The Flint River Bass Club held its first 2023 tournament last Sunday at Jackson. In it, six of us fished for eight hours in a mudhole to land 12 bass weighing about 14 pounds. There was one five bass limit and no one zeroed.
I landed five weighing 5.70 pounds for first, Doug Acre came in second with two weighing 3.36 pounds and had a 1.94-pound fish for big fish and Lee Hancock had three weighing 3.1 for third. Fourth went to Alex Gober with one at 1.71 pounds and new member Scott Smith had keeper weighing .63 pounds for fifth.
When we started at 7:30 AM I could tell the water was very muddy even in the cove at the ramp. My first cast I found out how muddy, my crankbait disappeared about two inches deep.
I fished one place in the muddy cove without a bite for about 30 minutes. When I headed up the river to try to find some clearer water to fish, I was shocked and scared when I saw all the wood floating in the water. Everything from twigs to logs twice as long as my boat covered the water from bank to bank.
That made me stop on a point and try to fish, although it was very muddy and almost every cast produced some kind of trash on my line and lure. After about 30 minutes the light breeze had moved the wood away from one side of the lake enough to run on plane if you were slow and careful.
I had hoped to go up the Alcovy River above the mouth of the South River where the water is often clearer, but when I got to the mouth of Tussahaw Creek I changed my mind. The wood going up the river covered it even worse from bank to bank and the wind had not made any open water at wall.
That condition made me go up Tussahaw Creek where there is often some clear water. And it did get better above the bridge, I could see my bait down a solid six inches!
I caught a small keeper spot by casting a brown three sixteenths ounce Bitsy Bug jig with a green pumpkin Creepy Crawler trailer to a cement seawall. Of course I dipped the tails of the trailer in chartreuse JJs Magic. There are rocks at the bottom of most seawalls and bass will hold against them to feed on crayfish and baitfish.
I kept fishing seawalls like that and every one of my fish, two more spots and two largemouth, hit the jig on a seawall. Lee was fishing the same area and caught his three on a variety of baits.
I invited the spots I caught home for dinner. When I cleaned them they had parts of small crayfish in their stomachs. That is why they liked my brown jig with the twin trailer arms!
As I wrote about in another blog detailing bass fishing recently, the past open water fishing season was one of the best that I can remember! Various fishing partners and I were fortunate to be on several bodies of water when the fish were biting, we were lucky to catch lots of fish, and were fortunate to catch some big ones. Here are some of the things I learned, or at least was reminded of, as it relates to walleye fishing during 2024’s fishing.
Forward Facing Sonar (FFS) Rules, Or Does It?
In 2022 and in 2023 we caught lots of walleyes by “looking at them” out ahead of the boat utilizing FFS. These fish were often suspended and moving and we caught them by casting various lures to them, often a jig and minnow or jig and portion of nightcrawler. The FFS helped us monitor the walleye movements and let us see how high they were holding in the water column.
We used the same method in 2024, but this past season, however, we caught lots of fish using traditional 2D sonar technologies to find and target the walleyes. Don’t get me wrong, we still realize the effectiveness of FFS, but we found that we could also catch walleyes using traditional methods.
Pulling Plain Through ‘Em!
One of the very first bites we were on in early summer of 2024, was one where the walleyes were in the 18-22 foot mark relating to the drop-off edges of a couple underwater points. We cruised these areas, saw and marked the fish on 2D sonar, and then started to fish. We employed a rig we call “plain” which is simply a heavy bottom bouncer weight, rigged with about a 40” CONTRA fluorocarbon snell, and with 2 hooks tied in. We thread a nightcrawler on the 2 hooks and move through the fish cruising at around .8 mph. Often, we find walleyes that can’t resist this method and this summer was no different. The first “plain” walleye of 2024 pushed 30-inches, followed by a 28” a few minutes later.
On our first pass of a subsequent fishing trip on another lake, the day’s first walleye was 25 inches long, followed by several more good fish. Safe to say, “plain” continues to get lots of attention in my boat when walleyes are the target.
The “Other Rod” For Success
We caught walleyes pulling plain in good numbers in 2024. We also caught them on jigs and minnows and, in fact, often joked that we only need 2 rods for walleye fishing, a plain rig baitcasting rod and an extra fast walleye spinning jigging rod. We’ve settled on a 6’10” Lew’s Speed Stick jigging rod with that action that we use for light jigs of 1/16 ounce and also on heavier jigs up to ¼ ounce and even heavier! This rod has a cork handle, is lightweight, and is very sensitive. Plus, it’s very affordable. We used that rod, along with FFS, to look at fish early in the season on a bite where we fished the jigs with shiner minnows as bait. Again, the FFS allowed us to keep track of the fish and where to cast for them.
Starting in September and lasting into late October, we also used a jig-n-minnow combination, this time a big fathead or sucker minnow, to cast to walleyes. Some of the times we found the FFS to be important, while at other times the fish seemed to hold in the same area and we could simply cast repeatedly to productive spots.
We were fortunate to find productive walleye fishing spots in 2024 and are hopeful for the same, or similar type successes in 2025.
And, as always, remember to include a youngster in your next outdoors activity!
Mike Frisch hosts the popular Fishing the Midwest TV series on Sportsman Channel, World Fishing Network, and FanDuel Sports. Visit fishingthemidwest.com to see TV schedules and all things Fishing the Midwest!
Photo – Walleye ace Shane Gesell with a giant walleye from last summer!
I was on the water just a couple times this past week as the cold and wind were just not my preferred fishing conditions. We did have some success, but it seemed like every time we located fish the wind would blow us off the location and force us to have to move to make the trip enjoyable.
We were preparing for the rattle trap season so all we fished, was the SPRO Aruka Shad rattle bait the entire time we were on the water each day. The results were great for size and average for numbers but getting ready for trap season that was a great result.
It’s time to set up your spring fishing days for bass or crappie, I believe it’s going to be a great year as the numbers of small fish caught this past fall was impressive. Leaving me assured that the lake is healthy and full of fish.
Come fish with me we have days available for the spring we wish with great sponsor products Mercury Motors, Boat Logix mounts, Vicious Fishing, Toyota Trucks, Duckett Fishing, Missile Baits, Tight-Line Jigs, Lowrance Electronics, Costa Sunglasses, Dawson Boat Center, Power Pole, Lew’s Fishing and more. Looking to entertain your customers we do corporate trips, family trips and have a group of guides available to entertain your customers, or family so you can thank your employees for the job well done or entertain a family affair. Call me today for details!
Bait Size Matters
As winter slowly moves on it is a time of year where size matters; at no time during the fishing year is the size of your bait more important than now! If your wanting to catch big quality bass, fish with big baits, like 7 inch swim baits, ¾ oz. jigs with large trailers that give the jig a bulky look; even ¾ to 1 oz. spinner baits with large willow leaf blades will produce that big bite.
The thing many fishermen do not realize is that slow lethargic large bass pick their prey and the bigger the better as their feeding is very selective and large presentations entice that big fish. I know you all have heard that saying that this time of year (winter) you’re fishing for a few bites; I believe this is true so if the bites are limited than the presentation of large bait becomes even more important. Size does matter; large bass are selective, they want slow moving baits, easy prey and that large presentation as they can lead you to that 30-pound sack we all hunt in winter fishing. Large baits do have some negatives as some days it can reduce the number of bites, but the bigger fish make it all worth it. Be color aware as wintertime fishing color does matter!
Some of the baits I like with large profiles are ¾ to 1 oz. Spinner baits with big willow leaf blades that get to the bottom easily and becomes a great large profile bait to slow roll on the bottom this time of year. I also like ¾ oz. football jigs you combine that big jig with a Missile Bait D-bomb trailer or Drop Craw, or big Missile Craw and it will produce big bites with this jig as it really entices those big females. Don’t underestimate the power of a big swim bait, some of those very expensive large swim baits when worked slowly over shallow grass can become your best friend; these baits can be very expensive, but wintertime proves their worth.
Big baits produce big fish, and you’ll have a big time on the water; you just have to get on the water to prove it; call me I’ll help you become a big bait fisherman!
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
Come fish with me I am booking for the fall and would love to take you fishing call today 256 759 2270. We fish with great sponsor products Mercury Motors, Ranger Boats, Boat Logix Mounts, Toyota Trucks, Cornfield Fishing Gear, Costa, Duckett Fishing, Dawson Boat Center, Vicious Fishing, Power Pole, and more
In most of the Gulf States, the speckled seatrout is one of the most popular targets for anglers because they are often plentiful, aggressive, and willing to bite various lures. There are many ways to catch them, but wading for them is an excellent option as they typically stay close to the beach and allow anglers to be as stealthy as possible as they target them.
Noted Texas guide and tournament angler, Capt. Brett Sweeny of Matagorda specializes in inshore species such as redfish and trout and guides clients during the “trophy season” for trout in the winter. One of the best ways to target these spooky fish in shallow water is by wading and making precise casts to their hiding spots. It’s a nice change of pace for anglers accustomed to fishing from a boat, and Sweeny says it gives anglers the best chance at catching a trout of a lifetime.
Trophy Trout Time
Sweeny is looking for fish that weigh seven pounds or more or are twenty-eight inches long on the Texas Coast to classify as a trophy. He says the winter months are best for these fish, primarily because their diet changes and where they live.
“The trophy season usually starts around the first of the year, and by February and March, those fish are the heaviest they will be all year,” he said. “When it gets colder, they adjust their diet and eat more mullet. Plus, in that colder water, they don’t swim or travel as much to burn off as much of that food.”
Whether he’s guiding clients near his home in Matagorda or spending time further south in Port Mansfield as he does for long stretches every winter, the chance for a trophy trout is real every trip, and wading offers an excellent opportunity to catch them.
Wading for trout can be as simple as gaining access to a beach, walking out into the water, and casting, but Capt. Sweeny takes his clients to prime locations via boat, where they enter the water and stalk the shallows. He’s a huge fan of fishing this way because it’s effective and adds a hunting aspect to fishing.
“It’s more like hunting because you are creeping up and making casts to specific targets instead of just blind casting around,” he said. “Getting into the water makes you much more efficient than fishing from a boat and lets you work the holes in the grass more efficiently. The other benefit is less noise because these fish are very spooky, and they won’t hear the waves slap on the boat’s hull or anglers making noise as they walk around in the boat.”
What to Look For
Grass beds are critical habitat, and there is plenty to fish on the Gulf Coast. Sweeny looks for ambush areas, holes in the grass that they call potholes.
“In those big grass beds will be big sand holes in the middle, about the size of a truck, and it’s not just a bare spot but a little depression with slightly deeper water. That’s what you want to find,” he said. “Those fish are going to lay in there, right on the edge of the grass, and when mullet come into that pothole, it’s the perfect ambush point for a big trout.”
The water depth they fish ranges from “knee deep” to “belly button deep,” as Capt. Sweeny puts it. Even minor depth changes are enough to attract trout, and like everything in saltwater, tides make a difference.
“These depressions could only be 8 inches deeper, but that’s enough to hold those trout,” he said. “When it’s sunny, they’ll be in the shallower stuff, and as it gets colder, they’ll be in deeper holes. The best tides are typically incoming in the winter, but if you have some movement either way, it will be better fishing.”
Walking in waders, Sweeny and his clients move from one pothole to the next, and he says the anticipation of each new target is part of the fun.
“It’s easy to lay out a plan together as we creep up to the next pothole; it’s very visual, which is why everyone I take out likes it so much,” he said. “We can ease around and not make a bunch of noise, and it gives you a better chance to catch these fish since the water can be pretty clear this time of year.”
Targeting Trout in the Potholes
The aggressive attitude of trout, even in the colder months, allows them to be caught with several lures. Capt. Sweeny prefers suspending baits such as a MirrOlure Paul Brown’s Original or a “Corky,” as many know them, or Down South Lures Southern Shad paddle tail swimbait. He prefers natural mullet-imitating colors and fishes both on medium power rods with extra fast tips and a Bates Fishing Co. Salty reel spooled with 30 lb Seaguar TactX fluorocarbon with a five-foot leader of 25 lb Seaguar Gold Label fluorocarbon leader connected by a Double Uni knot.
“I like Gold Label because of how much thinner it is. I can go up a size and not lose anything, and I feel like it ties better knots because of how supple it is,” he said. “I also like the feel of TactX because I’m a four-strand guy, and it’s a very strong braid that casts great. It’s a personal preference, and I know some anglers doing this with the Smackdown braid.”
When fishing these lures, especially the suspending twitch bait, Capt. Sweeny mixes up his retrieves based on fish activity, but the pause is where many bites happen.
“I always like to go with two twitches of the rod and then a pause, almost like working a jerkbait for bass in freshwater,” he said. “You want to twitch the bait over that grass, and then you want it to sit as long inside that pothole as you can before you twitch it again.”
Casting accuracy is also critical for getting the best time inside the strike zone possible. “It’s important to make a good cast because if you miss the cast by a few feet, you’re going to be up on top of that grass bed, and they probably aren’t going to eat your bait,” he said. “That’s another reason why your line is so critical, and having a good casting line like TactX makes you that much more efficient.”
For a change of pace and a chance at a massive speckled trout, jump in and wade as you stalk the shallow water. It’s a surefire way to have fun and catch big trout during the winter months when they are at their biggest sizes of the entire year.
Seaguar TactX Camo Braid is available in 150- and 300-yard spools in 10 to 80 lb tests.
Seaguar Gold Label Fluorocarbon leader is available in twenty-five and fifty-yard spools in 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 & 12 lb tests for freshwater use, complementing the 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 80 lb test leaders available for saltwater.
You have to be in the Right Place at the Right Time with the right tackle For 50-Pound Musky
By The Fishing Wire
Park Falls, WI –Duncannon, Pennsylvania fishing guide and St. Croix Rod Ambassador, Joe Raymond, must be living right. Almost a month to the day after catching a 7.1-pound personal-best smallmouth bass that many believe to be the largest ever recorded on the Susquehanna River, Raymond caught another fish that has the internet buzzing. This one, however, was over twice as long and seven times heavier. No, it wasn’t a smallmouth bass.
“I was taking some time off and bass fishing up at the St. Lawrence River,” says Raymond, who always carries musky gear on the deck of his Rockproof River Rocket when plying the waters of the storied fishery. “I’m not a musky expert… just an enthusiast,” Raymond emphasizes. “I was scouting some new spots for bass the night before the full moon. Some of my areas have been getting a lot more pressure, so I was just exploring on my day off.”
Raymond was marking bass and working some scattered rocks along a grass line at about 5:00 PM when his Legend X spinning rod doubled over.
“I hooked a three-pound bass and was fighting it back to the boat when I saw a big musky charge up with gills flared right underneath it,” Raymond recalls. He describes the fish as a bona fide supertanker. “This fish was as fired up to eat as they come, but I couldn’t throw back at it because I wasn’t rigged up,” he says. Raymond unhooked the bass and hurriedly grabbed his musky rod.
After tying on a substantial chunk of white rubber, Raymond started fan casting with his Legend Elite Musky LEM86HF. “I couldn’t locate the fish on my electronics, so I was just casting and ripping the bait along that grass line,” he says. After about 20 minutes of rip… pause… rip, Raymond says his lure hard-stopped and he set the hooks into “all the weight in the world.”
The St. Lawrence River has some of the biggest muskies to be found anywhere and claims a historical world record – a 69-15 fish caught by Arthur Lawton in 1957. “Historical” because although the catch is still recognized as the NY state record by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, it was disallowed as a world record by both the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and the International Game Fish Association amidst much controversy – like so many other old musky records. That said, there’s no arguing that the St. Lawrence has produced numerous documented muskies over 50 pounds. Over the past few years, Raymond himself had already caught three fish there 55 inches or greater.
And he suspected the fish he was tied to might be his biggest yet.
“I was pretty sure the fish with my lure in its mouth was the same giant that had followed my bass to the boat,” Raymond says. “It was fighting like crazy… just dug and dug and dug, but I’ve been fooled before; I’ve caught 44-inchers that I swore were going to be a whole lot bigger. I had my drag totally locked down and was giving this fish everything my equipment and I had to get it into the net as quickly as possible.” When he got the fish near the boat, his suspicions were confirmed. “I’m sure it was the same fish,” he says. “Long, deep, and incredibly girthy all the way down through its tail. The fish was still punching and surging, but I saw it was well hooked, so I backed off the drag a half turn. I knew I had her.”
Raymond slid the giant into his net. He taped the fish at 55” long and 27” around.
“I was shaking and just wishing someone else was there to share the experience,” says Raymond, who spotted some people on a nearby beach and idled over with the fish in the net to ask for their help with a couple of photos. “They were interested in what I’d caught and were happy to help. They were so nice,” he says. While Raymond didn’t weigh the fish, he speculates it was somewhere just north of 50 pounds, making it the heaviest of his life — a statement backed up by common musky length/girth weight calculators.
After a couple quick photos, Raymond spent a few minutes observing the fish in the water before releasing it and watching the tank swim away.
Takeaways
When reflecting on the experience, Raymond wouldn’t comment on whether or not “living right” has anything to do with his recent good-fishing fortunes. But he does offer a few observations.
“If you spend enough time on the water you’re going to run into big fish,” he says. “And if you are spending that much time on the water, you’re going to have learned a lot and be a good angler. I don’t think there’s any more to it than that. I’m on the water all the time and it increases my odds of big-fish encounters.”
Raymond says he was fortunate to locate a trophy fish on a body of water known for giant muskies at the right time. “Anyone who puts time in chasing muskies knows what a grind it usually is,” he says. “Timing definitely matters. You can go days without catching or even moving one, then you hit a feeding window and the switch flips and you might see and catch several. That’s why I don’t guide for muskies; I really don’t want that kind of pressure… plus, I don’t want to ruin musky fishing for myself. I caught that big smallmouth on the same lunar period a month earlier – the day before the full moon. I was lucky to find both of those fish right when they were ready to eat.”
While Raymond wasn’t targeting muskies, he was prepared with the proper gear because of his knowledge of the fishery and his previous experiences there. “Like I said, I’m no musky expert, but I do make my living on the water, so I know the value of being prepared with the right equipment to take advantage of opportunities,” says Raymond, whose favored all-around musky setup is a St. Croix Legend Elite Musky 8’6” heavy power, fast action rod paired to a Tranx 400 reel spooled with 80-pound Smackdown braid tied with an FG knot directly to a custom Seaguar AbrazX 130-pound fluorocarbon leader.
“The 86HF is simply the most versatile musky rod you can get and anyone who’s fished the Legend Elite version will tell you it’s in a class by itself. It’s amazing how a rod that powerful can feel so unbelievably light. There’s always one in my rod locker when I’m fishing anywhere near muskies.”
Finally, Raymond dives into big muskies and what makes them so special… and so vulnerable.
“There have been fish like mine – and bigger – caught all up and down the St. Lawrence in the past decades,” Raymond says, “but they are becoming fewer and fewer. It’s sad to see what’s happened here. It’s still a viable destination and there are monsters here, just not as many. The water has really cleared up because of the zebra and quagga mussels, which has reduced the amount of grass and altered the fishery. And then you’ve got the VHS virus plus all the gobies eating most of the musky eggs. I don’t think the outlook is good. We don’t really see small fish here anymore, which is a bad sign.”
Raymond says if you are fortunate enough to catch one of these big, old St. Lawrence muskies – or a big musky anywhere – you’ve really got to be extra careful with them. “Other than taking a couple of photos and measuring it, this fish was kept in the water the whole time. That’s important. And when you do take them out, despite their size and how resilient they may seem, they’re actually more fragile than about any other trophy fish. Gravity alone can injure a fish like this, so how you lift and handle them matters.”
Whether you fish the St. Lawrence River or any other body of water where muskies swim, trophy fish time is happening right now and will continue through ice up. So, follow Raymond’s advice and get out on the water. They may be known as the “fish of ten-thousand casts,” but one of those casts could end with the fish of a lifetime.
Headquartered in Park Falls, Wisconsin, St. Croix has been proudly crafting the “Best Rods on Earth” for over 75 years. Combining state-of-the-art manufacturing processes with skilled craftsmanship, St. Croix is the only major producer to still build rods entirely from design through manufacturing. The company remains family-owned and operates duplicate manufacturing facilities in Park Falls and Fresnillo, Mexico. With popular trademarked series such as Legend®, Legend Xtreme®, Avid®, Premier®, Imperial®, Triumph® and Mojo, St. Croix is revered by all types of anglers from around the world.
We knew fishing would be tough at Bartletts Ferry for the Potato Creek Bassmasters tournament last Saturday. The weekend before it took only 11 pounds to win a local tournament with 47 teams fishing. In local tournaments like that there are usually some very good fishermen that know the lake well and fish it several days a week to keep up with what will catch bass.
In our tournament 18 fishermen cast from 7:00 AM to 3:00 Pm to land 51 12-inch keeper bass weighing about 64 pounds. There were three five bass limits and two fishermen didn’t weigh in a fish.
I managed to win with five weighing 7.26 pounds, Doug Acree had five at 7.05 for second and Stevie Wright came in third with four weighing 6.01 pounds. Glen Anderson had three weighing 5.90 pounds for fourth and his 3.71 pound largemouth was big fish.
I went to Blanton Creek Campground on Wednesday to practice and try to figure out something on Thursday and Friday. Blanton Creek is a very nice Georgia Power campground about five miles by land and three miles by water from Idlehour Ramp where our tournaments are held.
I like camping there, it has nice shady sites with electricity and water hookups and a good bathhouse with hot showers. As usual, when I pulled up to check in the attendant said “you know you can not park your boat in the campground.”
I have run into that problem every time I camp there. My boat batteries have to be charged every night or I can not fish the next day. They want me to leave my boat in the ramp parking lot, where there are no outlets. And I have to take off all my electronics and take all my tackle with me. I am very uncomfortable leaving it exposed in a parking lot.
Some trips in the past I have been able to park my boat on my campsite, assuring the attendants I would not park it outside the gravel area or on the roads. This time I had gotten a site on the water, one of only about ten that allow you to keep your boat in the water and run an extension cord to it to charge your batteries.
Although written rules in the campground say no vehicles should be parked anywhere other than on the gravel camp sites, there were six to 12 trucks and cars parked outside campsites beside the road every day.
So they do not allow anyone to park a boat in the campground since someone might park outside their campsite, but they do not enforce the written rules for cars and trucks.
Seems very unfair to me.
I was shocked to win the tournament. My elbow started hurting the week before the tournament and I got a sharp pain in it every time I tried to cast. Thursday I tried to learn to cast with my left hand, and got pretty good at it, as long as I didn’t care where my bait went.
I cast about 20 times Friday and my elbow hurt so bad I stopped. I spent most of Thursday and Friday riding points, looking for places where I could drop a bait over the side or heave it out with no target, let it sink then drag it around with the trolling motor.
I started Saturday morning on a rocky bank where I could heave my spinnerbait toward it and not care much where it hit. I hooked and lost a fish on my third cast, then lost another a few minutes later. That was not a good start.
I next went to a hump with some hydrilla on it and heaved a topwater bait out, and got a good keeper on my second cast with a topwater plug. After that I caught three on Trick worms on seawalls. Fishing them allowed me to cast in the general direction, often landing my bait on the bank, then pulling it into the water.
After the sun got high I got my fifth keeper dragging a small jig on a point with some brush. Then, with less than 30 minutes to fish, I went back to the hump where I caught my first fish.
With five minutes left to cast I hooked and landed a 2.5 pound largemouth on a spinnerbait. It was my biggest fish of the day and culled a 12-inch spot that weighed less than a pound! That made the difference between first and fourth or so.
Last Sunday five members and guests of the Flint River Bass Club fished our September tournament at Lake Oconee. After eight hours of casting, from 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM, we weighed in eight bass weighing about 15 pounds. There were no limits and one fisherman didn’t have a keeper.
Alex Gober won with three bass weighing 4.93 pounds. Brent Drake placed second with two at 4.31 pounds and had big fish with a 2.92 pound largemouth. Don Gober had two keepers weighing 3.62 pounds for third and my one bass weighing 1.80 pounds was fourth.
Oddly enough, a Facebook memory showed up Sunday showing one year ago I placed fourth in the Flint River tournament at Oconee with one bass weighing about 1.80 pounds. The more things change the more they stay the same, I guess.
I always say September is the meanest month for bass fishing. The water is as hot as it gets and the oxygen content is as low as it gets all year. The fish have been beat up since early spring, seeing artificial baits just about every day. So they are as smart and wary as they can be.
I used to say by September bass in local lakes know the name and price of every lure Berry’s Sporting Goods sells and can probably tell you where to find them on the shelf in the store!
I had a good feeling I could catch a bass out of grass beds on topwater first thing that morning, and I guess I was right. A few minutes after starting I caught a 13.5 inch largemouth on a floating worm. Unfortunately, the size limit at Oconee is 14 inches so it did no good.
After more than an hour of trying that pattern with no more bites, I saw a lone dock back in a cove. Often a single piece of cover like and isolated dock is a good bet for a bite.
I got no bites around the dock but while scanning around it with my forward facing sonar I spotted a small brush top off to the side of the dock. It looked like a fish was holding beside it. I cast a small jig to the brush and it never hit bottom.
I set the hook as my line moved out and landed my one keeper. Without the Garmin Panoptix I would never have known that brush and fish was there.
Later in the day, as seems usual lately, as I idled over a point I spotted some brush and rocks out in 15 feet of water on my sonar. I took the boat out of gear and cast a shaky head behind the boat as it stopped. When it hit bottom my line jumped and started moving toward deep water.
Unfortunately, that direction was across the back of my boat. I set the hook and a strong fish pulled back, and I could not control it. It cut my line on my prop!
I fished grass, blowdowns, docks, rock piles and boulders the rest of the day and caught a few short bass, but no keepers.
The last one hit with less than five minutes to fish. I cast my weightless worm to the edge of a grassbed, saw the grass a foot to the left wave as a fish came out of it and hit my worm.
Just like the first one that morning, it was 13.5 inches long! But thats not why i fish!
Lake Guntersville is special. On the Tennessee River in north Alabama, it is a grass filled bass factory. The Bass Anglers Sportsman Society ranks it in the top ten bass lakes in the nation most years.
When big tournaments are held there it is common for five bass limits weighing more than 20 pounds to come to the scales, and catches of five weighing 30 pounds are weighed in most years.
But there are two sides to this story. Bass clubs in Alabama send in tournament results and the state compiles it in their BAIT report. That report shows Guntersville has a lower percent of anglers catching a keeper bass in tournaments than all but three other Alabama lakes.
Fishing can be great there but the whole lake looks “fishy.” When you stop on a point or in a cove and see hydrilla, water willow and eel grass everywhere it is hard to decide where to cast. It looks like a bass could be anywhere, or everywhere.
The Sportsman Club fished there last weekend and our results are more like the BAIT results than the results of pro tournaments or tournaments fished by local fishermen that know the lake well.
After fishing from 6:30 AM to 2:30 PM Saturday and 6:30 AM to 1:30 PM Sunday in very hot weather, we brought 21 keeper bass weighing about 45 pounds to the scales. Nobody weighed in a five fish limit and three of the nine fishermen didn’t have a keeper.
Guntersville has largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass. The length limit on smallmouth and largemouth is 15 inches and in our tournament a spot had to be 12 inches long. About 14 of our bass were largemouth, six were spots and one a smallmouth.
Raymond English had bad/good luck and won and had big fish. His boat motor would not go into gear so he had to fish around the ramp both days, but caught six keepers, four largemouth and two spots, weighing 15.14 pounds for first and his 5.40 pound largemouth was big fish.
My six, three largemouth, two spots and one mean mouth, weighing 8.80 pounds was second, Zane Fleck had three largemouth weighing 7.97 pounds for third and Billy Roberts had three largemouth weighing 6.13 pounds for fourth.
I went up on Wednesday and camped at Guntersville State Park, a beautiful facility with good shower houses. As usual I was shocked at the number of huge motor homes and fifth wheel trailers that came into the campground, were set up and the folks went inside.
I seldom saw anyone else outside except midmorning when some came out to cook breakfast and then came back out late in the afternoon to cook dinner. I guess it was just too hot to leave the air conditioning in their home away from home, but I don’t understand driving to campground on a beautiful lake and staying inside almost the whole time.
I spent Thursday and Friday riding around looking for deep fish on ledges on my electronics. Guntersville is famous for its deep ledges as well as its grass beds. I found many schools of fish but could not get them to bite. One local guide told me they were inactive and would not feed unless current was moving from power generation, and there was no current the whole time I was there.
Saturday morning I started on a grassbed a guide had suggested, and caught two short bass and one barely 15 inch long keeper. At about noon I was fishing down a bluff bank, mainly keeping my boat in the shade, and caught a keeper spot. Then a little later on another bluff bank a good keeper largemouth it my small jig in a treetop. Those three put me in third the first day.
Sunday the grassbed produced only one short fish so I headed to my shady bank early. I caught an unusual looking fish, it looked olive green, not green like a largemouth and not brown like a smallmouth. I looked it up and it was a cross between a spot and a smallmouth, called a “meanmouth.” It had a patch of “teeth” on its tongue like a spot and, according to what I found on the internet on my phone and a text to a local guide, it was considered a spot for size limits so I could weigh it in.
I stayed on that shady bank the rest of the day and lost a keeper spot and caught two short spots. Then, with ten minutes left to fish, I caught a keeper spot. At 1:17 I thought to myself I could make two more cast before running in. That cast produced a hit on my small jig and I landed a barely keeper largemouth, giving me second place.
You never know when or where you’ll connect with the fish of a lifetime
PARK FALLS, Wis. (October 9, 2024) – Sometimes referred to as “a foot deep and a mile wide,” the sprawling Susquehanna River rises in Central New York’s Otsego Lake and drains over 27,000 square miles in three states before dumping into the Upper Chesapeake Bay. Bisecting the entire state of Pennsylvania and containing a rich forage base, the Susky is full of spunky smallmouth bass… for anglers who can get to them.
Shallow and rocky, the Susquehanna is the domain of the jetboat; ideal craft for skimming over and around treacherous rocks and ledges that would destroy an ordinary bass boat. Susquehanna fishing guide, Joe Raymond, bought his first in his twenties and now runs a 300-HP Rock Proof River Rocket. He’s been guiding anglers on the Susquehanna for over 15 years. In that time, he watched his clients catch a lot of big bass. A couple of weeks ago, Raymond caught one of his own.
“For George and me, we looked at this picture and were absolutely shellshocked,” Mike told viewers in his intro. That speaks volumes, given the Acord brothers’ some-50 years of experience fishing on the Susquehanna River, not to mention the hundreds of big smallmouth photos they see from their customers each and every year.
Raymond described the series of events leading up to the historic catch.
“Tom (Mills) and I had talked about fishing a Williamsport Bassmasters Charity Tournament for Toys for Tots,” Raymond said. “We’d only fished up there a couple times and it had been a few years. We remembered both times being a dinkfest, but we decided to do it and have some fun while supporting a worthy cause. There was a big thunderstorm the night before. My roof was leaking and I didn’t sleep at all. We didn’t have much of a gameplan and just headed upriver in the dark to a spot we’d had some success at before. There was already a boat there so we just kept going.”
Raymond says they finally pulled into a spot and started fishing. “The plan was for me to fish for a limit and Tom to target a lunker,” he recalls. “I was throwing a 3” Z-Man MinnowZ swimbait on a weedless jighead and I kept losing fish. Nothing big, but it was aggravating,” he says. When Raymond opted to switch to an open jig, a new sort of misery crept in. “I started to catch a few small ones, but I was getting snagged on almost every cast. I told Tom I was done and we had to move.”
The pair bounced around to a few spots in the largely unfamiliar water without a lot of success. “There was an area up there in one of those pools we had passed… it looked so good,” Raymond says. “We agreed it had to have fish, but we’d never caught anything there during our two prior trips to this part of the river. We decided to try it anyway.”
The pair arrived at the back end of the pool and Raymond started fishing his 3” MinnowZ on a 7’ medium-power St. Croix Legend X spinning rod paired to a 3000 Vanford reel with10-lb. smackdown braid and a 10-lb. Tatsu fluoro leader. The curse continued. “I broke off again… like right away… and had to tie on a whole new leader,” Raymond says. “Tom was throwing a Ned rig in a current seam and he had broken off too.”
Raymond was sick of snagging up, so he tied a fresh EZ Money-colored Z-Man paddletail with a weedless jighead onto the fresh leader.
“There was a log on the bottom in the back of this pool in about four feet of water. I made a cast to it and flipped the bail closed after giving the bait a couple seconds to get down,” Raymond says. “I reeled tight and felt weight and immediately thought I was snagged again… then I felt movement. I hit this thing and it came screaming up and did a backflip in front of the boat. The fish looked huge, but I was still trying to process what had happened and how big the bass actually was. It only took a couple more seconds before I realized what I was fighting.”
“When a guy like Joe Raymond tells you to get the net because he just hooked the biggest smallmouth of his life, you move quickly,” Mills says. “The fish was just digging behind the boat puking up crayfish like crazy. The water was so clear it was like watching the scene in an aquarium.”
“The fish fought so hard,” Raymond says. “I was thinking, is this real life?” Then the St. Croix took a deeper bend and the fish took off downstream.
Raymond snapped out of his daydream and took the MinnKota off of Spotlock to follow the big brown bass that was now peeling line and headed for some rapids. “We caught up and netted it,” Raymond says. “Both of us were staring into the net and going crazy like a couple little kids.”
Raymond weighed and measured the fish quickly before snapping a couple of photos. She stretched the tape to 24 inches and bottomed out at 7.19 pounds. Later, the fish would weigh 7.08 at the tournament weigh in.
“I just kinda lost it,” Raymond says. “Like any guide – or any serious fisherman – I obsess over big fish. I’ve celebrated with so many of my clients after helping them catch personal-best bass over the years. This fish is the first over six pounds I’ve ever caught on the Susquehanna, and only the second over seven anyone I know has ever heard of from the river. It wasn’t a super-fat fish, just thick all the way through and super healthy. I actually know the guy who caught the other documented 7-1 back in 1981. His name is Russell Fuller. I heard the story over and over when I was young and was always suspect until I got the chance to meet him and speak with him later in life. He brought the mount into the restaurant a few years ago and I was blown away when I saw it. He caught his in the spring, basically right behind the house where I now live in Duncannon. It was a 23” pre-spawn fish, so it was quite a bit fatter. Mine wasn’t as deep but was an inch longer.”
Raymond has a few key tips for all smallmouth anglers.
“You never know when or where you’ll connect with the fish of a lifetime,” he says. I certainly never expected to run into this fish in the spot we were fishing. I was lucky that I had just re-tied my leader. We’ve all gotten lazy about knots and leaders and it always bites you. I learned this early as a guide. If you cinch down a knot and it doesn’t feel right, or your leader knot gets hung up in your guides, or you feel some nicks in your leader, take the time to re-tie and avoid disappointment.”
Raymond is also a firm believer in using the best gear you can afford. “I’m not rod heavy; I’m rod particular,” he says. “Unlike a lot of bass fishermen who have a dedicated rod for every specific presentation they make, I’m the guy who has a handful of different rods that I like and trust with a few powers and actions that suit the lines and lures I most often fish. There are a ton of great rods on the market today. For me, it’s hard to beat the quality and performance of St. Croix and specifically their Legend X series. These rods are made in the USA, light, load up great, and are extremely sensitive. It’s the same with the lures I most often use. Z-Man ElaZtec plastics mimic everything in this river a smallmouth eats and the material is incredibly soft with unmatched durability. For me, that means my clients can catch a bunch of fish on a single bait before I have to replace it. The Z-Man MinnowZ swimbait is the best bait ever for guiding. They can be rigged in a bunch of different ways to match the conditions and have a shimmy almost like a spybait on a slow steady retrieve. You will catch fish hopping them on the bottom and burning them through the water, too.”
Finally, Raymond encourages anglers to handle all fish with care and to release the ones with the genetics that make better fishing possible for everyone. “I think most bass anglers are in the same camp about caring for big bass and releasing them healthy, but we still have some archaic regulations and procedures in some states, especially when it comes to recognizing record fish,” he says. “In a lot of states, you just can’t get a record fish certified without killing it. No record or recognition is worth killing a huge, old fish. The very same day I caught my fish here in Pennsylvania, a guy fishing a tournament in New York caught a nine-pounder, which would have smashed the state record. He called the DEC and was told to put the fish on ice until someone could come out and certify the fish the next day. He would have had to kill it to get it certified. That’s a huge problem. To his credit, the angler – Dante Piraino – knew better and had no part of that plan. After it was weighed and revived, he adamantly directed tournament officials to put that fish right back into the St. Lawrence River with all the rest of them. States need more protocols and procedures that make it easy for people to certify fish like this without killing the fish. These are genetic freaks and all of us need to let them continue to do their thing.”
For up-to-date information on fishing in the Susquehanna River, or for tackle recommendations, contact Susquehanna Fishing Tackle at 800-814-7433 or via their website, sfttackle.com.
Water Level: The lake level stands at .64 feet ABOVE full pool.
Water Temp: Temps are hovering in the upper 70s on my Garmin
Water Clarity: Nothing significant to report on the clarity of the lake, it’s typical clarity for June.
I have been on Lanier for 4 of the past 7 days. The fishing was very good for numbers with some good fish mixed in to keep things interesting.
There really has not been a lot of changes in what I have been doing since my last report. Top water is still the most productive pattern day in and day out. I expect this to continue until the water temps creep up into the low to mid 80s range. When that happens, the thermocline will become more prevalent, surface O2 levels will decrease and Anglers will have to get more creative with presentations.
For now, it’s time to enjoy the famed topwater bite that Lanier is known for. My focus is humps and point in 25’-35’ FOW. Chrome if it is sunny, bone or more subdued colors when it is cloudy.
This is also the time of the year where it is a good idea to have several different styles of top water baits available. Anglers may need to vary their retrieves and bait profile to figure out what the fish want on any given day.
Lastly, I want to hit on our old buddy the shaky head. While Top water rules the roost for most days, the shaky head can still be a trip savior. Anglers often don’t think of the SH as a June bait, but it can be extremely effective on days when the fish just don’t want to play ball or when Anglers are just looking to give fish a different look. I throw it in the same areas as I do top water, I am just slowing way down. A 3/16oz Davis HBT head with a Trixster Tamale is my go to set up.
The daily videos I publish cover these techniques in greater detail and all other techniques that were effective over this past week. In these videos, I cover the conditions, part of the lake, and how I caught fish (or did not) for most days that I am on the water. All subscribers will have access to all historical videos as well (261 previous videos). You can sign up and view videos at https://jeffnail.uscreen.io
Lake Lanier Fishing JournalDaily updates on bass fishing at Lake Lanier. Created by Jeff Nail Fishing and Guide Service.jeffnail.uscreen.io
For the new few weeks, I have the following dates available: June 15-18 and 21. July: I am pretty open for all days after the 8th. If you are interested in a trip, please reach out and I will get you on the calendar.
Jeff 770-715-9933 jeffnailfishing@gmail.com jeffnail.uscreen.io Jeffnailfishing.net
