Category Archives: Bass Fishing

Bass Fishing Information

Where Do Tournament Caught Bass Go When Released?

After Lake Champlain Fish Tournaments: Study Finds Where the Fish Go
from The Fishing Wire

Today’s feature, an interesting study on where bass go after being released at weigh-ins, comes to us from Lake Champlain International; www.mychamplain.net.

By Daniel Kelly

The Crew

The Crew

The Lake Champlain bass dispersal project crew (Credit: Lake Champlain Research Institute, SUNY Plattsburgh)

Lake Champlain has been a popular bass fishing spot for some time, made so by its size, surrounding scenery and abundant fish habitat, especially in its northern end. The lake’s expansive tributaries also draw in anglers who like to rev up their fishing boats and make waves.

But with prized bass there getting more and more attention, scientists with the Lake Champlain Sea Grant wanted to know what impacts all the activity was having on the fishery.

“There are probably 75 tournaments on this lake each year,” said Mark Malchoff, aquatic resources specialist with the Sea Grant. “And about four to six of them are big ones with sometimes 100 boats.”

Malchoff, along with investigators from the Lake Champlain Research Institute at the State University of New York – Plattsburgh, wanted to quantify the impacts of catch-and-release policies at the competitions and how bass disperse after they’ve been released back into the water.

Their study began with tagging fish. Some were fitted with radio transmitters, but a vast majority were tagged with T-bars: tiny tags inserted between spines in dorsal fins. All of those had Malchoff’s phone number and email address on them.

“You sort of release them and hope someone finds one, but there’s no guarantee,” said Malchoff. “It’s a classic letter in a bottle.”

Inserting Tracklng Device

Inserting Tracklng Device

Surgery underway on a Lake Champlain bass (Credit: D. Garneau, SUNY Plattsburgh)

The approach was useful because two tag methods allowed researchers to find if one was more reliable for tracking and if there were any effects caused by the tags themselves. Malchoff says there was good agreement between the two, with both helping researchers track bass movement through Lake Champlain during and after tournaments.

Largemouth bass, researchers found, are especially affected during tournament time. They experience more stress than smallmouth, as judged by a series of indicators including bloody fins, hook wounds or fin damage. A lot of the stress comes from being housed in livewells, which takes its toll. They may also be targeted more as competition labors on.

“With tournaments – the big ones at least – by day three, only the Top 10 to 20 anglers are still fishing,” said Malchoff. “At that point, they’re targeting the biggest fish they can find.” And with live fish valued more at weigh-in time, fishermen try to keep fish swimming. “But the farther you move them (in livewells), the more likely it is they’ll get beat up,” said Malchoff.

A post-op tagged smallmouth (Credit: Lake Champlain Research Institute, SUNY Plattsburgh)

Released Smallmouth

Released Smallmouth


Smallmouth bass also exhibited signs of stress, but not as much as largemouths. Both bass types appeared more prone to bloody fins as water temperatures increased. And after they had been released back into Lake Champlain, researchers found that bass swam toward the north side. There is plenty of high-quality habitat on that end, says Malchoff, and going north saves a trip over deep-water areas to reach the southern end.

All the findings boil down to a few things fishermen and tournament organizers can do to protect and conserve bass in Champlain. “Don’t transport them as far (in livewells), and lake temperature – in a lot of places, waters are warmest in late July or early August – avoid scheduling tournaments at those times if at all possible,” said Malchoff.

Researchers also provided evidence against a commonly held notion that many types of fish stress could be attributed to barotrauma, or damage caused to them by sudden pressure changes. Fish that don’t maintain equilibrium don’t always need to have their air bladders deflated, Malchoff says, something that tournament anglers often do.

“My real interest is looking at tournaments as a sustainable resource,” said Malchoff. “And like a lot of things, there’s always room for improvement.”

How To Find Fish In Transition with Electronics

Finding Fish In Transition
from The Fishing Wire

How experts use Humminbird technologies to put the bead on fall and winter fish

Eufaula, AL – Typically, as fall arrives, many of us head for the tree stand or blind, turning our attention to birds and bucks. Yet, what’s happening on the water this time of the year can be equally as awesome as what’s happening in the field.

Electronics help catch bass

Electronics help catch bass

Vahrenberg verifies the presence of a kicker fish on the tree identified with 360 Imaging.

Here’s how a handful of fishing’s top experts find and pattern bass, walleyes and panfish during the fall and winter – and how you can do the same.

Open-Water Bass: Fall & Winter

Missouri-based tournament pro Doug Vahrenberg says his fall and winter bass game has never been better thanks to the trifecta of Humminbird’s LakeMaster mapping, Side Imaging and 360 Imaging.
“As the water cools and bass school up in the fall, they’ll begin to move from the main lake into creek arms. And you’ve got main lake fish on the flats adjacent to those creek arms. Both have one thing in common: they’re looking for lunch.”

Vahrenberg says it all comes down to surveying a lake quickly because fall bass can be here today, gone tomorrow. With two ONIX units at the dash – one set to full-screen Side Imaging, the other to Humminbird LakeMaster mapping – Vahrenberg is similarly on the prowl for baitfish and bass.

“I typically have my Side Imaging set to look 100 feet right and left. On a new lake I’ll increase that range to 130-150 feet until I find bait and ambush targets like trees, stumps, and submerged cover most anglers can’t see, especially in shallower stained water. Then I mark anything that looks like a good ambush site with a waypoint.”

Hummingbird 360

Hummingbird 360

Humminbird 360 Imaging reveals the submerged tree in shallow, stained water that produced Vahrenberg’s bass (shown), only 25 feet from the boat.

He adds: “Seems like fall bass like flats close to a channel swing. They’ll move up from deeper water and push the bait into two-, three- or four feet of water and feed. With LakeMaster mapping you can find those spots where the channel swings in close to the bank. A lot of times your screen will be absolutely full of bait so I like to concentrate on those areas right before or after the giant wads of bait. Helps make the presence of your bait known.”

Once he’s located a channel swing, good cover, baitfish – even the bass themselves – Vahrenberg will jump from the console to the bow.

“As soon as I start pinging Bow 360 every waypoint will show up on my bow ONIX unit and I can motor right to ’em. Seems like if there’s a lot of cover, the fish tend to be isolated. Where there’s no cover, fish tend to group up in ‘wolf packs’. That’s where 360 Imaging really helps locating the stuff that you can’t see. The beauty is that it does all the work for you. You’re not controlling anything with your foot – all you have to do is look at the screen and think about where to cast next.”

ONIX split-screen

ONIX split-screen

This ONIX split-screen reveals the presence of baitfish in Side Imaging, 2D Sonar and Down Imaging.

From fall through winter, Vahrenberg breaks down his presentations into two preferred categories.

“I always have one stick rigged up with a creature or jig and craw combo to flip the isolated fish on cover. Those fish will position right behind the timber, waiting for lunch to swim by. On lakes with less cover I’m fishing fast search baits to connect with the wolf packs – square bills, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, lipless cranks – and searching out aggression bites. A shad pattern is always good but if there’s an overabundance of forage, I’ll switch over to a bluegill pattern, which is often just different enough to get bit. Look at it this way, if you’re eating a chicken breast every day and somebody offers you pizza …”

During winter, Vahrenberg reverses his fall routine and starts at the back of creek arms, moving outward to the first or second channel swing – or from the edge of the ice back to the main lake. “Even more so in the winter, bass will associate to the channel swings – and deeper water – but look along the edges. Again, LakeMaster mapping and the imaging technologies can really help you find the right stuff.”

Pre-Fishing For Early Ice: Walleyes & Perch

In northern Minnesota, the open water season is typically over by Thanksgiving. Yet, by the time the turkey and cranberry are being passed around the table, ice fishing guide/tournament Brian “Bro” Brosdahl has much of his winter ice fishing strategy already mapped. Many years, he’s already fishing on hardwater by turkey day.

“Sure, I’ll drop waypoints on structures in the fall but what I really do is fast-forward my thinking to winter, knowing that walleyes and jumbo perch will associate to shoreline points, saddles, humps, and weed bed edges on flats during early ice,” says Brosdahl.

Like Vahrenberg’s Missouri bass, Brosdahl says the biggest reason early-ice fish associate to these areas – especially on larger bodies of water like Minnesota’s Mille Lacs, Winnibigoshish and Leech – is the presence of baitfish. “Walleyes and perch both gorge on shiners, although the bigger walleyes seem to prefer whitefish.”

Brosdahl says Humminbird Lakemaster mapping greatly reduces the time it takes him to “pre-fish” a lake in the fall for ice fishing in winter.

Yellow Perch

Yellow Perch

Brosdahl and the big jumbo perch pay-off of scouting with Humminbird LakeMaster and Side Imaging technologies. Photo by Bill Lindner.

“But you can’t just motor around in the fall, mark bait and fish and drop waypoints. Most of the fall fish will have moved by first-ice. So, what I do is highlight depths with Lakemaster’s Depth Highlight feature – typically somewhere between 12 and 14 feet on bigger lakes – and then start dropping waypoints on those areas that will be their next move after fall.”

“You still have to look for inside turns, saddles and especially those steep breaks for walleyes. But remember: If there are walleyes in the area, they’ll push the perch up onto adjacent flats and the gradual breaks.”

Brosdahl was one walleye fishing’s earliest adopters of Side Imaging. “Same time as I’m watching my LakeMaster map, I’m watching Side Imaging for hard- and soft bottom edges. Both walleyes and perch will ride those edges all winter long. With Side Imaging these spots are unmistakable. Plus, as more of your ‘A list’ spots like rock piles and sunken islands get winter fishing traffic, I find myself fishing hard-to-soft bottom transitions in places easily overlooked.”

Once a surveyor for LakeMaster himself, Brosdahl says mapping waters with Humminbird’s new AutoChart Pro software has been a lot of fun. “Of course, this time around I don’t have to share my findings with anyone!”

“Kind of cool that I can go to a lake that doesn’t have HD one-foot contours and really dial in on spots for winter. Plus, AutoChart Pro gives me bottom hardness mapping so I those hard-to-soft spots really jump out. And there are some tiny lakes that have never been mapped. That’s where AutoChart really shines.”

One pass of Humminbird 360 reveals more than 10 manmade crappie cribs in a single pass. Range set to 120 feet in every direction.

manmade crappie cribs

manmade crappie cribs


He adds: “Another thing: Internet connectivity – even phone reception – can be pretty spotty in the areas I fish. Pretty cool that you can create the map on a PC without having to connect to the web. Plus, I know my data’s kept private.”

Tournament Talk: Winter Panfish

Currently, Wisconsin-based Kevin Fassbind and Nick Smyers are in second place as they prepare to fish the NAIFC 2014 Series Ice Fishing Championship on Minnesota’s Mille Lacs Lake, December 20, 2014.

A big part of their ongoing strategy is open-water scouting tournament grounds, like Mille Lacs’ Isle and Waukon bays.

“We’ve found Humminbird Side Imaging helps us identify the best weeds and hard-bottom areas. We’ll idle back and forth through a bay, looking 120 feet off each side of the boat. When we see holes in weed beds, inside turns and good bottom, we simply drop waypoints for winter. The way the system works is pretty easy – just pop the SD card out of the Humminbird 999 on the boat and drop it into the Humminbird 688 ice combo. Then it’s all right there,” says Fassbind.

Beyond marking waypoints on open-water, the duo has also experimented with Side Imaging on the ice. Using a pole-mounted Side Imaging transducer spun manually around in a hole in the ice, Fassbind and Smyers have had some success using the technology in a way it wasn’t intended.

“When we were fishing the NAIFC event on Lake Maxinkuckee, Indiana, we found a 20′ x 20′ patch of weeds with some logs, and Kevin pointed me in the direction and told me to start drilling. Boom, drilled one hole and I was on it,” says Smyers. “But it was difficult to get the image we wanted. Yet, we could see how this kind of technology could give us a huge on-ice advantage for locating manmade structures like cribs, Christmas tree piles, even fish.”

Along those lines, the duo is planning on implementing Humminbird Bow 360 into their tournament arsenal this year.

“What we were trying to do with Side Imaging is something that 360 Imaging already does better. With a little bit of rigging for ice, I really think it’s going to help us locate structure and fish even faster, which could be huge for main-basin crappies and deep-water perch. Punch a waypoint on fish and then go drill it. Instead of drilling hundreds of holes, we’ll be drilling a precise few. Not sure how much grid scouting we’ll be doing any more,” says Smyers.

Kevin Fassbind

Kevin Fassbind

Competitive ice angler Kevin Fassbind and teammate Nick Smyers use a combination of open-water and on-ice scouting with Humminbird technologies to stay on top of the leaderboard.

No matter where in the country you fish, the take-home message is clear: put in some time scouting with today’s technologies and you too can increase your odds for stellar fall and winter fishing.

For more information visit humminbird.com, contact Humminbird, 678 Humminbird Lane, Eufaula, AL 36027, or call 800-633-1468.

About Johnson Outdoors Marine Electronics, Inc.
Johnson Outdoors Marine Electronics, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson Outdoors and consists of the Humminbird®, Minn Kota® and Cannon® brands. Humminbird® is a leading global innovator and manufacturer of marine electronics products including fishfinders, multifunction displays, autopilots, ice flashers, and premium cartography products. Minn Kota® is the world’s leading manufacturer of electric trolling motors, as well as offers a complete line of shallow water anchors, battery chargers and marine accessories. Cannon® is the leader in controlled-depth fishing and includes a full line of downrigger products and accessories.

Will A Spinnerbait Wire Break If I Use It Too Long?

I almost lost the only bass I hooked in my last club tournament when the spinnerbait I was using broke. At weigh-in, Blake Thompson told a sad tale of losing a huge bass – at least 8 pounds – when it broke his line. All fishermen have bad luck like that at times. However, there are things you can do to lower your chances of bad luck.

On Saturday before the tournament two weeks ago, I fished with Jim Stutts and his 16 year old son Jay. I met Jim when we fished together in a tournament in 1986. The first place we stopped Jim asked if I remembered the big fish he lost in that tournament in a treetop when it broke his line. He said I taught him a lesson he would never forget – re-tie your line if you get hung up.

He reminded me I had re-tied my line as we idled across the river in that tournament. We had been dragging spinnerbaits over stumps and getting hung up a lot. He didn’t take the time to re-tie his and broke off the big fish right after we started casting again. He said he always re-tied after getting hung up now, and reminded Jay to do so throughout the day.

Blake had been fishing rocks in the tournament two weeks ago, bumping a spinnerbait on them. He did not re-tie his 12 pound test line, although bumping rocks is the easiest way I know to damage your line. He hooked the big fish, it jumped and then broke off.

I learned my lesson the hard way also. Jim Berry and I were fishing High Falls soon after I moved to Griffin in the early 1970’s. I had not had a strike all day, and had gotten too lazy to re-tie my line. I cast into a treetop and a got my first strike. A five pound bass jumped when I set the hook and then ran under the boat. It broke my line. When I checked the broken end, it was very frayed. You can feel the rough line where it is messed up by rocks, limbs, docks and even fishes’ teeth.

When fishing, check your line and re-tie it regularly. If it feels rough, re-tie. Even if it doesn’t feel rough, I often hold the hook and jerk it much harder than a fish could, just to see if it will break. Sometimes the knot is weakened and you can’t tell until too late unless you stress it like a big fish might.

The lighter your line, the more often you should check it and tie a new knot. Heavy line holds up better but still needs attention. When fishing a Carolina rig with three knots, check all three often. Don’t lose the fish of a lifetime when you have that one chance because you didn’t take the time to tie a knot.

With spinnerbaits, you can not tell when they are going to break. If fishing for fun, I might take a chance on using a $5.00 spinnerbait over and over. In a tournament, when a bass could be worth hundreds of dollars, I will retire a spinnerbait after catching no more than three fish on it. It is just not worth taking a chance that the wire has become weak and might break.Will

Can I Lose A Bass By Changing the Angle I Am Fighting It?

The fish I lost in the tournament two weeks ago taught me some more lessons about getting fish in the boat. The one bass I hooked in the Oconee tournament hit a Shadrap in a brush pile. When I set the hook it came to the top and I could see the hook was just barely in its mouth.

The fish was running to my right, around the front of the boat. Rather then try to turn it, I told Jim I would let it go around the boat and bring it to the other side. I also told him to net it quick or it would be gone.

The reason I did not try to make the fish turn and come to the near side of the boat is past experience. When a fish is hooked on a crankbait, trying to make them turn often pulls the hooks out. I think the plug acts as a lever, and when the angle changes, the hook can no longer hold.

I have lost several fish like that. The biggest was a huge bass at Jackson. It came to the top and, when I tried to pull it toward the boat, it just came off. It floated there for what seemed like several seconds before sinking out of sight. I guessed it weighed over 10 pounds.

Linda lost a monster bass at Clark’s Hill many years ago in the same way. She fought it till it was tired and on top. Just like the one I lost, when it turned on its side, the angle of the hook changed and it pulled off. There is nothing you can do in a case like that.

At Oconee, my bass went under the boat after coming around the front. When I tried to pull it to the surface for Jim to net, I pulled the hook out of its mouth. Again, I was pulling in the opposite direction from the way it was hooked. There was no way Jim could have netted it, although I fussed at him for not doing so.

A few minutes later, Jim hooked a fish. It was running to the right also, and when he tried to turn it, it pulled off. We never saw the fish, and neither of us had a fish to weigh in that day. Some days, if you don’t have bad luck you don’t have any luck at all.

If you hook a good fish, keep in mind hooks often pull out if you reverse the pull from the way it was hooked. Often there is nothing you can do about it but if you can lead the fish around in a circle it might help you land it.

Can I Catch Spotted Bass In Kentucky?

Spotted Bass Time in Kentucky Waters
from The Fishing Wire

Kentucky spot

Kentucky spot

This is the third installment of a series of articles titled “Fall Fishing Festival” profiling the productive fishing on Kentucky’s lakes, rivers and streams in fall.

FRANKFORT, Ky. – They were not even recognized as a distinctive fish species until 1927. People for many years believed these fish only existed in Kentucky.

In 1956, the Kentucky legislature designated this species the “Kentucky bass” and made them the official state fish. Many anglers, especially in the south-central portion of the United States, still call the spotted bass a Kentucky bass.

They pale in reputation to their black bass cousins, the largemouth and smallmouth bass, but the spunk shown once hooked and their abundance should raise the profile of the overlooked spotted bass. They are also aggressive and readily strike lures.

It isn’t hard to tell when a spotted bass strikes. They shake their heads violently and dive bomb toward the bottom. The larger ones 15 inches and up usually grow a pronounced belly as they mature. Spotted bass use that girth along with a powerful tail against an angler while playing the fish, producing as good a fight as any comparable largemouth bass.

Medium-light spinning rods with reels spooled with 6-pound fluorocarbon line is all you need for catching spotted bass.

Once the fall winds blow, spotted bass begin to school up. They locate along rock bluffs or they suspend over points, submerged humps or channel drops.

“At this time of year, if you catch one spotted bass, keep fishing that same spot,” said Chad Miles, administrative director of the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Foundation and dedicated spotted bass angler. “There might be 40 or 50 of them there. Spotted bass really school up in fall.”

Catch spots on topwater

Catch spots on topwater

In early to mid fall, these schools of spots often trap a cloud of shad against the surface and rip into them. Large, chrome topwater lures tossed into this melee draw vicious strikes. These same lures fished over points, humps and channel drops can draw spotted bass from a good distance below the lure, especially on our clear water lakes such as Lake Cumberland or Laurel River Lake.

John Williams, southeastern fisheries district program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, reports Lake Cumberland holds a bountiful population of spotted bass with many fish in the 14- to 16-inch range. Spotted bass make up roughly half of the black bass found in the lake.

The main lake points from Harmon Creek down to Wolf Creek Dam hold spotted bass from fall through late spring. A 4-inch black finesse worm rigged on a 3/16-ounce Shakey head and slowly fished down those points is a deadly choice.

A hammered silver jigging spoon fished along the old Cumberland River bluffs in this section of the lake also produces spotted bass. Again, if you catch one spotted bass in fall, keep fishing the same area with the same technique. You might catch a dozen or more.

Large crappie minnows fished on size 1 circle hooks with two split shot lightly clamped on the line about 18 inches above the hook make a powerful choice for the large spotted bass in Laurel River Lake. The water of Laurel River Lake is as clear as the air and live bait works best.

The upper end of the Craigs Creek arm is a spotted bass hotspot on Laurel, as are the main lake points near the dam and in the lower section of Spruce Creek.

The mid-depth reservoirs in southern Kentucky hold excellent populations of larger spotted bass. Barren River Lake and Green River Lake hold some of the largest spotted bass in Kentucky.

The channel drops along the submerged Barren River adjacent to Barren River Lake State Park and the Narrows Access Area make excellent fall spots to try for spotted bass.

In Green River Lake, rock slides and points in the lower sections of the Robinson Creek arm and Green River arm are the best fall places. Green River Lake holds an impressive number of spotted bass longer than 15 inches.

Anglers fishing for largemouth bass in Kentucky Lake often stumble across a football-sized spotted bass. The secondary points in the major bays and creek arms in the middle section of the lake hold some impressive spotted bass in fall.

Smaller profile ¼-ounce football jigs in hues of green, brown and chartreuse attract these fish on Kentucky Lake.

Spotted bass make excellent table fare, by far the best tasting of the black bass species, similar to crappie in taste and texture. There is no minimum size limit on spotted bass statewide, but they still count toward the six fish aggregate black bass daily creel limit.

Hit the water and land some hard fighting and abundant spotted bass this fall. Keeping a few medium-sized spots for the table makes a delicious and nutritious meal.

Author Lee McClellan is a nationally award-winning associate editor for Kentucky Afield magazine, the official publication of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. He is a life-long hunter and angler, with a passion for smallmouth bass fishing.

Does Georgia Power Help Fishermen and the Environment?

I enjoyed fishing at Lake Juliette with Jack “Zero” Ridgeway last Sunday. We were checking out spots for a November Georgia Outdoor News article and caught a lot of bass. The biggest one hooked, a five pounder, jumped a couple of times then got Zero’s line around the trolling motor and broke off.

While we were fishing I kept looking at the smokestacks and cooling towers at the Georgia Power Plant Scherer on the shore. It is a huge facility, the fifth biggest coal fired power plant in the US. It provides electricity for many homes and businesses around here through the Georgia Power Company, Municipal Elect5ric Authority of Georgia, (MEAG) Oglethorpe Power and others.

When we think of Georgia Power we think of power. But when we flip a switch to turn on a light, do a load of clothes or warm food in the microwave it is automatic and we only notice when the power goes out and we don’t have this incredible resource that makes our lives so much easier.

Georgia Power is so much more than just a power company, though. Without them, Lake Juliette, Jackson Lake, Lake Sinclair, Lake Oconee and many others in our area and state would not exist. If you fish or hunt on and around those lakes you can thank Georgia Power.

Many of the boat ramps, picnic areas and campgrounds on Georgia Power lakes are either fully run by Georgia Power or are supported by them with money and facilities. Hunting areas are usually funded by a combination of funds from Georgia Power and the Georgia DNR. And many water fowl projects are a combined effort with Ducks, Unlimited and Georgia Power.

While Zero and I were fishing we heard several quick shotgun blasts early in the morning. Zero said someone must be hunting ducks and I responded there was an early teal season and also goose hunting was open.

All around Lake Juliette there are special waterfowl areas supported by Georgia Power where fields are planted with food ducks and geese like. With the lake right there it is excellent habitat for both. And some of the fields on Rum Creek WMA are managed for doves and are open to the public for shooting at those gray rockets.

Wildlife Management Areas around many lakes are open to the public for deer hunting and many of them are on Georgia Power land. Without them, a lot of deer hunters would have a tough time finding a place to hunt. And they are open small game hunting, too, and managed for all kinds of wildlife. Georgia Power helps fund these areas and provides the land for them.

Fishing is good on Georgia Power lakes and the shoreline on most is owned by the company. Folks with cabins and houses lease many of their lots from the company. Not only do these leases provide great places for the homeowner, the docks they build are great cover for bass, crappie and bream.
Other than the docks, Georgia Power works with the DNR to build fish habitat in the lakes from putting out marked brush piles to planting different kinds of native grasses around the lake. Water quality is monitored by Georgia Power, too.

Lake Sinclair is special to many area bass fishermen in the winter. The warm water discharged from Plant Branch, the coal fired power plant there, warms the lake a little and makes fish bite better in the winter. Due to Environmental Protection Agency regulations, the federal government seems to be trying to shut down such power plants.

Plant Branch is being closed to meet EPA regulations, at a great cost to the company, its employees and its customers. If the current federal government had it way all coal fired power plants would be shut down, and they don’t care how much doing that would raise power costs or the fact electricity might become less reliable due to lowered generating ability.

Some folks complain companies don’t pay enough taxes. They don’t pay any taxes. Their customers and stock owners pay them. So increasing taxes on companies just raise taxes on people like you and me. And you can own some of Georgia Power and get your share of their profits by buying stock. At less than $30 a share right now, it is a good way to build equity and get decent return on your investment.

Everyone complains about their power bill, and Georgia Power offers many ways to conserve electricity and keep it lower. But think what you get for your payment. Could you live around here without an air conditioner in August? Could you do without a refrigerator, microwave, TV, clothes washer or any of the other things you depend on daily?

When you flip a switch to light up a dark room, hunt on a Georgia Power facility or fish on one of their lakes, think about what the company does to make those things happen!

Should I Fish A Spinnerbait Around Grass In Lake Sinclair In December?

I was taught a lesson about fishing a spinnerbait in grass beds on Lake Sinlair one December. Charles Redding allowed me to fish with him at Sinclair to get information for a Georgia Outdoor News article. We caught nine nice keeper bass on a pattern I would not have fished.

It was in the early 1970’s that I first heard Charles’ name. He pretty much invented spoon jigging at Lanier. Over the years I got to know him as one of the best spinnerbait fishermen in Georgia. He was a member of the South Cobb Bass Club, the club that won 9 Top Six tournaments in a row! He now fishes team tournaments many weekends and usually is in the top fishermen.

Sinclair has lots of grass beds. In the spring, you can cast a spinnerbait into them and expect to catch bass. I do not think of that as a December pattern, but that is what we did. Although the water was dropping and that always makes shallow water fishing less productive, Charles showed me bass can be caught shallow even under unusual conditions.

Water temperature ranged from 58 to 63 degrees in the areas we fish, and we tried grass beds from Nancy Creek all the way up into Rooty Creek. Charles kept the boat close to the grass, making short, quick cast and then moving on. He said he expected to find feeding fish somewhere during the day while fishing like that. His success in tournaments proves him correct.

If you try Sinclair during the winter, Charles says fish hit all winter long on the grass bed pattern. Just don’t give up on it.

A Saturday Kids-Buddy Tournament and A Sunday Club Tournament At Bartletts Ferry

There is nothing quite like seeing the excitement on a kid’s face when they catch a fish. They light up and almost vibrate they are so happy. Last Saturday at the Spalding County Sportsman Club Youth/Buddy tournament at Bartletts Ferry three kids showed us that joy.

We were disappointed there were only three youth in the tournament, but it was well worth the effort to put on the tournament. Raymond English brought his grandson Preston and he won the youth side with three keepers weighing 3.39 pounds. Russell Prevatt’s grandson Bryson had two weighing 1.52 pounds for second and Zane Fleck’s grandson Dakota had three weighing 1.22 pounds for third.

I am glad they all caught fish. The fishing was tough but they worked hard for seven hours to land fish on a tough day. I will long remember watching Bryson, the youngest angler in the tournament at seven years old, bring a bag of fish up to the scales.

The weigh-in bag looked almost as big as he is and with water and fish in it, it was very heavy. Although he struggled with it, he wanted no help! He was so excited he couldn’t stop talking. It was great.

Kids win prizes rather than money and I was disappointed I didn’t have the tackle bags ready. I am trying to get some donations and will present the prizes at the next club meeting. Unfortunately, I have used up all the tackle I had collected for prizes.

In the Buddy side of the tournament Raymond and Preston won with five fish weighing 9.63 pounds. The way the tournament works is kids weigh in the fish, up to five 12 inch largemouth and any size spots since there is no legal limit on them, and the adult and kid combine their best five for the team weight. Spots have to be 12 inches long in the buddy tournament due to club rules.

A father and son were supposed to fish with me but due to a last minute problem they couldn’t make it, so I fished as a “team” by myself. I had three keepers weighing 6.49 pounds for second and my 3.70 pound largemouth was good for big fish. Russell and Bryson had four weighing 3.13 for third and Zane and Dakota had four weighing 2.25 for fourth.

Fish hit a little bit of everything, from Trick worms to spinner baits. I caught one at daylight on a spinner bait, one at 11:00 on a Texas rigged Mag 2 worm and the big fish hit a jig head worm at noon. The fish were scattered on the cloudy, cool day and there was not much of a pattern. I caught fish from one foot deep to 22 feet deep.

During the buddy tournament I decided to look for new places to fish and it worked. The first two hit on places I had never fished before, and the third one hit on a point that has always looked great but I have never caught a fish before, so I had quit fishing it years ago.

On Sunday ten members of the Sportsman Club fished our September tournament on Bartletts. After eight hours of casting we brought in 26 keepers weighing about 33 pounds. There were three five-fish limits and two people didn’t catch a keeper. We had six largemouth, 18 spots and two shoal bass weighed in.

I won with five weighing 6.98 pounds and had a 3.16 pound largemouth for big fish. Sam Smith had four weighing 5.41 pounds for second, Niles Murray had a limit weighing 4.87 pounds for third and his partner Raymond English had five weighing 4.57 pounds for fourth.

I started out where I had caught my first fish the day before but got no bites. Then I ran to where I caught my second fish and again got no bites. By 7:45 I was where I had landed the big one the day before and quickly caught a barely 12 inch long spot, then a largemouth the same size.

At noon I had fished a lot of places and still had just two keepers. In desperation I went out on a point and saw fish near the bottom, and used a drop shot worm to catch three keeper spots and several throwbacks. That gave me my limit with an hour left to fish, but they were all small.

For the last hour I decided to go to the point where I had never fished before Saturday but had caught a keeper that day. There were fish on the bottom and I missed some bites on the drop shot worm, and thought they must be bream. Then, with five minutes left to fish, the big fish hit. I didn’t think I would ever land it but managed to net it after a long fight.

This is my favorite time of year to fish. The weather is beautiful and fish tend to bite better. And boat traffic is supposed to be lower, since Labor Day is supposed to be the end of boating season, but it was not that way Sunday. The beautiful weather had a lot of pleasure boaters on the lake and I rocked and I rocked and rolled all day from their wakes.