Category Archives: How To Fish

Where and How to Catch June Neely Henry Bass

June Bass at Neely Henry

with Karen Rae Elkins

    There is something special about Coosa River lakes in June.  The bass, both spots and largemouth, are stacking up in predictable places and feeding.  Neely Henry is one of the best on the chain for a trip this month.

    The Alabama DNR calls Neely Henry “one of the best-kept fishing secrets in Alabama.” Running 77 miles from its dam to the Weiss Dam, it covers 11,235 acres that vary from a river run on its upper end to shallow flats and creeks on the lower end.

    Built in the late 1950s, many of the creeks and ditches are silted in and the shallows are full of grass. It can be a dangerous lake to run since there are few markers and many creeks have stump fields and shallows that will eat lower units.  Be very careful when running this lake.

    Largemouth are in the lake in good numbers in the 15 to 18 inch range according to the Alabama DNR. The DNR also calls the spot population “exceptional” for large fish and the numbers of spots in the 14 to 20 inch range is one of the best in the state.

    Karen Rae Elkins was born in Huntsville but moved closer to Neely Henry Lake when ten years old.  She grew up fishing and loves it. The farm she lived on had five ponds and she would fish for anything that would bite, but one day she got her fathers’ bass fishing equipment, caught some bass and was hooked herself.

    Her father owned The Fishing Hole bait and tackle store in Anniston so she was exposed to a lot of fishing talk. When her father retired he asked her to fish tournaments with him and they competed on the Guys and Dolls and Cartersville Couples Trails, as well as in many local tournaments.

    When the Women’s Bass Tour was started Karen saw how many lakes in her area were on the schedule so she signed up.  She really likes the camaraderie and fun from this trail and says it has made her a better fisherman.  

    This spring Karen agreed to run the Team Trails tournament trail on the Coosa River and is also starting a Youth Tournament Trail in this organization. She fishes the tournaments as well as running them.

    Karen’s best five fish limit came a few years ago on Neely Henry when she brought in 18.18 pounds. And she won a tournament on April 4 this year with five weighing 14.4 there. She likes fishing and likes competition so tournaments are a good fit for her.

    Sponsors mean Karen is able to fish more than she would be able to without them and her sponsors include: Mojo Weights, Reel Grip, Bo’s Jigs, Team Trail Tournaments and JJs Magic.  She also supports the Magic Foundation and Second Chance, to organizations that are very important to her.

    “The bass are feeding in the grass in June and are fun to catch,” Karen told me.  The spawn is over and the bass are hungry.  She likes to start out shallow in the mornings catching these bass, then moves to points, humps and ledges later in they day when water is moving.  And a third good pattern is fishing docks.

    For fishing the grass Karen likes the Mojo rig and says it gives her a slight edge over the more common Texas or Carolina rigs most fishermen use. The Mojo rig gives the bait a little different look.  It is a thin cylindrical weight with a rubber band you insert so you can “peg” it on your line.

    “Start with your weight six inches from the        bait then move it closer if you aren’t getting bites” Karen said. A variety of plastics will work in June and she tries different ones until the fish tell her what she wants.  A Sweet Beaver is always a good choice but she also catches bass on Zoom Finesse Worms and Brush Hogs and Strike King Lizards.

    A few basic colors work well on Neely Henry. Watermelon Red, Junebug and Green Pumpkin are all standard colors.  And Karen always dips her baits in JJ’s Magic, saying that attracts the bass and makes them hold the bait longer.  She will often dip the tails in either red or chartreuse but if she does not want this flicker of color she uses the clear to add scent.

    Around docks Karen flips a Bo’s Jig and really likes the color named for her. The “Karen’s Jig” color has green pumpkin, black and root beer strands in it.  She tips it with a Sweet Beaver or a Zoom Chunk and works the jig under the docks, around all pilings and in any brush around the docks. This works well when the sun is bright.

    If current is moving bass will stack up on points, humps and ledges to feed. Karen likes a crankbait that runs seven to ten feet deep for fishing those areas and her favorites include Lucky Craft CB Square and Jackall Muscle baits.

    Karen showed me around Neely Henry a few weeks ago and the bass were just starting to move onto their June holes.  We put in down the lake and fished early, then took out and went up to Gadsden and fished the river some.  The lake is varied and the patterns can differ.

    The following spots all hold bass this month:

    1.  N 33 53.547 – W 86 06.603 – Back in Canoe Creek just downstream of Canoe Creek Marina you will see some brush tops out in the middle. This brush is on a hump where the channel swings across the creek and grass grows on it in June, too. It is a good place to find bass, especially if there is any current moving down the creek.

    Going up the creek watch for a nice house on your right with a gray dock with a “For Sale” sign on it. Stay on that side of the creek since the shallow hump is out in the middle. When you get near the gray dock look to your left and you should see the brush on the hump. If you get to the marina you have gone too far.

    Karen will start on the channel side and fish all around the hump, pitching her Mojo rigged Sweet Beaver of Brush Hog into holes in the grass and moving it through the thinner areas of grass.  For some reason Junebug with a chartreuse tail seems to work especially well here.

    Drag your bait through the grass and work it slowly and carefully. Be ready to set the hook when you feel any weight or your line moves at all. If there is current try to throw your bait so you work it with the current in a natural movement.

    2. N 33 51.375 – W 86 03.217 – Running down the main river from Canoe Creek you will see the opening to Greens Creek on your left.  Off the upstream point are two small islands.  Idle in to the point but do not go between the islands. There are lots of snags here. 

    When you get to the point you will see an older dock to the left of two cement boat ramps that are side by side. Start at that dock and work around the point, fishing around to the inside of the point.  Fish the grass here with a Mojo rig, work a crankbait over the shallows and pitch a jig and pig to the docks.

    The jig and pig is especially effective if the water is clear and the sun is bright, driving the bass to the shade.  Fish all the cover carefully. Karen says she has caught several five-pound-plus bass on this point.

    3. N 33 50.619 – W 86 04.472 – Beaver Creek is a good big-bass creek and Karen has several types of cover and structure she fishes in it.  As you go into the mouth you will see Greenport Marina on your right.  There is a seawall in front of the store and storage area then a long point runs upstream. There are picnic tables on the point. Off the end of this point is a hump or island, depending on the water level. When we were there it was slightly under water.

    Start near the store and fish the seawall toward the point.  Fish the Mojo rig and crankbaits along here. This is the only place Karen will rig an Old Monster worm on her Mojo rig. The extra big worm attracts quality bites on this spot.  Work from right on the seawall out to several feet deep. There are patches of grass to fish and some other cover.

    When you get out near the end of the point fish the hump and around it into the cove behind it.  Work the whole area carefully but Karen says the best area is the seawall at the store, so pay extra attention to any cover here.

    4.  N 33 50.175 – W 86 05.807 – You can run into Beaver Creek on plane until you see the silo ahead on your right. Stay to the left side going in.  When the silo comes into view it is a good idea to slow down and idle the rest of the way due to stumps and shallows. 

    When you get back about even with the silo on your right you will see a grass point on your left.  There are cattails, rocks, grass and stumps starting at this point working upstream and the channel swings on this side making it even better.  Shallow grass near deeper water is usually better, but keep in mind deeper water here might mean seven feet deep.

    Fish along the left bank working your Mojo rig through the grass.  Try to hit any stumps you can see and also probe for hidden stumps with your weight.  Fish on up this bank and there will be a grass island on your right and some big rocks on your left. There is a spring in the rocks that keeps the water cooler and moving some here.  Fish around the rocks and the island, too. This is one of Karen’s best tournament holes.

    5.  N 33 50.054 – W 86 06.448 – Idle on back into the creek until it narrows down. The bottom back here is sandy and there is lots of grass and stumps to fish. And overhanging trees in some areas provide shade. Work all the cover in the water, including the fence rows running off the bank, with a Mojo Rig and a crankbait. 

    Fish slowly and carefully. Some big bass hold up back here in June.  When you catch one bass work the area hitting every bit of cover, there is often more than one in a spot.  You should go as far back as you can get your boat if you are catching fish.

    Karen says two or three kinds of cover together makes for a hot spot to catch a bass. Look for wood in the grass, combining two kinds of cover.  If there are also rocks or a drop it makes it even better. Fish any combinations of cover carefully.

    6.  N 33 44.973 – W 86 03.559 – Run downstream and watch for a big round point on your right. On the upstream side is a boat ramp and there is a dock on the downstream side. The house has a “For Sale” sign. 

    This point has deep water just off it where the old channel swings by but it comes up quickly with a shallow ledge on the downstream side.   Current coming down the river hits this point and moves across it, creating an eddy on the downstream side.     Fish a deep diving crankbait here, casting up near the bank and working it across the shallow water, making it dig bottom, and then over the drop into deeper water. Fish with the current, moving water makes the fish bite much better here and other spots. Fish all around this point, covering both the upstream and downstream sides.

    7.  N 33 48.742 – W 86 04.032 – At the mouth of Shoal Creek the downstream point is good and all three kinds of cover you want to fish is one it. Current hits this point, too, and there is deep water just off shallow water. There is a wood house with a tin roof and three dormers on it.  AS you go into the cove on the upstream side there is a gray boathouse with turquoise doors on it.

    Start at the dock and flip a jig to it, especially if it is sunny.  Work a crankbait all around the point and the upstream cove. Then fish a Mojo rig in the grass.  Work each as you come to them to cover the area completely.

    Current hitting this area makes it better but wind blowing in helps, too. Wind will create a chop on the water, breaking up the light and making it more likely a bass will hit an artificial bait, and it also moves water, creating a current. Wind is your friend as long as it is not too strong to control your boat.

    8.  N 33 48.634 – W 86 03.764 – Across the river is a big bluff rock wall and a small rock island off it.  The bluff wall is on the upstream side of the opening to a big cove and the water is very deep off it.  Three was an old trotline hanging on the rocks with some dried fish on it the day we fished. It looked like some kind of voodoo charm!  This is a great spotted bass hole and Karen works all around it.

    This is a good spot to rig a Finesse worm on your Mojo Rig and throw it right on the bank.  Move it slowly and let if fall down the face of the rocks. Don’t move it much or it will fall too far, dropping past fish too quickly.

    There is a stump row on the downstream side of this point, too, another combination of types of cover. Fish them with the Mojo Rig but also flip a jig and pig right against the rocks and work it out, trying to hit stump.

    9.  N 33 48.891 – W 86 05.325 – Run back into Shoal Creek and watch on your left for a yellow house with a brown roof and a boathouse with two doors in front of it.  All the way across the creek is a big flat and hump with stumps on it. On the bank on that side you will see a mobile home on the bank. Idle straight toward the mobile home and watch your depthfinder.

    You will be in about 10 feet of water on the flat then it will come up to about five feet deep. You will still be a long way off the bank, in front and upstream of a red door dock in front of the trailer.  There is a stump rod on this shallow hump and a small ditch runs out near it.

    Karen will work back and forth along this drop fishing crankbaits and a Mojo Rig. She will work it a long time because she says you never know when bass will move up on this spot and feed. And it constantly replenishes itself from the deeper water nearby.

    10. N 34 00.816 – W 85 57.072 – It is a long run upstream of the bridges in Gadsden so it is a good idea to trailer up here if you can. Going upstream from Gadsden watch for a rock bluff wall on your left just as you see the trailers at Tillison Bend Park. You will be upstream and the same side of the mouth of a fairly big creek that has a blowdown across it.

    Start at the beginning of the rock wall and fish it all the way past the first three docks, a very long way upstream. Karen says it takes a long time to work this spot correctly and you can spend most of a day on it. It is worth it, this is where she caught the 18 pound limit in a June tournament.

    Karen keeps her boat in close to the wall in about 11 to 12 feet of water and makes three casts before moving up the wall. On cast will be in toward the wall as a slight angle with the Mojo Rig. She then makes a long cast to the wall ahead of the boat and works it back at an angle to the boat The third cast will be straight ahead of the boat and is worked back to the boat.

    Fishing like this covers all the water from the face of the wall out to 12 feet deep or so. To do it right can take hours working along here. When she gets to the docks Karen fishes a jig and pig around them.  Current always makes this spot better. Karen says she does not even fish it if the water is not moving.

    11. N 34 01.170 – W 85 58.766 – Run back downstream and you will see a golf course on your left and more holes across the river on your right.  You are close enough to see the sharp bend back to your left going to the bridges and the water station in the bend.

    Watch for a creek opening on your right that goes back to the golf course. You will see some big PVC pipe going into the water and some smaller pipe running out above the water and dropping down on the river side. As you idle into the creek there is another set of pipes and they are for the pump house you see on the bank that waters the golf course.

    When you get back a ways from the river the creek splits and straight ahead it will go around and under a wooden golf cart bridge.  Go back to the bridge area and fish all the grass and stumps in the back of this creek. Karen will pitch a jig to wood cover in the grass and also run a shallow diving crankbait over the grass that is under the water.

    Another trick Karen uses in this and similar spots is to Mojo Rig a big lizard like the Zoom Magmum or the Strike King 3X lizard. These big baits draw strikes from big bass. Work them through the grass back in this creek in June.

    12. N 33 59.205 – W 85 59.855 – Run downstream past the bridges and watch for a big three story yellow house with white roof and trim on your right. The house sits on the beginning of the upstream point of Big Willis Creek on that side and looks like it is in a park.

    Across the river from the house is a small ditch that is not real noticeable as you run by. You will see the bank flatten out and go back a little. This old ditch has filled in but it creates a shelf in front of it that holds good fish.

    Keep your boat out from the bank and cast a crankbait to the bank. Dig the bottom coming out the shelf to the edge of the drop. This is a good spot that does not get a lot of pressure since it is not real noticeable.

    13. N 33 58.493 – W 85 59.664 – Run down the river past the old closed park on your left and watch for a small creek opening on that side. There are to white PVC poles on either side of the opening and a pasture or field on the downstream side of it. The poles mark two big stumps.

    Karen fishes the mouth of this creek and works the stumps with her baits. She fishes on down the bank a hundred feet or so, fishing the grass and wood cover. Bass often stack up here and current helps.

    Also work into the small creek. There are stumps, fence rows and grass beds to fish in it.

    14.  N 33 57.190 – W 85 57.768 – Run down the river until you see a long narrow island well off the left bank. This small island sits in front of a river ledge with trees on it that separates the river from a big slough behind it.  There are houses and docks in the slough and a bunch of wood duck nests, especially on the downstream end around the docks there.

    There is a small opening on the upstream end of this slough and Karen often starts there in the morning, fishing into the shallows, working grass and stumps. When you get to the other end where it opens back up there are two PVC poles, one with green paint on one side, that mark the channel going it.

    Karen will fish the edges of this cut and the area around it, probing for stumps and trash. She will also work up the river side of the ledge, it drops off pretty quickly and is hard clay. Bass hold all along it.

    These 14 spots offer a wide variety of kinds of places to fish, with some on the main lake and more up the river. There are many more similar spots. Check these out to see Karen’s patterns then explore to find more, just be careful.

    Karen guides on Neely Henry and you can contact her to get her to show you first hand how she fishes here.  Call her at 256-454-3804 or her web site at www.karenslake.com. You can also get information about her Team Trails tournaments.

How Deep is Too Deep for Walleye Release?

Deep Walleye
How deep can you catch a walleye and release it?
By Northland Pro Joel Nelson
from The Fishing Wire

Walleyes spend the better part of their summer season in deep water.  Provided there’s enough oxygen at depth, they happily enjoy cooler water temperatures and the bevy of bugs and other bait that congregate on deep structure.  Older fish in certain lakes, learn to key in on larger bait stock. 

That could mean ciscoes and whitefish, or suckers and even bullheads or rough fish depending on where you’re fishing.  That still puts them deep, maybe coming up occasionally to feed before sinking back down.Depth however is a relative term, depending on the lake you’re fishing.  On Minnesota’s Upper Red Lake, 10 feet of water and deeper is considered quite deep. 

The same is true in the prairie pothole region where there’s plenty of great little walleye holes that never make even 20 feet.  Then again, there’s great walleye lakes like Vermillion, where walleyes can be found in excess of 50 feet of water.  Of course, your favorite walleye lake may be at either end, or anywhere in between.

While the depth of walleyes may be relative to the system in which they live, their ability to survive summer capture at those various depths is not.  Most fish caught in 30+ feet of water will likely die as the result if water temps are at their peak. 

Brandon Eder, Assistant Area Fisheries Supervisor for the MN DNR’s Waterville Office confirmed this in a recent conversation while adding, “No matter how slowly you reel in fish from that depth, there’s still likely going to be some trauma.

” Throughout the walleye-belt then, there’s plenty of catch and release fishing that might as well be catch and kill.  Not that there’s anything wrong with eating a walleye either.  I love ‘em, and prepare them a bunch of different ways.  However, there are plenty of lakes that mandate release of walleyes a certain size, and anglers should know some ins and outs of how depth can affect the release of walleyes during the summer. 

Eder suggests, “Be prepared to keep your first 6 fish regardless of size (depending on the regs) and then quit or go shallow.

”There’s a pile of factors that influence walleye mortality, with depth of capture being only one of them.  Hooking method, or how deeply into its mouth a walleye eats the bait is a big influence, as is the use of live bait vs. artificial baits, but those are often related.  Water temperature is another factor, and warmer temps see fish that simply don’t release as well and survive.  It’s why catch and release walleye tournaments aren’t held as often in the deep summer, and why you should consider eating the fish you catch when water temps are the hottest of the year. 

Extended or prolonged handling of a fish outside of the water is yet another factor that affects mortality.

Many of those factors an angler can directly influence, especially in the summer as you can’t control the water temp.  Without switching away from live-bait, circle hooks vs “J”-hooks, and pinching down all barbs, what’s a catch and release angler to do?  The answer is to change the depth at which you’re fishing, and to know what depths are likely lethal, and which are not.

Barotrauma is a big word with a relatively simple meaning, especially as it pertains to walleyes caught at depth.  It affects all living things, but with walleyes swimming rapidly from deep water, it refers to physical injuries caused by water pressure.  Quick ascent means a swelling air bladder, which can push their stomachs out, bulge their eyes, and ultimately cause deadly injury.  Releasing those fish at the surface, in extremely warm water may make the angler feel good as they swim away, but may not lead to survival.

One solution to the problem of fish barotrauma has been “fizzing” – the act of releasing that pressure with an accurately placed hypodermic needle into the swim bladder of the fish.  Of course, “accurately” is the key, as stabbing a fish with a needle indiscriminately, can further exacerbate the problem. 

Eder says, “I don’t like the idea of anglers running around poking walleye with needles.  It’s hard to get the right spot in perfect conditions and even tougher in rain, wind, or after dark.”Another solution in the form of re-compression devices may pose some freshwater promise, as they have gained greater acceptance in coastal areas.  These tools can simply be an inverted barbless hook secured to a line with a weight that takes the fish to bottom and releases it with a sharp snap of the line, or a jaw clamp that releases similarly.  The general idea of both being that the fish quickly gets back down to a depth that allows air bladder pressures to recede, and ultimately supports its survival. 

For rockfish specifically, studies have shown 80%+ survival rates.  While I’m not aware of any similar research on walleyes, the decompression devices show greater efficacy overall.

Of course, you could always just limit your fishing north of 30 feet, or make sure that you are legally able to take and eat fish of any size for the lake that you’re fishing.  If a limit is what you’re after in those depths, stop fishing once you’ve hit it.  Eder also mentions, “If you are on fish over 20″ you should leave so you don’t kill more than your 1 over 20″.” 

All of which means that if you’re putting the hurt on big fish deep, consider switching tactics, locations, and potentially lakes.  Focus early and late when fish are more active shallow.  Break out some slip-bobbers and camp out on a rock pile, or drag some spinners or rigs along a weedline.

There’s lots of ways to get your ‘eyes, but this summer when temperatures climb, do your best to respect the resource by going easy on those deep fish.

Early-Season Musky

Big Early Season Musky
Early-Season Musky Methods
St. Croix pros discuss favored tactics and gear for early-season muskellunge (press release}
Park Falls, WI (May 20, 2020)

It’s just about time. Musky aficionados are fastidiously prepping gear and anxiously awaiting season openers across the big fish belt. They know that late spring and early summer can be some of the most exciting and productive times to be on the water, as big, banded brawlers – fresh off the spawn and unpressured by anglers for months – are becoming increasingly active with warming water temperatures.

Such is the case in all the great musky waters – from Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and Iowa through Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Canadian provinces – although different fisheries are heating up and opening to anglers at slightly different times.

What can you do to be fully prepared for this magical time of year? Start by reading what professional musky guides and St. Croix pro-staffers Rob Manthei and Steve Herbeck have to say, as well as St. Croix’s own musky expert and rod-designing maven, Gavin Falk. 
Wisconsin Guide and Big-Fish Expert, Rob Manthei

Here in Northern Wisconsin our season doesn’t open until the end of May. Judging by what I’ve seen with ice-out, we should have a typical opener. As soon as the season opens, I’ll be fishing a lot of wooded shorelines and looking for any kind of new, green weeds. I’m generally concentrating on a couple styles of baits – twitching small minnow baits and throwing small bucktails.

As far as rods, I’m a fan of the 8’ one-piece, medium-heavy power, fast action St. Croix Mojo Musky casting rod (MJM80MHF). That’s a great rod for throwing these smaller baits, and the newly redesigned Mojos are just great rods. The Winn Grip is awesome—it allows a confident feel when you’re hanging onto it wet, dry, or anywhere in between. It’s very comfortable and the looks of the rod are spectacular. The Kigan Master Hand 3D guides and top St. Croix uses on this series are large, which are great for anglers like me who want to tie a longer leader with a surgeon’s knot or uni knot. Those knots go through the guides just fine; they’re very durable that way. 
Another new Mojo Musky model to look at is the 6’10”, medium power, fast action rod (MJM610MF) – especially if you’ve got a son, daughter or any other young person in the boat who’s been bitten by the musky bug. This shorter, medium power rod is one that kids can pick up, cast easily with a variety of effective lures, and experience success with.

Overall, the physical weight of the new Mojo Musky rods is exceptional; not at all overbearing. And they’re one of the best values of musky rods out there. With 14 technique-specific models and the quality you get for their price, I don’t think Mojo Musky can be beat.

Some other St. Croix rods to look at for the early season are the three Legend Tournament Musky Downsizer models. You want to talk about precision casting capability with the smaller baits that work so well before the water warms up, and being able to do it all day long without fatigue? That’s what these rods were made for. I know… medium-light power in a musky rod? The key to making it work is that their relatively long 8’6” and 9’ lengths, ultra-responsive SCIV carbon blanks and fast actions all work together to provide immediate access to that power. It’s amazing. All I can say is that anglers need to fish them to fully appreciate what St. Croix has accomplished with these three, highly capable, specialized rods.
As we start transitioning out of spring, early-summer patterns depend on the kind of water and forage. We have dark-water flowage systems and big, deep natural lakes that are cisco-based. A lot of times, the month of June is a great time for open-water fishing. You can catch fish trolling, but catching them casting is always more fun; it’s definitely a time of year where you can be effective just casting open water with plastics.

Humps, saddles and other anomalies on and around expansive shallow flats are good places to key in on, as are concentrations of suspended forage. Obviously, when you’re casting and working a lure you can put in a lot more action into it that you can’t duplicate while trolling. This is when I’m throwing Musky Innovations Swimmin’ Dawgs and other tight paddletail baits from Chaos Tackle or just flat out rubber, whether that’s Medusas or Bull Dawgs.

Now when you’re throwing these big rubber baits you’re going to need a bigger rod and this is one area of casting where I typically tell people don’t worry about the length of your cast; just bomb it out there and cover water. This is definitely where you want to start grabbing that heavier Mojo Musky rod in the 8’6” to 9’ range. The telescopic one-piece rods like the 8’6” telescopic, heavy power, fast action (MJM86HFT) and 9’ telescopic, heavy power, fast action (MJM90HFT) work great. Those are the rods I’m throwing a lot of these bigger, heavy rubber baits with. And for anglers who don’t have a giant rod locker, they can finally start carrying 9 foot musky rods. The 8’6” model collapses to a manageable 7’6” and the 9’ models down to 7’10”. That’s a really slick advantage when it comes to transportation and storage.
Legendary Musky Guide and St. Croix Pro, Steve Herbeck:

Musky guide and St. Croix pro, Steve Herbeck, has expertise throughout the storied, northern musky regions of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan, and has also been a resident guide and teacher at Andy Myer’s Lodge on Eagle Lake in Ontario for 28 years. As director of the world-renown lodge’s guest fishing instructor program, Herbeck has an intimate understanding of the acclaimed musky fishery that has produced world-record fish and is considered by many to be the top, big-musky fishery in Canada.

Very typically, around the opener in Northern Wisconsin you’re going to have water temperatures and fish that are just finishing up the spawn. Occasionally, with a late spring you’ll hit them during the spawn, but usually they’re done when the water temperature is between 56 and 60 degrees. When that’s the case, they’ve just gone through a major stress and we’re going to start with smaller baits.

That’s one reason why so many big muskies are caught accidentally by walleye, bass, and pike fishermen during this part of the season. At this time of year, muskies really do really prefer smaller baits for their consistent action. We’re talking six-to-seven-inch minnowbaits, #5 to #8 size blades, smaller topwaters, smaller jerkbaits, and medium-sized rubber baits, so, consequently, we’re going to match our rods for best efficiency to the size of the baits we’re throwing.

I just love the 8’6” one-piece, medium-heavy, fast action Mojo Musky rod (MJM86MHF) for this application. I pair it with 65-pound braid loaded on a mid-range 500-series reel. I also match the baits with lighter leaders for the best action. Mojo Musky rods and Legend Tournament Musky rods in these lengths and actions are just superb for these smaller and lighter bait applications. You can cast them a mile, they have just enough tip that you can really work a smaller bait and use lighter lines so you have good action, and yet they have enough butt that you can make great figure-8s and really set the hook. Rather than overpowering a small bait with a 9-foot heavy or extra heavy rod, this is what I prefer to use and put in my clients’ hands.

Don’t overlook bigger baits in the early season, though. If I’m really looking for big fish only – you’ve got to remember they’ll be grabbing 12-to-20-inch walleyes as forage – I still use some bigger baits, especially baits with reaction to them that simulate injured fish like medium and regular-sized rubber baits, Suick-type jerkbaits, and zig-zag baits. Jerkbaits can be very productive in these colder water conditions if you’re looking for bigger fish. And for those types of baits I really like a 7’6”-to-8’ rod a little bit more on the heavy side. The Mojo Musky, Legend Tournament Musky, and Premier Musky families all offer superb models in that category. I’ll go to 80-pound line and standard size reels. That’s kind of the early-season trend in Northern and mid-Wisconsin and Minnesota.
When we get into the Canadian version of this time period – we’re talking the third weekend of June – most of the musky range is from the border to about 150 miles north, and then the musky habitat disappears so it’s not that much colder than northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. The reason the Canadian opener is held later is the fisheries are all natural and none of it is supplemented by stocking. They want to make sure that all fish have completely finished spawning. That being said, we’re typically in the 60-to-mid-60-degree-water-temperature range and well past the actual spawning time.

Because many of these Canadian lakes are very, very big and warm slower – like Lake of the Woods, Eagle Lake where I’m at, Rainy, and Lac Seul – some of these lakes are virtual oceans, so to speak, so they warm up slower, but are usually in that 60-degree range and we’re typically a week past spawning. In warmer years or in smaller waters, we may already be in that early-summer pattern with fully recuperated fish.

We still start with smaller-size baits but quickly graduate to larger baits, mixing them up to let the fish decide what they want. So we’re using a combination of actions and sizes of rods. Someone in the boat might be throwing an 8’6”-to-9’ heavy like the Legend Tournament Musky Sling Blade – that’s an awesome rod – or now the 8’6”-to-9’ telescopic Mojo Musky rods. The telescopic Mojo Musky rods are fantastic choices for this combination approach. That’s what makes the St. Croix lines of rods so awesome; they’re application-specific so you can literally fine-tune your presentations as well as reduce your fatigue level by using the proper rod.
St. Croix makes the finest and widest selection of musky rods available across multiple price points. Their Legend Tournament Musky and Legend Elite Musky rods are the absolute pinnacle of performance, but for the money, it’s hard to beat the newly redesigned Mojo Musky rods. Aesthetically, it’s a beautiful rod that looks fantastic with most reels. Its SCIII and IPC composition makes it very durable for the weight of the rod. I’ve tested various models extensively, and I’m impressed with Mojo Musky’s durability.


For many years, Andy Myer’s Lodge has used the Mojo Series for muskies, walleye, and bass as our guest rods. These rods see above-average abuse, and the Mojo models stand up to that abuse extremely well. The new telescopic rods have been a great addition for us, too, because not all boat rod lockers are designed to hold 9 foot rods. That makes them very easy to store and keep out of harm’s way when they’re not being used. The other key thing is that with 14 distinct models, the Mojo Musky line offers a host of options in terms of covering any angling situation we might encounter… and at a fantastic price point. It’s a very angler-friendly series.
Gavin Falk, St. Croix Rod Engineering Supervisor and Musky Fanatic:St. Croix Rod Engineering Supervisor, Gavin Falk, is a passionate musky angler with a great deal of experience with the new Mojo Musky series, both on and off the water. For early-season situations, Falk fishes a lot of jerkbaits with the 7’6” one-piece, extra-heavy power, fast action (MJM76XHF) model, as well as the 8’ one-piece, heavy power, fast action (MJM80HF). And for smaller rubber baits he recommends the 8’6”, heavy power, fast action (MJM86HFT) or the 9’, medium-heavy, fast (MJM90MHFT) telescopic models. For smaller minnow baits and bucktails – both solid offerings for early season – Falk recommends the 8’6” one-piece, medium-heavy power, fast action (MJM86MHF) Mojo Musky.

Delving more into the specifics of the new Mojo Musky rods, Falk cites numerous characteristics as improvements that anglers should be aware of. “First off, with IPC® mandrel technology the actions are greatly improved,” he says. Fast actions were good in the previous generation of Mojo Musky, but now they are truly fast, so it’s a lot easier to keep tension on fish because you’ve got that deflection in the tip, which also helps with casting, too. That’s a big thing. IPC also helped us reduce the overall weight of the rods while maintaining strength and durability.”
Falk talks about the move from cork to custom Winn split grips, as well as improvements to the reel seats: “The new grips are phenomenal. Using heavier braid throws off a lot of water into your hands and you can fish all day with the new Winn grips, even if your hands are wet or slimy. We also increased the diameter of the grip sizes, so, ergonomically, they’re more comfortable in the hands. Finally, we put a deluxe nut in the reel seat, so tightening down reels is a lot easier compared to the standard nut that was on previous models.

Right now is the time to start prepping for big-fish hunting. Consider the tips from our pros in the know, and you’ll be starting this year’s musky season in a positive direction.

And if you’re looking to add to your collection of musky rods, timing couldn’t be better. Now until May 31, anglers can enjoy FREE SHIPPING when they shop and purchase any St. Croix Mojo Musky rods at stcroixrods.com. Don’t wait! This offer is limited to available stock at the time of purchase and is only applicable to orders shipping within the continental United States.
#CROIXGEAR
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Walleye and the High Action Plug Bite

By Mark Romanack for Yakima Baits
from The Fish
ing Wire

In recent times crankbaits have ruled the roost on the Great Lakes and other bodies of water popular with walleye fishermen. Population explosions fueled by unprecedented high water levels and several successful spawning year classes have countless fisheries literally crawling with catchable fish.

Natural reproduction can be a fleeting gift, but fortunately for those who enjoy targeting walleye, the fish Gods have shined brightly on these fisheries. To say recent fishing success for walleye has been excellent is an understatement. Limit catches have been the norm, and anglers who have historically targeted walleye using traditional methods like nightcrawler harnesses are putting away the “meat” in favor of trolling with less labor intensive crankbaits.

TRADITIONAL CRANKBAITS
Crankbaits have always been a popular and productive choice for walleye. In the past, most anglers have depended heavily on traditional minnow style crankbaits early and also late in the year when the water temperature is cool to cold. It’s clear to see that crankbaits fished in combination with planer boards have become the fast track to limit catches.

CRANKBAITS OF A DIFFERENT FLAVOR
Most anglers would agree that a handful of popular minnow diving crankbaits dominate on the walleye scene. Slowly anglers are discovering there are other noteworthy baits worth exploring.In the Western Basin of Lake Erie where white perch and white bass often get in the way of catching walleye, charter captains have quietly turned to a different class of crankbait to save the day.

“When I was in high school and my college years, I worked as a first mate for several charters working out of the Western Basin,” says Jake Romanack, co-host of Fishing 411 TV. “As soon as the water temperature warmed up to about 60 degrees abundant populations of white bass and white perch feed so aggressively it becomes challenging to keep these non-target species off the lines long enough to catch walleyes. A typical Lake Erie walleye charter runs 12 to 15 lines and it wasn’t uncommon for every line to be dragging a white perch or silver bass!”

“You haven’t experienced frustration until you’ve worked the back of a charter boat in 85 degree heat, setting lines as fast as humanly possible only to catch a handful of walleye mixed into bucket loads of non-target fish,” explains Romanack. “Increasing trolling speed and switching to high action crankbaits was the solution to this annual problem.”

The only practical way to avoid silver bass and white perch is to troll fast enough to mitigate how many of these undesirable fish are caught while trolling for walleye. “Only a handful of crankbaits are up to the challenge when it comes to high speed trolling,” adds Romanack. “The problem is that charter captains stack so many lines per side of the boat, a bait has to run perfectly true in the water or adjoining lures will wander and foul each other.”

A NEW CLASS OF WOBBLER
These days a new class of high action wobblers are finding success on Erie and many other fisheries coast to coast. The Yakima Bait Company Mag Lip was designed by Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame angler Buzz Ramsey as a wobbling plug aimed at the salmon, steelhead and trout markets. The Mag Lip is a banana-shaped lure that features a built-in “skip beat” action.

“It only took a few years and the Mag Lip was dominating plug sales among steelhead, salmon and trout fishermen on the West Coast,” says Buzz Ramsey. “Word about the Mag Lip and how many fish it catches quickly spread to the Great Lakes. The demand for more sizes and colors of Mag Lip soon reached a fever pace.”

Currently Mag Lip is available in seven different sizes and over four dozen different factory standard colors. Many retailers are also offering their own “custom color” options that continue to feed the growing demand.“It has taken a few years, but walleye anglers have finally discovered that Mag Lip is deadly effective when trolling at high speeds and in warm water conditions,” says Captain Eric Hirzel of Erie Gold Walleye Charters. “I first used the 3.5 size of Mag Lip on spring salmon trolling trips at Lake Michigan. I was so impressed with the Mag Lip, I started using the 3.5 and 3.0 sizes on my Lake Erie walleye charters.

”Mag Lip is the perfect niche lure for a number of reasons. Each lure is perfectly tuned and runs true right out of the package. Mag Lip features a wide wobble, loud rattle and aggressive action, but these baits can also tolerate trolling speeds up to 4.0 MPH without blowing out. The “skip beat” or hunting action of the Mag Lip generates explosive strikes and these baits come in a host of productive color options.

“Most of the factory colors on Mag Lip are admittedly trout and salmon colors,” says Jake Romanack of Fishing 411 TV. “Our staff has worked closely with Yakima Bait to introduce several new “walleye specific” colors that are going to be popular on Erie and Saginaw Bay. “Our crew has had had the opportunity to fish these new colors in the spring and summer of 2019 and they are lights out for walleye. Our favorites include Metallic Silver Clown, Metallic Silver FireTiger, Metallic Gold/Black Red Lip and Rosemary.

”Other factory standard colors that produce consistent results on walleye include Metallic Silver Rainbow Trout, Mad Man, Grinch, Double Trouble, Metallic Gold/Flame, Keeper, Metallic Perch and Metallic Gold Green Pirate.

“The first thing I noticed about Mag Lip is fish T-bone them,” says Captain Hirzel. “When walleye hit most crankbaits they tend to be hooked on the back hook. With the Mag Lip a majority of the fish are hooked on the front treble or they have the bait right down their throat.

”Buzz Ramsey says that it’s the unique hunting action of the Mag Lip that causes fish to react with explosive strikes. “Most crankbaits have a rhythmic and consistent action,” says Ramsey “Crankbaits with a hunting action tease fish into biting. Think of it like playing with a cat using a ball and string. Eventually the cat can’t stand it anymore and pounces. The same thing happens when fishing with Mag Lip.”Mag Lip has great action at a wide variety of speeds, but the skip beat action is more distinctive at faster trolling speeds.

“On Lake Erie we did best trolling 3.5 Mag Lip at between 2.2 and 3.0 MPH,” says Jake Romanack who recently filmed a TV episode focusing on the virtues of high action crankbaits. “Walleye pounded the Mag Lip and it was a struggle just to keep our legal number of lines in the water!”

THE FINAL WORD
The good news is that walleye populations on Lake Erie and countless other fisheries nationwide are at epic levels. The future looks bright for these fisheries despite heavy fishing pressure.

Crankbait trolling is obviously not the only way anglers can catch open water walleye, but it’s clear that no other fishing method is as consistently productive as board trolling with crankbaits.

It’s true that minnow/diver style crankbaits are the baits most walleye anglers have faith in, but these days high action plugs like the Yakima Bait Mag Lip are delivering impressive catches. For those who haven’t tried fishing high action plugs, in the late spring and throughout the summer when water temperatures are warm, it’s hard to beat these loud and proud crankbaits.

See them at www.yakimabait.com.

Lunker Panfish

A little reel like the Shimano Syncopate 1000 is all that’s needed to handle the lightweight minnow imitations from Rapala and Rebel that attract these jumbo panfish.
Time for Lunker Panfish
By Frank Sargeant, Editor
from The Fishing Wire

While most anglers are still focused on spawning largemouth bass in late April across the South, a few savvy panfish anglers know that this is the time to home in on catching the largest bluegills, warmouth and crappie of the year as the “jumbos” cruise into the shallows to feed on bass fry around the beds.

Crappies spawn earlier than bass, bluegills and warmouth later, but both species love 1 to 2 inch long baby fish, and with the bass spawn beginning in late March and continuing into early May, there are millions of these fry in the shallows of many lakes at present.

While small bluegills and warmouth mostly eat grass shrimp and insect life, the hand-sized “jumbos” seem to prefer fish. Crappies, of course, feed heavily on minnows of all types throughout their adult lives.

Bream beds are not hard to find—or at least that’s usually the case. This year, high, muddy water in many lakes around the Southeast has made it more of a challenge to pick out the beds. They’re shallow bowls scooped out on firm sand or shell, typically in 1 to 4 feet of water on the edge of grass, or around boat docks, stumps or other cover.

They’re easiest to see on a calm day with high sun. This year, the challenge is just finding water that’s clear enough to see down any depth, but barring further downpours, the water should clear quickly.

Beds that hold panfish may or may not have adult bass still in them. While the male bass guards the nest for the first week to 10 days after the eggs hatch, they leave them on their own after that. Big panfish prowl around both guarded and unguarded nests.

Matching the hatch is the sensible way to catch these panfish, which often are far bigger than typical schooling bluegills or crappies found offshore. Tiny 2” floater-diver minnow imitations from Rapala and Rebel are particularly effective.

These fly-weight lures are best fished on ultra-light spinning gear and 6-pound-test mono—heavier line ruins the action. It’s also essential to tie them on with a loop knot like the turtle rather than a uniknot or improved clinch, because if the knot draws tight on the eye, the action of the little lure will be ruined by the resistance of the line.

A little reel like the Shimano Syncopate 1000 is all that’s needed to handle the lightweight minnow imitations from Rapala and Rebel that attract these jumbo panfish.

Fly rod poppers also work well when the panfish are around the beds—choose light-colored bugs with minimal dressing, because in this case you’re imitating a minnow rather than a bug or a frog.

Sometimes all it takes is casting the lure over the bed, letting it set for a 10-count and then twitching it once—bluegills in particular like this presentation. I’ve caught some close to a pound with this tactic this spring.

Crappies and warmouth, on the other hand, seem to like a moving target. Slow cranking the bait so that it comes wobbling across the bed and nearby shallows draws the strikes.

When you catch a panfish off a bed, the disturbance flushes most nearby panfish for a time, but sit quietly for 5 to 10 minutes and they’ll come cruising back to the free feast. You can probably catch another and then another with well-timed casts.

It’s also possible to catch these fish with tiny jigs of 1/32 ounce or there-abouts, again fished on UL tackle. The smallest Beetle Spins also work well, cranked just fast enough to make the spinner blade turn.

For fly-rodders, a silver/green streamer fly about 2 inches long on a size 8 long-shank hook does the job. Very short, jerky strips of an inch or so at a time draw the bites.

While panfish are the primary target, fishing the beds with this gear also occasionally turns up a surprise. This spring I’ve caught black drum, catfish and perch in these areas and also landed bass to a couple pounds, a real handful on the ultra-light gear.

It’s a change of gears for those of us who are confirmed bass-heads, but a pleasant diversion for a few weeks in spring—and when it comes to eating, you can’t beat fresh-fried fillets off these oversized panfish.

Where and How to Catch Lake Blue Ridge June Bass

June Blue Ridge Bass

with Barron Adams

    Lots of spots, some quality largemouth and your best chance to catch a Georgia smallmouth.  Fish rocks and brush in deeper water while watching for schooling fish on Blue Ridge Lake this month to catch all three types of bass.

    Blue Ridge is a pretty 3300-acre TVA lake on the Toccoa River in the north Georgia mountains near the state line where Tennessee and North Carolina meet.  Its deep clear waters for years harbored the best smallmouth population in the state, but the invasion of spots has decimated their population.  There are still some, mostly bigger fish it seems, in the lake.

    Barron Adams grew up in Mineral Bluff fishing the lake with his grandfather. He loved catching smallmouth and largemouth there and in other lakes.  He fished some club and local tournaments but got serious about tournament fishing about eight years ago.  He fishes the Chattanooga Bass Association tournaments and this is his second year on the FLW Costa Series. He finished 18th in the Southeast Division and hopes that will qualify him for the FLW Tour next year since several fishermen ahead of him in the points double qualified for it.

    Barron still fishes almost all Wednesday night tournaments on Blue Ridge and guides there and on Chatuge and Nottely. He knows Blue Ridge well and what the bass are doing there.

    “By June most bass have finished spawning and are on deeper cover like rocks and brush piles on points,”
Barron said.  This has been a cold spring and bass spawned late. On the full moon in early May there were a few bedding and a lot cruising the shallows.  And we saw balls of shad in the shallows getting ready to spawn.

    Although bass are holding deep now, they come up on shad and blueback herring, feeding on top especially early in the morning and late in the day.  Barron will always have a walking bait ready to cast to them. For deeper fish he relies on a shaky head, jig and pig and drop shot.

    “A few years ago, I could count on catching several smallmouth each trip,” Barron said. But they are rare now, and he seldom catches small ones, a bad sign that they are not reproducing well.  Spots have crowed them out, as fisheries biologists predicted. But you can still catch a few mixed in with the more common spots. And there are some good largemouth with them, too.

    We fished the first week of May during the full moon and saw a few bedding bass, but most were cruising, waiting on the water to warm.  They were late, and as soon as the water warmed enough a lot went on the bed at one time.  Now you should concentrate on deeper cover like the following ten places to catch all three species.

    1.  N 34 52.163 – W 84 16.381 – The main lake point on the upstream side of the creek with Lake Blue Ridge Marina in it has red Toccoa River Marker 1 on it.  It runs way out and has god brush on it.  Stop way off the point in 60 to 70 feet of water and ease in with your trolling motor.

    Keep an eye on your electronics, watching for brush piles around 25 feet deep.  Fan cast with a shaky head or jig and pig as you move in.  When you see brush, cast both to it but have a drop shot worm ready to fish straight down in it. Barron rigs a Morning Dawn Robo worm about 16 inches above a three eights ounce lead and drops it straight down into the brush.

    Here and at all other times keep a topwater walking bait like a Spook ready to cast to bass chasing shad and herring on top. Barron uses a bone colored Spook and works it through any surface activity.

    2.  N 34 52.314 – W 84 15.579 – Across the lake and a little upstream red marker 2 is on another main lake point that is good.  It, too, runs way out so stop at least 100 yards off the point in deep water.  As you move in, make long casts with shaky head and jig and pig to the point, bumping the bottom.  Watch for brush piles to fish with your drop shot.

    The fish can be spooky even in 25-foot-deep brush piles.  If you get right over one and see fish, but can’t get them to bite, mark the brush and back off a long cast away.  Then fish the brush with shaky head or jig and pig.  Long cast are often critical with the clear water on Blue Ridge.

    3.  N 34 51.204 – W 84 15.349 – Going up Star Creek, just as it starts its turn to the left there is a big cove on your right.  On the downstream point just inside it is a covered dock and further into it a small wooden dock, with a private ramp between the two. The downstream point and the middle point inside the cove where it splits both come way out so stop about in the middle of the cove outside the downstream point.

    Sit in about 35 feet of water and make long casts toward the middle back point.  A long cast will get your bait up into 10 to 11 feet of water. There is brush and tires on the bottom and the top of the points offer good schooling areas. 

    Rake the shallow points with shaky head and jig and pig.  Since the cover here is shallow, work all of it from a distance.  You can locate the exact position of the cover with good electronics like the Lowrance HDS Carbon units Barron uses.  Finding it with side scan will let you make accurate casts to it without getting too close to it.

    4. 34 51.059 – W 84 14.993 – On up Star Creek Red Marker Star Creek 9 is on your right.  Just upstream of it is a small pocket.  The downstream point of it is a long shallow flat that comes out and drops in to the creek channel.

    This is an excellent place to throw a topwater plug early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Make long cast up on the flat and work it back to the boat.  Bass on the flat and in brush on it will come up and hit it.

    The brush on this point is also good for fishing shaky head and jig and pig.  Barron uses a three eights ounce head made at Tri State Tackle Shop beside Dunkin Donuts on Appalachian Highway near the Blue Ridge dam.  He likes their heads since they have a sturdy 5/0 Gamakatsu hook.  He puts a Zoom avocado or green pumpkin Trick worm on it and drags it along the bottom with little shakes of his rod tip.

    5. N 34 51.709 – W 84 15.726 – Back out at the mouth of Star Creek the point between it and the river has Red Toccoa River marker 3 on it.  It is a flat point that comes out and drops into both river and creek channel and has a very steep drop on the river side that bass like.

    Fish topwater over it then work the bottom and brush with shaky head and jig and pig, probing for rocks and brush.  All three species of bass like both kinds of cover and hold on it during the day.  Keep your dropshot ready here as on other places.

    6.  N 34 51.278 – W 84 16.567 – Going up the river a narrow point on the right is between the river and a big creel on the right. There is a green roof dock on the creek side of the point and a kid’s playhouse on the point. Barron called it Rocking Chair Point due to the red rocking chair by the playhouse.

    Herring spawn on this point and others, and with the cold spring we had, some herring and shad may still be spawning early this month.  It is a good place to throw a topwater at first light.  Even after the spawn baitfish move over the point and bass feed on them, so have your topwater ready at all times. 

    There is brush on this point out to 35 feet deep and bass in the deeper brush are less likely to be spooked by the boat, so it is good for a drop shot. Also fish your shaky head and jig and pig in it. Stop on the downstream side of the point, keep your boat in 40 plus feet of water, and fish around it to the dock.

    7.  N 34 50.584 – W 84 16.850 – In the mouth of Charlie Creek a small island sits way off the bank.  There are rocks on the right side of it when you are on the creek side.  Fish school around it and the rocks are a good place to fish both shaky head and jig and pig.  Barron fishes a one-half ounce Dirty Jig football head jig in the watermelon color with a green pumpkin Zoom Creepy Crawler trailer.  He dips the tails of his trailer as well as his shaky head worms in JJs Magic and says the spots especially like the flash of color it gives them.   

    Barron fishes his jig and pig on a G Loomis seven foot two inch 855 NRX medium heavy rod and spools his Daiwa Type R reel with 17 pound Segar Invix  fluorocarbon line.   He says this combination allows him to feel bites and get the fish out of the brush he is fishing.

    Drag the jig along the bottom, letting the tails of the trailer swim and flash. Hop it when you hit rocks, and in brush yoyo it up and down on limbs.   When you get hit in brush set the hook fast and reel fast to get the fish out of the cover.

    8. N 34 50.393 – W 84 16.973 – Where Charlie Creek bends to the right near the back a state brush pile marker sits off the right point.  State brush piles are all over the lake and, other than rocks and fishermen brush piles, are much of the limited cover on Blue Ridge.  All of them 25 to 35 feet deep hold bass in June.

    The brush is not all under the marker but scattered around them. Here, the best brush is between the marker and bank.  All of the brush is good for fishing jig and pig and shaky head, but a drop shot will often get bites when the other baits won’t.

    Barron drops is sinker to the bottom and starts by holding his rod tip still, letting the Robo worm suspend off the bottom with little motion. If that doesn’t draw a bite he will twitch his rod tip gently to make it shake in place a little.  Fish like that all around the brush first then let your sinker hit the top of the brush and fish the worm on top of it, especially if you see fish suspended over it on your electronics. 

    9.  N 34 50.160 – W 84 16.447 – Going up the river Red Marker 9 is on a point on your right. The bank downstream of it is a bluff bank with blowdowns on it and there is a state brush pile on the point and more in the mouth of the pocket past it.

    Barron says bluff banks with blowdowns almost always hold bass in June, but they are scattered in the tips of them, especially when there are a lot of blowdowns. A good tactic is to fish the ends of the trees with your drop shot worm.  Work slowly up the bluff bank, hitting the ends of every blowdown along it.

    When you get to the point, try dropshot, shaky head and jig and pig in the state brush piles.  There is a lot of brush here and the fish may be scattered in them or concentrated in one, so fish them all or use electronics to find the fish.

    10. N 34 50.855 – W 84 16.556 – At the mouth of Charlie Creek, between it and the river, a small island sits off the bank.  There is a ridge of white rock running off the creek side that you can see.  Those rocks run out deep and hold bass since they are right on the drop on the creek side.

    Stop way off the rocks and cast shaky head and jig and pig to them.  Fish the rocks out to the deep end. Bass also school on top here so be ready to cast a topwater to them.  Barron says they tend to school on the flatter river side of the island in the mornings but over the deeper creek side during the day.

    Check out these places and there are many more all over the lake like them.  A good lake map has the state brush piles marked to help find them, and good electronics will help you find the unmarked brush to fish.

    Call Barron at 706-455-0863 for a guided trip to see exactly how he catches Blue Ridge bass.

    Do you find these Map of the Month articles helpful?  If so visit https://fishing-about.com/keys-to-catching-georgia-bass-ebook-series/ – you can get an eBook or CD with an article for each month of the year on Clarks Hill and Lanier.

How and Where To Catch May Clarks Hill Bass

May Bass at Clarks Hill

with Tony Green

     May fishing is good anywhere you go in Georgia but blueback herring have made Clark’s Hill one of the best bets in the state to catch big largemouth this month. And they are hitting on top, the most exciting way to catch bass. You can’t go wrong with a trip to Clark’s Hill in May.

     Clark’s Hill is a big 72,000 acre lake on the Georgia/South Carolina border.  Built in the early 1950s it has 1200 miles of shoreline and is full of islands and humps. There is good access all over this Corps of Engineers Lake even with the water level down six to eight feet this year.

     Tony Green was born in South Carolina but moved to the Macon area when he was three years old and has lived and fished there all his life.  While growing up he went to Clark’s Hill a lot, camping and fishing with his family.  They caught crappie and bass on those trips.

     About eight years ago Tony joined the Procasters Bass Club in the Macon area and got into tournament fishing.  He has made that club’s state team most years and enjoys the competition and chances to learn more about bass fishing by being in that club. 

Tony has fished the HD Marine Trail for several years but took this year off.  You can find him entered in a good many Berry’s and R and R Tournaments.  He also fishes some pot tournaments and a few BFL tournaments in the area.

     This year in March Tony beat out 417 other club fishermen in the Georgia Bass Chapter Federation Top Six tournament at Clark’s Hill to win first place.  His eight bass weighing 30.4 pounds beat out second place by over three pounds. 

     Tony loves Clark’s Hill in May and tries to make several trips to the lake every year this time of year. His club also tries to schedule tournaments on Clark’s Hill or Hartwell in May to get in on the great fishing both lakes offer. The herring bite is similar on both lakes and can be some of the fastest action of the year.

     The pattern is fairly simple in May on Clark’s Hill.  Bass have mostly finished spawning by the first of May and they have moved out and are feeding heavily. Find the herring spawning on main lake structure and you will find big bass nearby. The herring spawn on hard bottoms near deep water and like long points, humps and blow throughs.

A blow through is a saddle or dip between the main bank and an island or between humps or islands on big water. Wind blows through these shallow areas and the waves wash away the soft soil, leaving gravel, rocks and hard clay the herring like. The same action clears soft bottoms away leaving the hard stuff on long points and humps, too.

Tony will have three rods rigged and ready to take advantage of the herring bite.  His first choice is a big Spook or Sammy on an outfit he can use to cast it a long way. The topwater plug is worked as fast as he can move it early in the morning, fishing water from a foot or less deep to about ten feet deep.  Topwater baits are better first thing in the morning.

As the sun gets on the water Tony will usually switch to a Fluke and fish it over water three to six feet deep. The sun moves the bass a little deeper but they will usually still come up to eat something near the surface.  Herring like the sun and will usually be near the top on sunny days.

After the sun gets bright Tony thinks the bass move a little deep and are less likely to come up, so he will drag a big Carolina rigged lizard along the points and break lines in six to ten feet of water.  He likes to use the bigger lizards to attract bites from bigger fish.

Before a tournament Tony will try to be on the water at daybreak and ride, looking for places the herring are moving and he sees surface activity.  During the day he will throw a spinnerbait or crankbait around spawning areas and watch for herring following the bait back to the boat, or will sometimes hook one.  If he finds the herring near a spawning area he knows the bass will be nearby.

Tony is always looking for “nervous” water while fishing. Any small movement on top indicates the herring and bass will usually be following them.  He will move toward any activity he sees and cast to it. That is why it is helpful to use a rig you can cast a long way.

Although the water is down this year the herring will still spawn near the same spots they have used in the past when the lake was full and will use in the future. Tony thinks the low water may actually make the herring bite better this year because low water may push the bass out of the creeks to the main lake even faster.

The following ten spots have all produced fish over the years during the herring spawn. You can check them out to see what Tony looks for then find others.  With the lake low you can see exactly what the structure looks like and get a good picture of it when the water covers it. 

1. N 33 41.329 – W 82 17.915 – Mims Branch just downstream of the Highway 47 Bridge has Ft. Gordon Recreation Area in it. The downstream point of this creek is an excellent place to find herring spawning and bass eating them.  The point is rocky with some sand and clay so the hard bottom attracts the herring.  Two smaller side points add to its attraction to the herring and it is near deep water but runs way out, making it even better.

The point you want to fish runs out toward green channel marker L 15. There is a hard drop on the upstream side of the point. You will see a tall light pole and light on the point to know you are in the right place.

Start on the downstream side out from the light pole and work all the way around the point. Start at first light keeping your boat out as far as you can and still make casts with your top water baits right on the bank. Some times the bass will be extremely shallow and will be looking for herring in a few inches of water so start real shallow.

Work around the point to the upstream side, working your topwater baits back to water about eight feet deep then reel in and make another cast.  Work your bait fast.  You can not take a top water bait away from a bass that wants it and they seem to like a fast moving bait. Fishing fast also allows you to make more casts in the short time before the sun gets on the water.

As the sun comes up fish back around the point, staying out a little deeper and working water three to six feet deep with a Fluke.  Then fish back around the point even further out dragging a big lizard along the breaklines in six to ten feet of water.

2. N 33 42.251 – W 82 17.560 – Across the lake a long arm of land runs out on the north side of Bussey Point and there is an island off the upstream end of it. A shallow point runs out upstream on the upstream side of the island and there are also several humps around the point.  This is an excellent place to find a lot of bass and herring.

One of the small humps had a danger marker lying on its side on the hump right at the water line when we fished. The water was right at eight feet low.  Start fishing out from that danger marker and work the whole area. You will see some of the high spots just above the water and there are others all around. Work from the end of the point around all these high spots.

Always watch for any surface disturbance and cast to it.  Tony’s description of “nervous water” gives you a good idea of the little ripples the herring will often make on the surface.  If the herring are there the bass will be nearby.  Cast to any swirls you see, too.

3. N 33 41.733 – W 82 18.848 – Back across the lake on the upstream side of the long point on the upstream side of Mims Branch you will find a long shallow point running out toward green channel marker L 21.  There is a big round cedar tree on the point that stood out a few weeks ago but might blend in more now that the trees have more leaves on them.

Start on the downstream side of the point and fish upstream, keeping you boat close on the first pass so you can almost hit the bank then fishing further out on your next pass.  This flat runs way out and there are a lot of rocks on it that are normally about eight feet deep at full pool  There are some stumps and brush piles on this point and they help, but the hard bottom is more important for the herring spawn.

4. N 33 41.568 – W 82 19.397 – A little further toward the bridge on this peninsular on the upstream side of Mims Branch is the swimming area.  There is a small island just downstream of the swimming area and a point runs out there.  You will see the bathhouse on the bank and some lights and benches on the point.  

Start fishing near the downstream side of the little island and point and work around it.  If you fish fast you can hit this point and two more before you get to the swimming area, throwing topwater before the sun gets on the water.  Then work back around them. All three parallel points hold bass and herring spawn on them so watch all for activity as you fish.

This area and the others are even better when some wind blows in on them. You won’t be able to see the surface activity as well but wave action will help the bite.  Waves seem to disorient the herring and make them easier prey, and waves also break up the light making it a little more difficult for the bass to tell your bait from a live herring.

5. N 33 42.159 – W 82 20.318 – Across the lake on the upstream side of the cove where Cherokee Ramp is located is a marked hump.  It is way out of the water now and you can see how it has a big pile or rocks on the downstream side and tapers off toward the bridge. It drops fast at first down to about six feet deep at full pool but then flattens out.  On the downstream side are three small high spots.

All these high spots hold bass and herring. The downstream side of the marked hump seems to hold more bass.  Start out in front of the hump about even with the rock pile and work around it toward the ramp. Cover all this area with all your baits.  Watch your depthfinder to note the contours since it changes a lot around this hump.  You don’t want to get in too close, especially after the sun gets on the water.

All the tournaments held out of Cherokee Ramp make this an even better spot. The bass population is constantly supplemented by released bass so the concentration in this area is high.

6. N 33 41.910 – W 82 20.829 – Go under the bridge and head toward the right bank. Not far out from the riprap you will see an island that is usually not much more than a hump before you get to the bank.  It has a danger marker on a pole on it but has a lot of rock out of the water right now.  Some cypress trees have been planted on top of it.

Fish the outside of this hump, starting on the end toward the bridge and working to the upstream end. That side gets most of the waves, has a harder bottom, and drops off faster.  Work it will all your baits before leaving the area.

7. N 33 40.428 – W 82 21.766 – Cliatt Creek is the one with Mistletoe State Park in it.  There is an island on the downstream point of this creek.  Go in on the downstream side of this island and you will see some humps and points running way out toward the lake.  All are good for the herring spawn.  The river makes a big bend right here and they are on the outside of the bend and that makes them even better.

You can see the rocky humps and point with the water down and there are stumps and brush on them as well as the rocks. All help make it a good spot. Note the brush piles while fishing in close and hit them later with the sun on the water.  Bass will often hold in brush and around stumps in six to eight feet of water after the sun gets bright so dragging your Carolina rigged lizard through them is a good bet.

8. N 33 40.555 – W 82 22.194 – Out off the end of the island there are some good humps to fish. One was barely above the water when we were there, with less than six inches of it showing, so be very careful in this area if the water has come up above eight feet low.

You will see a marked hump out from and a little downstream of the island and the smaller hump is out from it. Again, this is a big area where lots of herring spawn so watch for activity to tell you exactly where to fish.  Also keep an eye on your depthfinder to keep your boat in a good depth.

Fish all around the marked hump and the others that are out from it.  Make long casts. The water is usually clear in these areas and longer casts help by not spooking the bass and herring with your boat.   Long casts with all three baits are best.

9. N 33 40.278 – W 82 22.582 – The island on the upstream side of Cliatt Creek, just off the campground, has a rocky point running out on its downstream end.  The rocks run out toward the middle of the mouth of the creek.  About in the middle of the island on the outside a long clay point runs out toward the middle of the lake.

Start fishing on the inside of the rocky point and fish around it. Continue upstream and fish the clay point, too. Fish all your baits on both points and the hard bottom between them.  Keep and eye out for surface activity in the area as you fish.

10. N 33 40.363 – W 82 23.734 – Straight across from Mistletoe is a long ridge with a small island on the upstream side. This ridge runs parallel to the river.  Go upstream past it and there is a big island on your right. Upstream of this island is a marked hump. The danger marker was bent over at an angle when Tony and I were there in mid-April.  We got a bass here that pushed three pounds even that early.

Start on the downstream side of the marker and fish around the hump. This area has a lot of high spots that all attract herring and the marked hump is good year round. It is best for the herring spawn since it is the outside hump of the group but all will hold fish. Work this area carefully and watch for changes in the bottom to tell you which areas are best.

These ten spots are all close to Mistletoe Park and Cherokee Ramp but there are other similar places on Little River and the Savannah River.  Check these out but don’t limit yourself to this small area of the huge lake.   You can find many similar herring spawning spots that hold largemouth for you to catch all over the lake.

Tactics for Tempting Speckled Trout

Speckled Trout

Timely Tactics for Tempting Speckled Trout
from The Fishing Wire

“I can see the grill marks on that one already,” exclaimed Capt. Ryan Lambert as a beautiful Gulf of Mexico speckled trout was wrangled into the net and deposited in his boat’s ice chest.

Lambert, the owner of Cajun Fishing Adventures in Buras Louisiana, has been guiding clients to spectacular speckled trout, boisterous bull reds, and more for over 41 years. Collectively, Lambert and his guides spend tens of thousands of hours on the water every year, and one lesson they have gleaned from these fertile marshes and bayous is not about baits or locations, but instead, about their lines and leaders.

“Many of the largest trout we see every year come from water that is surprisingly clear,” notes Lambert, “and those fish can be pretty skittish. The key to getting more of those fish in the box is to rig up with a clear fluorocarbon leader.”

Lambert and his guides like Seaguar Gold Label for its low visibility, knot strength and its toughness.One of Lambert’s guides, Capt. Joe DiMarco, puts it this way: “in the fall, trout move off the shallow flats and into cuts and channels where the water is deeper. There, they sit close to the bottom, in water that is warmer, saltier, and cleaner. The water might not look great from above, but often, just below the surface, chocolate milk-colored water can rapidly change to a perfect ‘trout green’.

That’s where a Seaguar Gold Label leader can make the difference between a few small fish and some spectacular photo-ops.”

Gold Label from Seaguar is a 100% fluorocarbon leader manufactured using a proprietary coextrusion process that unites a strong, sensitive core with a soft, supple exterior. The result is a double-structure fluorocarbon leader that exhibits the beneficial attributes of each of its two resins. With line diameters that are as much as 23% smaller than comparable fluorocarbons, Seaguar Gold Label is the thinnest 100% fluorocarbon leader available and is perfect for stealthy trout presentations. “Thinner leaders are always better,” asserts Capt. Mark Davis, host of BigWater Adventures TV. “When I fish with Gold Label, baits swim more naturally, triggering more bites and helping me to catch more fish.”

Yes, thinner is better. But that’s not the end of the Gold Label story; rather, it’s just the beginning. Seaguar Gold Label excels at any presentation for line-shy fish, like fall speckled trout, because it is nearly invisible underwater. With a refractive index that more closely matches that of water than any other line choice, Seaguar 100% fluorocarbon leaders virtually disappear beneath the surface, ensuring that fish see your bait long before they ever detect your line.

In addition, because Seaguar fluorocarbon leaders offer enhanced abrasion resistance compared to monofilament or braid, you’ll experience fewer line failures from sharp speckled trout teeth, or from the shell beds they frequently hold near.

Moreover, the supple outer shell of Seaguar Gold Label ensures that knots snug down tight and strong, whether you’re connecting Gold Label to Seaguar Smackdown braided main line, or tying a jig to the business end of your leader. The exceptional tensile and knot strength that you’ll experience with Gold Label means fewer heartbreaks after the strike.

Lambert says he targets speckled trout with one of two presentations – either tight-lining with a jig, or with a bait suspended beneath a popping cork.”I prefer tight-lining because the sensitivity of Gold Label, when paired with Seaguar Smackdown braid, lets me feel everything that is happening to the jig,” says Lambert.

Gear up with a 7-foot, medium-heavy power, fast action rod equipped with a 3000-series spinning reel. Spool the reel with 30 lb. test Seaguar Smackdown in Stealth Gray, and use an Albright or Double Uni knot to tie on a 3-foot section of 20 lb test Gold Label. Add a ¼ oz jig like the Z-Man Trout Eye jighead dressed with a Z-Man Swimmin’ TroutTrick, and you’re ready for fall trout.”The wide spectrum of Z-Man TroutTrick and Swimmin’ TroutTrick colors will help you trigger speckled trout under lots of sky and water conditions, but if I had to choose just one, it would be Pumpkin/Chartreuse tail,” says Lambert.

The ultra-thin diameter, near invisibility underwater, abrasion resistance, and exceptional knot and tensile strength of Seaguar Gold Label will elevate your speckled trout fishing to the next level. Gold Label leader is offered in 25-yard spools, and is available in 15, 20, 25, 30, and 40 lb tests with MSRP $18.99-$34.99.For more, visit www.seaguar.com.

About Seaguar Fishing Lines
As the inventor of fluorocarbon fishing lines in 1971, Seaguar has played a prominent role in the advancement of technologies to improve the performance of lines and leader material for both fresh and salt water anglers. Seaguar is the only manufacturer of fluorocarbon fishing lines that produces its own resins and controls the manufacturing process from start to finished product. Today, Seaguar is the #1 brand of fluorocarbon lines and offers a full spectrum of premium products including fluorocarbon mainlines and leader material, 8-strand and 16-strand braid fishing lines.

How and Where to Catch April Bass at West Point Lake

April Bass at West Point 

with Charlie Williams

April may well be the best month for bass fishing in Georgia/Alabama and West Point may be the best lake in the state to catch bass on this month.  The lake has great spawning coves that attract bass to predictable places and some simple patterns will catch them from late March through the end of April.

West Point is a fairly new 25,900 acre Corps of Engineers lake that was filled in 1974.  It runs for 35 miles on the Chattahoochee River and has plenty of access points on both sides of the lake.  A 14 inch size limit on largemouth helps maintain quality size for them and the increase in spotted bass over the past ten years offers anglers plenty of keeper size fish to eat. There is no size limit on spots (in either state) but there is a ten bass creel limit on them.

Charlie Williams grew up on Maple Creek just upstream of the lake and caught his first bass ever on the riprap while fishing on that creek under the bridge for crappie.  He fished for bass with his grandfather and also his best friend and father, Randy “Rock Man” Williams who was a member of the LaGrange Bass Club and helped found the West Georgia Bass Club with Rickey Childs.

Living so close to the lake gave Charlie a chance to spend a lot of time on it.  He started fishing tournaments on the lake with his dad when he was 12 years old.  Charlie now works for Toyota dealership in Columbus and at State Line Marine on some of his days off. At State Line he gets to talk with lots of bass fishermen and that, along with all his fishing friends and contacts, helps him keep up with what is going on at West Point every day.

Charlie fished the BFL and other trails until two children blessed his marriage and he has slowed down fishing tournaments the past few years.  He still fishes with West Georgia Bass Club and in some BFLs and pot tournaments on West Point.  And many afternoons he hits the lake for a few hours after work.

“Don’t even fool with the first half of creeks this time of year,” Charlie said.  By late March most West Point bass have moved back into the creeks and are looking for bedding areas.  Charlie will run and gun, hitting a lot of places back in creeks and covering water. He says too many bass will hit to fool around in one area trying to make them bite.

When the bass go on the bed Charlie will do some sight fishing but water is often stained and it is hard to spot them.  Many times a better plan is to run a Rat-L-Trap across gravel where the fish spawn then follow it up with a Carolina rigged lizard.  This will get bites from fish that are spawning too deep to see.

The one exception to fishing back in creeks is the shad spawn.  Charlie says it will start when the water hits 68 degrees, usually around the second weekend in April.  A full moon around that time helps.  When the shad spawn is on there will be 15 to 20 minutes of fast and furious action right at daylight if you are in the right spot.

For fishing this month Charlie will have several baits rigged.  For pre-spawn fish he likes a pearl with red eye Bandit 200 crankbait. If the water is stained he will go with the same crankbait in spring craw.  A chrome and blue half-ounce Trap will be on one rod and he will have a white spinnerbait with two small willowleaf blades ready for the shad spawn.

A Carolina rigged six inch lizard in green pumpkin or black will be rigged on a 30 inch leader and quarter ounce sinker unless the wind is strong, then he will go with a heavier lead.  And he keeps a three eights ounce All Terrain Tackle jig and pig ready to flip into any heavy cover. He likes a black and blue jig and trailer in stained water and a Texas craw color in clearer water.

Charlie keys on several kinds of structure and cover this time of year.  He especially likes rocks and likes to hit “hidden” riprap and boat ramps. Many creeks and coves have patches of riprap back in them that hold bass now and during the shad spawn, and unused boat ramps built by the Corps but never opened are very good spots to find bass since they have concrete and rocks.

For pre-spawn fish, banks that drop fairly fast are best.  Clay banks with some rock on them are good and Charlie will often put his trolling motor on high and hit every little bit of cover back in creeks and coves. He says he doesn’t mess with wood that doesn’t stick above the water, but will run his crankbait by every stick of wood, even small pencil-sized stickups.  Thick cover will draw a flip of his jig.

When some fish start spawning Charlie looks for flatter banks in coves and creeks and wants a bottom with gravel on it.  If he knows where the gravel is he will run a Trap across it then drag a Carolina rig on it. A Carolina rig is a good way to find gravel and see how far it runs out.

February 27th Charlie and I fished West Point on a bitterly cold, windy day.  We even had snow flurries that morning. Yet under almost impossible conditions Charlie caught bass.  His best five keepers weighed 15 pounds.  The fish were already beginning to move to the outer points on these spots and will they will be much better now.  The following ten spots give you a variety of kinds of places to fish right now.

1. N 32 55.705 – W 85 10.327 – R. Sheafer Heard Park sits between the mouth of Maple Creek and the dam.   The middle point of the park has riprap around it and is an excellent place to find shad spawning in mid-April.  Some bass also hold on it in late March and early April as they move into the pockets on either side to spawn, then feed on it again as they move back to deep water post spawn.

The middle point is the big point upstream going toward Maple Creek past the Corps work area.  It has a picnic shelter on it and a boat ramp on the upstream side back in the pocket. Start fishing at one end of the riprap and fish all the way to the other end.

Before the shad spawn and after it fish a crankbait from the rocks out. There is good deep water just off this point so bass feed here, Keep your boat out in 10 to 15 feet of water so you crankbait covers the water down several feet off the rocks.

During the shad spawn get right on the rocks and run your spinnerbait parallel to them as close to the rocks as you can get.  Charlie says a few inches make a big difference. If you are more than a few inches from the rocks you are less likely to get bit. Charlie likes a spinnerbait since it has a single hook. He says the action it too fast and short to mess with removing treble hooks.

2. N 32 57.118 – W 85 11.957 – Another good rocky point that holds bass all month but is especially good during the shad spawn is the entrance to Southern Harbor Marina. The riprap on the lighthouse side is especially good and shad spawn here because it is close to deep water. Tournaments constantly restock bass into the area, too. Charlie caught a solid three pound bass here the day we fished.

Start where the riprap starts on the outside of the point and fish around it to about even with the lighthouse on the back side. Charlie says he hardly ever catches bass further down the back side of the rocks.  Before and after the shad spawn work the blowdowns near the point on the outside carefully.  During the shad spawn the bass will be right on the rocks and you are wasting precious seconds trying to fish the trees when the bass are concentrating on easy meals in inches of water.

Corners of riprap are especially good during the spawn. It seems bass hold right where the rocks make a turn and ambush shad as they come down the rocks to where they change directions.  Charlie often sets up right on the corners and makes constant casts to them even if there is not a school of shad passing the corner.  If they are coming down the rocks they will be there soon.

3. N 32 58.032 – W 85 11.417 – Run up and across the lake to the cove just downstream of channel marker 16.  The woods around this cove were burned not too long ago and it is open under the big pines.  This is an excellent example of the type of place Charlie looks for bass during April.  Bass will bed in every little pocket in this cove. It is near deep water but is protected and has the flatter gravel banks he likes.  He seldom fishes the right bank since it drops off faster.

Run in to the white pea gravel point on the left about two –thirds of the way back.  Start throwing a Rat-L-Trap and work around the left side of cove, covering it fairly fast.  Run the Trap over all the gravel banks you see. If the water is up or you don’t know where the rocks are, drag a Carolina rigged six inch lizard until you feel the rocks.

When the bass start bedding they will often be on these rocks and will hit the lizard when they won’t chase the Trap.  Charlie likes greens like watermelon and green pumpkin in clearer water and black in stained water.  Drag it slowly along the rocks and bass will hit it.

If you are catching fish in an area, any time you see brush or thicker cover flip a jig into it. Charlie likes the All Terrain jig in black and blue and will also pitch it to bass he sees that are on the bed.   Work it slowly in the cover even if you don’t see a bass holding there. Some big fish have to be tempted to bite this time of year.

4. N 32 58.519– W 85 11.350 – Go in Bird Creek and you will see a big rocky point in the middle where the creek splits. Start on the big rocks on the left side of the point and work to your right.  Fish to the right and the bottom will change to gravel. Work out to the next small point.

This is the kind of place where the bass first pull up on in late March and early April.  Fish your crankbait here and try to hit ever bit of cover. Bass will hold and feed around rocks and wood so don’t miss anything.  Charlie calls this “beating the bank” and it works for bass before the spawn. Shad will spawn on these rocks, too, so watch for them in mid April.

5. N 32 59.019 – W 85 11.355 – Go into the cove just downstream of channel marker 24 and fish all around it. You will see an old unused bathhouse in the woods on the upstream point.  This is another good spawning cove and it has lots of little secondary points that are good places to throw Carolina rigs and Traps.  The flatter bottom means it is good for spawning fish.

This cove has the flat bottom and sits right off deep water. Bass moving in to spawn don’t have to go too far.  It is protected and always has bait in it, too.  There are two ditches in the back that show the kind of channel running through it and Charlie says they are good places to see spawning bass. He says bass love  this cove.

For spawning fish Charlie does not look for beds on West Point. He says you hardly ever see the saucer shaped bed like you do on some other lakes. He looks for the bass themselves.  You can spot them holding by a stick or on dark patches.  They may be hard on the bed without you ever seeing the bed and you can catch them. 

Watch the fish. If it runs off and does not come right back, move on. If the bass stays close and seems to concentrate on one spot, pitch a bait to that spot and work it in one place. Try a Paca Craw or All Terrain Jig worked right under the fish.

6. N 32 59.223 – W 85 11.160 – Go around the point and into the cove between channel markers 22 and 24 just downstream of Earl Cook. There is an old unused boat ramp back in this cove and it is a good one to fish. You will see the unused bathhouse on your right that was on your left going into hole #5 and there is a white danger pole marker on the upstream point.

 Bass hold around the ramp and rocks and feed and the shad will spawn on them, too.  Charlie says all ramps like this one that are “off the beaten path” are good places to fish.

Charlie says the Bandit crankbait is his number one weapon this time of year.  Work it and a jig on the rocks and ramp itself.  If the shad are spawning cast a spinnerbait right up on the rocks. Fish the ramp and rocks at different angles and work it to different depths. 

7. N 33 00.097  – W 85 11.320 – Head upstream you will pass black channel marker 27 and a hump on your left at Holiday Campground. The cove just upstream of this maker is a good spawning spot. The point on the upstream side has some picnic tables and you will see a cedar tree right on the edge of the trees about half-way down this bank.

Start fishing on the upstream point near the picnic tables and fish into the cove, working downstream. This is a good spawning pocket and has a flat gravel bottom. Work it with your Trap and Carolina rig to the back. Charlie does not fish the downstream bank of this pocket this time of year.

8. N 33 01.833 – W 85 09.928 – The Highway 109 Bridge is an excellent shad spawning place with lots of riprap to draw them.  Shad work both sides of the bridge and the pilings but Charlie usually has his best luck on the upstream side on the left going up. 

Watch for the shad on the rocks. You will see a ripple right on the rocks and shad flipping out of the water.  Get in close ahead of them as they move along the rocks and work your spinnerbait right on the rocks.

9. N 33 02.245  – W 85 10.064 – Above the Highway 109 Bridge you will see two islands to your left sitting in the mouth of a creek. Channel marker 41 sits downstream of these islands and you want to fish the pocket downstream of the big point at Indian Springs Group Campground straight in from the channel marker. There is a fish attractor buoy off the upstream point.

Start out on the main lake at the point with the picnic tables and buoy and fish downstream into the pocket.  Work this pea gravel bank for spawning fish like the others.   If the wind is blowing in on this bank and others like it the Trap will often be better than the Carolina rig.  Wind does help and makes the fish bite better.

10. N 33 02.571 – W 85 10.252 – Go around the upstream point and between island the island into the small creek.  The right bank going in past the island has rock on it and the whole area in the back of the creek is good from late March on.  The banks are steeper out past the old roadbed and better in late March and early April. The bottom past the roadbed flattens out and has gravel and is a good spawning area, making it better later in the month.  This kind of transition makes a place even better.

Charlie likes all these places and will fish them in tournaments as well as when trying to locate fish. Check them out then use the pattern to find other similar spots and you can catch bass at West Point now.

Where and How to Catch Lake Jackson Bass

March Bass at Jackson Lake 

with Barry Stokes

     For many years Jackson Lake was known for its big bass.  Then spots got into the lake and it seemed the big lunker largemouth got very rare, but you could catch a pile of keeper size spots.  Stringers with several six to eight pound bass are not seen like they were years ago, but 20 pound tournament catches still happen.

     Filled in 1911, Jackson is the oldest big reservoir in the state.  This Georgia Power lake on the headwaters of the Ocmulgee River covers 4750 acres and its shoreline is lined with cabins, docks, rocks and wood cover.  Most of its channels are silted in but there are plenty of sandy spawning coves on the lake.

     Barry Stokes grew up near Jackson and fished farm ponds but did not get to fish Jackson much. He watched bass boats go by his house headed to the lake and was determined someday to be in a bass boat on Jackson like those guys.  He made those wishes come true in the early 1990s and joined the Conyers Bass Pros bass club. Later he joined Bear Creek Bass Club.

     In the past 15 years Barry has learned the lake well and, starting in 2001, fished as many pot tournaments on it as he could. He fished the old R&R, Dixie Bass and Charlie’s Bait and Tackle trail as well as the night and weekend pot tournaments on Jackson. Now he fishes the Berry’s trail, ABA, and any other tournaments on the Jackson.  He also fishes the BFL, HD Marine and other tournaments on Sinclair and Oconee. He is usually waiting around on a check after weigh-in in them. 

     Barry has learned the lake so well he now guides on Jackson as well as Sinclair and Oconee.  He knows how to pattern the bass on the lake and has learned how to catch them. His best day ever on Jackson he landed a 12 pound lunker and had five fish weighing 30 pounds.  In one string of tournaments he won 11 of 13 tournaments and had big fish in all 13.

     Over the years Barry has figured out good patterns for March bass.  In late February they start staging on rock, clay and sand points near spawning coves and feed up on crawfish and baitfish.  He can usually catch them four to eight feet deep on those points. 

     As the water warms during March Barry follows the bass from the points back into the spawning pockets. Some bass will bed in early March if the water temperatures go up and stay stable for a week and bass move into the bedding areas in waves all spring.  There will often be a lot of pre-spawn fish on the points, some moving back and even some on the beds this month.

     “Details are the key,” Barry told me.  He keeps a variety of baits tied on and also has others ready to try. He will vary the details like lure color, depth and speed he retrieves them all during the day until he finds the key. If the fish quit hitting he will start varying the details again until he unlocks the new pattern.                    Barry will have several kinds of crankbaits in different colors, a Ol Nelle spinnerbait, a Net Boy Jackson Jig and pig, a Net Boy Shaky Head, a Terry Bowden’s Cold Steel lizard worm and a Cold Steel Walking Stick all rigged and ready when he heads out this month.  The colors will vary with water color, with brighter colors for stained water and more natural colors for clearer water.  But he will vary all the details during the day.

     One of the details Barry pays attention to that many bass fishermen get lax on is speed he works the baits.   He will vary his speed until he hits what is working. Too many bass fishermen have a speed of retrieve they are comfortable with when using certain baits and don’t very it. Barry constantly changes. 

As the water warms the fish will get more active this month and chase a bait better, but some cold days they want a fast moving bait, too.  As a general rule you should fish slower in cold water and faster in warmer water, but Barry says pay attention to details and vary your speed constantly.

Barry and I fished the following ten spots in mid-February and bass were already on them.  We caught 20 to 25 bass that day and Barry caught almost all of them on crankbaits, but I managed a few of the bigger fish on a jig and pig.  These spots will pay off all month long as fish move up on them then move back to spawn.

1. N 33 25.195 – W 83 49.875 – Run up the Alcovy to the cove on the left called “Parker Neck” and look at the upstream point.  There is a small concrete piling/pier on the up stream side right on the edge of the water and a blowdown runs out off the end of the point.   The house on the point is brick half way up with green wood above it.

This point is an excellent staging area. The bottom is rocky and the pocket on the downstream side, Parker Neck, is a good spawning place.  Fish hold out on the point on the rocks and in the blowdown feeding then move into the cove to spawn as the water warms.

Barry starts out on the end of the point at the blowdown and fishes the tree and the rocks with a crankbait, spinnerbait and jig.  He will then work the bank going downstream all the way past the cut to the next point with a gazebo on it.  Fish the above baits but also try a shaky head worm, and a Texas or Carolina rigged Lizard Worm along this bank. Work the sand where the bass will be bedding.

2. N 33 24.301 – W 83 49.746 – Headed downstream Price Neck is on your right and a good rocky point is on your left. The point you want to fish has a small cabin on it with lattice work around the crawl space.  There is a white painted tire laying in the yard. Back in the pocket on the downstream side there is a house that runs right to the water’s edge.

This point runs out shallow toward the downstream side and there is some brush on the downstream side.  The bass spawn in the cut on the downstream side.  Stay way out and fish a crankbait, spinnerbait and jig around the rocks and brush, then work into the pocket with the other baits. Try to vary your colors and speed until you find what the bass want.

One trick Barry uses is to Texas rig a Cold Steel Walking Stick, a Senko like bait, and fishes it around all the cover in the pockets. It skips under docks well and has a little different action and look than the jig and pig that most anglers will be throwing. This is another example of the types of details Barry uses to catch bass behind other fishermen.

3. N 33 23.035 – W 83 50.279 – Downstream of the bridge and Berry’s there is a point on your left heading downstream that has a beige house with a brown roof on it. There is a three globe light pole in the yard and a dock on the point with a deck on the bank. The deck has lattice panels around it. There are big rocks on the point and the bass spawn in the pocket on the upstream side.

Barry says this is a numbers game point. Spots stage and spawn here and you can often pick up several fish.  Crank the point then try a spinnerbait. Start on the downstream side and parallel the point fishing from near the bank casting out toward the lake. Then work out around the point fan casting both baits.  It gets real shallow on top so don’t get in too close.

After working the point work into the spawning area dragging a worm on the bottom. Barry likes a green pumpkin Lizard Worm this time of year and dips the tail in JJs Magic chartreuse dye to give it some color. Spots seem to especially like the wiggling chartreuse tails.

4. N 33 22.225 – W 83 51.113 – Go under the power lines and you will see a swimming beach and picnic area for Turtle Cove on your left. There are three buoys in front of the beach and the point that runs out downstream of it is a good staging area. The point is red clay and rock, an excellent combination for holding bass this time of year.  They are often feeding on crayfish on this kind of point.

The point runs at an angle downstream across the mouth of a cove.  Start near the swimming area where the sand transitions to clay and rock. That kind of change often holds bass. Work it then keep your boat way our and go downstream, fan casting around the point. 

There is a real good drop on the inside of this point where the small creek coming out of the pocket runs by it. Fish that drop and the blowdown on the inside of the point.  Flip a jig in it and work a spinnerbait through it.  Then work on into the creek for spawning bass.  This is an excellent spawning area and holds a lot of bass.

5. N 33 22.044 – W 83 51.376 – Go past the next cove downstream and you will head straight in to a high bluff bank.  The old river channel swings in right by it and it drops off fast. There are three small points along this bluff bank you should fish in March.  Start on the outside one at the dock on the rock sea wall in front of the series of decks running up the hill to the house. 

It is rocky and holds the first transitioning fish coming up out of the river channel. Stay out and fan cast it then work toward the next dock. There is a rock ledge that runs out under the dock. You will see the dock with a walkway that runs behind a tree leaning out.  The dock has the numbers “3108” on the walkway.

Stay out from the dock on the downstream side and cast toward the walkway and tree. You can see how the rocks run parallel to the bank coming out. Run a crankbait, spinnerbait and jig along these rocks, then work around the dock and fish the other side. Also drag a plastic bait along the bottom here.

The next point going into the creek is a round clay point and you should fish all around it, then fish into the creek, concentrating on any sand you come to.  The Lizard Worm is a good choice on sandy spots since spawning fish will hit it.  You may not see the bed but can catch fish off the beds with this bait.

6. N 33 22.202 – W 83 51.771 – Round the point headed into the South River and you will see a sharp narrow point on your right.  It comes out and drops off fast on both sides but is shallow on top. There is no house on the point but you will see four benches on it and there is a concrete boat ramp on it.  There are two pines on the point with black protectors around their bases.

The point is rock and clay and bass spawn in pockets on both side of it. It is steep and gives bass quick access to shallow water. They can hold deep and quickly move shallow without moving far.

Start on the downstream side and work around the point, staying way out. Fish along the upstream bank leading into the next pocket up. Rocks, clay and sand along this bank hold bass and they will move along it feeding and working into the spawning pocket. Barry will usually stop fishing about where the seawall starts unless he is going back into the pocket for spawning bass.

7. N 33 22.294 – W 83 61.856 – The next point up also has good deep water access.  This point has a brown cabin and there was a US flag flying on the dock in front of it when we were there.  There are two floodlights on a tree right at the dock. There is a big blowdown on the upstream side and a rockpile out on the point.

The wind can be important here and on other spots this time of year. Some wind blowing across the point or into it helps and Barry will fish wind-blown points as long as he can hold his boat on them.  Wind creates current that moves the food baitfish eat and they will follow it. Bass wait on the baitfish.

Start at the blowdown and fish it. Then get out about even with the flag pole and cast across the point, aiming your casts parallel to the bank toward the cove.  You will hit some rocks on this point and that is where a school of bass will often hold.

The downstream pocket is full of wood and a good spawning area. Especially near the end of the month Barry will fish into it, running his Ol Nelle spinnerbait along the wood. He likes a double Colorado blade bait with white skirt, especially in clearer water, but will go with double willow leaf and chartreuse and white skirt in stained water.  He will also flip a jig around the wood before leaving.

8. N 33 21.446 – W 83 51.763 – Head back down the river and it will narrow down. Straight ahead you to the right you will see a pink house with tin roof on a flat point that runs out upstream of a bluff point. There is a green picnic table in the front yard.

Get on the downstream side of the point and cast in toward the seawall. The bottom is very rough here and often holds a lot of bass. Fish this bank into the pocket, working the dock and fishing to the boat ramp. Be sure to his this boat ramp and any others you come to before leaving.

9. N 33 21.393 – W 83 51.391 – The lake opens up just at this point and the far left bank going downstream has a creek coming out. In the mouth of this creek is a hump that is marked with three danger buoys.  It is deep on both sides and bass stage on this hump before going in to spawn.

Barry likes to stay out on the lake side and cast up onto the hump, bringing his baits back shallow to deep. Wind often blows in here and makes it better.   There are rocks and clay on this hump and you should fish all the way around it before leaving. Try all your baits in different colors and speeds. Assume the bass are here and you just have to figure out the details to get them to hit.

10. N 33 22.047 – W 83 53.882 – For something a little different run up Tussahaw Creek under the bride on up to the last pocket on the right before the weekend “no wake” section. You will see a green metal roof dock in front of a brown house. There is a little narrow point here downstream of two small pockets. The point has a cross tie seawall and a big Pampas Grass clump on it. Downstream of the point you will see a white cabin with a red roof just past a blue cabin.

There are some stumps on this clay point and the bass will stage on it.  Fan cast all around this point and try all your baits here. The water is often clearer in the Tussahaw so you may need to change colors to draw strikes. 

These are some of the places Barry will be fishing this month. They will pay off for you, too.  Barry has caught a lot of bass off all of them and gives credit to Jesus Christ, his lord and savior, for his successes.

Call Barry at 770-715-2665 for a guided trip on Jackson, Sinclair and Oconee or visit his web site at www.barrystokesfishn.com.   You can see Cold Steel products at www.teamcoldsteel.com/, JJ’s Magic at www.jjsmagic.com/ and Net Boy Jackson Jigs at www.netboybaits.com/.