I arrived on Tuesday and set up camp, then got up Wednesday morning and drove 30 minutes to West Point Lake to practice for the Potato Creek Saturday tournament. I found some bushes with a Mayfly hatch and caught a four pounder on a buzzbait in the shade of them, so I thought I had found something.

I marked some more Mayfly bushes and some deep-water places that looked good the rest of that day. I went back on Thursday and found some more, so I felt pretty good about catching fish in the tournament.

On Friday I put in at Bartletts Ferry to check things out there for the Sportsman Club Sunday tournament. It was a week early due to Father’s Day this weekend. The limb I shook the Sunday before and released a cloud of Mayflies was still full of them. When I shook the same limb they flew around me so thick I had to breathe thought my nose to keep from eating one!

That gave me hope since I had caught a four pounder there in the Flint River tournament. I spent a few hours looking for more bushes full of Mayflies and found many, and marked some good looking cover on points before a thunderstorm ran me off the lake at 2:00.

Last Saturday 24 members of the Potato Creek Bassmasters fished our June tournament at West Point. After nine hours of casting, we brought 68 keeper bass weighing about 118 pounds to the scales. There were ten five-bass limits and three people did not weigh in a fish.

Caleb Delay won big with five weighing 14.15 pounds and his 4.82 pound largemouth was big fish. Edward Folker was second with five at 9.92 pounds, Kwong Yu was third with five weighing 9.90 pounds and Mitchell Cardell came in fourth with five at 8.77 pounds.

My practice didn’t really help me. I landed one on a buzzbait near a Mayfly hatch, one on a Carolina Rig on an old roadbed I found and one on a whacky rigged Senko that hit near some Mayflies. I did lose two nice two-pound fish that I got right to the boat and they just pulled off, one on a shaky head worm and one on a jig and pig.

At Bartletts Ferry Sunday ten members of the Spalding County Sportsman Club fished our June tournament. After nine hot hours in our boats, we brough 30 keepers weighing about 39 pounds to the scales. There were two five fish limits and one person didn’t weigh in a fish.

Jay Gerson had a limit weighing 10.51 pounds for first and his 4.14 pound largemouth was big fish. Raymond English had five weighing 7.02 pounds for second, my three weighing 6.02 pounds was third and Glenn Anderson had four weighing 6.09 pounds for fourth. He actually beat me but he had a dead fish that cost him a .2 pound penalty.

Practice didn’t really help here, either. I did catch one keeper on a buzzbait on the same seawall where I caught one the week before, and caught my biggest fish, a 3.48 pounder that hit a weightless Trick worm on another seawall. My third fish came out of some deep brush where I had caught one the weekend before, and my partner Chris Davies got two keepers there and another one off a dock.

Z-Man® Turbo FattyZ™: Beast Mode for Big Bass
from The Fishing Wire

New fropm ZMan

You’d assume even an ace like Burghoff would dread rehashing used water. Instead, the friendly professional angler relishes these scenarios— and it’s all because he’s seen what can happen when he shows his new soft swimming worm to the local largemouth population.

“You can go in right after other anglers’ have tossed bladed jigs and traditional surface baits and really clean house,” exclaims Burghoff, with a nod to Z-Man’s new Turbo FattyZ. “This is a softbait that can go places where wire baits and other lures can’t, such as the thickest matted grass. Or, I can pitch and skip the Turbo FattyZ way up beneath overhangs and docks and pull big bites. On the surface, the bait’s buoyant paddletail spits and sputters water. And when you kill it, the worm has this killer waggling action as it slowly flutters.”

As Burghoff will tell you, though, working shallow grass merely skims the surface of the versatile new bait’s talents. But first, a few details . . .

Weighing in with its robust, yet extra soft swim-worm physique, the 6-inch Turbo FattyZ hangs like a substantial bass chunk at the end of your line. The softbait’s stout, segmented torso transitions to a razor-thin, high-action posterior. Propelled by an intelligently-conceived convex paddle tail, the bait hums along with a pulsing, gliding action on a slow to moderate retrieve. The entire tail section is speckled with micro-protrusions for an appetizing appearance and texture. Providing near-neutral buoyancy, a dosage of 15-percent impregnated salt also increases density for easy casts, even when fished unweighted.

“For several years, I searched for a high-performance swimming worm, but just couldn’t find one that clicked,” recalls Burghoff. “I wanted something with extra bulk and weight; a bait with some natural, neutral buoyancy that could be fished a bunch of different ways. So I was really stoked when my friends at Z-Man listened to my wishes, and helped me design the Turbo FattyZ.”

Burghoff’s essential presentation with the bait— a surface and near-surface swimming worm— employs a lightly weighted 3/16-ounce EWG or 1/6-ounce, 4/0 ChinlockZ SWS™ hook, Texas rigged. “Love the way this worm spits and sputters on the surface. Slides right over and through the thickest pads and matted grass. Pause it in pockets and let its tail slowly waggle as the whole worm glides and entices bites. Throw this bait in any of Florida’s big bass lakes or a ton of other shallow cover, big fish situations. You’ll be a happy angler. The Turbo FattyZ is just a really sweet bait for working shallow cover, especially areas that’ve been worked hard by other lures.”

Moving from surface swimmer to other bass apps, Burghoff now calls the Turbo FattyZ his “go-to swim jig trailer.”

“I’ll trim an inch or two off the bait’s head and thread it onto a CrossEyeZ™ Snakehead Swim Jig. The subtle profile and refined tail-kicking action of the Turbo FattyZ especially shine in slower-retrieve swim jig situations. When a faster swim jig retrieve and more thump and action is needed, such as in dirtier water, I’ll switch to the double tailed GOAT™, which displaces even more water.”

Highlighting a trifecta of presentations, Burghoff says the Turbo FattyZ on a Carolina rig remains one of his aces in the hole. “Put the Turbo FattyZ on a 4/0 or 5/0 EWG hook and you’ve got perhaps the ultimate Carolina rig bait for covering water and getting bit,” he explains. “Go with a ¾-ounce tungsten bullet weight and work right over those hard bottom structures—shell beds, patches of smaller rock and gravel. You’ll find those zones all over the Great Lakes, as well as southern lakes like Eufaula and TVA impoundments. So many good places with amazing Carolina rig potential—and almost no one throws it these days.”

Burghoff continues: “The Turbo FattyZ is the perfect complement to a heavy Carolina sinker. You get a great read on bottom composition. And you’re putting a confidence bait down there in front of the bass—an almost neutrally buoyant soft worm that swims and thumps as you drag it behind the sinker. On the pause the bait flutters seductively and then almost hovers in place.

“Every time I cast the Turbo FattyZ on a Carolina or any other rig, it makes me want to keep this little trick to myself,” Burghoff laughs.

To grab your own packs of Turbo FattyZ, check your local fishing tackle stores or online retailers beginning in August. Crafted at Z-Man’s South Carolina headquarters, the Z-Man 6-inch Turbo FattyZ features 10X Tough ElaZtech® for extreme softness and durability. The new swimming worm comes in eight pro-selected colors. MSRP $5.99 per 5-pack. For more information, visit www.zmanfishing.com.

from The Fishing Wire

“Lake turnover” is a term that is often used incorrectly to describe one period of the annual cycle of lake stratification (layering), which affects the water quality of Southeastern reservoirs. Throughout the year at Georgia’s latitudes and elevations, reservoirs go through a fairly predictable annual cycle. I will address the annual cycle of Lake Lanier and its impact on water quality downstream in the Chattahoochee River. In general this pattern is similar through the Carolinas, Tennessee and most other reservoirs that do not freeze, or are not in tropical climates. Sunlight, air and water temperatures and the density of water at different temperatures drive this annual cycle.

During the cold winter months Lake Lanier’s water is generally the same temperature from the top to the bottom. The lake’s water is cold (around 45–50 degrees F) and clear. Water on the top and bottom of the reservoir has similar densities. Wind action on the surface water rolls the lake and surface water mixes with the bottom water. The exposure that all of the lake water has to the surface allows the lake to have plenty of oxygen from top to bottom. In winter, water temperature and oxygen concentration do not limit fish movement in the lake. Lake water, which is released from the bottom of the lake into the Chattahoochee River below the dam, is cold, oxygenated and clear.

During spring and early summer the lake begins to gain heat and stratify into three somewhat distinct layers: the surface layer called the epilimnion, a bottom layer called the hypolimnion, and a layer between the two called the metalimnion or, as anglers know it, the thermocline, which is how I will refer to it as well.

During the warm months, high air temperatures and more sunlight heat the lake surface faster than the lake can mix. The warm water, which is less dense, floats to the surface and becomes the epilimnion. This warm layer is fairly uniform in temperature and varies from 15 to 30 feet thick throughout the summer. It is full of oxygen from wind action and from oxygen production by microscopic algae, called phytoplankton, via photosynthesis.

The hypolimnion, the cold (45–55 degrees F) bottom layer, becomes isolated and no longer mixes with the warm, oxygenated epilimnion. Oxygen is not produced in the hypolimnion, because this cold, deep layer does not receive sunlight and is devoid of phytoplankton production. Early in the lake stratification process the hypolimnion still contains some oxygen and fish movement is not restricted, but dissolved oxygen levels decline through summer as biological and chemical processes consume oxygen. That is, oxygen is used up in the decomposition of organic matter (nutrients). The amount of nutrients entering the lake from its watershed is called nutrient loading. Water released into the Chattahoochee River from the dam comes from this deep-water zone. Native river species could not adjust to the changed conditions created by Buford Dam, but the cold river water, once re-oxygenated by running over shoals, was a great new habitat for trout.

Between the epilimnion and hypolimnion layers is a layer of rapid temperature change (at least 2 degrees F per yard), called the thermocline. The thermocline, usually 20 to 30 feet thick, does not mix with the surface layer and has little sunlight reaching it. Therefore, oxygen production in the thermocline begins to decline after the lake stratifies.

By summer’s end, the lake is strongly stratified. The epilimnion is warm; it receives sunlight and has plenty of oxygen. Water temperature and oxygen concentrations within the thermocline are both lower, but still often provide acceptable habitat for cool water fish species like stripers and walleye.

In the hypolimnion (deeper than 60 feet), the water is stagnant, cold, and low in oxygen (less than 3 parts per million or ppm). Fish cannot survive in this deepest layer when dissolved oxygen drops much below 3 ppm. As the oxygen concentrations get low, some metals and sulfides in the lake sediments become soluble. These dissolve in the water and are passed downstream as water leaves Lake Lanier and enters the river. This is first noticeable in late September or early October, when these metals and sulfides give the river water its distinctive fall colors and a rotten egg smell. Although these are stressors for the river fish, low oxygen concentrations and high metal and sulfide concentrations are very rarely associated with fish mortality in the river. The river water becomes re-aerated quickly as it flows downstream, and fish in the river avoid water with low dissolved oxygen by finding seeps, springs or feeder streams that have higher dissolved oxygen and lower metal and sulfide concentrations. However, trout fishing in the river near the dam suffers in the fall, because of these water quality conditions.

Prior to the 1980s, oxygen concentrations (greater than 5 ppm) and temperatures in the thermocline of Lake Lanier, a young reservoir at that time, were adequate to allow trout to survive. Since then, organic matter entering the lake has increased, and the oxygen needs of trout can no longer be met. There just isn’t enough oxygen to keep trout alive through this critical summer period. Today striped bass still find enough oxygen and adequate cool water habitat in the lake’s thermocline to survive the summer; however, they can be stressed by low oxygen conditions (2–4 ppm).

In the fall, as air temperatures drop, the lake begins to lose heat, and the process of de-stratification begins. The warm water of the epilimnion cools and becomes deeper and denser. It still has lots of oxygen. As the epilimnions density approaches the density of the hypolimnion, mixing of the layers can take place. When this happens the stratification is broken and the bottom water mixes with the surface water, and the lake is no longer stratified. This event is called “Lake Turnover, and generally occurs around Christmas each year. After the mixing there are no layers, and the entire lake will have high oxygen concentrations. Within a few days after lake turnover, the dissolved metals become insoluble and settle to the bottom. This leaves the lake water clear from the top to bottom, and the river water clears as well. Metals that have settled on the river bottom are eventually washed downstream by the daily generations.

With the warming of spring, the stratification process will repeat itself, and the plankton, fish, and other aquatic wildlife will react to these changes in their habitat.

Berkley Pros to Compete and Give Seminars at the Academy Sports + Outdoors 2021 Bassmaster Classic and Bassmaster Outdoors Expo

COLUMBIA, S.C. (June 7, 2021) –– As the bass fishing world turns its attention to the Academy Sports + Outdoors 2021 Bassmaster Classic, professional bass fishing fans attending the events can expect to see Berkley pros on and off the water. Nine Berkley pros will compete for the Classic title with additional Berkley pros conducting seminars throughout the three-day run of the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo. 

Berkley fans who attend the event can cheer on fan-favorite competitors including defending Bassmaster Classic champion Hank Cherry as well as childhood friends John Cox and Keith Carson as they compete for the $300,000 purse on Lake Ray Roberts. Additional Berkley pros competing in the event include Brandon Cobb, Shane LeHew, Bryan New, Luke Palmer, Matt Robertson and Hunter Shryock.

Prior to each day’s Classic weigh in, fans will be able to attend seminars inside the Berkley booth inside the Outdoors Expo conducted by Hank Parker, Jordan Lee and many others, as well as get insights from Berkley scientists who will break down the fish-catching science behind Berkley baits. 

Attendees who purchase reels or rod-and-reel combos at the Classic Outdoors Expo can visit the Berkley booth to have those reels spooled for free with leading Berkley monofilament, fluorocarbon or braided line (limit three reels and 1,000 yards max). 

To learn more about Berkley products and the company’s legacy for research and innovation, go to https://www.berkley-fishing.com/. 

About Pure Fishing

Pure Fishing, Inc. is a leading global provider of fishing tackle, lures, rods and reels with a portfolio ofbrands that includes Abu Garcia®, All Star®, Berkley®, Fenwick®, Fin-Nor®, Frabill®, Greys®, Hardy®, Hodgman®, Johnson®, JRC®, Mitchell®, Penn®, Pflueger®, Plano®, Sebile®, Shakespeare®, SpiderWire®, Stren®, Ugly Stik®, and Van Staal®.