Category Archives: Bass Fishing

Bass Fishing Information

Winning A February Tournament At Lake Sinclair

At Sinclair 12 members of the Sportsman Club fished our February tournament on a rainy but fairly warm day. We had 35 keepers weighing about 62 pounds. There were five five-fish limits and only two fishermen didn’t have a keeper in the 8.5 hours we fished.

I was lucky enough to get five weighing 10.98 pounds for first, Billy Roberts had five at 10.36 pounds for second and big fish with a 3.57 pound largemouth, third was Niles Murray with five at 8.83 pounds and fourth was Zane Fleck with five at 8.15 pounds. Those weights were fairly close but for big fish I had a 3.53 pounder and Raymond English had a 3.50 pounder. The three biggest fish were separated by seven hundredths of a pound!

I have had a good year fishing with a Rapala DT 6 in crawfish. Of the four tournaments I have fished this year I have two first, one second and one fifth place, all on that one plug. I have weighed in 14 keepers and all but two of them hit it. I think I will keep fishing it!

Sunday morning I started on a steep rocky bank with docks and brush on it but didn’t get a bite. My second stop was on a point with a good drop on one side, then a very shallow clay flat for about 30 yards before a series of docks start I fished the point without a bite then started toward the first dock.

I usually don’t fish the shallow flat in February but I cast the DT 6 up into about two feet of water as I headed toward the dock, and caught a 3.5 pound largemouth. That got my attention so I started hitting the flat hard. It took 30 minutes, but then I got the 3.53 pound keeper, my big fish. A couple of casts later I got a third fish about 1.5 pounds.

After switching to a jig head worm I got my fourth keeper, one about 1.5 pounds. I felt pretty good, especially after working down the docks and catching a short fish by a dock post, then a keeper about 1.3 pounds on the next cast. I had a limit.

With an hour left to fish I was back on the flat and got a 2 pounder on the crankbait, culling my smallest keeper. I missed a bite on a jig head worm and on a Alabama rig, and had one come off the crankbait before I saw the fish, but I didn’t need them to win. But would one of them have been big fish? I will never know.

How Is Winter Fishing On Lake Guntersville and Lake Blackshear?

Two fishing trips in the past week were to very similar but very different lakes. A week ago yesterday I fished Lake Guntersville for my March Map of the Month article. Guntersville is one of the most famous, if not the most famous, big bass lake in the US.

Guntersville is a big lake on the Tennessee River in north east Alabama, about 3.5 hours drive from Griffin. It has huge grass filled flats that are bass factories, and fishermen flock to the lake year round.

I fished with Brad Vice, a college team fisherman from the University of North Alabama. He is a very good young fisherman and knows the lake well since he lives in the area and has been fishing it all his life with his grandfather, father and two uncles, all of them bass tournament fishermen.

You hear about the great catches there and there are many outstanding catches in tournaments. But you don’t hear much about the lake being the toughest one in Alabama for club fishermen to catch a keeper in their tournaments, according to the Alabama creel reports.

Brad and I had the typical experience, fishing from daylight to dark and getting three bites. But the two bass he caught weighed 3.5 pounds nd 6.5 pounds, and the one I caught weighed about 2.5 pounds, all good fish. You can catch big bass there, but it is hard to catch many bass.

All three bass we caught hit rattle baits fished in grassbeds from four to ten feet deep. That is one of the best patterns this time of year. Brad caught his two on a red bait and I caught mine on a gold rattle bait.

On Friday I went to Lake Blackshear for my March Georgia Outdoor News article. Blackshear, about two hours south of Griffin between Cordele and Americus, is the prettiest lake in Georgia in my opinion. It is full of shallow grass beds and cypress trees. It looks like you should catch a bass no matter where you cast.

I fished with Jimmie Troxell for eight hours on a very cold day. The bass at Blackshear don’t respond well to cold – we never caught a bass. Jimmie has been fishing the lake for over 50 years, guides on the lake for bass and wins many tournaments there Just goes to show you no matter how well you know the lake, it is still fishing, not always catching.

Last weekend there was a tournament on Blackshear that was won with five bass weighing 22 pounds. One of Jimmie’s friends won it and told him where he caught them. We fished there – no bites. But it shows the kind of catches Blackshear is capable of producing. A few years ago Jimmie has a five bass limit in a tournament weighing 28 pounds to back that up!

Veterans State Park has everything you need for a vacation, from camping to cabins, a good boat ramp and even a golf course. It would be a great place to head for a few days to get away from it all – at least all that you want to get away from!

Lake Harding February Bass Tournament

Last Sunday ten members of the Flint River Bass Club fished our February tournament at Bartletts Ferry. We had a beautiful day to fish but the fish didn’t seem to know it. There was one five-fish limit and four fishermen didn’t have a 12 inch keeper after fishing eight house. We weighed in 16 keepers weighing about 25 pounds.

Jordan McDonald won it all with a limit weighing 8.90 pounds and his 3.68 pound largemouth was big fish. Chuck Croft was second with four keepers at 5.87 pounds, Brian Bennett placed third with four at 5.03 pounds and Don Gober had one at 1.96 pounds for fourth. My 1.37 pound spot was fifth and Niles Murray was sixth with one at 1.30 pounds.

I am getting paranoid about February tournaments at Bartletts Ferry. Two years ago Jordan fished with me and beat me like a drum then, too, winning the tournament with five keepers weighing about 13 pounds and had big fish. I had one keeper. Last year Javin English fished with me and had two fish for second place and I zeroed. And Jordan fished with me again this year. I hate getting beat from the back of my boat!

Jordan and I fished several places from 8:00 to 11:00 without a bite, then I caught my one keeper on a crankbait in very shallow water. Then at noon Jordan got his first keeper on a worm beside a dock. About two hours later he caught two keepers on a crankbait almost on back to back casts, then got his big fish on a jerk bait a little later. With five minutes left to fish he caught his fifth keeper on a jerk bait.

I had my chances, missing a fish beside the dock where Jordan caught his first fish. I felt a tap and saw my line moving out, but when I set the hook all I landed was half a worm on my jig head. Then I missed a hit on the jighead on some rocks and Jordan immediately caught two from the same place.

I also really messed up by not paying attention. I cast the jig head to a small brush top beside a dock and felt a fish take it. When I set the hook my line broke. I am sure it was frayed from all the rocks I had been dragging it through. To make it even worse, we fished on down the bank, came back to the dock and Jordan caught his big fish by the same brush pile.

Some days are just like that for me. I make dumb mistakes, like not checking my line for frays or not paying good attention and missing a strike. And I should have tried different baits like Jordan did to find out what they would hit. I never threw a jerkbait although I had one tied on. Carpal tunnel surgery six weeks ago keeps me from working one like it has to be fished.

I will come back from the Classic on Saturday so I can fish the Sportsman Club tournament Sunday. Jordan is fishing with me again. It may be his last trip with me if the same results happen, but he fished with me at Jackson in January and I had a limit and he had one. What goes around comes around!

St Croix Rods At the Bassmasters Classic

Class of the Classic

Four top St. Croix Rod pros qualify for 2015 Bassmaster Classic
from St Croix Rods

Park Falls, WI (February 15, 2015) – To qualify is a big badge of honor. Winning? Well let’s just say the medals and commendations might require a caddy to carry and reinforcement of the fireplace mantle. The Classic trophy alone looks to exceed the maximum poundage for check-in luggage.

The Classic is a weighty matter, indeed. And there is a quartet of Elite anglers who will be throwing their weight and baits around under the flag of an all-American brand. Classic qualifiers James Niggemeyer, Stephen Browning, Scott Rook and Brian Snowden will have St. Croix Rod pinned to their chests and immaculately crafted rods in their hands.

South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell sets the battlefield for the 2015 campaign. The phrase “intimidating” might best describe the 56,000-acre reservoir and its 962 miles of shoreline. Rugged foothills and plummeting piedmont foretell what lies beneath the surface, as Hartwell’s waterscape is a pulmonary arrhythmia of structure.

True, for one, Niggemeyer is impressed by the scope and cragginess of Hartwell, but definitely not intimidated by the manmade lake. “Hartwell reminds me of some of the lakes I fished out west,” said the California native, now proud Texan. “Before Christmas, I went on a scouting trip to familiarize myself with the lake. I left feeling pretty comfortable.”

Pre-fishing is one thing, prognosticating another. Niggemeyer tested the waters in late December, but the dates of the Classic put him back on Hartwell in late February. So how does he expect the bite to play out?

“I predict that the bass will be in a late-winter pre-spawn mode, meaning both deep and shallow patterns will be in play,” said Niggemeyer, mentally preparing for basically everything. “I want to fish my strengths, and working a Strike King jig is one of them. It’s a powerful cold-water tool when fished around vertical structure and cover types both shallow and deep.”

Painting a waterscape with a precision jig necessitates the right brush, the perfect rod. “I’ll fish a St. Croix Legend Elite (LEC70MHF) 7-foot medium-heavy rod to get the job done. It’s extremely sensitive to soft bites from sluggish cold-water fish, but still has the action and backbone to maximize my potential to land each bite.”

Niggemeyer’s secondary approach involves raking crankbaits along fast-falling banks. “I have had a lot of success in late winter/early spring, fishing a variety of Strike King crankbaits to draw reaction strikes from fish that are otherwise reluctant to eat a slow-moving presentation.

“Pre-spawn bass tend to relate to 45-degree banks because they offer quick access to deep water. And using the right rod for crankbaiting is crucial, which is why I will reach for a 7-foot 4-inch St. Croix Mojo Bass Glass (MBGC74MM). The fiberglass rod gives me an edge anytime I fish crankbaits, but especially in this cold-water timeframe when fish have a tendency to swipe at baits, resulting in fish that are just barely hooked.”

Niggemeyer’s larger Classic prediction? “The tournament will most likely be won by the guy who consistently catches them day after day, as opposed to the one who has a monster day and hangs on for the win. With that in mind, a carefully thought out strategy with multiple options will be important.”

Similarity, not familiarity, is the battle cry echoed by St. Croix Rod pro and Bassmaster Classic qualifier, Brian Snowden. The Missourian is intimately acquainted with Table Rock Lake, which he says mimics South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell. “I have never fished a tournament on Lake Hartwell, but I did have the opportunity to spend an entire week on the water prior to off-limits. It fishes very similar to my home lake, Table Rock.”

In Snowden’s academic opinion, the calendar and cold water will have bass in a pre-spawn frame of mind. “The fish should be in a late winter or early pre-spawn pattern. For fish staging deeper than 10 feet, I plan on using a 1/2- to 3/4-ounce football jig. For this technique, my all-time favorite rod is the 7-foot medium-heavy St. Croix Legend Elite. The rod is very light and phenomenally sensitivity. Plus, the Legend Elite has a fast tip allowing for accurate casts, but with plenty of strength through the lower section of the rod.”

Snowden, like Niggemeyer, already has his fingers on the seams of a follow-up pitch. “My second prediction is that bass will be in major creeks, on channel swings and secondary points. One of the best techniques for catching them is running a crankbait. My choice for throwing smaller, lightweight crankbaits is the 7-foot 2-inch St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass (TBC72MM).”

There is a hardened Lake Hartwell expert in St. Croix’s ranks as well. “I fished the 2008 Bassmaster Classic on Hartwell,” said Arkansan Stephen Browning. “I didn’t fare well, but I really like the lake. I did spend some time before cutoff trying to familiarize myself with some areas that I didn’t fish during the 2008 Classic.” Seems that a winning formula for Browning will involve hybridizing 2008 intel with knowledge gained from more recent pre-fishing efforts.

“I’m going to hope for stable weather patterns leading up to the Classic,” said Browning, metaphorically pounding the Farmer’s Almanac with this fist. “This will help me analyze the winning pattern, or patterns, during the Classic. Nothing would suit me better than if there was substantial rainfall about a week out. That would move bass shallower, which would set up nicely for some shallow cranking.”

Again, akin to Niggemeyer, Browning snares a crankbait-specific St. Croix Rod off the front platform. “I’ve put the Mojo Target Cranker to the test the last two years with wins on the Red River in Shreveport, LA, and would love the opportunity to do the same at the Classic.”

Browning’s Plan B considers dryer conditions. “If we don’t see the rain and the fish are relating to deeper structure, a football jig on the end of a Legend Tournament Bass Carolina Rig rod will play a big role. This is one of my favorite ways to catch fish during the late-winter season.

“If I can find fish using either of these techniques, I should do very well. Confidence is a major player, especially at the Classic, and I know that there are no better rods that fit my styles of fishing than those that carry the St. Croix logo.”

Rounding out St. Croix’s fearsome foursome is veteran B.A.S.S. angler Scott Rook. The Arkansan is maybe best known for his adaptability; able to drive crankbaits with a burly baitcaster and effortlessly drop it to the deck and come back up with a finesse spinning outfit.

Matching Browning’s history with Lake Hartwell, Rook laced ‘em up at the 2008 Bassmaster Classic. And this time around, as he stated in a recent story written by David A. Brown for Arkansas Wild magazine, Rooks said deciphering prevailing weather conditions will be the key to the kingdom.

“In late February, if we have a warming spell, it will be shallow-water fishing; if we have a cold spell between now and then it will be more deep-water fishing,” he said. “More than likely, it will be won deep, but if it continues to warm, you can continue to fish shallow.

“The weather is going to be the biggest factor in what you can do. And you might have to mix it up some.”

St. Croix Rod, like its water-warriors, wears a badge of honor. And the symbol stands as the company’s pride in both its pros and the premium rods they’ll be fishing.

Im Going To the Bassmasters Classic

I’m going to the BassMasters Classic in Greenville, South Carolina and Lake Hartwell this week – as a media observer. Way back in 1983 in almost qualified to fish the Classic through the federation and going as an observer is a far cry from fishing it, but I went last year and had fun.

The Classic is the biggest tournament in bass fishing each year. It is often called the Superbowl of bass fishing. Last year I was quoted in Sports Illustrated saying “the Suprebowl should be called the Basssmasters Classic of football!” It is that big, and the winner can expect to earn over one million dollars during the next year in sponsorships and endorsements.

On Wednesday I will ride with one of the pros during the final practice day. I am a little worried since the weather guessers say the high will be 37 with a chance of rain, but it gives me the chance to see first-hand how the pros try to find fish and figure out how to catch them.

Thursday is media day and I will have lunch with the pros – me and about 150 other media representatives. After lunch the pros will be at their boats to do interviews. Last year one question I asked was “What advice would you give to a young fisherman wanting to be a bass pro?” The results of those interviews are in an article I wrote in this month’s Georgia Outdoor News.

Friday is the first day of the tournament and while the pros are fishing there will be a huge outdoor show at the TD Convention Center in Greenville. There will be dozens of vendors there, ranging from boat companies to lure manufacturers. And many of them will have special discounts on their products. The show will run all three days, Friday through Sunday, and it is free.

The weigh-in each day will be at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena and is also free. Live weigh-ins will be streamed on the internet so you can watch from home. And there will be a live blog each day of fishing from on-the-water observers as well as streaming video of the pros fishing, all at http://bassmasters.com.

The show and weigh-ins in Greenville are a little over three hours from Griffin. It would be a fun trip to go to the show and see some of the weigh-ins in person.

Bassmaster Classic Audience Expected To Grow This Year

The cameras used to film The Bassmasters on ESPN are now capable of also streaming live on-the-water video that will be accessible on Bassmaster.com during the 2015 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro. Photo by Bassmaster

The cameras used to film The Bassmasters on ESPN are now capable of also streaming live on-the-water video that will be accessible on Bassmaster.com during the 2015 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
Photo by Bassmaster

Bassmaster Classic Audience Expected To Grow In 2015 Through Innovative New Media

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro next week on Lake Hartwell, South Carolina, is expected to become the most widely watched and thoroughly covered fishing event in history, B.A.S.S. officials predict.

“It will certainly be covered in more different ways than previous Classics, which historically have reached more fishing fans than any other tournament,” said Jim Sexton, VP/Digital for B.A.S.S. “With new live coverage of fishing action on Bassmaster.com and advances in content for mobile devices, we’re hoping to surpass 1 million unique visitors on our website alone.”

The 2014 Classic on Lake Guntersville attracted 979,000 unique visitors to the site, and they generated a total of 33 million page views in February 2014, including 22 million during Classic Week.

In addition to web coverage, ESPN2 will air 12 hours of programming on the Classic, which is being held Feb. 20-22 on Lake Hartwell, with weigh-ins to be held in Greenville, S.C. The programs will be re-aired on ESPN2, ESPN Classic and on The Outdoor Channel. The 2014 Classic on Lake Guntersville attracted more than 1.3 million viewers, including approximately 880,000 on ESPN2 and 400,000 on The Outdoor Channel.

Bassmaster Magazine will cover the 45th Classic in its April issue, reaching 500,000 B.A.S.S. members and 3.7 million readers.

The “Super Bowl of Bass Fishing” also has attracted a record number of journalists representing independent media ranging from websites to magazines and newspapers to television networks. Approximately 275 media representatives have applied for credentials to cover the event.

Among the media contingent, a crew from The Weather Channel will be broadcasting live from the take-off site, Green Pond Landing in Anderson, S.C., Friday and Saturday mornings, Feb. 21-22.

Another form of live broadcast from the Classic will be “huge,” predicts Mike McKinnis, producer of the award-winning The Bassmasters TV show. Internet coverage of the Classic will feature live on-the-water video of anglers on Lake Hartwell.

Employing somewhat new technology built into the same cameras used for the television show, video is transmitted through cell service and streamed live on the website, McKinnis explained. “We do things that inspire us, and we know if we get excited, typically the fans can get excited about it,” he added. “I think the fans will be blown away.”

The video will be streamed in the “Bassmaster Classic Live presented by Lowrance” programs on Bassmaster.com each competition day, Feb. 20-22, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET.

Classic television coverage on ESPN2 will premiere Saturday, March 7, with a three-hour block covering Day 1 and Day 2 of the competition, and the final round will be covered in a two-hour show Sunday, March 8, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on ESPN2. (See Bassmaster.com for complete listings.) The programs are videoed, edited and produced by the same team that’s responsible for The Bassmasters show on ESPN2 and the Outdoor Channel. That show recently received the prestigious Golden Moose award for “Best Fishing Show” — the third such award in the past four years for the program.

In addition to “Bassmaster Classic Live,” the Bassmaster.com website offers several other ways to keep up with the fishing competition in real time. BASSTrakk uses cellphone technology to record the location of each angler on a GPS map. Marshals assigned as observers for each of the anglers operate the BASSTrakk devices and send in updates immediately after each fish is caught and kept or released. That information is displayed in the Real Time Leaderboard, an unofficial ranking of each of the competitors, and is sent automatically to followers of @BASSTrakk on Twitter.

Teams of writers and photographers prowl the lake, following the leaders and filing reports and photos in the “Live Blog” feature on the website, which also publishes photos taken by marshals of the angler’s biggest bass. “Near-live” video interviews will be posted online in the BASSCam section, and select video from GoPro cameras installed on all 56 contender boats will be posted daily on the website.

Fans will be able to contribute to the Classic coverage as well through Twitter and/or Instagram. By using the hashtag #BassmasterClassic, their Tweets and photos will appear on video screens in the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods, on the big screen during weigh-ins at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena and on Bassmaster.com.

Social media is expected to play a major role in telling the story of the event this year, according to Social Media Editor Tyler Wade. “More than 2,500 Instagram photos were posted with our hashtag during last year’s Classic, and we had barely established our Instagram presence then. With 25,000 fans on our Instagram account, @bass_nation, the number of posts will be much higher this year.”

About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series presented by Allstate, Old Milwaukee B.A.S.S. Nation events, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series, Costa Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.

A Bass Tournament Shows You Should Fish Slow in Cold Muddy Water

The last Sunday in January last year 14 members of the Spalding County Sportsman Club braved the cold and muddy water at Jackson for our first 2014 tournament. It was very tough except for one very lucky fisherman with only one limit and five zeros. We had 15 keepers weighing about 28 pounds total. Surprisingly, seven of the 15 keepers were largemouth.

I managed to catch a limit weighing 11 pounds for first. Second was Mickey McHenry with two at 5.48 pounds and big fish weighing 4.15 pounds. Third place was Mark Knight with one keeper weighing 2.14 pounds and fourth was Keith Chambers with one at 1.91 pounds. Second through fourth place are new members to the club this year.

I knew fishing would be tough and planned on stopping on a rocky point in a creek near the mouth of Tussahaw Creek then going on up Tussahaw to try to find clearer water. The water was very stained and 43 degrees when we took off at the dam at 8:00 AM. Where I stopped I could see my chartreuse crankbait down only about five inches.

I fished around that point four times, trying two different crankbaits, a jig and pig and a jig head worm. I also jigged a spoon where I saw bait and fish down about 20 feet deep in three or four places. After 55 minutes of casting I felt weight on my line and set the hook. The three pound spot did not fight much in the cold water and I landed it.

After another 30 minutes of casting I was going to run up the Tussahaw but decided to go across the small creek to the other side. On my first cast with the same crankbait the first bass hit I got a good keeper largemouth. After putting it in the live well I threw back to the same spot on the seawall and got another keeper largemouth.

That made me fish on around the creek, and at 10:40 I hooked a 3.85 pound largemouth. It fought a little bit but not much. After working around the creek I was back on the point where I started and landed my fifth fish, a keeper spot.

Although I fished hard the last four hours in Tussahaw Creek, where the water was a little clearer, I never got another bite. I was very lucky to be in the right place at the right time with the right bait to land a limit. I had to crank the plug down then just crawl it along almost like fishing a worm to get a bite in the cold water.

When Do Bass Get Ready for the Spawn In the South?

Bass Get Ready for the Big Event Spawning in the south

By Frank Sargeant, Editor
from The Fishing Wire

Though spawning season is still many weeks away for largemouth bass in most of the South with the exception of Florida, the internal time clocks of these fish are already counting down for the big event. Each year prior to the spawn, the fish feed heavily, packing on weight that they’ll need during the energy-sapping process of mating and then guarding the nests for weeks afterward.

Captain Mike Carter shows a 12 pounder caught in the pre-spawn period from Alabama’s Lake Guntersville on a swimjig fished around primrose bushes. (Photo Credit Mike Carter)

Prespawn bass

Prespawn bass


This pre-spawn feeding period has become the favorite time of the year for anglers who specialize in chasing big bass because the fish are hungry, and also less wary than they’re likely to be later on when more boats get back out on the water after the cold goes away.

Many of the 8 to 10 pound fish that are caught across the Southern U.S. each year are weighed in between mid-January and mid-March. To be sure, it’s not easy fishing, usually requiring lots of casting to produce any hits at all, but when a bite comes, it can be the lunker of a lifetime.

The fish tend to gather in areas that are not too far from prime spawning spots, but in much deeper water. In many lakes, scattered weeds in 8 to 12 feet of water on secondary points in the larger bays are some of the prime areas, perhaps because these are some of the areas where shad first come up on the structure.

On sunny afternoons the fish also make brief forays into the spawning areas, typically the backs of bays and shallow flats with depths of 1 to 5 feet with scattered weeds, as well as around boathouses in areas with firm shell bottom. Areas with dark mud bottoms can also attract these early fish–look for lily pads and primrose, which typically grow in this mud, as an indicator. The mud apparently acts as a heat sink, increasing water temperatures in these areas during sunny hours.

Prespwan Florida Bass

Prespwan Florida Bass

Captain Mike Shellen guided his anglers to this giant in late winter on Florida’s Lake Okeechobee. (Photo Credit Mike Shellen)

Because the big female spawners tend to be few and far between, it makes sense to use a fast-moving lure to locate them on the deeper points–a Rat-L-Trap or other vibrating, lipless lure is the favorite of many anglers, but lipped crankbaits and heavily weighted swimbaits can also be effective. The lures are cranked through the scattered weeds, then “ripped” or pulled rapidly with an upward snatch of the rod, which both knocks weeds off the hook and creates a strike trigger for any bass that may be following the lure–strikes often come just after one of these pulls.

When the fish move into the lily pads and primrose, a more weedless lure is in order–many anglers do well with swimjigs like those from Strike King, dressed with a flapping crawfish or beaver type soft plastic. These jigs are cast into the cover, then cranked slowly but steadily back, twitching occasionally to free them from weeds.

Swimjigs are generally best reserved for sunny afternoons, and for later in the season–as the actual spawn approaches, typically on the strong moon period in the last half of March and on through April–they become steadily more effective.

The fish anglers catch late January through February are not numerous, but they’re typically big ones, calling for stout tackle–a baitcaster with 17- pound test fluorocarbon line is the best bet.

These trophy class fish are the future of Southern lakes, and it makes sense to release them promptly after a few photos. They generally survive tournament weigh-ins well at this time of year, however, so release after a trip to the stage also makes sense.

Fishing Bartletts Ferry for Bass In February

The last Sunday of February last year 18 members of the Spalding County Sportsman Club fished our February tournament at Bartlett’s Ferry. After eight hours of casting we brought in 53 keepers weighing about 78 pounds, much better than the Flint River club did two weeks ago there. The warming weather really made it better.

There were two five-fish limits brought in and only two people didn’t land a keeper. Most were spots, with only eight largemouth caught. We must be doing something wrong, though. A club weighed in just before we did and that tournament was won with an incredible five fish limit weighing over 19 pounds. That sounds like a Bassmasters Classic catch!

Sam Smith won with a limit weighing 7.1 pounds, Mark Knight was second with four at 6.85 pounds, Micky McHenry was third with four weighing 6.5 pounds and Gary Hattaway’s limit at 5.3 pounds was fourth. Niles Murray won the big fish pot with a 3.4 pound bass.

My day started wrong, as usual, with problems latching the trailer hitch on my trailer. I have got to figure out what is causing that problem. At least I didn’t follow the detour this time and made to the ramp on time.

Then, on the first place I fished, a bass hit my jig and pig by a dock but when I set the hook the line was around the concrete piling and broke. I caught my first keeper off that dock a few minutes later.

It took an hour to get another bite but I landed my second fish on a Texas rigged tube in about a foot of water on a seawall. Almost an hour later I saw a bass swirl at my crankbait right at the boat and saw others suspended off the bottom on that point. I threw a jerk bait to the area and caught my third keeper but no more hit.

Another hour passed then another bite. This one hit a Shadrap near a log. That made four. A few casts later I hooked a big, strong fish on the Shadrap and it fought hard, but I was worried. It stayed deep and did not fight like a bass. Sure enough, when I got it to the boat a five pound channel cat had my plug in its mouth. Good eating but I couldn’t weigh it in.

I landed no more fish. I did hook a good two pound keeper on a crankbait but it came off the second time it rolled on top. I was trying to keep it down but it would not stay underwater. I guess it knew it could get off by coming to the top.

Although we had a cold week this past week, everything is setting up for the bass to start feeding a lot in shallow water. The water early in the morning on the main lake at Bartlett’s Ferry was 49 degrees but that afternoon, back in a pocket, it was 57 degrees. Even though the sun was not bright it warmed the water a lot.

Get ready to catch some bass, they will be ready to hit soon. And the crappie are already eating jigs and minnows, and a catfish should eat some liver if that one hit my crankbait.

How Good Is January Bass Fishing In Georgia?

Bass fishing was tough last month with the water temperatures in the 40s but it will start getting better this month when we have a few warm days in a row. But since bass clubs here fish 12 months of the year, we put up with the good and bad.

Three weeks ago the Flint River tournament at Sinclair was won with just over nine pounds but it took only 4.89 pounds for fourth place. The water got even colder by the next Saturday when the Potato Creek Bassmasters went to Sinclair.

In that tournament a week ago last Saturday 15 fishermen landed 35 keepers weighing 55 pounds. There were two limits. Raymond English had five weighing 7.57 pounds for first. William Scott placed second with four at 7.35 pounds, JJ Compton had five at 6.19 for third and Mike Cox, with just one fish, but the right one, was fourth and had big fish with a 5.18 pounder.

Last Sunday the Spalding County Sportsman Club fished Jackson for our February tournament. After fishing eight hours 13 members brought in 19 keepers weighing about 25 pounds. There was one limit and three fishermen didn’t have a keeper.

I won with five at 7.34 pounds, Chris Davies had two at 4.03 for second and his 2.54 pound spot was big fish, third was Sam Smith with three keepers weighing 3.03 pounds and Jordan McDonald had one weighing 1.74 for fourth.

This year has been Déjà vu all over again for me. Last year and this year in the first Flint River tournament at Sinclair I got second place and second biggest bass. Lee Hancock beat me for both first and big fish both years. Last year at Jackson I had the only limit and won, and had second biggest fish, just like this year. I hope I break that pattern since the Flint River club is fishing Bartletts Ferry next Sunday and last year I zeroed that tournament!

Jackson was tough. Linda and I had gone to Jackson on Wednesday and rode around, mostly looking for baitfish, a good sign bass are in an area. I fished a little and landed one keeper on a crawfish crankbait.

On Sunday Jordan and I started on one of my favorite rocky points but got no bites. After about an hour we headed to the creek where I won last year and there were six boats fishing the area. I will not pull in right ahead of another fisherman so I went to another place.

After working a few points and banks I cast a crawfish crankbait to a boathouse and ramp in front of it and thought I hooked a stick.

My line went a little sideways but I felt nothing. Then it pulled a little and I landed a keeper largemouth at 10:10 AM.

We started fishing places I fished years ago but had not tried for a long time. The reason I fished them was the shad I saw on my depthfinder in the areas on Wednesday. At 11:10 I hooked a spot off a seawall and rocky point and landed it, and on the other side of the point Jordan got hung on the rocks. As he pulled his crankbait loose his keeper hit it and he landed it.

At 12:10 I cast to another rocky point and landed my biggest fish, a two pound spot. Then I cast to a seawall and started reeling and again my line went sideways like I had hooked a stick. But I saw a flash in the water and landed my fourth keeper at 12:45.

After trying a few more places I went to where I had landed the keeper Wednesday and again my line went sideways coming off a seawall. It was another keeper largemouth and filled my limit at 2:15. After that I started fishing a big jig and pig hoping for a big fish and giving Jordan a chance to cast his plug to places first. I was trying to help him catch more keepers as well as trying to land a big fish myself, but it didn’t work for either of us.

The bass were very sluggish in the 45 degree water and I was surprised to land three largemouth. Spots usually bite better in cold water and there were only five largemouth brought to the scales out of 19 keepers in the tournament.

When the water is that cold I fish a crankbait very slowly. When it hits the water I turn my reel handle a couple of times to get it down to the bottom then move it as slowly as I can to keep it there. I told Jordan I thought he was fishing too fast. He was making two casts to my every one cast.

Until the water starts warming and gets above 50 degrees, fishing slowly and fishing for spots are your best bets. Some really big bass are caught this time of year. You may not get many bites, but they may be bragging size. Most of my biggest bass, including my first two eight pounders, my biggest ever, a nine pound five ounce largemouth and my last eight pounder, a eight pound thirteen ounce largemouth, were caught at Jackson in January and February. All but one hit crankbaits.

Don’t let the cold keep you home. You can catch bass this time of year.