April Bartletts Ferry – Harding Bass

with Tyler Morgan

        Bass fishing is fantastic on all our lakes in April, but you should consider a trip to Bartletts Ferry/Harding.  The bass are up shallow in pockets and creeks, with some spawning and others ready to go on the bed or feeding after spawning.  You can catch a lot of spots and largemouth on a variety of baits.

    Bartletts Ferry/Harding is a small Georgia Power lake on the Chattahoochee River downstream of West Point.  It is an old lake, with a lot of wood and rock cover and docks lining the banks.  Both Georgia and Alabama fishing licenses are valid on all waters of this border lake.

    Many bass moved up to spawn in late February after the couple of warm weeks we had, but cold fronts drove the bigger fish back out when the water temperature dropped. All those fish are shallow and ready to be caught right now.  You can catch them on your favorite lures for shallow water fishing around wood, rocks and docks.

    Tyler Morgan has lived in Columbus all his life and started fishing pot tournaments with his dad, Stan, when he was six years old.  He fishes up to five tournaments a week on Bartletts Ferry/Harding and Eufaula now, competing in local pot tournaments and charity tournaments on both lakes.

    A few years ago Tyler started fishing BFL tournament as a co-angler and won the Bulldog Division Co-Angler of the Year twice.  Last year he changed to fishing the boater side and won the BFL at Lanier.  He has fished 33 tournaments on that trail, winning four and finishing in the top ten 16 times.

    Tyler impressed me with his ability to skip a swim jig into the thickest cover, places most fishermen never hit.  He is like many younger fishermen, with skills and knowledge of fishing at 21 years old that far exceed my own, even though I am more than three times his age and have been fishing club tournaments more than twice as long as he has been alive. He is well equipped to further his fishing career.

    “Bartletts Ferry/Harding is full of spots, some of them good size, but it has more quality largemouth than most fishermen realize,” Tyler said.  He focuses on catching those big largemouth since they are what he needs to win tournaments, and his tackle selection and places he fishes reflects that goal.

    For April, Tyler will have a square bill crankbait, a Z-Man Jackhammer Chatterbait, a Spro Popping Frog, a swim jig and a jig and pig rigged for fishing shallow pockets. He will throw a spinnerbait but finds he catches more fish on a swim jig than on a flashy bait.  He likes to fish shallow year-round since he can catch big largemouth that way. He does catch some spots in the places he fishes and baits he uses, but they are not his goal.

    We fished in early March, right after a cold front came through after two warm weeks the end of February, and dropped the water temperature several degrees, pushing the bigger fish back out. We caught a lot of bass but not the big ones hoped for.

    1. N 32 41.588 – W 85 09.767 – Going up Halawaka Creek upstream of the Highway 379 “Long Bridge” past the small island on your right, there is a creek entering on the right at some condos.  Go to the left bank across from the condos and start fishing the riprap in front of a brown house.

    This creek is a good example of the kind of place Tyler fishes in April. He will fish fast, covering water looking for active bass.  Start on the riprap with a square bill and parallel it. Sun on them warms the rocks and draws in bass to feed on baitfish and crawfish.

    Tyler fishes a red crankbait since it imitates crawfish in April. He fishes it fast to see how active the fish are, but pauses it during the retrieve to stimulate a bite.  He wants it bumping the rocks. If fishing it fast does not get a bite, especially early in the month, he will “count rocks” with his crankbait, slowing it down and bumping every rock with it.

    Fish all the way around this small double creek. There are docks with brush piles, especially on the left bank going in, and Tyler with throw a jig and pig around the docks and brush. In more shallow area he will try a swim jig and chatterbait.

    2.  N 32 41.235 – W 85 09.993 – Going upstream and across the lake, where the creek narrows, a small cove is on your left.  The upstream point is a grassy hill with a concrete seawall with posts in it and riprap at the base of it, going around the point.

    Start on the outside of the point and fish around it with your crankbait.  Also try a chatterbait, fishing it parallel to the rocks, too. Tyler likes a red and black chatterbait with a black Baby Brush
Hog trailer for the same reason he chooses a red crankbait.

    When you get to docks, skitter a jig and pig under them.  Also run a swim jig along the posts. 
In the shallows, especially where there are grass patches, fish a swim jig through it. Also run it through any wood cover, from brush to blowdowns, in shallow water.

    Fish all the way around this cove. Fish bed in the back and side ditches in it and the other places marked. Slow down some and look for beds in shallow water if it is clear enough to see them.  If stained a swim jig over them will often make a big female show herself.

    3. N 34 41.151 – W 85 10.388 – Go under the old railroad trestle and stop on the round point just upstream of the first pocket on your left. The point goes around to a bigger creek. Stop at the big concrete ramp and boat house pad and fish your crankbait and chatterbait parallel to the riprap around the point.

    There is brush here on the rocks and that sometimes concentrates the fish.  Fish it all, working both baits into the upstream creek. Use your jig and pig and swim   jig around thicker brush and docks.  Bass stage on the point both pre and post spawn and feed, then move back to spawn. Fish in the creek for the ones already in there, too.

    4.  N 32 41.256 – W 85 11.146 – Going up the creek the Prince Road bridge is to your left as the creek turns. On the right another smaller creek enters the bigger creek and is a good spawning area. It has a good bit of grass and a lot of wood cover in it so fish it all.

    Stop on the point on your left going into the smaller creek, the one with a dock, boat ramp and light pole near the water. This flat point has a good bit of grass on it, so it is a good place for the swim jig as is the other grass and wood cover in this creek.  You can spend a lot of time fishing here since the creek is fairly big and has several ditches and small arms in it.

    Tyler uses a Dirty Jigs swim jig since it has a big, heavy hook needed when fighting a big bass on braid line in cover.  He likes a white jig and puts a Zoom Fat Albert white twin tail trailer on it in stained water. If the water is clear, he will go to a more translucent jig and trailer.

    Skitter the jig across the top of the water as far back into cover as you can. Be ready for a hit as soon as it stops. Start reeling immediately.   Tyler twitches his rod tip constantly making the jig jerk and twitch on the retrieve. He says he loves the way bass slam a swim jig and inhale it.

    5.  N 32 40.772 – W 85 11.204 – Under Prince Bridge the creek goes to the right and a smaller creek enters on the left. Go into the creek on the left to the first point past the main creek point and start fishing.  The point has a bleached out wood dock in front of a wood seawall. Fish from the dock around the flat pocket past it.

    This shallow flat warms fast and has a lot of wood cover and some grass on it. Tyler says it holds a surprising number of fish, even though it does not look like much.  A swim jig is good all around it since it comes through the grass without hanging and goes over wood cover even if it is on the surface.

    If the bass don’t seem to want the faster moving swim jig, pitch a jig and pig to all the wood cover here. Let if fall by the dock posts and logs in the cove.  Tyler uses a black and red or solid black three–eighths ounce jig with a matching Strike King Rage Craw on it.

    6.  N 32 40.605 – W 85 11.260 – Ahead of you a long flat point comes out and points to a steeper bank with a green shed, single and double boat docks on the opposite side. This is an old pond dam across the creek and it has rocks and some brush on it.  It is a great staging area for pre and post spawn fish.

    Fish across the dam, keeping your boat off it and running your crankbait over the top and bumping rocks with a jig and pig.  You can also fish a Carolina rig or shaky head on it, but Tyler does not usually slow down enough to work those kinds of baits. 

    After fishing the dam work the steeper rocky bank on the other side, then fish around the back of the creek with swim jig and crankbait for fish back in there spawning. In April Tyler will always have a Texas rigged white Zoom Speed Craw ready to throw into beds when he sees them.

    7.  N 32 41.353 – W 85 10.260 –  Going back down the lake under the railroad trestle the first fairly big cove on your left has a small dock in front of a brown brick house. The point has riprap around it and is a good feeding area for staging fish that spawn back in the cove.

    Start on the riprap with crank bait and chatterbait. Go around the point into the cove, fishing wood cover and any grass with a swim jig.  It is worth trying a frog on grass here and any other of these places if the water is 62 degrees or warmer. Tyler likes a black and yellow Spro Popping Frog but warns it is a big fish bait.  You won’t get many bites, but those that do are likely to be big.  Throw it for a kicker fish around grass, wood and docks.

    8.  N 32 40.991 – W 85 09.472 – Down the lake on your right a narrow point comes out and points downstream.  It is on the upstream side of a narrow cove.  On the left side going in, across from the point, is a rounded cement seawall that leads to a block boathouse on the bank with boat rails coming out of it.

    Stop at the boathouse and fish the rails and seawall, then skip a swimming jig or frog under overhanging brushes along the bank. Not far down this bank is a small ditch where Tyler says he caught a five pounder off the bed last year.

    Fish the back of the cove in the shallows with swimm jig while watching for beds.   Pitch your Speed Craw to any you see and try to get the big female on them to hit.  A frog over the beds and shallow wood will also get bites.  

    9.  N 32 41.386 – W 85 09.182 – Down the lake behind the island on your left just above the bridge a small cove runs back a short distance. The left bank going in is steeper rock and concrete rubble and there is wood all along it.  Start at the upstream point and fish around this cove.

    The rocks and rubble offer a good feeding area for bass to eat crayfish so your crankbait and chatterbait are good. Tyler says a lot of bass bed back in the cove, more than you would think for such a small cove. Fish it carefully, working the dock and wood cover back here, and casting to places where beds should be even if you can’t see them.

    10. N 32 40.940 – W 85 09.342 – Straight across the lake a small cove goes back from the lake and makes a short dogleg to the right in the back. It is just upstream of the big creek that enters closer to the bridge.  There is green roof dock on the right bank and an underground house and shed in the back.  Start at the green roof dock and fish around the cove.

    Work the right and left sides with crankbait and chatterbait. The left bank has two concrete and rock piers and Tyler says bass often hold right on them.  Work both sides carefully, and fish the very back in the shallows for bedding fish.

    We caught small buck bass on almost every one of these places in early March. By now the females have joined them. Give them a try.

You can follow Tyler on Facebook and see some of his catches at https://www.facebook.com/tyler.morgan.980967

    Do you find these Map of the Month articles helpful?  If so visit http://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.

August Bartletts Ferry Bass

 with Brandon Carraway

    There is no way around it; bass fishing is tough in August no matter where you go.  Hot days make you drip with sweat and hot water makes bass feed less, especially during the day. But you can catch fish, and Bartletts Ferry is a good choice for a trip right now.

    Bartletts Ferry is a small Georgia Power lake on the Chattahoochee River not far downstream of West Point Lake.  It is an old lake lined with docks and has many grassbeds, wood cover and rocky banks.  The lake has a high population of spotted bass but largemouth seem to be increasing in numbers and size according to the DNR and local fishermen.

    Brandon Carraway grew up in Upatoi in Muscovy County and part of greater Columbus now.  He started fishing Bartletts Ferry as a kid and his grandparents took him camping at Blanton Creek Park as soon as it opened. He has fished it all his life.

    Now Brandon fishes with the Fishers of Men trail and doesn’t miss many pot and charity tournaments on Bartletts Ferry. His dad fished tournaments for a while and Brandon got the bug, and does well in tournaments near Columbus. 

    “Bartletts Ferry is tough in August, with the hot water and all the weekend boat traffic,” Brandon said.  He usually fishes early in the morning until the traffic gets bad, or fishes at night.

    “There are several patterns that work this time of year,” Brandon said.  He will have a frog, a buzzbait, a jig and pig, a Texas rigged beaver bait, a weighless Senko, a Trick worm and a crankbait ready to fish. A shaky head will also catch fish right now.

    First thing at daylight or at night Brandon will fish the grassbeds for active bass.  As the sun gets above the trees he goes to seawalls, especially those on the shady side of coves, and gravel points.

    “The grassbeds can produce a lot of quality fish at times during August,” Brandon said. Mayfly hatches can be good or bad. The bass are feeding on bream and Mayflies will make them active in the shallows, but it seems sometimes the bass gorge so much on bream that the fishing gets tough later during a hatch.

    Brandon fishes fast, trying to find a feeding fish by covering water. There may be a few feeding in a cove one morning then nothing the next day, so he searches for them, fishing as many places as he can during a tournament to catch a limit.

    “The largemouth do seem to be coming back,” Brandon said.  Tournament weigh-ins often show this with more largemouth than in the past few years.  And Brandon got his best ever largemouth from Bartletts Ferry this year, landing a seven pound, one ounce fish. He has also had a five fish limit weighing 19 pounds, 3 ounces from the lake.

    Brandon took me to Bartletts Ferry in early July to catch some bass and mark the following spots that will be good this month.  The Mayflies were so thick that morning it was dangerous to take a deep breath, and bream were feeding on them everywhere we fished.

    But the bass fishing was tough. We think they had gorged on the bream all night and stopped feeding before we got there. Brandon had fished the Tuesday night pot tournament two days before we fished and the winners had 18 pounds, but they ran way up the river above the shoals where it is dangerous to go in a bass boat. Second place was only nine pounds.

    The following places are all spots where Brandon fishes during a tournament and you will find fish feeding in them in August.

    1.  N 32 41.415 – W 85 09.155 – Go up Halawakee Creek under the first bridge. Ahead of you a small island sits just off the right bank. The small cove just downstream of it is full of brush and has good deep water and holds bass. Brandon says he watched another fisherman catch five weighing 18 pounds here.

    Go into the cove and stop before you get to the first dock on the right. A brushpile starts here and runs all the way down to the small private boat ramp on that side.  Keep your boat out in 14 feet of water and cast to about ten feet from the bank and work your bait back.  You can see one limb sticking out of the water but there is a lot more brush you can’t see.

    Brandon likes to throw a Texas rigged Reaction Innnovations beaver bait behind a one quarter to three eights ounce sinker.  If the water is stained he uses a black and blue bait but goes to watermelon red in clear water. Brandon dips the tails of all his plastics in JJ’s Magic, using different colors depending on water color.

    He works the bait fairly fast until he hits a limb, then raises it up to the limb and lets it fall back. You can also fish the brush with a jig and pig.  The brush runs down a ledge parallel to the bank where it drops off deeper, making it even better.

    2. N 32 41.061 – W 85 09.666 – Across the creek and upstream there is a cove running off the channel almost parallel with it, with a long narrow point on the upstream side. Just upstream from it the next cove is a small deep creek that has good overhanging bushes, docks and brush piles to fish. There are no houses on the upstream point of this cove.

    Start on the left going in before you get to the first dock on that side.  You will be in 18 feet of water off the dock. It has a covered boathouse with a deck on top. Fish your beaver bait and jig and pig all around the brown dock. Skip a weightless Senko back under the boathouse as far as you can get it to go. That often works when sun runs the fish to the shade.

    Then fish the shady bank past it to the back of the cove with topwater, Trick worm and jig. Across the back of the small creek is a good blowdown to fish. As you turn and come back out a small dock will be on your left. Fish all around it, there is a good brush pile on it.

    3.  N 32 41.515 – W 85 08.005 – Run back down under the bridge and stop just before you get to the power lines crossing the main creek. They come off a long point on your right.  Just upstream of the main point a smaller point comes off the bank just before you get to the first pocket. It drops off fast on both sides and has a good gravel bottom.

    Brandon keeps his boat in 25 to 30 feet of water off the end of the point straight out from the pine tree near the bank with two gray stripes on it.  The point runs out in front of the tree. Cast a jig head with a Junebug Trick worm on it near the bank and work it back out to 15 feet deep. Brandon says he seldom catches fish deeper than about 15 feet.

    Also work a jig and pig or beaver bait along the bottom, bumping the gravel. Brandon likes to hop his jig off the bottom and let it fall back when fishing rocks.  Current moving across this point helps make the fish bite 100 percent better, according to Brandon.

    4.  N 32 40.989 – W 85 07.609 – Go downstream around the point with the power lines and past the first creek on your right. The second creek on your right has power lines crossing it as does the first one.  Go into the second one and stop on the left bank just past the power lines.

     Brandon says this is a everything bank that produces some quality fish.  It is a muddy flat with some gravel and there are blowdowns and brush on it as well as overhanging bushes. And it stays shady late in the morning so the bass stay shallow longer here.

    Keep your boat a long cast from the bank and start fishing down this bank into the creek. Throw a crankbait that runs six to eight feet deep to bump the bottom and brush. Fish a Trick worm under the overhanging bushes and around the wood cover.      A buzzbait will also catch fish on this bank. Brandon likes a white bait with silver blade in stained water and goes to chartreuse in clear water.  Fish around the small pocket on this bank and work the grass bed on the point where the bank goes back into a small ditch.

    There is one small dock on this bank. Fish around it but watch past it for an old foundation in a couple of feet of water. Bass often hold against the edge of this old foundation like they do on a seawall so fish it good. There is also a big rock out in the middle of the ditch just past the old foundation that often holds fish.

    5.  N 32 40.868 – W 85 06.638 – Head down the creek past where the Chattahoochee River joins Halawakee Creek. As you go around the first point on your right, with a danger marker on it, you will see a small island not far off the bank and a much bigger island past it.

    Go into the creek just upstream of the small island past the first few docks and the boathouse on the bank. Past the boathouse there is a big tan house with a brown roof up on the hill. The small dock in front of it has good deep brush pile to fish.

    Start just downstream of the dock and work around it with beaver, jig and pig and jig head worm.  Brandon uses a Stan Sloan seven sixteenths ounce brown jig with a Zoom black chunk with red flake. He slides it along until he hits brush then pulls it up and lets it fall back down.

     Fish just past the dock to the rails coming from the boathouse up on the bank, fishing around the rails with jig head worm, jig and pig and beaver bait. The brush around the dock is in 15 feet of water and holds big fish, and the rails run out to deep water, too.

    6. N 32 41.090 – W 85 05.094 – Run across the lake past the big kudzu covered island into the big creek on the Georgia side. Go up the creek until you see it split with a long narrow point between two arms.  There is a boat club on this point, with a ramp and picnic tables on it.

    On your right across from the tip of the point is a small cove with a no wake buoy in its mouth.  The cove is deep and has docks in it and some overhanging brush. Fish all the way around this cove, starting on the right on the rocky bank.

    Skip a Senko under the docks, work the rocks with jig and pig, beaver bait and jig head worm, and run a buzzbait or frog in the shade. This is where Brandon caught the seven pounder earlier this year.

    7.  N 32 41.115 – W 85 06.139 – Go out of the creek and start up the river. Behind the kudzu covered island you will see a sail boat club in a small pocket between two bigger coves. Brandon says an unusual pattern works here all summer to catch keeper size spots. 

    Idle in from the no wake buoys and have a white Super Fluke ready.  Fish it around all the sail boats. Spots hold under these boats and feed on shad that come in to feed around them.  Brandon says you probably won’t catch any big fish, but you can catch a lot of spots around a pound and a half.

    8.  N 32 41.850 – W 85 06.532 – Head up the river and you will pass a big island on your right not far off the bank.  The next cove upstream of it has a very small island with a ridge running toward the upstream point of the small creek there.  There are danger markers on the ridge and one sits not far off the main point.

    This point is round and has riprap all the way around it. The water drops off to 20 feet deep around this point and it is a good place to fish a crankbait. Brandon likes the DT10 since it gets down deep enough to cover the water where he expects the bass to hold.

    Fish all the way around this point, keeping your boat in at least 15 feet of water and making angle casts right to the bank. Your crankbait should stay near the bottom back to near the boat. Brandon likes a shad colored crankbait in clear water or one with some chartreuse in it in stained water.

    9. N 32 42.222 – W 85 06.463 – Going up the river the right bank swings way out and a small creek enters on the right just before you get to it.  There are two no wake buoys in the mouth of it. As you go in you will see a seawall on the right running along the bank in front of a gray house where the creek starts to really narrow down.

    Brandon has put out cane brush piles along this bank, and lined them up so he can fish a crankbait around them without getting hung up.  They are in shallow water and he uses a shallow running crankbait like the DT 4 or DT 6. Keep your boat a long cast off the seawall, throw right to it and fish your bait back straight out to run along the cane without hanging up in it.

    10. N 32 42.654 – W 85 07.074 – Going up the river not far upstream you will see two grassbeds and some logs hung up in the shallow water right in the middle of the river. If you come in from the Alabama side the channel swings in close, with 40 feet of water not far off the grass. This shallow flat will cover with grass by late August and bass feed around it, especially when current is running down the river.

    Brandon will fish the edge of the drop with a crankbait then fish the grass and logs with a frog or spinnerbait.  You can also fish your beaver bait around the grass if the fish are not real aggressive.  Bream bed out on this flat and bass move in to feed on them, and to ambush shad that current moves to them.

    Give Brandon’s spots and baits a try then you can find many similar places all over the lake to catch fish. Just keep moving until you find them. 

September Bartletts Ferry Bass

 with Bo Talley

    Frustrated with late summer fishing?  Tired of hours of casting in hot waters and not finding fish?  Head to Lake Harding, known in Georgia as Bartlett’s Ferry, if you want some fast action all day long.

    Bartlett’s Ferry is a small Georgia Power Lake on the Chattahoochee River just downstream of West Point Lake.  There is good current flow when water is being released at the dam or when power is generated at West Point.  The lake level changes a foot or so rapidly due to its size but is usually near full pool until the winter draw down in October.

    It is an old lake, full of docks, grass beds and best of all, spotted and largemouth bass.  You can catch large numbers of keeper size bass there right now, with a chance for much bigger fish.

    Bo Talley grew up in Bibb City, within the city of Columbus, and has fished Bartlett’s Ferry for many years. He works on motors in Phenix City for Randall Marine, which he says has the best selection of bass fishing tackle in the area.  They specialize in working on bass boats and cater to the fisherman.

    His job puts him in contact with a lot of area fishermen and Bo fishes many tournaments, including the Bulldog BFL trail and most pot tournaments on Bartlett’s Ferry and other area lakes. He plans on fishing the Everstart Series next year and has acquired some sponsors, including Quantum Rods and Reels and JJ’s Magic.  His boat is being wrapped by John Allen at Pestey John’s Pest Control.

    Bartletts Ferry is one of Bo’s favorite lakes and he does well there.  In one tournament he caught two six pound spots and his biggest largemouth from the lake is a 6.9 pounder.  His best five-fish limit weighed 26 pounds.

    “In September bass are in a transition, holding a little more shallow and feeding in the shallows longer,” Bo said.  He targets shallow grass beds for both spots and largemouth this time of year, and also catches bass on bluff walls.

    A wide variety of baits work right now, including a Strike Zone Grinder Buzzbait in white or white and chartreuse.  Bo likes a smaller bait this time of year and a quarter ounce is standard.  Bass will also hit a Spook and a Spro Frog on top, Bo’s favorite way to catch fish.

    A KVD Sexy Shad crankbait is also one of his favorites now. It works well for bass holding off the shallow grass beds, waiting to move in and feed.  He says you can fish faster now than you have the past few months and catch fish.

    For slower fishing a Zoom green pumpkin Swamp Crawler with its tail dipped in JJ’s chartreuse on a three sixteenths ounce Buckeye Spot Remover is his go-to bait. He will also cast and flip a Tommy Gunn half ounce Jawbreaker jig in the blue/green color trailed with a green pumpkin chunk.  

    We fished Bartletts in early August and caught a lot of keeper size bass. The bigger bass just did not hit that day but they will be hitting better now on these spots. Fish them and you will catch a lot of bass and have a good chance of catching some quality bass as the water starts to cool a little.

    1.  N 32 44.660 – W 85 08.069 – If you put in at the free Georgia Power ramp at Idlehour or at Blanton Creek Park, you can stay in the river and catch fish all day without running around a lot, an important factor with the price of gas.  Run up the river from either ramp to where the river makes a bend back to the right upstream of Blanton Creek. Just before the bend there are houses and docks on your left and they end right at the bend.

    On your left you will see two openings into a shallow lake area behind an island running parallel to the river.  The second opening is where Bo usually starts first thing in the morning.  Stop out in front of it and fish a buzzbait and Spook around both sides and in the middle of the ditch. Work from the bank and opening out to a long cast from the bank.

    Bass will hold along this ditch and opening before moving into the shallow grass to feed. Fish the grass at the ditch with a frog or buzzbait then work into the lake area, fishing the grass on both sides.  It is very shallow in there so you can’t always fish very far into the lake area on either side, but work the edges and the bank at the back straight in where you can reach it.

    Fish back out to the opening and fish the mouth of the ditch on both sides with a crankbait.  Fan cast the whole area before leaving. Bo says this is often a good way to pick up a quality fish holding here this time of year.

    2.  N 32 44.570 – W 85 07.939 – Fish downstream, casting to the bank with topwater and crankbaits, to the next opening.  The mouth of it is full of grass under the water that looks like hydrilla and along the edges above the water.  There were a lot of baitfish here when we fished and that is the norm that draws in the bass.

    Fish into the lake area working your bait over the submerged grass and through the grass sticking out of the water.  Fish your buzzbait, Spook or frog all the way to the boat. We got several hits near the boat from bass holding in the grass that goes all the way across the mouth.

    Fish into the pocket as far as you can go.  Watch for any activity and cast to it with a topwater bait.  It is so shallow in here bass will often give themselves away when they move.  Fish back to the seawall with lot numbers on it on your left, then fish back out to the river.

    3.  N 32 44.517 – W 85 07.737 – You can fish the shoreline all the way downstream from this pocket, hitting shallow wood and grass, to the point of the next small creek downstream, or idle down to the dock with a deck on top.  When you get near the dock the water gets a little deeper.

    Fish topwater around the grass then try a jig head worm from the grass edge out to the boat.  Bo says this is a good area for spots and he caught a good keeper on his jighead here.  Cast to the edge of the grass and work your bait back to the boat since you may get a hit anywhere out from the grass from bass holding well off it. You can also fish a shallow running crankbait through the area, too.

    Fish to the mouth of the small creek and work both sides of it and back into it about 100 feet.  The docks on the upstream side are worth skipping your jig head under, especially if the sun is on the water.

    4.  N 32 46.005 – W 85 08.242 – Run on up the river to where the channel swings back to the right.  You will see an island in the main channel and several cuts on your right. One of them is the “false river” that runs around and joins back with the main channel well upstream.

    Look to your left before you get to the island and you will see the mouth of a double pocket, with a big shallow lake to the right and a more narrow opening straight ahead.  It opens up in the back and there is big new house behind it.

    Stop out from the upstream point of this opening. A good ledge runs across it parallel to the river.  Keep your boat out in deep water and fish across the top of the ledge with topwater, fishing from the bank down past the mouth of the opening.

    After fishing it on top go back over it with a crankbait.  Start by casting from the river side across the top, then work to the end of it and into the cut, fishing from the river side into the ditch mouth. Also cast a jig head worm on this ledge.  Fish school up on this ledge so it is worth a lot of casts.

    After fishing the ledge fish the grass in the mouth of the right hand pocket and the shallow wood around the mouth of the left side with a buzzbait before leaving this spot.

    5.  N 32 46.027 – W 85 07.947 – Run across the river and upstream. You will see three openings on your right going upstream. Bo goes to the third one, a cut that runs back a short distance into Johnson Island.  Starting on the upstream point, fish the grass and wood on both sides with topwater.

    Fish on down the bank downstream of the cut. Bo says there is a good ledge here so keep your boat well off the bank. Cast a topwater bait, crankbait and jig head worm under the overhanging brush and work back out across the ledge. Bo got a keeper spot here on a Spook when we fished.

    The second opening you will come to is an opening into the false river and current comes out of it, making good eddies when it hits the river. The same thing happens at the next opening, the main mouth of the false river.

    The ledges off the upstream points of both openings are good so cover them carefully. Then work into the openings, flipping a jig and pig to the bank and fishing the wood cover along it. The downstream bank and point of the last opening going downstream, the main opening, is deep and a very good place to flip a jig and pig.

    6. N 32 44.541 – W 85 07.153 – Head back down the river to where the houses are on your right going downstream.  On your left is a long island running parallel to the river. Where it ends a very shallow ledge runs downstream so be careful, but idle in to the upstream point of the second pocket downstream of the end of the island.

    Fish the grass on both sides of this opening down to the next small cut. The water is very shallow here but it holds a lot of bass. The wind was blowing into this grass when we fished and Bo says that usually makes for a better bite. We got several bass along this grass on top and on a jig along the edge of it.

    7.  N 32 44.514 – W 85 07.036 – The upstream point of Blanton Creek is not far downstream. Start on it and fish the grass here back into the creek all the way to even with the no wake buoys.  A buzzbait and frog are both good here but also work a jig head worm or jig and pig along the edge of the grass, too.

    8.  N 32 44.174 – 85 06.662 – Go across the mouth of Blanton Creek to the grass bed between it and the next small creek on your left going downstream. Start fishing the grass about 100 yards upstream of the small creek and fish to it.  The water is a little deeper here since it is the beginning of an outside river bend and Bo says he catches a good many good fish here.

    Keep your boat out in about nine feet of water and cast back into the grass with a buzzbait or frog.  Current will hit this grass and make it better, too.  Work anything unusual in the grass like cuts, points and holes in it.

    Bo will fish a buzzbait all day long. Sometimes sunny days seem better and others cloudy days are better, but fish all day either way. It was cloudy the day we fished and we caught several bass on top right in the middle of the day.

      9.  N 32 44.037 – W 85 06.656 – For a change of pace stop on the downstream point of the small creek just downstream of Blanton Creek. It is a bluff wall dropping almost straight off into the river.   Keep your boat out in about 23 feet of water and flip or pitch a jig and pig to the bank. Work it slowly down the drop.

    Bo likes a half-ounce jig and pig for this fishing. He moves it very slowly so it hits every small outcropping on the bluff on the way down. When your bait falls a foot or so and stops, shake your rod tip without pulling the bait off the small ledge or rock.

    Try to show your bait to a fish holding in any crack or hole in the rocks.  Fish slowly, making a pitch every few feet.  Bo says he catches some pretty decent fish doing this here and on other bluff walls. This is how he got the two six pound spots.

    10.  N 32 43.254 – W 85 07.289 – Run down to where the river opens up and the channel splits. Right where it opens up there is a small creek on your right going downstream. A narrow grass covered point runs across them mouth of this creek from the downstream bank and Bo says it is called the “Hog Pen” since there was a hog pen here. You can still see some of the posts on the point and there are cypress trees on it.

    Bo likes to start on the outside end where it comes off the bank and fish upstream.  He fishes a buzzbait in the grass along it and flips a jig and pig or pitches a jig head worm to the edge of the grass. Fish all the way around the end of the point and into the creek, working that side to you get to the bank opposite of where you started.

    These ten spots all held bass in August and will be even better now. There are many bluff walls on the lake and a lot of grass beds in other areas to fish, too. Head to Bartlett’s Ferry this month and you will have a lot of fun catching bass.

March Bass at Bartletts Ferry/ Lake Harding

with Nick Roberson

     March is a great month to go fishing just about anywhere in Alabama.  Warming waters turn fish on and they move shallow and feed.  It is hard to pick one place to go but Bartletts Ferry/Lake Harding on the Chattahoochee River just south of Lanette offers a variety of kinds of fishing for both spots and largemouth that is hard to beat right now.

     Lake Harding is a 5,850 acre Georgia Power Lake not far downstream from West Point Lake.  It was filled in 1926 and the waters near the dam are deep and rocky.  Up the river above the Hawalakee Creek junction it is mostly river channel with some big creeks and a good many old oxbow lakes off the channel. Both Alabama and Georgia fishing licenses are good on all the waters.

     Bartlett’s Ferry has been known as a good producer of both spots and largemouth for many years.  Last year there were large numbers of keeper size 12 to 14 inch bass and this year those fish will be in the two pound range. In the 2007 Creel Census Report Bartlett’s Ferry ranked sixth in Bass Weighed-In Per Hour and seventh in Percent of Anglers With Five Or More Bass, and there are more keeper bass now than there were two years ago.

     Nick Roberson lives near Opelika and fishes Harding often.  He started going fishing with his father when he was old enough to walk.  About 14 years ago he got into bass tournament fishing when a group at his work place started having tournaments.  For the past few years he has fished with the West Georgia Bass Club, a team tournament trail that fishes a variety of west Georgia and east Alabama lakes and is Triton Gold certified, and other tournament on area lakes.

      Last year Nick and his partner won the West Georgia Bass Club tournament on Harding with 14 pounds and ended up 5^th overall in the point standings for the year out of 170 teams.  Nick has also won both the Diehard and Lazy Days tournaments on Harding and had done well in other tournaments there.  His best Harding bass was an 8 pound, 8 ounce hawg caught in a tournament and his best five fish in a tournament weighted just over 22 pounds.

     “Last year I found fish on the beds in February here,” Nick told me. After a warm winter bass were spawning up the river in oxbow lakes in February and Nick expects to find them there every year from late February to early March.  He says bass in the river spawn a lot earlier than most folks realize.       Nick says bass on the main lake spawn a little later but he normally finds bedding fish there by mid to late March. 

     Nick plans his fishing on Harding around the spawning bass.  He will start in the mornings on the main lake, hitting points and banks near spawning pockets for the prespawners and will always watch for spawners, too.  Then after lunch when the sun has been warming the water all morning he will head up the lake to fish there. In the river he goes into spawning areas and fishes for the bass on the beds and any cruising the spawning areas, too.

     A variety of baits work well on the lake and Nick will have a Jawbreaker jig and pig, a jig head worm, a spinnerbait and a crankbait tied on. He will also throw a topwater bait much earlier than most folks and a jerk bait rounds out his lake arsenal.

     Up the river Nick relies on Senkos and spinnerbaits.  Most of the oxbow lakes are very shallow and full of grass so the Senko works best most of the time. He will pitch and cast his bait to visible beds but will also work the grass, dropping it into holes where a bass might be bedding.  That works best when the water is murky and you can’t see the beds as well. 

     Nick fishes all his baits on baitcasting outfits and his reels are spooled with Suffix line.  He fishes with Tommy Gunn, maker of Jawbreaker jigs, a lot and he likes Tommy’s jigs and jig heads.  For the jig and pig he will use black and blue combinations with a black or green trailer.  His favorite worm for the jig head is a Zoom scuppernong Trick worm.

     Colors for crankbaits and jerk baits depend on water color, with natural colors best in clear water and bright colors used when the water is stained.  Nick uses a pink spinnerbait a lot and says it is his best color.  He likes two gold willowleaf blades on it.

     A Boy Howdy, an old topwater lure with spinners on both ends, is Nick’s favorite. He surprised me by throwing it in early February in water temperatures at 50 degrees, and caught a bass on it the day we fished.  He says bass will hit on top even in the winter if you fish the right bait the right way.

     The following ten holes will produce bass from now through the end of March on Harding.  We fished the lower lake spots the second week of February on a cold, rainy day and fish were already on them and will be on them even better now. We landed about 20 bass that day and our best five would have weighed between 11 and 12 pounds. That shows Harding has a lot of bass in the two pound range for us to catch that many on such a bad day.  The bass had not moved into the spawning areas up the river in early February but they will be there now.

     1. N 32 41.321 – W 85 08.142 – This main lake point and bank is a good place to start. Nick won a weekly tournament here and it holds fish year round. Heading down Halawakee Creek from the bridge the creek bends back to the left. Straight ahead the bank runs out from your right and you will see a point with a seawall around it. Trees on the bank have faces on them and there are post with ropes around them and black metal light poles around it.

     Start on this point and work to your left.  There are three good docks to fish and bass hold on them and on the block seawall.  The first dock has three metal park benches on it.  Fish the seawall then the dock and the pocket behind it.  Be sure to hit the rails coming from the boathouse. Bass often hold on rails like these.

     This pocket runs out to a natural rock point that holds fish, too. Fish it and the next two docks.  Try your jig and pig and jig head worm around the docks, probing for brush, and on the rocks and rails.  Run a crankbait or spinnerbait beside the docks and along the point. And don’t hesitate to work your favorite topwater plug slowly in this area, too.

     2.  N 32 41.486 – W 85 08.347 – Back across the creek and slightly upstream, the last point where the creek opens up has riprap around it and a small dock on the upstream side. There is a yellow cabin on the point and there are palm trees planted near the water.  The point comes up shallow then drops off.  There are some stumps and rocks around this point that hold March bass.

     Start out in front of the small upstream dock and work a jig and pig or jig head worm slowly down the bottom. Cast up near the seawall and make short hops. When you hit a stump pause it there for a few seconds then hop it away from the stump. Sometimes a bass holding by the stump will react as the bait jumps away from it.

     Work all the way around the point then try your crankbait and jerk bait over it, too. Jerk baits work better when the water is clear and this creek is usually clearer than the river or the main lake.

     3. N 32 40.893 – W 85 06.636 – Run down past the mouth of the river and watch for a rocky point on your right.  It is between two long deep coves and a brown top gazebo sits under a big pine on the downstream side. The upstream side of the point has a big pine and a big hardwood leaning a little over the water.   Start at the small wooden seawall on the upstream side at the leaning pine and work around the point and into the downstream pocket a short distance.

     There are a lot of big rocks under the water on this point and bass stack up on it all during the winter. They will start to move into the coves to spawn but some will be out here all during March.  As you fish past the gazebo there will be riprap on the bank and a house with a screen room on it.

     Fish around the rocks down the steep bank. Keep fishing down this bank, working the riprap and docks.  Some of the docks have brush around them and there is a lot of brush around the dock in front of the big house a short way down the bank. Nick says he has caught some big bass from this brush over the years. Fish all your baits here but your jig and pig is the best bet for bigger bass.

     4. N 32 40.299 – W 85 04.650 – Run into the big creek to your left right at the dam. Toward the back there is an island in the middle with a house on it and it is before you get to the condos in the bank of the creek. Just before you get even with the downstream end of the island you will see a small pocket on your right.  Start fishing at it and work toward the condos.

     The first little pocket will hold bedding bass as will the next one and other bass will hold on the steep bank around rocks, docks and brush.  Nick and I both caught bass in this area in February.  Work all your baits here, running a crankbait beside the docks and off the rocks on the bank.  Hop a jig and pig or jig head worm down the bank.  Fish rails coming out of boathouse and brush around the docks. 

     As you work into pockets here fish slowly and watch for signs of bedding bass.  You may see a light spot marking a bed or just see the black tip of a bass’s tail.  If you spot a bass on the bed throw a jig into it and let it sit.  Fish slowly with a jig for bedding bass here you don’t spot, too. Nick says bass will bed in this pocket even in early March.

     Work all the way to the little peninsular with the picnic stuff on it at the condos.  Nick says you should have a limit of keepers just along this bank in late February and March.

     5. N 32 40.568 – W 85 04.668 – Run across the creek on the upstream side of the island and you will see a big cove on the other bank. On the right going into this cove is a seawall then riprap on the outside of a small cove. Start fishing at the end of the seawall and work around that little point into the cove.

     Fish around the cove, watching for bedding bass and fishing slowly for the ones you don’t see.  If you spot bass on the bed work all the way to the back of the pocket.  Fish on around past the dock with a winch and crane to pull in a fish barrel.  There is some brush around that dock to fish.

     6. N 32 44.477 – W 85 06.688 – Head up the river to Blanton Creek and go to the boat ramp on your right. Bass move in here first as they start moving back to spawn up the river and hold here until everything gets right.  Start fishing where the riprap starts just outside the ramp and work around the pocket past the three docks out to the point in the campground.

     There is some brush here and rocks for the bass to hold on as they move up the creek.  Nick likes to work a jig and pig slowly through the rocks and brush for bigger bass. This is the spot where he caught his 8 pound, 8 ounce fish.  He says there will be “quadruple” the number of bass here than down on the main lake. 

     Nick says he will work this bank and other places several times. If he catches a fish on the first pass he will go back over it with the same bait. If he does not catch one on the first pass he will often go back over it with a different bait like a spinnerbait to offer them a different look.

     7. N 32 44.672 – W 85 08.053 – Come out of Blanton Creek and head up the river.  When the river makes a bend to  your right, straight ahead on the outside bend you will see a house on your left then no houses.  A good oxbow starts here and runs up parallel to the river.

     You can enter near the last house but you are better off going upstream a little and finding the opening not much wider then a couple of boats that goes in.  Be careful in this area, there is a hump off the bank that is under water when the lake is high.  You can idle in if you are careful or put your trolling motor down and work your way in.

     When you get back in the lake or old oxbow there will be lots of shallow water and grassbeds.  This spot and others here are better if the lake is full. The day Nick and I looked at it the lake was almost two feet low and it was hard to get in here. 

     Nick likes to pitch a Senko to visible bedding bass or work holes in the grass with it if he is not seeing beds.  Fish both sides of this oxbow all the way to the upper end.  Nick says he gets most of his hits from the middle opening up to the upper end. Water can run in up there, too, but you can’t get your boat in there.

     8. N 32 45.109 – W 85 08.219 – Across the river and upstream you will see two openings within a few feet of each other.  The downstream one has a tree on the downstream side across the mouth of it so be careful going in. Nick says some folks start fishing here, working the outside edges with crankbaits and jigs,  but he usually goes on back into the backwaters.

     As you work in you will do downstream parallel to the river.  This ditch is not real wide but not far from the opening is a small ditch on your left. Go through it and the oxbow opens up much bigger.  Both sides join together and this oxbow opens up downstream so there is a lot of water to fish in here.  Work both sides and watch for grassbeds and stumps to fish. There are a lot of stumps to your left when you go through the small ditch.

     9. N 32 45.108 – W 85 08.255 – Just upstream of the opening in hole 8 is another opening that is very shallow right at the river opening.  It goes in and this oxbow runs up the river channel.  Get across the shallow flat at the entrance and you will find deeper water to fish on back in it.

     In this one and in others fish until the bass tell you where they are holding.  In this one and the others the river side of the oxbow will be more shallow. It usually has willows and grass on it. The bank side will be deeper and often has wood cover to fish. Work both sides until you find where the bass are holding and bedding and they usually are in similar places in all the oxbows.

     10. N 32 46.000 – W 85 08.275 – Up the river and on the left just as the channel goes slightly to the right is another small opening. As soon as you go in you can go into a lake to your right. The channel also runs straight ahead and the point between the two is covered with stumps.  Go into the right one and work around it hitting the grass and stumps in it.

     If you go straight back you will go a good ways in a ditch then it opens up into a lake to fish.  The Senko is Nick’s best bait up here this time of year but try a spinnerbait, too.  The bass will sometimes be active enough to hit it and sometimes will give their location away by swirling at it without taking it. You can then work a Senko around that spot for them. Also watch for movement in the grass or baitfish jumping to show you where bass are holding.

     These spots give you five to fish on the lake and five up the river.  Nick will be fishing them this month and they are all good places. Check them out and you can then find some more similar spots, especially on the lake, to fish.

     The West Georgia Bass Club is a Triton Gold Certified Team Tournament trail that fishes west Georgia and East Alabama lakes. There is an annual $25 membership fee per team and the entry fee is $50 per team in each tournament. They pay back one in seven boats and have a classic at the end of the year.  For the schedule and rules go to http://www.westgeorgiabassclub.com/

August 2019 Weiss Lake Bass

with Hadyen Marbut

Rocks, docks, grass and bass. Lake Weiss is full of all four. Fish the first three in August for a good catch of spots and largemouth.

Weiss is a 30,200-acre Alabama Power Lake on the Coosa River. A small part of the upper Coosa is in Georgia, but an Alabama fishing license is required on most of it. The small mountains surround it will fool you as you drive to it the first time. The lake is flat and shallow, with huge stump filled flats except for the area near the dam.

The 447 miles of shoreline has rocky banks with seawalls and docks in some areas and flat banks with shallow grassbeds and docks in others. The lake has long been known at the Crappie Capitol of the World, but the same conditions that produce quality crappie fishing also produces good populations of Coosa spots and big largemouth.

Hayden Marbut is a rising junior at Xavier High School in Birmingham and has been on the fishing team the past two years.  He is considering transferring to Briarwood Academy this year where Curtis Gossett is the fishing team coach.  Weiss is his favorite lake.

Hayden’s father, Brian, grew up 15 minutes from Weiss in Hokes Bluff and has been fishing Weiss all his life. He had taught Hayden how to catch bass there under all conditions.  Hot summer fishing can be tough on any lake, but Weiss produces good bass all summer.

This year, Hayden and his partner won the High School King of the Coosa tournament on Weiss and they came in third at the ASABSA tournament at Pickwick with 17.38 pounds, so his skills on Weiss transfer to other lakes.

“Weiss has a lot of big spots you can catch early around seawalls and rocks,” Hayden said. Grassbeds produce good largemouth early, too.  After the sun gets on the water the most consistent way to catch largemouth and some spots is to fish docks.

Fishing deep ledges and points is also good in August, especially if water is moving.  But the most consistent fishing is getting your bait in the shade under docks, and there are plenty of them to fish on Weiss.

For August, Hayden will have a Spook and a buzzbait tied on for early fishing around rocks. A frog works best in the many water willow grass beds for largemouth. For dock fishing, a jig and pig, Texas rig or shaky head is his choice.   He also has a Carolina rig and drop shot ready for trying for deeper fish.

We fished the following places in late June and the fishing was slow. It was hot and no moving water or breeze helped us out. But Hayden landed seven or eight keepers, including a 5.92 pound largemouth and a three-pound spot. His best five weighed 13 to 14 pounds, a good catch under tough conditions.

1.  N 34 11.348 – W 85 42.368 – Going upstream from Bay Spring, the upstream point of the second cove is a good rocky one that drops into deeper water.  It is a round point with a cement seawall and there are natural rock under the water.  It is a good place to start first thing in the morning.

Fish around the point, then jump across to the next one upstream.  It and the next one above it are all good and they get morning shade, keeping bass up shallow later in the day. 

Hayden get in fairly close to the point and cast right to the seawall ahead of the boat, working his bait back at an angle to keep it in close. His first choice is a big bone Spook, spots seem to hate it.  He twitches it back with a walk-the-dog zigzag action until it is near the boat.

A buzzbait is another good choice for fishing places like this.  Cast it against the seawall, try to actually hit it, and buzz it back at an angle to the boat.  Casts close to the bank are important since big spots will often seem to keep their nose against it and grab it as soon as it hits the water.

2.  N 34 14.231 – W 85 39.757 – Go into Little River behind Hog Island. If you are careful, you can go through the “Cut Through” on the downstream side of it but the channel goes in upstream of it and is safer.  Where the river narrows there are three islands on the left. A green channel marker without a number is on a post off them, marking where the old river channel swings to that side.

The lip of this channel for 200 yards on either side of the marker is a good summer ledge.  It drops from six to 25 feet deep and there are stumps and rocks on it.  Hayden will keep the boat in 22 feet of water and cast up on the top of the ledge and work it.  If you have time it is worth fishing the whole section or you can ride it with good electronics to look for fish.

Cast a Carolina rigged Old Monster or big lizard in black or plum tied about 30 inches behind a three-quarter ounce sinker and drag it until it falls off the ledge. Do the same with drop shot or jig and pig.  Current really helps here as does some wind moving water across it.

3.  N 34 14.217 – W 85 38.689 – Go to the double cove at Little River Marina (the old JR Marina) and fish the docks in both pockets.  Tournaments held here constantly “restock” the area, making the coves a high concentration place for bass.

Hayden especially likes old docks, those falling down into water seem to be bass magnets.  Docks on small points are also high value targets as are those with lights and pole holders, indicting possible brush piles.  Pitch a jig and pig, shaky head worm or Texas rigged creature bait to each dock.

Watch for angles and shade lines.  Work each pole on each dock.  Pay attention to where you get bit, bass in an area will often set up on the same places on other docks.  Hayden likes a black and blue Dirty Jigs Finesse Jig with a matching Rage Craw on it.

4.  N 34 13.806 – W 85 38.821 – Going out past the marina, on your left on the downstream point of the cove, an old roadbed runs off the bank and old bridge rubble is on it.  The roadbed runs out from a clay point with a pine tree on the end of it.

Keep your boat in 25 feet of water and cast up on top of the road about five feet deep.  Probe for the rubble and rough stuff on it, it is a fairly small area.  Work your Carolina rig, drop shot and jig and pig through the cover.  Hayden fishes an Aaron’s Magic Robo worm about a foot above a three eights ounce sinker on his drop shot.

5.  N 34 12.965 – W 85 36.477 – Run up under the causeway to the ramp at Weiss Mart on the left just upstream of the main bridge.  This is a similar place to hole three, with a marina that has tournament released fish around it.  Fish from the boat ramp all the way around the cove, working every dock.  Also hit the ramp, Hayden says he never passes up a boat ramp.

Hayden caught several bass in this cove, including a 5.92 pound largemouth and a three-pound spot.  He works each dock carefully and will come back to prime docks since they often reload quickly.  The big largemouth hit the second time we fished that dock.

Wind blowing into docks makes them better but harder to fish.  If the wind is blowing, fish into it for better boat control. Like the coves at Little River Marina, this cove has a channel in it.  Coves with ditches or channels giving bass a “highway” are much better than flat coves.

6.  N 34 11.190 – W 85 37.148 – Go across to the right side of the lake above the causeway.   The old river channel runs along this bank so it drops off fast. The docks from the causeway upstream are all good.

Current moving under the docks makes them much better, as does some wind.  Work against both if you can for better boat control, giving you more time to pick them apart.

Pitch a jig and pig, Texas rig or shaky head to them.  Hayden rigs a natural blue or green pumpkin finesse worm on a one quarter ounce head and tries to hit ever post until he finds a pattern. Outside post are often better and it is easier to land fish that hit on them but cast into the deepest shade you can hit with your baits, too.

7.  N 24 11.521 – W 85 37.685 – Go back to the causeway and fish the small bridge and riprap closest to the left bank going downstream.  If there is any current the bridge concentrates it and turns on the fish.

Hayden will fish all the rocks as well as the pilings under the bridge and shade lines from it.  Both spots and largemouth set up facing up current here so position your boat so you cast up the current and your bait moves back naturally with it.   A drop shot and shaky head work well for this but a small crankbait, worked slowly with the current, will catch fish, too. Make multiple casts to any spot you catch a bass; others are likely to set up there.

8.  N 34 11.433 – W 85 39.504 – Going down the left side of the lake, two small islands sit off the bank just upstream of Little Hog Nose Creek.  They are surrounded by water willow grass beds where bass feed. Early and late in the day are the best time to fish them, but bass will feed in them all during the day.

Start on the upstream point of the upstream island and cast your Spook, buzzbait and a frog through the grass.  A bluegill color Spro Popping Frog will allow you to fish the thickest grass.  Work the buzzbait and Spook along the edge and in cuts in the grass.  A silver blade Big Bite Baits Buzz with a Suicide Shad on it is his choice for buzzbaits.  Points on the grass are especially good.

9.  N 34 11.859 – W 85 40.101 – Out in the middle of the lake, straight between Little Nose Creek and Hog Island, green channel marker 20 sits on a good channel ledge. You can not safely run from hole 8 to it, you should go upstream and follow the channel around to it.

The top of the ledge is ten to 12 feet deep and drops into 25 feet of water.  There are stumps and rocks on it that hold bass, and the area right at the marker is very rough. 

Keep your boat in 25 feet of water and cast jig nd pig, shaky head and drop shot up on the ledge, dragging all three back and letting them fall.  Keep an eye on your electronics and fish your drop shot worm vertically when you see fish directly under your boat.

As in other places, current really turns on the fish here, making them feed, and wind blowing across it helps, too. Cast your baits up current for a natural action since current moves baitfish across the drop and bass expect food to be coming in that direction.

10.  N 34 11.932 – W 85 41.534 – The lake narrows down where Yellow Creek enters on the right going downstream.  Red channel marker 14 sits off the left point of the main river going downstream and there is a small island downstream of the point.  Docks along this bank are good.

Start at the first green roof dock and fish all the way down to the yellow boat house at the end of the line of docks. There is 18 feet of water not far off the docks and bass move from deep water to feed shallow around them. The pilings, shade and some brush piles all attract bass.

Current helps here and if it is moving, or if the wind is blowing, start at the end of the line of docks that gives you the best boat control.  Cast jig and pig, shaky head and Texas rig to them. Hayden lets his bait fall straight down. When it hits bottom, he shakes it a little then reels in for another cast.

These places were holding bass in late June, with some quality fish on them, and will be better now. Give them a try to see the kind of places you can catch summer spots and largemouth on Lake Weiss

Do you find these Map of the Month articles helpful?  If so visit http://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.

November Bass at Seminole

with Mike Prindle

     Already dreaming about the explosive topwater strikes you had during the summer and wishing bass were still hitting on top?  That excitement is not necessarily over for the year. Head down to Lake Seminole where they are blowing up on frogs around the hydrilla and will be on that pattern most of November.  Seminole is hot this year with lots of chunky three to five pound bass actively feeding in the shallow water right now.

     Seminole is far enough south that the water stays much warmer than most other lakes in the state.  Formed by the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers and fed by Spring Creek, it offers a variety of water clarity, cover and structure.  November is a good time to take advantage of the more active bass and enjoy fishing that is gone from most lakes until next spring.

     Seminole is a 37,500 acre Corps of Engineers lake that was filled in the 1950s.  It is famous for its bass fishing and is full of grass beds, standing timber, stump fields, creek and river channels and flats.  It has more “fishy” looking water than most other lakes but that can make it hard to pattern.  Anywhere you look seems like a good place to catch a bass.

     Mike Prindle moved to Lake Seminole near Wingate’s Lunker Lodge four years ago. He had a job opportunity that allowed him to pick a place to live and he chose to live on Seminole because of the great fishing. The first time he saw the lake he fell in love with it.

     He spent many hours learning the lake and now guides out of Wingate’s.  Mike also fishes several of the local pot tournaments and has done well on the BFL and other tournaments there.  After fishing with some big Florida clubs he is one of the founding members of the Hydrilla Gnats, a local bass club that holds most of its tournaments on Seminole. 

     When the Georgia Federation Nation started up a few years ago Mike was the first state tournament director, a job he held until a few months ago. The first year of the Federation Nation Mike made the state team, placed first on the team at the regional tournament and made the Federation Nation National tournament.  He now wants to focus on fishing the BASS Opens next year and is preparing for that trail.

     Mike’s catches at Seminole would make any bass fisherman jealous.  Last year he landed 16 bass over ten pounds each.  His best five fish in a tournament pulled the scales down to 27.04 pounds and he has caught five shoal bass weighing 24 pounds.   

     “Cooler water coming down the rivers in October moves the fish shallow around the grass,” Mike said. He expects to find large numbers of quality fish schooling up around grass beds near deeper water where they spent the summer.  They are aggressive and feed heavily most days, offering you a good chance to catch large number of fish.

     Early each morning Mike starts with topwater baits and likes a Culprit frog fished over and through the abundant grass beds. As long as the bass keep hitting Mike will keep throwing the frog, and that bite may last all day on cloudy or windy days.  He will work a frog with a Deep South rod and Revo reel spooled with 60 pound Power Pro Braid. He fishes the frog fast, working it over the hydrilla mats near drops.  

     When the bass stop hitting on top Mike switches to a lipless crankbait like the Xcaliber XR 50 or XR 75. He chooses the size based on the size baitfish the bass are eating so it is important to pay attention to any shad you see.  If you don’t know which size to fish, try both until the fish let you know.  Mike fishes the baits on a Deep South Rippin’ Rod he helped design and spools his reel with 50 pound Power Pro.

     If the bass are not active and want a slower bait Mike will throw an Ol Nelle spinnerbait and fish it over the grass. He uses the same rod and reel as with the lipless bait and says you need a heavy rod and braided line to get fish out of the grass.

     As the grass dies off and the mats on top disappear you can still fish a frog over them but ripping a lipless crankbait through them becomes more and more effective.  If a cold front puts the bass deep in the cover Mike flips a jig and pig into holes in the grass.

     Mike showed me his patterns and marked the following holes in early October.  The bass were just beginning to move up onto them after the first cooler weather we had and they will be strong on them by now.  Mike concentrates on the Flint River side since he guides out of Wingate’s but he catches bass on this same pattern up the Chattahoochee River.

     1. N 30 47.473 – W 84 40.234 – Just downstream of the creek with Faceville Landing in it the river makes a slight bend to the right headed downstream and several small creeks enter the river. There are several islands between the creeks and main channel and the river side of them has good grass beds. There is deep water here and the grass forms a wall of grass with some scattered clumps out from it.

     This is a good place to start in the morning.  Mike usually runs up past the last gap between the creeks and river and starts working downstream, throwing his frog up onto any grass mats still on top and working it back. He moves the frog fast looking for a reaction bite, which often comes right at the edge of the grass.

     Fish this grass line for several hundred yards. If you catch a fish concentrate on that area.  Bass are schooled up pretty good right now so you should catch several where one hits.  If you go through an area where you get several bites it is a good idea to turn and go back over it again.

     2.  N 30 47.338 – W 84 41.909 – Just downstream across the river where the channel swings to the north you will see some stumps sticking up way off the bank. One of them was marked with a white PVC pipe when we were there and several more stuck above the water with it down about a foot.  This timber is along a ditch that runs parallel to the river channel. There is a good grass bed on the ridge between the river and ditch and more on the bank side of the ditch.

     Mike especially likes places like this one.  During the flood of 1994 current washed out ditches on some of the flats and they make an excellent place for bass to hold and feed. They can come up the ditch and feed on either side of it or stay in the river and feed on that side. Mike usually fished up the ditch since there is a lot of grass on both sides.

     Work it early with a frog then switch to a lipless crankbait and work over and through the grass. When the bait hangs up in the grass rip it free to draw a reaction strike. Key on little points and cuts in the grass with all your baits.  Hit anything that looks a little different. Fish all the way to where the the ditch rejoins the main river.

     3.  N 30 46.977 – W 84 43.755 – Run down to where the river channel makes a big swing to the right near channel marker 13.5 and you will see a small island. Go in behind it and you will be on a big hydrilla flat that runs all the way past Wingate’s.  Bass will hold all over this flat but there are key areas.  The first is a point that runs out from the small island toward the bank. You will be just upstream of the first houses you can see on the bank.

     Keep your boat out in deeper water off the grass and cast up on top of it, hitting anything that makes a change. Try frogs and lipless crankbaits, but also run a spinnerbait over the grass.  You can fish it slower than the other baits and let it fall into holes in the grass.  Try to match your blades to the size baitfish the bass are feeding on.

     4. N 30 46.678 – W 84 44.445 – You can fish all the way to this spot or idle down to it. Another long point of hydrilla runs out toward the river across the flat out from a brick house.  You will see a post or two marking the channel in to the little creek where there are houses.  Start on the upstream side of the point, upstream of the post, and work all the grass in the area.

     Mike says current coming down the river hits these grass points and moves bait fish across them, creating a good feeding opportunity for bass. On one of his best days in this area he caught five bass weighing 25 pounds in 15 minutes.  When you find a good school of bass feeding you can load the boat in a hurry in this area.

     5. N 30 45.957 – W 84 45.845 – Head downstream past Wingate’s and you will see some houses on the bank. Just out from the seventh one, a white house with a tin roof, another of the flood ditches runs parallel to the bank. The ditch is about ten feet deep and there is grass on both sides of it to fish. 

     Start fishing where the ditch opens off the river and stay in the ditch. Work it until the grass gets solid or you get back to the river channel. The spots like this one where the ditches offer multiple grass edges are usually best.

     Mike will work a topwater frog until the water temperature drops below 68 degrees.  If the water is colder than that he concentrates on the spinnerbait and lipless crankbait, but it is worth a few casts to see if they are still feeding on top. As the grass dies off and breaks up the mats are harder to find but it is worth a few casts to any you find.

     6. N 30 45.918 – W 84 47.996 – Be very careful any time you get out of the marked channels, especially if you don’t know the lake. But at green channel marker 7.5 you can run across to the opposite side of the river to the islands and grass between the Flint Rive and Spring Creek. Watch as you go across because a big field of standing timber will be just downstream of where you go across.

     Stop way off the bank as soon as you start seeing hydrilla, about 75 yards off the stumps between the river channel and the bank.  Beds of grass run way off the bank here.  Start working them as soon as you hit them and fish downstream.   Fish all your baits here.

     Mike uses shad colored lipless baits in clear water and red or chartreuse in stained to muddy water.  In clearer water he likes colors like Copper Perch and Citrus Shad.  In Red is a very good color in stained water this time of year.  Depending on the amount of rain up the river the water can range from very clear to very muddy.  It will be muddier up the river and clearer the further down you go as the grass filters out some of the mud. And the Spring Creek water entering also make for clearer water further downstream.

     7. N 30 45.993 – W 84 48.621 – You can fish all along here or idle down to the first gap where the solid bank ends and the series of islands start between Spring Creek and the Flint River.  There is a hump here between two washout ditches with a lot of submerged hydrilla around it. You can see the grass under the water if the sun is out and the water is not too stained.  You will feel it as you work your lipless crankbait or spinnerbait over it.

     Fish all along this grass.  Some wind blowing across it helps stir up the baitfish and break up the water surface, making your artificials look more like the real thing.  Here and in all other spots look for schools of shad on your depthfinder or near the surface.  Concentrate on areas with baitfish. The bass follow them and stay around them this time of year.

     8.  N 30 46.041 – W 84 48.987 – On downstream you will see an island surrounded by hydrilla with a sign on a post on the downstream side of it.  The sign marker the boundary of the waterfowl refuge and this is a excellent area to fish. Mike and I caught seven or eight bass here the day we fished.

     Start out from the sign and work downstream.  There is a good wall of hydrilla that stops in a shear drop and then there are sparse clumps of hydrilla out from it. Bass will feed in the grass the move out to the wall to hold and feed. Mike says he often catches bigger bass holding out in the deeper water around the clumps set off from the thicker bed.

     Fish across the tops of mats and over submerged hydrilla.  Work your lipless crankbait along the edge and through the clumps. Cover the whole area, hitting anything that is different. Bass look for those different spots to hold.

     9.  N 30 45.376 – W 84 51.208 – As you go downstream you will see the red channel markers come toward the mouth of Spring Creek where it turns in that direction. About even with red marker 7.7 there is a small island on the creek side, about even with the mouth of Fish Pond Drain. 

     Just upstream of this island a 14 foot deep hole in the flat has two ditches feeding off it, one going toward Spring Creek and one going toward the river. A good grass bed runs along the one going toward the river. Fish along it, working the grass with all your baits. 

     10.  N 30 43.121 – W 84 51.576 – Go out to the river channel and head toward the dam. After you go around the bend you will see an open area on the bank and a campground just upstream of the Corps of Engineers offices. Go toward the campground, staying way out. White poles mark a shallow roadbed or ridge running parallel to the bank so stay out away from it.

     After you pass the poles and get even with the campground you will see hydrilla.  This huge flat was crossed by service roads and holes dug for fill dirt when the dam was being built and it a good place to catch November bass.  Out from the cqampground you can stop in 22 feet of water and the bottom will come up to five feet deep way off the bank.

       There are grass lines and clumps to fish here.  Work them like the others. Mike says this is a big shad congregation area in the fall so watch for them and concentrate where you find the baitfish.

     Check out Mike’s spots then you can find many others like them.  Seminole is an excellent lake this time of year. Plan a trip there to catch some chunky fall bass. 

  

March 2018 Seminole Bass

with Jason Smith

        Bass in most of our lakes are moving near spawning areas, but Lake Seminole is so far south that some have already spawned, some are spawning and some are just off bedding areas ready to move in and fan beds.  You can catch them on sandy flats, in pockets and on sandbars on the main lake right now.

    Seminole is a big, shallow lake in the corner of Georgia, Alabama and Florida.  Everywhere you look makes you think you can catch a bass there. Grass and stumps are all over the lake, with lily pads and cattails lining the banks and shallows.  But if you don’t know key areas you can do a lot of casting without a bite.

    For the past year or so bass fishing has been fantastic on Seminole, with many tournaments won with 30 pound plus stringers.  If you fish a local pot tournament against fishermen that know the lake well you better have more than 20 pounds to even hope for a check.  Five and six pounders are common, and it usually takes a seven plus to win the big fish pot.

    Jason Smith lives in Albany, Georgia and has fished Seminole all his life. His mentor, Jackie Hambrick, was a well known Lake Seminole expert.  Fishing with the Albany Bassin Buddies taught him a lot about the keys to catching bass.

    Jason loves fishing so much he started Buddha Baits, selling jigs, spinnerbaits, bladed jigs, soft baits, line and rods and reels to fishermen.  He keeps in touch with local experts and this helps catch big fish when he goes to the lake.

    In a Seminole Winter Trail tournament in mid-January, Jason had 24 pound stringer and did not get a check.  That tournament shows the kind of fish being caught this year on Seminole. 

    “I love Seminole because you can catch so many quality fish,” Jason said.  March is the best month to find the sows in the spawning areas many years, and our cold winter has stacked them up even more this year, delaying the early spawners that sometimes go on the bed on Seminole as early as January.

    Jason will have as variety of his baits rigged on his rods for March fishing.  Since most of the fish will be located around grass or other weed cover, he throws most of them Buddha Braid since you need braid to get big fish out of the weeds. 

    He will have a rattle bait, a Texas rigged lizard or Senko, Swagger Swim worm, an Enlightened Swim Jig, a Carolina rigged lizard or Trick worm, a bladed Swagger Jig and an Inseine Jig and pig all ready to cast. For thick hyacinth beds he will be ready to flip them with a Baby Mama with a 1.5 ounce sinker.

    We fished Seminole the last day of January after a cold front, with bluebird skies and little wind, some of the worst possible weather.  Even under those bad weather conditions we had a decent limit with a 5.5 pounder to anchor it.  The fish were not really in the bedding areas yet but just off them, ready to move in so you can catch them.

    1.  N 30 47.304 – W 84 48.447 – Going up Spring Creek the Grassy Flats cut, marked by poles going off the Spring Creek Channel to the left going upstream, is just downstream of the Big Jim’s Cut.  Where the Grassy Flats cut hits the creek channel on the left, on your right an island is just off the creek channel. A ditch runs in behind the island and forms a good staging area going into the spawning flat behind the island, the ideal area for this time of year.

    Idle in to the point through the standing timber and start by working it with a Carolina rig and jig and pig out near the channel and ditch junction. There are stumps and grass on it.  Start out deep and work up the ditch to the shallow spawning flat.

    There is a grass edge around the point and on the ditch side. Keep your boat off it and fish a bladed jig through the grass.  Work fairly fast until you get a bite then slow down and make multiple casts with your bladed jig and follow up with a Carolina rig.

    As bass move back they follow the grass edge and feed, then  move into the shallow water behind it to spawn.  Keep a watch for beds behind the grass as you fish. There will usually be several grouped together with empty space between them.  When you spot a bed fish it with a paddle tail Baby Mama, swimming it up to the bed and letting it fall into the bed.

    2.  N 30 44.878 – W 84 50.604 – Out on the Flint River, on the south bank before the turn toward the dam, River Junction ramp is on your right going upstream.  Bass hold out on the grass line in six to eight feet of water then move to the bank in the shallow bay to spawn.

    Start by fishing the outside grass line, especially if the water is still cold.  We caught a couple of keepers out here. Then go back in behind the grass and work the bedding area. Keep your boat in about five feet of water and fan cast a swim worm behind a one quarter to five sixteenths ounce sinker.

    Also drag a Carolina rigged lizard through the shallows, searching for bedding fish. The water is often too stained on the Flint to see the beds, so probe for them with a lizard.  Since beds are usually grouped together, make multiple casts to any area you catch a fish.

    3.  N 30 45.087 – W 84 50.005 – Going up the Flint upstream of the River Junction Ramp another bay swings back, providing a more protected spawning area.  Fish it the same way as hole #2.  You will see cattails on the bank and lily pad steams in the water. Watch for them everywhere you fish since they grow on sandy bottoms where bass spawn.

    For covering water more quickly until you hit a group of bass a bladed jig works well. Jason rigs his black and blue or green pumpkin Swagger Jig with a matching three or four-inch swimbait and fishes it through the grass.  A paddle tail worm also allows you to cover water more quickly to find the key spots.
   4.  N 30 46.014 – W 84 50.517 – The big flats between Spring Creek and the Flint are huge spawning areas.  Straight across from Sealy Point in Spring Creek, a small group islands is just off deeper water that goes in on the flat and is a highway for the bass moving in.   

    The downstream island in this group is a cluster of cypress trees and is closest to the deeper water. Go in to the downstream side of the island and fan cast the whole area, keeping your boat in four or five feet of water and casting all around.  Drag a Carolina rigged lizard or fish a little faster with a bladed jig, working the whole area. 

    Always watch for beds in areas like this.  If you see a lighter spot on the bottom, look at it closely.  There are light spots on the bottom that are not beds but the active beds will be brighter, and there will often be several close together.  When you see them slow down and fish a paddle tail worm all around them and in them. The water is clearer here from Spring Creek and you can usually see them.

    5.  N 30 46.181 – W 84 50.056 – Go around the island in Hole #4 and another smaller island is on the Spring Creek side a little upstream.  It is more shallow around it and you can see clumps of cat tails, pad stems and grass all around it.  Sunny warmer days warm this water quickly and move bass into the area early

    Start on the downstream end of the smaller island and fish on the side away from Spring Creek, working upstream behind it.  The flats all around it have sandbars for the bass to spawn and there are often a lot of beds in the area.   Fish from the bank of the island all the way out to deeper water.  Just remember deeper water here is only three feet deep or so.

    6.  N 30 44.748 – W 84 52.621 – On the Chattahoochee River side of the point between it and the Flint, a group of poles in a circle way off the last island on the point mark the Indian Mounds.  On the Chattahoochee River side of the island, across from the Indian Mounds, a shallow bay forms a good spawning area.

    There are scattered stumps as well as grass in this bay and bass spawn all over it.  Keep your boat in four or five feet of water and fish the water three or four feet deep, fan casting all over the flat.  You may not be able to see the beds in the more stained river water, but they will be here, and grouped together like in other places.

    Fish from near the downstream point of the island up the Chattahoochee River side.  Watch for lily pad stems marking sandy areas. A bladed jig comes through them well and is a good choice for a search bait.  A Carolina rig is good for slowing down and working an area.

7.  N 30 45.542 – W 84 47.298 – Up the Flint River on the right bank going upstream, a wide bay swings in away from the channel markers.  On the upstream end of the bay a wood dock with no top sits out on the downstream side of the point. Downstream of the dock slightly deeper water is closer to the bank.

    Start about 200 yards down the bank from the dock and fish toward it, casting to the bank and the scattered grass.  Sometimes a red rattle bait will attract bites in areas like this when other baits are ignored. A swim jig like Jason’s Enlightened jig or Inseine Jig will also attract bites from more active fish, especially if they are feeding on bluegill.

    Work the rattlebait fast, jerking it from grass when you hit it. With the swim jig keep it near the surface and work it with twitches as you reel it along. Jason likes bluegill or green pumpkin in clearer water and black and blue in stained water and puts a matching swim bait on his jig.

    8.  30 45,.759 – W 84 46.104 – a little further up the river the channel makes a hard swing from the right bank to the left.  In the flat bay just downstream of the last channel marker before the turn a depression runs back to the bank, offering a good path for bass to follow.  It goes in between two groups of two docks.  There is one silver roof dock and one green roof dock on each side.

    Follow this depression in from deeper water, fan casting to both sides of it and down the middle of it. The water is ten to 12 feet deep not far off the bank where it goes in.  This is a good area for rattle baits and bladed jigs. When you get to the bank fish it and down both sides to the docks. A paddle tail swim worm like Jason’s new Swagger Swim Worm in tilapia or black and blue is good, depending on water color.  Keep the worm moving near the bottom, making the flapping tail wiggle to get bites. Jason will often dip the tail of his plastics in chartreuse JJs Magic for added attraction.

    9.  N 30 46.215 – W 84 46.989 – Across the river channel Fort Scott Islands are a Waterfowl Management Area.  A small island sits just off the bank where the channel comes across and hits the north bank.  Just downstream of this island is a big flat just off a slough that goes back and is a good bedding area, full of lily pad steams and cattails.

    Keep your boat off the bank in water about 20 feet deep. This is a good place to cast your jig and pig, Texas rigged worm or Carolina rig up onto the sand bar that runs along the bank and has grass on it.  Keep your bait in contact with the bottom as it comes out of the grass and follow the bottom down the drop.
Bass will often stack up just outside the grass and move into it to feed.

    10.  N 30 46.334 – W 84 48.949 – Going down the bank the “Fire Break” goes in just downstream of the island with the waterfowl management area signs out in the water.  Follow the slightly deeper water in behind the island, keeping the signs to your right. 

    Bass spawn all back in here in the shallow sandy flats.  Watch for keys like lily pad stems and cattails and fan cast the whole area.  Try a variety of baits and speeds to find fish then slow down and fish that area.

    All these places hold bedding bass right now, and others post and pre-spawn. Try them with Jason’s baits to catch quality bass all month long.

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.