Sunday, January 6, 14 members of the Flint River Bass Club fished our January tournament at Lanier. After eight hours of casting we brought n 34 keeper spotted bass weighing about 65 pounds. There were no largemouth caught. Two fishermen had five fish limits and two did not catch a keeper.

Niles Murray won with a very good catch of five weighing 12.77 pounds and Jack Ridgeway had five at 10.0 pounds for second. Chuck Croft placed third with four weighing 9.16 pounds and Travis Weatherly came in fourth with five weighing 8.16 pounds. Dan Phillips had big fish with a 4.39-pound spot.

I had just interview three Lanier guides for a January Georgia Outdoor News article on how to catch fish out of ditches at Lanier, and Chuck and Travis said they caught their fish that way. Seems like I could have used what they told me, but after two hours without a bite trying it, I did my usual, going to places I have caught bass in the past.

I thought I was on something when I caught a 2.5-pound spot from some brush 30 feet deep on a jig and pig. So, I spent the next two hours trying that pattern without another bite. That made me run to the back of a creek and fish shallow, another pattern that has worked in the past, but it produced only one keeper and one throwback the rest of the day. I placed sixth with 4.93 pounds.

When I got home, I saw on Facebook that a friend had landed 18 pounds in another tournament that day on Lanier and did not win. He said he caught more than 20 keepers in the fist ditch he fished that morning. It took over 19 pounds to win and several fishermen had over 15 pounds. Most caught their fish from ditches.

Fish bite for somebody somewhere on a lake on any day. It is fun to get out there, try to figure them out and catch them. It can be frustrating but
I love it.

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Congratulations to Niles Murray and Sam Smith. They placed third in the Berry’s tournament at Sinclair last Saturday. There were about 120 boats in that tournament, so it was very competitive!