didn’t even have a front seat on his boat, he stood up casting all day. But he is half my age. I cannot stand up for long before my back hurts too much. And Clayton was able to twitch his rod all day to make the topwater bait work right.

If I try to fish a bait like that, one that requires a lot of hand and arm work, I give out after an hour or so. But I can always make excuses for not catching fish, from my age to the weather to the time of day. But even when I think the bass are not biting, somebody will catch them, even in our club tournaments,

Fishing the big trails is hard work. Clayton left Tuesday to drive to Arkansas to fish a Central Open, hoping to get enough points to qualify for the BASS Elite series. He says he will fish both trails as much as possible.

To fish even one trail you may have to fish a tournament in Florida then take off to California for one a week later, then come back to Kentucky for one a week after that. All that travel makes it very hard to have a family, or much of a life beyond fishing. But for the top pros, bass fishing is all that matter.

Forty years ago I had the dream of being a pro fisherman. I am way too old for that dream now, but it is nice to know some local youth are living that dream or working up to it.

Wildlife Photography in Wildlife Refuges

A Lens on Nature: Four Ace Photographers and the Wildlife Refuges They Love

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you love wildlife photography, you’ll enjoy this story from the U.S. Department of Fish & Wildlife Services.
from The Fishing Wire

Logos

Wait! Think before you aim that camera at a national wildlife refuge. It may be habit-forming. That’s been true for four standout nature photographers – each hooked on prowling a favorite refuge in hopes of locking eyes with a bird or fox, capturing light and color, and probing the mystery of our animal natures.

All four photographers – April Allyson Abel at Prime Hook Refuge, Delaware; Quincey Banks at Eufala Refuge, Alabama; Marvin De Jong at Bosque del Apache Refuge, New Mexico; and Mia McPherson at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Utah – say photo opportunities abound on refuges.

“Why are national wildlife refuges great places to take wildlife photos?” asks De Jong. “The obvious answer is because there’s wildlife there. There’s an emphasis on wildlife. But it’s more than that. You frequently have good access to animals and birds. You have a wildlife trail or a road. That’s the great thing about Bosque del Apache Refuge. You can stand on the road and have sandhill cranes being themselves just 15 yards away.”

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico.

Adds McPherson, “Wildlife refuges are just amazing. That’s where the habitat is. It’s refuges’ job to manage [them]…and they do an excellent job of it.”

National wildlife refuges, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are part of Americas’ rich natural heritage. They have been so since 1903, when President Theodore Roosevelt established the first national wildlife refuge on Pelican Island, Florida.

National wildlife refuges offer chances to see an almost unparalleled array of wildlife, including many of the nation’s most beloved and spectacular species. Wildlife photography brings individuals and families close to nature, which research has shown to be physically and emotionally beneficial. Find a refuge near you: www.fws.gov/refuges.

April Allyson Abel

If you want to see the world through April Abel’s eyes, rise early. You want to beat the sun to Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge on the Delaware coast so you’re in place when the light show begins. “There are two kinds of people in this world,” laughs Abel. “There’s the kind who say, ‘You’re gonna shoot at sunrise again?’ and the kind who say, ‘Can I come with you?'”

On a frosty March morning, she patrols the bank of a refuge impoundment in a thermal vest and jeans (no jacket, no gloves) and trains her lens on the herons and avocets feeding in the shallows. A heron snags an eel, shakes it, then downs it. “Got it,” says Abel, like a sportscaster offering color commentary on a play. “Now a little sip of water to finish it off.”

She keeps shooting as the sun rises through the clouds, turning the indigo sky to purple and orange. The refuge, she says, “is just so beautiful, and the still water makes a mirror for the birds.”

Abel took up digital photography at age 40 after a life change, spending a year documenting the seasons at Prime Hook marsh. She worked freelance as a writer and photographer. Her stories and photos appeared in local newspapers and magazines, and she began racking up photo prizes. Today, she works as exhibits coordinator for Delaware State Parks.

A favorite photo she took at Prime Hook shows a heron about to close its open bill on a tiny fish, for a moment suspended in mid-air. “I watched the heron fishing for about 10, 15 minutes. It caught one fish after another, tossing them back like a kid eating popcorn. I kept shooting frame after frame, and this one showed the fish perfectly balanced mid-air, about to be eaten.”

When it’s too cold in winter for even her to shoot, Abel knows what to do: “spend time learning about bird species and habitat. So you learn what to anticipate in the way of bird behavior and can get a better shot.”

Quincey Banks

Eighteen years ago, Quincey Banks was photographing his son in Eufala, Alabama, when the toddler balked. “He started saying ‘no’ when I was trying to take pictures of him running around the house. So the next best thing was to go take pictures of stuff I saw outside,” says Banks.

He began taking his camera when he went hunting. Then, to get close-ups of wood ducks, he built a floating blind of Styrofoam covered with brush. Launching it before dawn, he waited beneath it, wet and shivering with cold.

The discomfort paid off. “You go from spooking the birds to having them within 30 or 40 feet. And for a wildlife photographer, to get a wild animal such as a wood duck within 30 feet, that’s nirvana. I mean that’s just crazy. From that point on, I was hooked. … I didn’t care about anything except photographing those birds.”

For Bank, nature photography is about “being outside and seeing what God made. Every time I go out and do nature photography, there’s always something different to see.”

He likes Eufala National Wildlife Refuge for its wide range of habitats and species, from wading birds to bobcats. “The refuge has so many different land types within that 19,000-acre area that I can photograph almost any type of animal that I might see in Alabama.”

He tells beginning photographers: “Learn as much about the animal you’re trying to photograph as you possibly can. A good nature photographer is also a good naturalist. …If you know how the animal is gonna act, or where it’s gonna be, it’s easier to be prepared to get that photograph when it happens.”

Marvin De Jong

What does Marvin De Jong like most about wildlife photography?

“It’s satisfying. It’s challenging. Birds are especially challenging because they don’t just sit and look at you. It’s a lot more exciting than wedding photography.”

“My first priority is to get an animal in [a photo],” he says. “I like a photo to tell a story. It’s good if there’s some action. If I can get a green heron catching a minnow that tells you a little story about the bird. If I can get the bird singing with its mouth open, taking off, landing,” he says, that heightens a viewer’s interest.

De Jong turned to photography in retirement. He and his wife were already volunteering at wildlife refuges such as Santa Ana in Texas and Bosque del Apache in New Mexico. “I like the outdoors. I like birds. They sort of came together.”

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is his favorite refuge for wildlife photography. “I like things to be in the air. Flying birds are better than birds standing out in the water. And New Mexico is a great place for some of best sunrises and sunsets I’ve ever seen. The cranes fly out in the morning and fly back in the evening, so that’s when you’re going to be out there.”

Quick thinking helped him snag a favorite refuge shot. He’d just stepped out of the car when suddenly “there was this bobcat. Unfortunately, the camera’s in the car. So I opened the car door and of course immediately you get the noise alerting you the keys are in the ignition…I grabbed the camera, and I had it on the bobcat, but he was going away, so I was gonna get a butt shot. And so I said, ‘Hey, cat.’ He turned and looked at me, and that’s when I got the shot.”

“You’ve got to get the eyes of the animal. If you don’t have the eyes, you don’t have a photo.”

Mia McPherson

Utah resident Mia McPherson took up bird and nature photography in 2004 to heal from a personal loss and illness. Snapping nature photos was a natural extension of activities she loved.

“I like to be out in nature, listen to the birds, be exposed to different types of habitats,” says McPherson. “It’s quiet. It’s peaceful. I just relax and enjoy myself.” She honed her skill enough that two of her photos were chosen for a National Geographic pocket guide to birds of North America.

Nature photography isn’t easy. “You have to have a lot of patience,” says McPherson. “You can sit for an hour or two waiting for a particular bird behavior. Thirty seconds one way or another could make the different between a good shot and a great shot. Dealing with the elements is an issue, too. In summer, it gets very hot and buggy. In the winter, it gets extremely cold. Making sure you don’t get stuck in a snowbank: that’s a challenge, too.”

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, an hour and a half from her home, is among her favorite places to shoot.

“They have a spectacular auto tour route where you can drive around water impoundment area and see all kinds of birds from short eared owls and northern harriers to waterfowl and shorebirds.

“In summer it’s inundated with nesting shorebirds. One of the most spectacular sights is watching American white pelicans feed. In winter, the calls of thousands and thousands of tundra swans echo all over the place. It’s a magical sound.”

A favorite shot of hers shows two western grebes skating across water at Bear River Refuge. “That’s called rushing and that’s their courtship display.” The birds go through a preliminary ritual “so you can say, okay, okay, there’s going to be a rush now. But it’s definitely a challenge to get the photo because this routine they go through doesn’t always end in rushing. So you have to wait and wait and wait. And hopefully they will rush, but they don’t always. A car might come by or a raptor fly over, and that ends it for them.”

Video: https://youtu.be/bcUaUfWAo78
A Lens on Nature: April Abel Photographs National Wildlife Refuges

Flickr album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwshq/sets/72157656107514654
A Lens on Nature: Four ace photographers and the national wildlife refuges they love.

Tips on wildlife photography: http://www.fws.gov/refuges/photography/

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. For more information, visit www.fws.gov, or connect with us through any of these social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

How To Catch Bass In the Altamaha River Basin

Bass in the Altamaha River Basin

Some waters just seem to produce better bass fishing. The Ocmulgee River, whose waters produced the world record bass, and the Oconee River join to form the Altamaha River. The lakes on the two rivers upstream are varied but excellent bass fishing waters, and the big river downstream of the junction is full of hungry bass.

On the upper end of the basin, Lake Jackson on the very upper end of the Ocmulgee and Lakes Sinclair and Oconee on the Oconee River are popular destinations for bass fishing. Although there are some similarities, all three lakes have their own types of cover and structure.

The Altamaha River itself can be intimidating if you don’t fish big rivers much but it can be excellent if you take the time to learn to fish it. It is very different from the lakes but all four places are definitely worth fishing right now.

Lake Jackson

Jackson, dammed in 1911, is one of our oldest lakes and it covers 4750 acres. The dam is on the Ocmulgee River downstream of where it forms at the junction of the South, Yellow and Alcovy Rivers. Its rocky shorelines are covered with docks and the lake has a reputation for big largemouth, but it is also full of spotted bass.

Kip Carter is a well known professional bass fisherman and Jackson is his home lake since grew up on it and lives nearby now. He knows it well and this time of year is one of his favorites to fish it.

Bass fishing on Jackson in the spring centers on both the bass and shad spawn. Bass will move into spawning areas in waves, starting in March and continuing through April. Since the bass don’t all spawn at one time you can catch pre spawn, post spawn and spawning bass right now. Kip says you can find bass on the bed almost any day in April.

The shad spawn in April provides some of the best fishing of the year. When the shad move to seawalls and riprap to spawn the bass concentrate on them, eating their fill every day. They are so voracious they will often eat until you can see the tails of the last shad they swallowed sticking out of their throat.

A wide variety of baits will catch bass now on Jackson. While the shad are spawning a white buzz bait or white spinnerbait with silver blades is definitely a go-to bait. Use a one quarter ounce bait for most fishing, but go to a half ounce spinnerbait if you want to concentrate on bigger bass.

Early in the morning you will see the shad schools running the seawalls and riprap. Points on the main lake are best, especially if the channel swings in by them, but secondary points back in the coves are also good. You should move fast until you find the shad spawning then slow down.

Throw your bait right on the bank and work it out at a 45 degree or less angle. The bass will be right on the bank early. After the sun gets on the water back off and slow roll your spinnerbait, covering deeper water where the bass are holding after the shad back off the bank.

Also try a jerk bait after the sun comes up. Cast near the bank and work it back in a jerk – jerk – pause action, making it look like an injured shad trying to get back to the school. Shad colors work best.

During the day Kip targets shallow cover lake brush piles, blowdowns and docks in the coves. A brown jig with a brown or pumpkinseed trailer is one of the best baits to fish around this cover and a three eights to one quarter ounce jig will fall slowly and not get hung as much. It will also draw strikes from any bass on the bed you spot.

A weightless worm will get bit better than just about any other bait, day to day, this time of year. Kip sticks with natural colors rather than the bright worms some favor and watches his line for the bites rather than just watching the bait. He says the natural colors will draw more strikes than the brighter colors.

If you like worm fishing both a Carolina or jig head worm will catch fish. And they are better for fishing a little deeper. Try a Baby Brush Hog on the Carolina rig and a straight worm like a Trick worm on the jig head. Stick with natural colors like green pumpkin and fish rocky points and creek channel drops with them.

Lake Oconee

Lake Oconee is on the upper Oconee River just south of I-20 and is one of our newest lakes. It has it everything bass like with defined channels, deep points, riprap, docks, roadbeds, grass beds and standing timber. With a slot limit protecting 11 to 14 inch long bass it produces a lot of them that size that are fun to catch. It also means there are a lot of bass longer than 14 inches in the lake.

Roger McKee guides on Oconee and does well in a lot of tournaments there. He says the bite centers around the bass spawning movement and the shad spawn on Oconee like it does on Jackson.

A spinnerbait and crankbait are good baits to locate the bass on Oconee and also catch the bigger bass needed in tournaments. Roger will fish both baits fast, looking for active fish. He says he would choose a crankbait if he could use only one bait on Oconee right now.

Use white spinnerbaits with a gold and silver blade in clear water but go to more chartreuse in the bait as it gets more stained. Shad colored crankbaits are better in clear water but also use more chartreuse baits in stained to muddy water.

Many big bass spawn on Oconee in March so they are on an active feeding spree now, and there will also be pre spawn bass moving in as well as bass on the beds. Secondary points in the coves and smaller creeks are the key to both pre and post spawn bass and Roger will hit as many as he can. By fishing his crankbait or spinnerbait fast he can cover a lot of water, and fast moving baits make it harder for a bass to see it is a fake and will draw reaction strikes.

The very back of the cuts and pockets behind these secondary points are where the bass spawn, so look to them for big females on the bed. Roger says some of the biggest bass of the year can be caught off the beds if you have the patients to soak a jig and pig or worm in them.

A weightless worm will also catch fish back in the pockets now. Fish it around any cover like stumps, brush, blowdowns and grass. Try working it fast just under the surface first but it you don’t get hit slow it down. Jerk it and make it dart, then let it sink. Watch your line and if you see any tick or movement set the hook.

Roger also fishes a jig and pig and Carolina rig on Oconee. The Carolina rig is good on the secondary points, especially if you get a couple of bites on fast moving spinnerbaits or crankbaits on one. Slow down and work it with a worm on a Carolina rig.

Fish the jig and pig on the same points, but also throw it around brush, blowdowns and stumps. Fish a brown jig and trailer in clear water but go to a black and blue jig and trailer in stained water. Work the bait slowly with hops on the points and jiggle it on wood cover.

During the shad spawn all the bass on the lake, unless they are locked in on the bed, will feed on them. Shad prefer hard cover like riprap and seawalls to lay their eggs seawalls with riprap are all over the lake. Fish your spinnerbait fast on them early in the morning close to the rocks then slow it down some as the sun comes up.

Lake Sinclair

Lake Sinclair backs up to the Oconee Dam but varies a good bit from it since it is an older lake. Many coves have grass like water willow in them and the docks tend to be older and have more brush piles around them. There is no slot limit on bass and Sinclair bass tend to run smaller, with lots of 11 to 13 inch bass being caught every day.

Both my bass clubs fish Sinclair this time of year since we catch so many bass there and there are so many different patterns you can fish. The bass spawn is in full swing and the shad spawn will take place during the month.

When the shad are not spawning, start early in the mornings with a white and chartreuse buzzbait or spinnerbait back in the coves around the grass. These grass beds are full of bluegill and bass love to eat them. If the grass is not too thick throw to the back side of it and work your bait out. If it is thick cast into it as far as you can without getting your bait clogged up.

Keep the buzzbait moving steadily but drop the spinnerbait at the edge of the grass in any holes or cuts. Let it flutter down a few inches then pull it forward. Bass will often eat it as it stops and flutters.

Floating worms are also good in the grass. Fish them in the grass, letting the bait fall into any holes and at the edge. A white Trick worm is good since you can see it and keep track of where it is and when it disappears, set the hook.

After the sun gets up back off to secondary points and fish a three sixteenths ounce jig head with a green pumpkin worm on it. Drag it along the bottom, with a hop a few inches high every foot or so. Some JJ’s Magic chartreuse dye on the tail mimics the fins of a bluegill and helps you get more hits.

During the shad spawn fish a three sixteenths ounce white spinnerbait with two silver willowleaf blades on riprap, seawalls and around the grass, too. Shad will spawn on the grass as well as the wood and rocks. Watch for flickers of shad as the school moves down the bank.

Cast as shallow as you can, even to the point of landing your bait on the bank and pulling it off. It often seems a bass will sit with his nose right on the rocks, waiting on a shad to come by. You don’t want to cast behind them.

After the sun gets on the water and the shad quit moving, back off the cover and reel the same spinnerbait slowly, keeping it right over the bottom. Fish it out to at least eight feet of water since bass will back off to that depth after feeding.

Docks are also hold a lot of bass this time of year and you can catch them by running a shad colored crankbait or your spinnerbait beside the posts and over brush piles around them. Also pitch a black and blue jig and pig to the docks, getting back under them as far as you can when the sun is bright.

Try to bring your jig and pig right beside every post. When you hit brush stop your bait and jiggle it in one place to get a reluctant bass to eat it. Make it look like an easy meal for a lazy bass.

Altamaha River

The Altamaha River starts south of Vidalia where the Omulgee and Oconee Rivers join. It is a big river with lots of current but also has many pockets and backwaters with overhanging trees and bushes. These pockets are where the bass move in the spring to spawn, so that is where you want to fish.

This is pretty simple fishing since you will be casting to visible cover in shallow water. One of the best tactics is to skip a weightless worm under overhanging limbs of willow trees. Let it sink to the bottom and settle for a few seconds. Watch for your line to start moving off when a bass picks it up. Use natural colored worms like green pumpkin or black.

Also study the backout. If it is a small creek entering the river it will often have a channel the bass will follow. Target stumps and other wood cover along the channel with a chartreuse and white spinnerbait with one gold and one silver willowleaf blade. Run the bait over the wood then let it fall as it passes.

If the backout is an old oxbow, usually one side will be deeper. Bass often hold on this deeper side on wood and grass. A spinnerbait fish beside the cover is good but also try a black and blue jig and pig flipped into the heaviest cover on this deeper bank.

The Altamaha River drainage offers lots of different fishing opportunities. Give them all a try.

Tour A Wisconsin Salmon Hatchery

Wisconsin DNR sets open house events and tours at egg collection facilities in Racine, Kewaunee, Sturgeon Bay. You can tour a Wisconsin salmon hatchery.
from The Fishing Wire

MADISON — Up and down the Wisconsin shores of Lake Michigan, chinook salmon are staging for the biggest race of their lives – a final run to spawn in rivers including the Root in Racine, Kewaunee in Kewaunee County and Strawberry Creek in Door County.

Workers at DNR’s Strawberry Creek Chinook Facility

Workers at DNR’s Strawberry Creek Chinook Facility outside Sturgeon Bay crowd salmon in a pen before spawning.
WDNR Photo

When the time is right – likely starting in the next week or so – Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources staff will be there waiting to collect eggs and milt used in producing the next generation of fish for Lake Michigan stocking.

Visitors will be able to see the action firsthand at open house events at the C.D. “Buzz” Besadny Anadromous Fish Facility on Saturday, Oct. 3 and Root River Steelhead Facility on Saturday, Oct. 10. At the Strawberry Creek facility, another key source for chinook salmon eggs, visitors are welcome during daylight hours.

“What started in the 1960s as an effort to control alewife populations by stocking Pacific salmon has turned into a sport fishery that generates some $4 billion per year for the economy of the Great Lakes region,” said Justine Hasz, DNR fisheries bureau director. “Each year the fall spawning runs are a reminder of how our stocking efforts contribute to this economic impact by creating recreational opportunities for anglers of all ages. We look forward to welcoming visitors to our open houses where they can learn more about our fisheries management and propagation efforts.”

The open house events at Besadny and Root River feature egg collection demonstrations as well as fly casting and tying lessons, youth instruction and opportunities to learn Lake Michigan fishing tips from expert anglers. The Besadny open house features an opportunity to sponsor tagged fingerling sturgeon and participate in the river release of these young fish.

Mike Baumgartner, who supervises the Besadny facility in Kewaunee, said based on reports of salmon staging near the mouth of the river, he expects a strong run of fish again this year.

“Visitors can expect great viewing along the banks of the river, a fish-eye perspective through the underwater windows and a look at egg collection through a window in the processing area,” Baumgartner said. “We’ll also offer guided tours of the facility, fish print t-shirt making and fishing lessons along with other activities. Visitors can park in a lot down the road and walk or take the horse and wagon ride to get here. It should be a great day.”

The open house events are free and open to the public with food and beverages available from local groups as well as guided facility tours and activities geared to youth. Trails and paths near the facilities offer opportunities for families to explore the river environment and enjoy wildlife and bird viewing.

The Oct. 3 event at the Besadny facility in Kewaunee runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The facility, on the Kewaunee River, was built in 1989-1990 and collects eggs from chinook and coho salmon as well as brown and steelhead or rainbow trout for rearing in a series of ponds. A processing building featuring a lobby with displays and a public viewing window was completed in 1996.

The Oct. 10 event at the Root River facility in Racine also runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The facility was built in 1993-1994 along the Root River by DNR in partnership with the Salmon Unlimited fishing club. It serves as a significant source of coho salmon, steelhead and brown trout eggs and plays an important role in the collection of biological data relating to overall fish health, growth rates, migration patterns and other data. In addition, DNR crews collect seeforellen brown trout from the river in November to ensure the ability to stock this important strain in the future.

Fisheries staff members anticipate processing fish at the third egg collection facility, the Strawberry Creek Chinook Facility outside Sturgeon Bay, on Oct. 5, 8, 12, 15 and 19.

The fall egg collection marks the start of DNR’s propagation process. The eggs will be hatched and raised at DNR facilities until they are ready for stocking at about four months for chinook and at one and a half years for coho, steelhead and brown trout. The different species are stocked according to the stage in their lifecycle at which naturally reproducing fish would normally leave the tributaries to live in Lake Michigan. That stage is much earlier for chinook.

To learn more, visit dnr.wi.gov and search “fisheries open house.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Baumgartner, C.D. “Buzz” Besadny Anadromous Fish Facility supervisor, [email protected], 920-388-1025; John Komassa, DNR southeast hatchery group section chief, [email protected], 608-275-3315; Brad Eggold, DNR Lake Michigan fisheries supervisor, [email protected], 414-382-7921; Bob Fahey, DNR fisheries operations supervisor, Root River, 608-275-3251, [email protected]; Jennifer Sereno, DNR communications, [email protected], 608-770-8084.

What Are Some Good Pre-Spawn Largemouth Tactics?

Top Pre-Spawn Largemouth Tactics

March is well known for several reasons. The Ides of March were pretty important to Caesar. Basketball fans go crazy over March Madness. But to a bass fisherman, this time of year means bass are feeling the spawning urge, moving toward the bedding areas, feeding heavily and are much easier to catch. Pre-spawn season is here.

It also means you can catch them on a wide variety of baits and patterning them is easy. It doesn’t matter if you favor crank baits, spinnerbaits, jerk baits, a jig and pig or plastic worms, all are good. And topwater action, a favorite of most fishermen, comes into play and gets better and better.

As our days get longer bass respond by moving toward shallow, protected coves to spawn. They follow established routes like creek channels, break lines and points as they move, stopping on cover to feed. You can follow them and catch large numbers of fish, as well as some of the biggest bass of the year, along these routes.

When the water first starts to warm look for the fish on the structure and cover just outside the mouths of the spawning areas. Find stumps on a drop or point, a blowdown where the channel swings near the cove mouth and brush and rocks on points and the bass will be there.

Follow them to secondary points and steeper banks back in the cove as they move. Follow the channel back into the coves since that is what the bass will follow. Fish the key areas where the channel swings near a secondary point, where it runs along a bank making a steep drop and along the edges of flats where the bass feed.

Then look for stumps, logs and brush on hard bottoms near the back of the coves where they set up to bed as the water temperature approached 65 degrees. Gravel and hard sand bottoms are what attract the bass so concentrate on areas with those kinds of bottom.

Coves on the north side of the lake warm fastest due to the angle of the sun, and a breeze blowing across the lake moves warmer surface water with it. Check out the areas on the north side of the lake, especially if a light breeze is blowing toward them. Stronger winds stir up the colder water below the surface and don’t help increase the temperature, but wave action can make the bass feed on windblown points and banks.

Although bass are cold blooded and really don’t get uncomfortable from water temperature, they are more active in warmer water. Also, water temperature affects spawning time. Since stained water warms more quickly than clear water, look for stained to muddy water. A surface temperature gauge helps since just two to three degrees change can make a difference.

A three day warming trend is a classic time to find bigger bass moving very shallow to feed. Cold fronts move through often this time of year and then a warming trend follows. After a front drops the water temperature then it starts warming, the bass will respond by moving and feeding.

Since the bass are moving you should fish fairly fast, covering water until you find them. Spinnerbaits and crank baits work well to cover a lot of water looking for the areas they are holding.

When you start catching fish note the kind of area and bass should be in the same kinds of places in other parts of the lake. When you find concentrations of fish slow down and work every piece of cover thoroughly.

Choose your bait color based on water clarity. Use natural baitfish colors in clear water but go to brighter colors in more stained water. White spinnerbaits with silver blades work well in clearer water while chartreuse or red skirts teamed with gold or copper blades are better in stained water. Bigger baits are usually better in stained to muddy water, too.

With crankbaits use shad colors in clear water. Grays, light blues and silver are good. Chartreuse crankbaits show up better in muddy water, as do red and black baits. A rattle in the baits can be good no matter what the water color but are more important in stained water where visibility is less.

You can fish a spinnerbait at any depth but lighter one-quarter ounce baits can be moved slower in more shallow water. Go to three eights to one half ounce baits for deeper water earlier in the month. Try willowleaf blades in clear water and for fishing faster but use Colorado blades for slower fishing and in stained to muddy water.

Carry a variety of crankbaits, too. Some should be small and have smaller bills for water less than four feet deep. Bigger baits that bump the bottom in six to ten feet are needed earlier. Bumping the bottom is important. You are much more likely to get bit when your crankbait is digging into the bottom.

Square bill crankbaits have become very popular in the past few years. They bounce off wood cover better and are made for fishing stumps, brush and blowdowns. Most run several feet deep. Carry several sizes and colors and fish any wood cover you see with them.

Jerkbaits are known for clear water fishing but work well during the prespawn in stained water, too. Fish a pearl or silver bait and work it slower in colder water then faster and faster as the water warms. Long pauses between jerks will often make bigger bass hit.

A jig and pig is one of the best baits for March fishing. It can be fished around any kind of cover and is especially effective around rocks and clay where crayfish live. Black and blue baits are the norm in stained water with browns good in clear water. Try different sizes, from three-sixteenths to full one ounce baits depending on conditions.

Plastic worms fished on Carolina and Texas rigs as well as jig heads account for more bass than any other bait. A Carolina rig is good for raking gravel and clay bottoms while a Texas rig comes through cover better. A jig head worm is good around any kind of bottom or cover.

As soon as the water temperature hits the mid 50s try topwater. A buzzbait will catch bass in colder water than you might think and you can cover water quickly. You can fish it over any kind of cover. A popper or prop bait can be worked more slowly and a stick bait like the classic Zara Spook will catch pre-spawn bass. Topwater tends to get better and better as the water warms.

You can find the bass this time of year with your favorite bait. Start at the mouths of spawning coves and smaller creeks then work further and further into them. Hit key areas with cover. Watch the water temperature and concentrate in areas with warmer water.

Work fast until you find the pattern. Remember it can change during the day but when you find the fish in one area you should be able to go to similar places on the lake and repeat it.

Spinnerbaits are very versatile baits this time of year, allowing you to fish fast or slow around any kind of cover or bottom. They come in a wide variety of colors and blade styles to match anything you need.

Secret Weapon makes a spinnerbait that is a little different. The blades attach on a clip on shaft rather than the usual fixed clevis on the arm followed by a blade on a swivel on the end. This arrangement gives the bait a different sound and look as well as allowing you to quickly change color and size of blades and add or take away the number of blades on the bait.

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