Category Archives: Bass Fishing

Bass Fishing Information

Can Fishing With A Good Bass Fisherman Help You Catch More Fish?

I found out last week how much fishing with a good bass fisherman can help. Bobby Ferris had taken me to Oconee Sunday before last to show me some patterns for a March Georgia Outdoor News article. I met him through my bass club partner, Carson Browning. Bobby and Carson’s mother work together and Carson had been telling me what a good fisherman Bobby was.

Bobby took Carson to Jackson Saturday morning to practice for our tournament the following day. Either they hit it just right on the warm, cloudy morning, or Bobby’s knowledge put them on fish. When I picked Carson up Sunday morning he was so excited he could not wait to get to the lake.

Fishing for just a few hours Saturday morning they had caught a lot of big bass, including a 7 pounder and several more over 4 pounds. Carson said their best five, a tournament limit, would have weighed 25 pounds. That is the kind of bass you see caught on the TV shows!

Carson and I headed to the first spot Bobby had shown him, and we were a little disappointed to see the water temperature had dropped 10 degrees overnight. The cold night and wind had cooled the surface temperature from 60 on Saturday morning to 50 Sunday morning. That is not good for bass fishing this time of year!

I did manage to catch two keepers in that cove but they were small one-pound fish. We headed to the next spot, and I soon caught a 1 3/4 pound fish, my best of the day. Since it was still early morning, I was sure I would get a five fish limit before weigh-in at 4:00! I felt a little sorry for Carson since he had not caught a fish, but not too much!

Soon after I caught my third bass Carson set the hook and started saying he had a huge fish on. He fought it to the boat and I put the net in the water, but could not see the fish because the water was so muddy. When it came close enough, I was able to net it and it was big – 9 or 10 pounds!

I was picking at Carson, holding his huge fish over the water in the net, when it gave a mighty flip and jumped back out of the net! Carson’s plug had tangled the net and the hooks were keeping it closed, so the fish was not down in it like it was supposed to be. When the fish flipped out of the net back into the water, the plug stayed tangled in the net. Carson lost his huge fish.

We both would have been real sick, and I would have never been playing with the net like that, but Carson’s big fish was a bowfin. It was the first mudfish I have ever seen at Jackson, and it was a big one! I really did not want it in the boat, anyway!

I guess that changed Carson’s luck. He caught five bass before I landed another keeper! He ended up winning the tournament with five weighing 5-1, smaller fish than the day before but enough to win. My four weighed 4-9 for second. Kwong Yu had two at 3-8 for third and Billy Roberts’ two at 2-11 placed 4th.

Sixteen members of the club fished for 8 hours for a total of 23 keeper bass, so Carson’s guide really helped us, even thought the big bass never showed up on Sunday. I hope he can show Carson where to fish in all our tournaments this year!

Fishing West Point Lake with Ken Bearden

After fishing area lakes in two bass clubs for about 40 years, I often think I know them pretty well. But when I go to a lake with a guide who fishes one lake over 200 days every year, and has been doing that for 15 years, it amazes me how they know ever little detail of what is under the water.

Wednesday I fished West Point Lake with Ken Bearden, getting information for a Georgia Outdoor News January article. After some boat problems first thing that morning we got on the water at about ten. We tried several patterns and caught a few fish on one of them by noon so, for the next six hours, we fished that specific pattern from Yellowjacket Creek to the dam.

That morning while waiting on a friend to bring us a boat to borrow for the day to replace Ken’s disabled one, he explained there are three good patterns at West Point in the winter. One is jigging a spoon in deep water. One is swimming a bucktail through standing timber in deep water. And the third, the one we relied on, was fishing a crankbait on rocky points.

Ken told me you could catch large numbers of fish quickly on the first two patterns, but the third was a matter of run and gun, hitting as many points as possible. He didn’t expect to catch more than one or two bass on each spot, and many would not have any fish, but if you hit enough places you could get a good limit.

It worked. Ken landed six largemouth weighing between two and four pounds each and three spots weighing about 2.5 pounds each. The best five weighed about 14 pounds. I would love to have those fish in any tournament.

We also caught several striped bass and hybrids that morning casting an Alabama rig on roadbeds. They fought hard and the biggest weighed just under ten pounds. He said we could fish roadbeds and catch them like that all day right now.

We put ten places on a map, with GPS coordinates and details on how to fish them. That information will be in the magazine article. You can set up a guide trip with Ken by calling 706-884-0494 to get him to show you how well he knows the lake and how he fishes it.

Should I Join A Bass Club?

Yesterday (Saturday, December 6, 2014) the Potato Creek Bassmasters fished their last tournament of the year at Jackson. Today the Spalding County Sportsman Club and the Flint River Bass Club are fishing a two club tournament at Jackson to end the year in both those clubs. The point standing winners for the year in all three clubs will be decided at this tournament.

I love bass club fishing. In 1974 I joined the Sportsman Club and four years later joined the Flint River club. I have missed very few club tournaments in the 40 years since I first joined a club. It is strange, I never was competitive in anything. I never played sports, don’t like games much and just don’t compete.

But after fishing my first bass tournament in April 1974 I was hooked. There is something that attracts me to competing in a sport that is supposed to be reflective and calming. I like that I am not really competing with others, I am competing with the fish. It really does not matter how others do, it depends on how I do.

All three clubs will start new years with January, 2015 tournaments That would be a good time to join a club and see how you like it. Dues range from $60 a year which affiliates you with BASS to $75 to be in the FLW federation. If you join the BASS federation you also have to pay dues to BASS. The FLW dues include annual membership in it.

Consider joining a bass club next year.

Dreaming of Early Spring Fishing

Early spring fishing can be crazy

If it wasn’t for bad luck with the weather, I wouldn’t have any luck at all. Two weeks ago it was uncomfortably cold the whole day during the Flint River Bass club tournament. By the middle of the next week it had warmed up and fishing would have been great – if I had not been stuck at work.

By the time I got a chance to go fishing last Sunday, it was cold, cloudy and foggy. After a nice day Saturday I was really looking forward to a trip to Oconee for a Georgia Outdoor News article, but the weather did not cooperate. Going fishing was more fun than sitting at home, but much less comfortable!

On Saturday, I fished with Bobby Ferris from Jackson and he really made me feel bad talking about the 17 bass he caught the day before at Jackson Lake. The fish were on the shallow water pattern we would fish at Oconee, moving up into the warming water in the backs of coves.

Without the sun on Sunday there was no warming water and the bass stayed hidden. Bobby caught one nice keeper the first place we stopped that morning, but that was it. We fished until 3:30 without hooking another bass.

The places we fished will be good in March, especially after a few warm days like we had last week. I wish I could have gone back to them on Wednesday or Thursday, but I was back at work. I bet the bass would have almost jumped in the boat those two days!

Spalding County Sportsman Club members are fishing today at Jackson for our February tournament. If my luck holds, it will be cold and windy, and probably raining. Maybe the fish will bite, though. Catching fish always makes the bad weather much more tolerable!

And the tournament on Sunday:

I found out last week how much fishing with a good bass fisherman can help. Bobby Ferris had taken me to Oconee Sunday before last to show me some patterns for a March Georgia Outdoor News article. I met him through my bass club partner, Carson Browning. Bobby and Carson’s mother work together and Carson had been telling me what a good fisherman Bobby was.

Bobby took Carson to Jackson Saturday morning to practice for our tournament the following day. Either they hit it just right on the warm, cloudy morning, or Bobby’s knowledge put them on fish. When I picked Carson up Sunday morning he was so excited he could not wait to get to the lake.

Fishing for just a few hours Saturday morning they had caught a lot of big bass, including a 7 pounder and several more over 4 pounds. Carson said their best five, a tournament limit, would have weighed 25 pounds. That is the kind of bass you see caught on the TV shows!

Carson and I headed to the first spot Bobby had shown him, and we were a little disappointed to see the water temperature had dropped 10 degrees overnight. The cold night and wind had cooled the surface temperature from 60 on Saturday morning to 50 Sunday morning. That is not good for bass fishing this time of year!

I did manage to catch two keepers in that cove but they were small one-pound fish. We headed to the next spot, and I soon caught a 1 3/4 pound fish, my best of the day. Since it was still early morning, I was sure I would get a five fish limit before weigh-in at 4:00! I felt a little sorry for Carson since he had not caught a fish, but not too much!

Soon after I caught my third bass Carson set the hook and started saying he had a huge fish on. He fought it to the boat and I put the net in the water, but could not see the fish because the water was so muddy. When it came close enough, I was able to net it and it was big – 9 or 10 pounds!

I was picking at Carson, holding his huge fish over the water in the net, when it gave a mighty flip and jumped back out of the net! Carson’s plug had tangled the net and the hooks were keeping it closed, so the fish was not down in it like it was supposed to be. When the fish flipped out of the net back into the water, the plug stayed tangled in the net. Carson lost his huge fish.

We both would have been real sick, and I would have never been playing with the net like that, but Carson’s big fish was a bowfin. It was the first mudfish I have ever seen at Jackson, and it was a big one! I really did not want it in the boat, anyway!

I guess that changed Carson’s luck. He caught five bass before I landed another keeper! He ended up winning the tournament with five weighing 5-1, smaller fish than the day before but enough to win. My four weighed 4-9 for second. Kwong Yu had two at 3-8 for third and Billy Roberts’ two at 2-11 placed 4th.

Sixteen members of the club fished for 8 hours for a total of 23 keeper bass, so Carson’s guide really helped us, even thought the big bass never showed up on Sunday. I hope he can show Carson where to fish in all our tournaments this year!

Winning A Club Tournament At Lake Lanier With Spotted Bass

All three bass clubs in Griffin are wrapping up their tournament years in the next couple of weeks. Both the Flint River Bass Club and the Spalding County Sportsman Club have one tournament in December, a two club tournament at Jackson Decemher 7th, and the Potato Creek Bass Masters have their last one at Jackson on December 14th.

Potato Creek fished at West Point two weeks ago. They had nine fishermen competing and they caught 29 keepers weighing 48 pounds. Pete Peterson won with five bass weighing 13.47 pounds and had big bass with a 5.65 pounder. James Beasley was second with five at 9.67, Bobby Ferris placed third with five at 7.49 and Raymond English was fourth with four bass weighing 4.54 pounds.

Last Sunday ten members and guests of the Spalding County Sportsman Club fished at Lanier. We landed 24 bass weighing about 51 pounds. There were two five-fish limits and two people didn’t land a 14 inch keeper. All of the fish caught were spotted bass.

I won with five weighing 10.72 pounds, Kwong Yu was second with five at 9.57, Niles Murray came in third with three weighing 7.42 and had big fish with a 3.83 pounder and Russell Prevatt was fourth with three at 6.51. We had five spots weighing over three pounds each.

For some reason Lanier usually kicks me down. I have a hard time catching keepers. Lanier is so different from the other lakes we fish, with clear water and deep water patterns, they I just can’t figure it out. But I did ok at two November tournaments by fishing fairly shallow. Niles Murray fished with me two weeks ago in the Flint River tournament and caught the first two bass in about eight feet of water, showing me they could be caught shallow.

Sunday was rainy, cloudy, rainy, windy, rainy, cold, rainy and we had thunder and lightning. Did I mention it rained? I found out at noon my water proof boots weren’t, and by 1:00 I was squishing in them. That made the last two hours of the tournament uncomfortable. I actually came in thirty minutes before the tournament ended, a first for me. I usually cast up to the last second!

I started on a rocky point where Niles and I had started and where I had caught two throwbackw two weeks ago. On the corner of a dock that came within 20 feet of the point I hooked and landed a solid 15 inch keeper on a spinner bait at 7:20. At least I wouldn’t zero this Lanier tournament.

After that I went to a nearby hump where Niles and I had caught four keepers but never got a bite, even though I tried four different baits on four passes around it. On the next point I caught a barely 14 inch long keeper on a jig head worm at 9:40 and felt even better.

Then I went back to the first point I fished and landed my biggest bass, a 3.08 pound spot, on the jig head worm at 11:30. I had got hung up on the rocks right on the bank and got my bait free by going to the bank in the boat. Then I caught the big one by pitching the worm to the end of the dock right where the first bass had hit. The bait never hit the bottom but started swimming out. I thought I was too close to it in the clear water, but I guess not.

Jigging a spoon is usually good this time of year so I went to another hump with brush on it that Ryan Coleman had shown to me a few years ago. There were fish on it, I could see them on my depth finder and caught two ten inch spots, not good since fish in a school are usually about the same size. I tried the bridge pilings on Browns Bridge, usually another good pattern, but never got a bite.

Thunder started rumbling and I could see flashes from lightning, something I really am scared of on the lake. I ran back to the point near the first hump I had fished and was able to stay near the bank and cast out on it, thinking the trees within a few feet of me would attract the lightening from my lightening rod graphite rod in my hands. The very first cast I caught a three pound spot so I fished the next two points the same way, very slowly, .

At 2:15 I went back to the first point, pitched to the end of the dock caught a solid keeper. That gave me my limit and I my cold feet really started bothering me. I worked around the point then back to the dock and caught another keeper in the exact same spot, culling the second fish I had caught.

I could not believe I caught four of my six keepers from a spot about a foot wide. On one cast I felt something like a small limb hung up on the bottom in that spot in about six feet of water. I guess that is what attracted the bass.

After culling my smallest bass it was 3:00 and although I had 30 minutes left to fish I decided to go in and get some dry shoes. Everyone else had already come in except Raymond and Niles so most of us were ready to get dry!

What Is Special About Late November and December Fishing?

Fishing in late November and December can be special. But it can be very variable, too. One day you can fish in a short sleeve shirt, a couple of days later you need a snowmobile suit. But fish often bite and big bass seem to feed more this time of year.

Some folks say you are crazy to fish in the winter, that it is too cold. But it is never too cold for some of us. And if you dress right you can be comfortable even on the most miserable days.

There is something special about sitting in a bass boat, watching your breath steam as you wait for a tournament blast off. Then you pull down your face mask and take off, so you don’t even feel the bite of the cold air while running down the lake at 50 plus mph. Encased from head top to toe tip, you are warm.

The biggest problem is when you stop and try to fish. There is really no good way to fish and keep your hands warm. I have never found any gloves I could wear that both kept my hands warm and allowed me to cast or feel my rod. Switching from a spinning reel to a bait casting reel every 20 casts or so seems to help, and hand warmers in your pockets allow you to warm your hands, or one at a time while holding the rod with the other.

You need to fish slowly in cold water anyway, so you can cast out a jig, put one hand in a pocket while it sinks, and move it with the rod tip while still keeping that hand in your pocket. And you can even move your jig by moving the boat slowly with the trolling motor without ever taking your hand out in the cold.

Everything on the water seems to be more intense this time of year. The smell of a fire on the bank is so nice it seems to warm you a little and invite you to get closer. Without all the pleasure boaters around the sounds you miss in the summer are noticeable. The splash of a loon diving. The lap of small waves against your boat. The scurrying of a squirrel on the bank. All are enhanced.

I will never forget one cold December tournament at Jackson. Soon after daylight it was a little foggy, making the water almost surreal. I was in a cove in Tussahaw Creek and could smell pine straw burning on the bank. Then, from a cabin, came the haunting melody of a blues song. I have tried for years to find out what the song was so I could get it, but it probably would not sound so sweet under other circumstances.

Even the birds on the bank and over or on the water seem more colorful. A cardinal hopping from shoreline bush to bush is the brightest thing in sight. A mallard drake with his bold green head is stark contrast to the steel gray color of the water. And a seagull’s white body stands out against the sky and water, and you watch it carefully to see if it dives and points the way to feeding fish.

Until the winter rains muddy the water fish are much more colorful, too. A spotted bass hooked in clear water shows sharp contrast in its green markings and black belly spots. Even a largemouth seems to have more defined markings.

Bass fight hard until the water gets extremely cold, too. A spot hitting a crankbait will make you swear it weighs five pounds until it comes into sight and proves to be a two pounder. I think spots hit at full speed, almost always going away from you, and that intensifies the jolt.

Hybrids and stripers feed much better in cold water. Hook a six pound hybrid or a 12 pound striper and you will wonder if your tackle can hold it. And it won’t if you don’t have your drag set right to let line strip off your reel against their hard runs.

Crappie feed and you can catch a lot of them on minnows or jigs. They don’t fight as hard as some fish, but no fish tastes better than a crappie caught in cold water, cleaned quickly and cooked within hours of being swimming in the lake.

You are aware of the dangers though. Your heavy boots and insulated clothes will pull you under fast if you fall in. In addition, the heavy clothes and boots make it more likely you will stumble or trip in the boat and fall in. And the ice water will cause your muscles to stop working very soon after falling in, even if you can somehow stay on top. That is why I always wear some kind of life jacket in the winter.

Even with the problems and dangers fishing in the winter is well worth it. I will be on the water while other folks watch football by the fire. I would have it no other way.

Why Does A Cold Front Affect Bass?

Last Sunday at Lake Sinclair, 13 members of the Flint River Bass Club fished our second tournament of the year. The cold front that came through, producing bright blue skies, high pressure and wind, did the usual to the bass – made them not bite at all!

There are a lot of theories about why bass do not feed after a cold front. Some say the high pressure affects them and makes them feel bad. High pressure can give people headaches, so it might affect bass, too. I often wonder about that, though, because a change of a few inches in depth of water will change the pressure on a bass much more than any cold front possibly could.

The bright sunlight is another factor that may make the bass less likely to feed. Bass are ambush predators and darkness and shadows help them get close enough to their food to catch it. When the sun is bright, they tend to feed less. They definitely stay closer to cover after a cold front produces bright sunlight.

Wind associated with a cold front often makes it very difficult to fish. That affects the fisherman much more than the fish, but it can contribute to the problem of catching bass. It is hard to cast on target, boat control is difficult at best, and the cold wind makes exposed skin miserably uncomfortable.

Some bass can be caught. The 13 of us managed to bring in a total of four bass after eight hours of trying. Greg Calhoun caught two of them and won it all with a total weight of 1-12! His partner Bruce Goddard had big fish and second place with one bass weighing 1-1. And my partner George Hamby had the other bass, a 15 ounce keeper, for third place. The other 10 of us watched the weigh-in with our hands in our pockets.

George and I tried all the usual patterns at Sinclair to catch a winter bass. We fished grass beds with spinnerbaits, riprap with crankbaits, brush piles, docks, deep points and other structure, all without a strike. During the day we talked about how much luck can be involved in finding bass to catch in a tournament.

A press release I received the week before highlighted this to me. I told George how a fisherman finishing in the top five at a big BASS tournament said he accidentally found the structure holding the bass. He was riding in his boat and saw something on his depthfinder. He checked it out and caught enough bass to win several thousand dollars.

At about 2:30 PM, 90 minutes before the end of the tournament, I pointed out a sudden drop that showed up on the depthfinder as George and I idled away from a place we had fished. The bottom dropped from 26 to 35 feet deep and there was brush on the edge of the drop. When I turned and went back across the drop, we saw what looked like fish as well as more brush.

I stopped the boat and started jigging a Little George, probing the bottom and the brush. George started fishing a worm on a Carolina rig and suddenly set the hook. He landed his keeper bass! A few minutes later, after switching to a Carolina rigged lizard, a fish almost jerked the rod out of my hand when I was not paying careful attention. It was the only bite I got all day, and I missed it!

We stayed on that drop off for over an hour, and George caught a small crappie that hit is worm. We found the drop had rocks as well as brush on it. It is a place I will fish in the future for bass as well as crappie. I am sure it will hold both kinds of fish year round, and I look forward to catching more there.

Although the spot did not pay off for me in the tournament, it did produce a keeper for George. If we had been lucky enough to find it earlier we might have caught more than the one bass. As is was, we were lucky to find the spot, George was lucky to catch a bass there, and I was unlucky, or unskillful, and did not catch anything when I got the chance.

Someday I wish I could get skillful and not have to depend on luck to catch bass!

Does Florida Track Trophy Bass Releases?

Florida Trophy Catch Logo

Florida Trophy Catch Logo

TrophyCatch tracker
from The Fishing Wire

Florida is now wrapping up the second year of what has turned out to be a highly successful effort to encourage anglers to release trophy-quality largemouth bass, thus allowing them to grow even larger while at the same time growing the state’s reputation as a destination for bass anglers. Here’s an update from the FFWCC:

Many of our readers already know that in 2012 the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) launched TrophyCatch, a new incentive-based conservation program designed for anglers who catch-and-release largemouth bass heavier than eight pounds, in Florida. Goals of this new initiative include providing verified catch data about trophy bass to guide conservation-management strategies, encouraging live release, and recognizing and rewarding anglers for participating in this citizen-science effort. This will ultimately increase trophy bass fishing opportunities and add to our knowledge of these valued fish.

Check out TrophyCatchFlorida.com now to register for free for the 3rd year’s boat drawing and to learn how to submit your catch, so the data can contribute to the future of bass fishing in Florida and you can earn great rewards from our sponsors. While there, check out the Gallery of Catches, or do a search to find where trophy bass have been caught near you. Meanwhile, be sure to “like” us on FaceBook.com/TrophyCatchFlorida to keep up with the latest developments.

The first year of TrophyCatch (Oct. 1, 2012 – Sep. 30, 2013) wrapped up a year ago. Here were some highlights from TrophyCatch year one:

– 1,941 registrants.

– Almost 200 verified largemouth bass Lunker, Trophy, and Hall of Fame Club winners.

– Phoenix bass boat powered by Mercury awarded to random-drawing finalist Frank Ay from N Lauderdale (on left in photo).

– $10,000 from Experience Kissimmee awarded to Peter Perez for the largest bass caught in Osceola County (second from right).

– TrophyCatch Champion Ring awarded to Bob Williams from Alloway, NJ for the largest entered TrophyCatch bass, 13 lbs., 14 oz.

– Over $70,000 total in prizes awarded.

As TrophyCatch continued into its second year, FWC announced simplified submission requirements and increased prizes. The largest change in submitting a bass is that only one photo, of the entire fish on a scale with the weight clearly legible, is required. However, photos of the length, girth, angler holding fish, and release are encouraged. Phoenix and Mercury again provided a bass boat package for year two, this time including a Power-Pole anchor. The big winners of this year’s major prizes haven’t been announced at time of writing, but will be included in the next issue. In the meantime, here are the latest TrophyCatch statistics as of September 2014:

– Over 8,000 total registrants.

– Nearly 1,000 verified largemouth bass Lunker, Trophy, and Hall of Fame Club winners.

– More than $102,000 in prizes awarded during Year 2.

Stay tuned for the 2013-14 winners, and for exciting prizing updates for the new 2014-15 TrophyCatch year! For more information, and to register or submit fish, visit TrophyCatchFlorida.com.

Should I Change Fishing Lures When the Weather Changes?

Changes in Weather Often Mean Changes in Lures

Autumn’s Cooler Temperatures Can Affect How Certain Fish Feed

Although cold fronts and other weather changes in the autumn months are seldom as severe as those occurring later in the winter, they can still change bass behavior very quickly. That’s why Yamaha Pro Marty Robinson always has several rods with completely different types of lures rigged and ready to cast whenever he goes fishing this time of year.

jigs work well after a cold front

jigs work well after a cold front

Yamaha pro angler Marty Robinson switches to a jig when sustained north winds start to blow, slowing action on buzzbaits and spinnerbaits.

“The cold fronts in the autumn normally don’t change the water temperature that much,” notes Robinson, “but they often change the wind speed and direction, and that seems to be what changes the fish.

“I know from experience that whenever a front changes the wind direction from the south to the north, for example, the fishing is going to slow dramatically.”

One of Robinson’s favorite fall lures, and a favorite of bass fishermen everywhere, is a topwater buzz bait, a noisy lure with a rotating blade that churns and clatters through shallow cover and often attracts big bass. It seems to produce best when the wind is blowing from the south, but a change to a north wind all but eliminates the bite.

Robinson’s solution is to change to a lure he can fish close to the surface but not on top of the water. His favorite choice is a spinnerbait, which he retrieves fast, or “burns,” just below the surface. If the spinnerbait doesn’t produce, he then changes to jigs or soft plastic creature baits and worms.

“I’ve really caught a lot of fish burning the spinnerbait over submerged cover like stumps, laydowns, rocks, and vegetation,” continues the Yamaha Pro. “The bass still seem to be very active and they strike reactively, but they apparently don’t want to actually break the surface. Sometimes, just a simple presentation change like this is all that’s needed to start the fish biting again.

“Other times, slowing down and fishing specific targets more thoroughly may be what’s needed. This is when I start pitching and flipping a jig or some other bottom-bumping lure, and instead of just making one or two casts to a log or stump, I’ll make five or six and fish much slower and tighter to the cover.”

When fishing really slows, Robinson frequently changes his fishing targets as well as his lures. Instead of concentrating on stumps or laydowns, he looks for thick vegetation, such as milfoil, hydrilla, or other greenery in shallow water.

Weed mats are good targets for jigs

Weed mats are good targets for jigs

Robinson says he sometimes finds more fish under weed mats than in open water cover as the water cools, but the jig is a good weapon in the mats, as well.

“During the autumn months, vegetation will be the thickest it’s going to be all year,” he explains, “and it will attract both baitfish and bass and hold them well into the winter. In some lakes where the vegetation forms a mat at the surface, you can bring fish up with plastic frogs, but flipping jigs and soft plastics may produce even better results.

“I’ll work along the edge of the matted vegetation, and flip into little holes and to any irregular points, let the jig reach the bottom, and just hop it once or twice. If a bass is there, it will usually strike pretty quickly.”

The Yamaha Pro also pays attention to the late afternoon rain showers that often come with autumn weather changes. Immediately before the rain starts falling, the fishing can be excellent, but once the bass stop biting, it may take as long as 24 hours for them to really become active again.

“Part of this is caused by a changing barometer,” concludes the Yamaha Pro, “but you can fish your way through it. When the barometer is falling, as it usually is as a storm approaches, the bass are nearly always more active and will really hit spinnerbaits and crankbaits, but they stop biting once the barometer starts rising immediately after the front passes. When you know this is happening, you just have to slow down and fish more carefully with more target-specific lures until the barometer settles again.

“That’s why I think it’s important to have a variety of lures rigged and ready to use during the fall months. The bass can change their behavior very quickly, but you can still catch them.”

Fishing Lake Burton and Lake Lanier

I am very glad I got to fish Lake Burton and Lake Lanier before this cold weather hit. Both are beautiful lakes and the changing leaves made them even prettier. And both have quality spotted and largemouth bass. I managed to catch some of both in both lakes.

On Tuesday I met Joe Thompson at Burton to get information for a Georgia Outdoor News December Map of the Month article. Joe is a recent graduate of Young Harris College where he was on the bass fishing team and has lived in the Lake Burton area all his life.

I met him at noon since I didn’t want to face a cold morning on the water or the terrible morning traffic going up I-285 and I-85. He already had several nice spotted bass in the live well. We fished until the sun went behind the mountains shortly after 5:00 and I landed five bass, one largemouth and four spots, while he landed about seven spots.

While showing me around the lake Joe pointed out Alabama football coach Nick Saban’s huge lake house, and told me country singer Alan Jackson also had a house on the lake. The houses around the lake are big and pretty, with many looking like castles sitting on the steep hills rising from the water. And the docks are big enough to be lake houses on many other lakes.

We caught fish mostly on jig head worms but Joe says he usually catches bigger bass on a Super Spin, an underspin grub type bait, and a jig and pig. He had a couple of spots just over three pounds and I had a spot and a largemouth about three pounds each, so I thought the ones we caught on jig head worms were pretty big.

Last Sunday 13 members and guests fished the Flint River Bass Club November tournament at Lanier. After fishing nine hours we brought in 24 keepers over the 14 inch minimum length, and they weighed about 49 pounds. All but three were spotted bass and there was one limit. Four people didn’t have a keeper.

John Smith won it big with five weighing 13.13 pounds. My four weighing 8.71 pounds was second, Brian Bennett had three at 6.32 for third and his 3.54 pound spot was big fish, and Travis Weatherly came in fourth with three at 5.20 pounds.

Niles Murray fished with me and we had a slow day. We got a couple of short bass on the first point we fished then went about an hour without a fish. On a hump Niles quickly caught two keepers and I got one. Niles caught his on a Carolina rig and mine hit a jig head worm.

After working that spot hard and trying a couple more like it in the area, I told Niles I wanted to run up the river. There were three points I wanted to try about five miles from where we were fishing. Early that morning only three boats had come down the river so I figured there was a tournament taking off from up there, but it must be a small one.

Just my luck, we got to the first point and a boat was sitting on it. My best point in that area also had someone fishing it, as did the third place I wanted to fish. We tried a couple of places but got no bites, so we headed back down the river.

Back on the hump where we had caught three that morning I quickly caught a nice spot. We fished all around it and another place nearby but got no more bites, so we ran back into the creek where we had to weigh in. With about 90 minutes left to fish we hit two points and got only a small throwback.

With about 30 minutes left I had pretty much given up, deciding the two I had were all I would get. Niles suggested we go up the creek and fish a series of small points so we took off. The second one we hit I landed a largemouth close to three pounds, then on the next one got a barely 14 inch long keeper.

I was surprised to come in second with only four fish, but three of them were pretty good fish. Several guys in the club fish Lanier a lot and know it well, so I expected them to have limits. Nobody had more than three keepers except John and I.

Lanier is a very pretty lake, too, with clear water and changing leaves, but the big yachts cruising on the lake make it rough fishing and riding after about 10:00 AM. It does have a lot of big spots, but fishing pressure makes them tough to catch.

Burton is another hour away from us, but it would be a much better trip if you want pretty scenery and big spots. And Burton is stocked with trout. We saw them in the water and dimpling the surface in a couple of places we fished. I was wishing for a light spinning rod, a #6 hook and a can of kernel corn.

Give Burton a try for bass or trout. And you will probably catch a chain pickerel. Joe landed three. There are even walleye in the lake so you have a chance at a lot of different kinds of fish.