Category Archives: Where To Fish

Crappie Fishing at Lake Walter F. George in September

Walter F. George has long been known for its excellent crappie fishing. In September night fishing is very good for them. Tie up under any of the bridges on the lower lake like the one in White Oak Creek, hang a light over the side and fill up your cooler while crappie fishing at Lake Walter F. George in September.

Areas of standing timber are also good, like the mouth of Bustahatchee Creek. Anchor near the old creek channel over the timber and put your light over the side. It is a little more difficult to position your boat than it is under a bridge and you need two anchors to hold your boat steady.

With a depthfinder you can usually see the fish and know what depth to fish. Without one, drop a minnow or Hal Fly jig down to nine feet and work it at that depth for a few minutes, then drop down another foot. Keep slowly changing depth until you start catching them.

Light line is the key. Four pound test fluorocarbon is best but you may have to go to six pound to land bigger fish, especially in the timber. Try different color jigs and different size minnows until the fish pick their favorite and then offer it to them.

North Or South For Georgia Bass

Go North Or South For Georgia Bass in September

September is often a mean month for bass fishermen. Although there are hints of cooler weather and the days are getting shorter, the bass are slow to respond and start feeding consistently in shallow water. But you can catch a lot of bass, and some big ones, no matter where you live in our state.

If you live south of the Fall Line, Lake Walter F. George, usually called Lake Eufaula by fishermen, is a great place to catch September bass. It is at the top of its usual five year cycle right now, with a lot of quality three to five pound largemouth in the lake.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Division, Fisheries Department says you can expect to catch a lot of bass over the 14 inch minimum size with a good number of fish over three pounds. You also can catch some quality fish over six pounds, with the chance of a wall hanger over eight pounds.

Scott Montgomery and his father own Big Bite Bait Company near Georgetown and Scott has been fishing Eufaula all his life. Scott says bass are still in their summer pattern in September, with more migration toward more shallow water late in the month. But you can consistently catch them on two basic patterns.

When the light is low early in the morning, late in the day and on cloudy days the lily pads are a feeding area for bass. While the sun is bright some bass will still hold under the pads and be caught around them, but your better bet is get out on the many ledges where they hold and feed on bright sunny days.

The area around Cowikee Creek has all the cover and structure you can fish in several days and is one of the best areas on the lake for bass fishing. Big flats covered with pads are everywhere and the creek and river ledges in that area concentrate bass in key spots.

In both areas subtle changes can make all the difference between casting and catching. A small ditch running through the pad fields and a cut or sharp swing in the channel on the ledge are structure changes you want to find. The pads provide the cover in shallow areas but rockpiles, stumps and brush on the ledges are the type cover you want to fish.

Scott says your tackle selection is fairly simple. For the pads, have a weedless topwater bait like his company’s Top Toad or Floatin’ Toad tied on. A spinnerbait or jig and pig will also catch fish from the pads and you can fish them slowly when you find a concentration of fish.

On the ledges Scott likes a big plug like the Bomber Fat Free Shad or Norman DD22N for covering the depths quickly to locate fish. To slow down and work an area carefully switch to a Texas or Carolina rigged big worm like the ten inch Mangum Kriet Tail or Kriet Creature bait.

Since the water is clear this time of year use shad colored baits. A sexy shad or gizzard shad color in the crankbait is good and tilapia or green pumpkin with blue and purple flakes in the soft baits are good choices. And watermelon with red flakes is always a good choice for the worms.

If you put in at Lake Point State Park you don’t need to go far. The boat channel in Cowikee Creek is marked by poles leading from the launch ramp out to the river. Although these poles are not always right on the creek channel, they mark an area clear of stumps and standing timber you can run, some of them sit right on the creek ledge.

The second set of pole markers going out of the park are a well-known spot. It is well known since it holds so many bass and is a good example of the kind of channel ledge you want to fish. Just downstream of the green marker is a hump rising to about 13 feet deep at full pool. The channel makes a swing by it and there are stumps on the hump and drop into the channel.

Scott starts fishing here by sitting in the channel and casting toward the highway causeway. Try a big crankbait first then drag you soft baits along the bottom, fishing both from shallow to deep. Work all the way around the hump, bring your baits from deep to shallow, too.

You can work your way down the creek checking the ledges all the way to the river. A good depthfinder is invaluable to find the changes in the bottom and even seeing bass and baitfish. The presence of baitfish means bass will be close by and you should fish the area to find the key spot they are holding. Current makes these deeper spots a lot better as does some wind blowing across them.

When you get out to the Chattahoochee River channel it is marked by drum buoys and provides many good drops to fish. A good one that is an example of what to look for is just downstream of channel marker 100.7. Stop at it and idle downstream on top of the ledge, watching for a ditch that cuts across it. The top of the ledge is only six to eight feet deep but the ditch drops off to 18 feet deep then comes right back up and the river channel is much deeper.

When you find the ditch, start with your boat in the mouth of it and fish up the ditch, casting all your baits to both sides of it. When you hit cover like stumps or brush concentrate casts to that area. Current is very important here since it eddies across the drops and makes the bass feed.

For shallow pad fishing start at the second set of pole markers coming out of Lake Point and make a hard left if you are going downstream. Idle toward the point with cypress trees on it and lily pads all around it. Scott says this is an excellent place to find shallow fish.

Scott stops on the point and fishes toward the motel at the state park. Make long casts into the pads and fish across them, pausing when you come to holes in them. Keep your boat out from the edge of them and also pause when you get to the edge. Bass often hold right on the outside edge.

Look for other pad areas near the channel and try to find a ditch coming through them or where the form a point. There are dozens of similar spots all the way to the river to fish.
If you live in the north half of the state Lake Lanier is hard to beat for September fishing. The lake is loaded with big spotted bass and they are on predictable patterns all month.

State fisheries biologists say there is a good population of two to four pound spots in Lanier and most tournaments have a five pound plus fish weighed in. Some fishermen think there is a new world record spot swimming in Lanier and seven pound plus spots are reported fairly often.

Rob Jordan grew up fishing Lake Lanier and lives in Suwanee and fishes it several days a week. This year he won a BFL tournament on the lake with five fish weighing 19.5 pounds, and has weighed in a 21.5 pound five fish tournament limit, so he knows its spotted bass and their habits well.

“Lanier is not like other lakes since the big spots roam water 50 to 60 feet deep and you can not catch them by fishing like you do in other lakes,” Rob said. You have to fish where the big ones live, and September is a transition month on Lanier. But if you fish the right places and right baits this month you can catch some big ones, as the six pound, six ounce spot he caught in September while guiding a client last year proved.

Rob will have a drop shot and shaky head worm ready for fishing slowly this month. For catching more active bass he will fish a topwater bait and a swim bait. He is often sitting in 80 plus feet of water and casting to water 30 feet deep or deeper, so you have to fish deep for the big ones.

The main lower lake is the best area to fish, according to Rob and you can find key spots in a variety of ways. Shoal and channel markers are often near the places where big spots hold very deep and move a little shallower to feed.

A couple of good examples are near the dam. In the mouth of Shoal Creek green channel marker 3SC sits on the end of a long rocky hump right by the channel. There is a danger marker on top of the hump so it comes up very shallow but water 100 feet deep is not far away. Every point and hump in Lanier has brush on it fishermen put out, and the bass hold in it and roam out to feed so locating brush piles is important.

This hump is very rocky, something spots love, and there is brush all over it at different depths. Rob likes to start with his boat out in very deep water and cast a topwater plug like a big Zara Spook to the shallows around the hump and work it back fast. This will often draw a suspended spot up to feed. Also throw a big swim bait to cover the top and sides of hump.

For bragging size spots Rob likes a Bull Shad swimbait. He custom paints them, a skill he learned from his cousin Professional bass fisherman Jim Murray, Jr. Jim also taught him a lot about fishing for bass. His colors that resemble blue back herring work well since that is the baitfish big spots eat. Fish the swimbait at different speeds and depths to find what the big spots want.

Move your boat to more shallow water, around 35 feet deep, and watch your depthfinder for brush. When you see it use a drop shot worm to fish beside and in it. While you are looking for brush cast a shaky head worm to ten feet of water and work it back to 30 feet deep for spots feeding on the rocks.

Rob likes soft like a ZMan Finesse worm on his drop shot or jig head. Any watermelon color with flakes in it can be good, as are colors like morning dawn. If the fish want something bigger he will offer them a Big Bites Bait six inch Finesse worm in the same colors.

Another good place is the hump just off channel marker 1YD in Young Deer Creek marked with a danger marker. It also has rocks and brush with deep water nearby to hold magnum spots. Fish it the same way. Some wind blowing across these places makes them even better.

Always watch for surface activity. September is a good month to catch schooling spots. If you see swirling fish near you cast a topwater plug or swim bait to them. If you see splashes in the distance, or gulls diving, run to them, stop a long cast away from the activity, and catch the fish as they chase shad or herring.

There are dozens of similar places all over the lower lake to fish, and they are easy to find since channel markers near shoal markers point them out. Pleasure boat traffic gets extremely bad on Lanier, even in September, so weekdays or weekends before 10:00 AM are the best time to fish.

Whether you live north or south in Georgia these lakes are close enough for a one day trip. Or if you variety, head to the other part of the state from where you live to experience a very different kind of fishing. Decide which you like best.

Where Can I Fish from the Bank Near Atlanta?

Do you find it funny that folks fishing from a boat usually try to cast as close to the bank as possible, while those fishing from the bank usually try to cast as far out in the water as they can? Fishing from a boat definitely gives you some advantages, but so does bank fishing.

Fortunately there are a lot of places where you can fish from the bank near Atlanta. You can drive to them in an hour or so and enjoy good catches. And you have a lot of options for catching bass, from lakes and ponds to rivers and creeks.

Fishing from the bank usually makes you fish slower. There is no pressure to run to another spot to try to catch a fish and leave the ones you could catch if you slowed down and fished carefully. Patience often pays off in better bass catches. You can concentrate on covering a piece of cover carefully and get the bass to bite.

You can fish from the bank much more efficiently if you are willing to wade in shallow water. At times you will need to go around obstacles on the bank by getting into the edge of the water and other times easing out to a couple of feet of water will allow you to reach cover a little too far away from the bank, or to get a better angle on shoreline cover. And fishing streams often requires wading.

Invest in a pair of rubber boots if you don’t like getting your feet wet. You can get a pair that come up almost to your knees for less than $20 and they will really pay off. If you wade in tennis shoes, carry a dry pair of sox and shoes for the ride home.

Keep your tackle simple. A couple of rods and reels, one for casting light finesse type baits and one for casting heavier baits is all you need. On the light outfit spool eight or ten pound line. For heavier baits or fishing thick cover go to fourteen pound test on the other outfit.

A small plastic tackle box that fits in your pocket makes fishing easier. Have some spare hooks and sinkers, a top water plug, a crankbait, a spinnerbait, a few jigs and some plastics. Be able to rig the plastics either weighless on the light outfit or with a one-sixteenths ounce sinker. On the heavier out a three sixteenths to one quarter ounce bullet weight for longer casts and deeper water will work.

The following spots give you several options for catching bass from the shore, so choose one and learn all the cover around it, or try them all.

Lake Lanier

Lanier is a big lake and you might think you can’t cover it without a boat, but go to one of the parks and you can catch fish from the bank. A good one is Buford Dam Park on the south side of the lake right beside the dam.

Both spotted and largemouth bass bed in the pockets in the park on hard bottoms. Sand and gravel are the best bottoms to find bedding fish. Largemouth will bed in more shallow water and further back in the coves than the spots. You can often see the beds or the bass on them.

Cast a worm or lizard into the bed and watch your line for a bite. If you can’t see any beds, drag a Carolina rigged lizard on the sand and gravel bottoms. Move it very slowly to make the fish bite.

Rocks on the dam and in the park are favorite feeding areas. You can cast to the riprap on the dam but be careful walking on the rocks. There is also some riprap in the park to fish. Try a topwater bait, spinnerbait and crankbait over the rocks.

The main lake point past the parking lot is good later in the spring and in the summer as the bass move out to deeper water. A jig and pig or worm works well on the point. Also try fishing from the dock in the park, but bass often hold under it. Walk to the edge of the water near the dock and cast a worm or jig under it in the shade.

Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center/Marben Public Fishing Area

For a good variety of options in one area, drive out I-20 East past Covington to Highway 11, turn south and follow the signs to Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center/Marben PFA. There are 27 different ponds you can fish here but you will need a special license to fish them.

One of the best ponds for largemouth bass is 49 acre Lake Margery. From the shore you can fish the PVC fish attractors, standing timber and brush, riprap and there is a fishing pier, too. The lake is managed to make shoreline fishing easier.

Early in the morning cast a topwater plug over brush and riprap and try the standing timber, too. As the sun gets up work a jig and pig or Texas rigged worm through the brush and timber. In the middle of the day work a crankbait or worm through the standing timber.

Look for bedding bass on this lake, too. And if you can fish the boat ramp without getting into a no fishing area around it, cast a worm to the end of it. Also try the dock on Lake Margery.

If you don’t have good luck on this lake you do have other options to try. Lake Bennett at 69 acres and Lake Fox with 95 acres both offer the same kind of cover and good fishing as Lake Margery.

Sweetwater Creek State Park

Head out I-20 West past I-285 to Exit 44 at Thornton Road and follow the signs. Sweetwater Creek State Park offers a lake to fish, where you can rent a boat if you want to go out on the lake, and a stream that empties into the Chattahoochee River not far from the park. Both the lake and stream offer good fishing.

On the lake don’t hesitate to fish around the heavily used areas where folks like to feed the ducks, if there are not any no-fishing signs. The food for the ducks attracts bream that attract bass. A weighless worm sinking slowly to the bottom is a good pattern to try.

Also try both bridges. There is riprap to fish on both. Try topwater early then switch to a crankbait or spinnerbait. Both the big bridge and the smaller one where Mount Vernon Road crosses the lake and a smaller pocket have a culvert under the road.

Around the culverts try a Texas rigged worm fished near their mouths then cast to deeper water out from the pipe. The culverts mark the channels and bass will often hold on the edge of them so work your worm along the bottom probing for cover.

Sweetwater Creek has shoal, spotted and largemouth bass living in it and they are all fun to catch, but shoal bass and spots will give you the best fight. Shoal bass are not common in most waters so they are usually the targets here. There is a trail along the creek but you will want to wade to catch more fish. Be careful on the slippery rocks.

Shoal bass hold in the deeper pools and can be caught on Texas rigged worms. Rig them behind a one-eighth ounce sinker and cast where the current enters the pool, working your bait with the current. Try the deepest parts of the pool as well as the tail end where the water leaves it.

A small shallow running crawfish colored crankbait is also good. Fish it with the current in the pools. Also try both baits around any rocks breaking the current. Bass often hold behind the rock so cast upstream of it and fish your bait with the current slowly, letting it move at the speed of the current to offer a natural action to the fish.

Fish both baits on light tackle. The bass are not big, with a two pounder a nice fish, but they fight extremely well in the current. Many people say the creek is polluted and will not eat the fish from it, which means more to catch. The state does not list any restrictions on eating fish from Sweetwater Creek but catch and release is the way to go there for safety and the fish population.

Flint River

The Flint River is home of the shoal bass and you can catch a lot of fish, and some quality ones too, in the river. The record shoal bass, an eight pound, three ounce monster, was caught in the Flint River in 1977. They are often called “Flint River Smallmouth” because of the way they look and fight.

Access to the river is limited but the river itself is public waters. The best way to fish the Flint River is to float it in a canoe or small jon boat but there are some places you can drive to and wade the shoals. Sprewell Bluff State Park is a good place to try.

Sprewell Bluff State Park is south west of Thomaston. Take Highway 74 West out of Thomaston, turn left on Old Alabama Road to Sprewell Bluff Road and turn left on it. It dead ends in the park.
Wading is definitely the way to go here. You can cast from the bank but the river is wide and some of the best fishing is upstream of the parking area at the park and you will have to wade to get to it. Be extremely careful on the slippery rocks and the deeper spots. The current can be strong. Wading is best when the river is low.

When you get to the park turn right on the dirt access road going upstream until it ends. If you park there and follow the edge of the river you will come to a big rock bluff and need to wade to get around it. Then start fishing the shoals.

Small baits are best even though you have a good chance of catching a quality shoal bass. Eight or ten pound test line is heavy enough but check your line often since it will get frayed on the rocks.

Shoal bass feed heavily on “rock worms,” the local name for hellgrammites, and a four or six inch black worm imitates them, so it is a good bait. Texas rig it on a one sixteenths ounce sinker and fish it slowly with the current.

Crawfish are another main target of shoal bass so a small, shallow running crawfish colored crankbait is good. Cast it and the worm upstream and work with the current. Target deeper pools and riffs where the current is broken by rocks. The bass hold downstream of the rocks in the eddies created by them.

Topwater baits like a small popper can be excellent for shoal bass, too. Try them in slower moving pools and start with a fast retrieve. If that doesn’t work slow down. Early in the morning and late in the day when shade is on the water is best for topwater, but the bass will hit on top all day long.

You can wade a good ways upstream of the park parking lot and there are excellent shoals to fish. It is not unusual to catch several bass from one rock in a good run, or from a deeper pool. If you catch fish going upstream but sure to hit that same spot coming back downstream.

There is a big deep pool just downstream of the parking lot but past it are more good shoals. The river is split by a big island and both sides of it can be good.

If you don’t have a suitable boat for fishing the river but want to try it, Flint River Outdoor Center at the Highway 36 Bridge will rent you a canoe, take you to Sprewell Bluff and put you in. You can fish back down to the Center where your vehicle is parked.

If you rent a canoe it allows you to fish the deeper water in pools. You an also tie up at the shoals and wade them. Just watch your time, this is a half day trip and it is easy to lose track of time while fishing.

All these spots offer fun fishing from the bank or a boat. Try them all, pick your favorite and you can spend many hours fishing close to the big city.

Good seafood in Thomaston

If you like fresh steamed or boiled seafood, plan your trip to the Flint River on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Stop at the Fish Peddler on your way back home for some of the best seafood in the area.

The Fish Peddler is a fish market as well as a restaurant. Their seafood is trucked in each week from the Gulf Coast, so it is always fresh. It looks like a dump, with ramshackle buildings but don’t let that stop you. It is a local favorite and you will be eating in a rustic setting with a lot of folks. And the prices are very reasonable.

Don’t ask for fried seafood, they don’t fry anything. Boiled shrimp and steamed oysters are favorites but they have a variety of Gulf seafood.

The Fish Peddler is on the right side of Highway 19 headed north, just past the bridge over Potato Creek. Watch carefully, it is easy to miss. Look for a bunch of cars around a very rustic building and a small sign identifying the restaurant.

Fishing Alabama’s Lewis Smith Lake and Georgia’s Lake Lanier

I got to fish two very similar lakes last week, one in Georgia and one in Alabama. On Friday I drove the four hours to Smith Lake north of Birmingham and met David Kilgore to get information for an Alabama Outdoor News article. Then on Saturday I got up and drove to Lanier to fish a charity tournament. So in two days I was fishing Alabama’s Lewis Smith Lake and Georgia’s Lake Lanier

David Kilgore impresses me. He is an excellent bass fisherman and has qualified to fish the last two Bassmasters Classics. I got to ride with him on the practice day and be his “Marshall” at Hartwell last February. And he has qualified to fish the BASS Elite trail the last three years. That is the top trail and the dream of many fishermen.

But David chose not to fish the trail. He has a couple of fairly young kids and knew how traveling to fish the Elite trail would disrupt his family life, so he did not do it. He does fish almost all tournaments on Smith and does well in them. He finished sixth in a 248 boat tournament there on Saturday.

Smith is a deep, clear lake with a very rocky shoreline, much like Lanier. He showed me ten spots that will be good places to catch bass in November and explained how to fish each spot and which baits to use.

Those tips would help anyone not familiar with the lake catch fish. Once they see David’s patterns they can use that information to find similar places to catch fish all over the lake.

Jennifer Sell is a member of the Flint River Bass Club and helps run the Georgia Outdoor News forum under the name Bayou Betty. She loves to fish and for the past few years has organized and run a charity tournament,

This year it was for The Center for Children & Young Adults a nonprofit organization that takes care of homeless children 12-20 years old in the Atlanta area. Entry fee was $100 and a local business donated $1000 for first place. Second place was $500. With that much money the tournament attracted 25 teams to fish.

Many other businesses also donated items for prizes for lower place teams and a raffle held at the end of the tournament. Most of the fishermen bought at least $10 in tickets, more money for the charity.

I don’t know Lanier very well and knew we had little chance of winning, so I went with the idea to enjoy the day, explore the lake a little and try to catch a few fish. It poured rain all day on us but that didn’t dampen the attitude of the fishermen.

Jenifer and I decided to not run all over the lake since the rain would make riding in a boat miserable. So we stayed near the ramp, fishing one creek. I like to fish that way anyway, picking apart a small area, trying to find some key spots where bass are feeding.

The first couple of hours were frustrating and we got no bites. Then I decided to try a spinnerbait. The cloudy, rainy day seemed to call for that bait. Within a few minutes I landed two keeper spotted bass on it.

We had a lull in catching until about 11:00 then our biggest spot, one a little over 2.5 pounds, hit a jig head worm under a dock. About an hour later we found the key spot, a rocky bank with a lot of baitfish holding on it.

I landed our fourth keeper there on a jig head worm then Jennifer filled our limit with a keeper on the same bait. Then she caught two more in a row that culled two smaller bass, so we had what for me is a decent limit on Lanier.

Our five bass weighed 8.87 pounds and I knew there would be some big stringers brought to the scales. And I was right. It took five weighing over 18 pounds to win and five over 14 pounds for second and third. There were a lot of limits in the 11 to 12 pound range weighed in.

I was not too surprised the winning team had a spot weighing well over four pounds, and there were five or six more weighing between four and five pounds. But big fish was a largemouth weighing almost six pounds!

Bass fishing at Lanier is good right now and will get better and better until late November. Five pound spotted bass are not uncommon and seven pounders are caught. And some local fishermen say they have lost spots that would set a new state record. They say there are nine pound spots in the lake, but spots fight so hard they are very hard to land, even if you are lucky enough to catch them.

The rocky points on the main lake and back in creeks are all good. And you can ride any point or hump with a depthfinder and find brush piles put out by fishermen. I did an article with one local fisherman a couple of years ago and he told me he had 1100 brush piles marked on his GPS!

Give Lanier a try. Or if you want to drive for four hours head to Smith. Both will be a lot of fun to fish this fall.

How To Catch Bass In the Altamaha River Basin

Bass in the Altamaha River Basin

Some waters just seem to produce better bass fishing. The Ocmulgee River, whose waters produced the world record bass, and the Oconee River join to form the Altamaha River. The lakes on the two rivers upstream are varied but excellent bass fishing waters, and the big river downstream of the junction is full of hungry bass.

On the upper end of the basin, Lake Jackson on the very upper end of the Ocmulgee and Lakes Sinclair and Oconee on the Oconee River are popular destinations for bass fishing. Although there are some similarities, all three lakes have their own types of cover and structure.

The Altamaha River itself can be intimidating if you don’t fish big rivers much but it can be excellent if you take the time to learn to fish it. It is very different from the lakes but all four places are definitely worth fishing right now.

Lake Jackson

Jackson, dammed in 1911, is one of our oldest lakes and it covers 4750 acres. The dam is on the Ocmulgee River downstream of where it forms at the junction of the South, Yellow and Alcovy Rivers. Its rocky shorelines are covered with docks and the lake has a reputation for big largemouth, but it is also full of spotted bass.

Kip Carter is a well known professional bass fisherman and Jackson is his home lake since grew up on it and lives nearby now. He knows it well and this time of year is one of his favorites to fish it.

Bass fishing on Jackson in the spring centers on both the bass and shad spawn. Bass will move into spawning areas in waves, starting in March and continuing through April. Since the bass don’t all spawn at one time you can catch pre spawn, post spawn and spawning bass right now. Kip says you can find bass on the bed almost any day in April.

The shad spawn in April provides some of the best fishing of the year. When the shad move to seawalls and riprap to spawn the bass concentrate on them, eating their fill every day. They are so voracious they will often eat until you can see the tails of the last shad they swallowed sticking out of their throat.

A wide variety of baits will catch bass now on Jackson. While the shad are spawning a white buzz bait or white spinnerbait with silver blades is definitely a go-to bait. Use a one quarter ounce bait for most fishing, but go to a half ounce spinnerbait if you want to concentrate on bigger bass.

Early in the morning you will see the shad schools running the seawalls and riprap. Points on the main lake are best, especially if the channel swings in by them, but secondary points back in the coves are also good. You should move fast until you find the shad spawning then slow down.

Throw your bait right on the bank and work it out at a 45 degree or less angle. The bass will be right on the bank early. After the sun gets on the water back off and slow roll your spinnerbait, covering deeper water where the bass are holding after the shad back off the bank.

Also try a jerk bait after the sun comes up. Cast near the bank and work it back in a jerk – jerk – pause action, making it look like an injured shad trying to get back to the school. Shad colors work best.

During the day Kip targets shallow cover lake brush piles, blowdowns and docks in the coves. A brown jig with a brown or pumpkinseed trailer is one of the best baits to fish around this cover and a three eights to one quarter ounce jig will fall slowly and not get hung as much. It will also draw strikes from any bass on the bed you spot.

A weightless worm will get bit better than just about any other bait, day to day, this time of year. Kip sticks with natural colors rather than the bright worms some favor and watches his line for the bites rather than just watching the bait. He says the natural colors will draw more strikes than the brighter colors.

If you like worm fishing both a Carolina or jig head worm will catch fish. And they are better for fishing a little deeper. Try a Baby Brush Hog on the Carolina rig and a straight worm like a Trick worm on the jig head. Stick with natural colors like green pumpkin and fish rocky points and creek channel drops with them.

Lake Oconee

Lake Oconee is on the upper Oconee River just south of I-20 and is one of our newest lakes. It has it everything bass like with defined channels, deep points, riprap, docks, roadbeds, grass beds and standing timber. With a slot limit protecting 11 to 14 inch long bass it produces a lot of them that size that are fun to catch. It also means there are a lot of bass longer than 14 inches in the lake.

Roger McKee guides on Oconee and does well in a lot of tournaments there. He says the bite centers around the bass spawning movement and the shad spawn on Oconee like it does on Jackson.

A spinnerbait and crankbait are good baits to locate the bass on Oconee and also catch the bigger bass needed in tournaments. Roger will fish both baits fast, looking for active fish. He says he would choose a crankbait if he could use only one bait on Oconee right now.

Use white spinnerbaits with a gold and silver blade in clear water but go to more chartreuse in the bait as it gets more stained. Shad colored crankbaits are better in clear water but also use more chartreuse baits in stained to muddy water.

Many big bass spawn on Oconee in March so they are on an active feeding spree now, and there will also be pre spawn bass moving in as well as bass on the beds. Secondary points in the coves and smaller creeks are the key to both pre and post spawn bass and Roger will hit as many as he can. By fishing his crankbait or spinnerbait fast he can cover a lot of water, and fast moving baits make it harder for a bass to see it is a fake and will draw reaction strikes.

The very back of the cuts and pockets behind these secondary points are where the bass spawn, so look to them for big females on the bed. Roger says some of the biggest bass of the year can be caught off the beds if you have the patients to soak a jig and pig or worm in them.

A weightless worm will also catch fish back in the pockets now. Fish it around any cover like stumps, brush, blowdowns and grass. Try working it fast just under the surface first but it you don’t get hit slow it down. Jerk it and make it dart, then let it sink. Watch your line and if you see any tick or movement set the hook.

Roger also fishes a jig and pig and Carolina rig on Oconee. The Carolina rig is good on the secondary points, especially if you get a couple of bites on fast moving spinnerbaits or crankbaits on one. Slow down and work it with a worm on a Carolina rig.

Fish the jig and pig on the same points, but also throw it around brush, blowdowns and stumps. Fish a brown jig and trailer in clear water but go to a black and blue jig and trailer in stained water. Work the bait slowly with hops on the points and jiggle it on wood cover.

During the shad spawn all the bass on the lake, unless they are locked in on the bed, will feed on them. Shad prefer hard cover like riprap and seawalls to lay their eggs seawalls with riprap are all over the lake. Fish your spinnerbait fast on them early in the morning close to the rocks then slow it down some as the sun comes up.

Lake Sinclair

Lake Sinclair backs up to the Oconee Dam but varies a good bit from it since it is an older lake. Many coves have grass like water willow in them and the docks tend to be older and have more brush piles around them. There is no slot limit on bass and Sinclair bass tend to run smaller, with lots of 11 to 13 inch bass being caught every day.

Both my bass clubs fish Sinclair this time of year since we catch so many bass there and there are so many different patterns you can fish. The bass spawn is in full swing and the shad spawn will take place during the month.

When the shad are not spawning, start early in the mornings with a white and chartreuse buzzbait or spinnerbait back in the coves around the grass. These grass beds are full of bluegill and bass love to eat them. If the grass is not too thick throw to the back side of it and work your bait out. If it is thick cast into it as far as you can without getting your bait clogged up.

Keep the buzzbait moving steadily but drop the spinnerbait at the edge of the grass in any holes or cuts. Let it flutter down a few inches then pull it forward. Bass will often eat it as it stops and flutters.

Floating worms are also good in the grass. Fish them in the grass, letting the bait fall into any holes and at the edge. A white Trick worm is good since you can see it and keep track of where it is and when it disappears, set the hook.

After the sun gets up back off to secondary points and fish a three sixteenths ounce jig head with a green pumpkin worm on it. Drag it along the bottom, with a hop a few inches high every foot or so. Some JJ’s Magic chartreuse dye on the tail mimics the fins of a bluegill and helps you get more hits.

During the shad spawn fish a three sixteenths ounce white spinnerbait with two silver willowleaf blades on riprap, seawalls and around the grass, too. Shad will spawn on the grass as well as the wood and rocks. Watch for flickers of shad as the school moves down the bank.

Cast as shallow as you can, even to the point of landing your bait on the bank and pulling it off. It often seems a bass will sit with his nose right on the rocks, waiting on a shad to come by. You don’t want to cast behind them.

After the sun gets on the water and the shad quit moving, back off the cover and reel the same spinnerbait slowly, keeping it right over the bottom. Fish it out to at least eight feet of water since bass will back off to that depth after feeding.

Docks are also hold a lot of bass this time of year and you can catch them by running a shad colored crankbait or your spinnerbait beside the posts and over brush piles around them. Also pitch a black and blue jig and pig to the docks, getting back under them as far as you can when the sun is bright.

Try to bring your jig and pig right beside every post. When you hit brush stop your bait and jiggle it in one place to get a reluctant bass to eat it. Make it look like an easy meal for a lazy bass.

Altamaha River

The Altamaha River starts south of Vidalia where the Omulgee and Oconee Rivers join. It is a big river with lots of current but also has many pockets and backwaters with overhanging trees and bushes. These pockets are where the bass move in the spring to spawn, so that is where you want to fish.

This is pretty simple fishing since you will be casting to visible cover in shallow water. One of the best tactics is to skip a weightless worm under overhanging limbs of willow trees. Let it sink to the bottom and settle for a few seconds. Watch for your line to start moving off when a bass picks it up. Use natural colored worms like green pumpkin or black.

Also study the backout. If it is a small creek entering the river it will often have a channel the bass will follow. Target stumps and other wood cover along the channel with a chartreuse and white spinnerbait with one gold and one silver willowleaf blade. Run the bait over the wood then let it fall as it passes.

If the backout is an old oxbow, usually one side will be deeper. Bass often hold on this deeper side on wood and grass. A spinnerbait fish beside the cover is good but also try a black and blue jig and pig flipped into the heaviest cover on this deeper bank.

The Altamaha River drainage offers lots of different fishing opportunities. Give them all a try.

Where Can I Catch North Georgia Catfish?

Hot weather and catfish go together like fried fish and hushpuppies. And catfish are one of the best fish to fry with your hushpuppies, too. Summer is a great time to catch some hard fighting, tasty catfish and there are several excellent places to catch North Georgia catfish. From lakes and public ponds to rivers, catfish are plentiful and hungry.

Catfish are the ordinary citizen of the underwater world. You can find them in most waters, they aren’t picky about what they eat, tackle does not have to be fancy or expensive, and you can catch them from the bank as well as from a boat. They bite night and day and there are several kinds of cats you can catch in most places.

Tackle can be as simple as a cane pole or as fancy as a custom rod and expensive reel. But you can catch them on trotlines, jugs and limb lines, too. Bait ranges from live bream and minnows to stink bait that only a scavenger could love. You can go after frying size fish or try for a trophy weighing over 100 pounds.

There is nothing quite like setting out a trotline across a cove, baiting up a few limb lines and then sitting around a fire on the bank with a few rods in holders waiting on a bite. You can pretty much keep as many cats as you want to clean since some species have no creel limit and the ones that do have a limit have a very high number you can keep.

Georgia produces some big catfish. The state record flathead weighed 83 pounds, the record blue cat 80 pounds and the channel cat record is 45 pounds. You may break one of those records.
The following waters offer a variety of kinds of places to fish in north Georgia and the chance to catch several kinds of catfish.

Lake Thurmond

Also known as Clark’s Hill to most Georgia anglers, this big lake has flatheads, blue cats, channel cats and bullheads. Located on the Savannah River near Augusta, you can find good bank access in several areas and there are many boat ramps to launch and go to secluded coves to fish. The lake record cats show what you might have a chance of catching. The biggest flathead from Clarks Hill is a 64 pound fish caught in 2010. A 62 pound blue cat was landed several years ago and the lake has produced a 25 pound channel cat. There are bigger cats in the lake.

I grew up running hooks on Clark’s Hill for catfish back in the 1960s and 70s. We used live bluegill for bait and never caught a flathead since there were none in the lake back then. Fishermen introduced them to the lake and they have grown fast and you have a good chance of catching a 40 pound plus fish.

Live minnows and small panfish are the preferred bait for flatheads and the big ones usually stay deep. The Georgia Little River arm is a good place to catch them and concentrating on the old river and creek channels are your best bet. Fish a three inch bluegill on a stout rod and reel loaded with heavy line and you can hook one of the monsters that live there. If you want a really big flathead, use a bigger bluegill.

Blue and channel cats will also hit small live bream and minnows. A couple of summers ago Javin English and I put out 50 jug hooks with small bream for bait one night and landed 14 channel cats, all about six pounds each. We put them out in Germany Creek and checked them twice that night. One problem with jugs at Clark’s Hill now is the hydrilla. You have to keep moving them out in more open water or at least near the edge of the hydrilla.

Better baits for channel cats include earthworms, chicken liver, shrimp, cut bait and stinkbait. They have smaller mouths than the other species so smaller baits are best. Cut blueback herring, mullet or whole threadfin shad are excellent baits for channel cats and blues will hit those baits, too. Cut bait and stinkbait seem to work best for the blue cats at Clarks Hill.

There is good bank access at the Highway 43 Bridge. The river channel swings right in to the bank at the south end of the bridge, the corner on your left before you get to the bridge going toward Lincolnton. You can park there and join the group usually fishing there at night for big flatheads, blues and channel cats. There is also bank access at the other bridge further downstream on Little River and there are many ramps, like the one at Amity Park, where you can fish from the bank.

Put in at one of the many ramps in Little River and go up above the Highway 43 Bridge and fish the edge of the river channel for cats. A hot spot is where two channels come together, like the one just above the island upstream of the bridge. The Little River channel comes in from the right going upstream and the Hart Creek channel comes in from straight ahead. Anchor on the point between the two channels and you will catch cats.

Also find ditches and small creeks running into either Hart Creek or Little River and fish their junctions. The outside bends of the creek and river channels are also good. Put out several rods with different baits, sit back and let the cats tell you what they want that night.

All catfish from Clarks Hill are good to eat and there are no advisories on any species. Bigger blue and channel cats may be tough and better for stews, but big flatheads stay tender and delicious.

Etowah River

The Etowah River downstream of the Lake Allatoona Dam is an excellent river for catfish. There is some bank access at bridge crossings and boat ramps but your best bet is to launch a small boat and fish from it. There are channel, blue and flathead cats in this section of the river. You will catch a lot of three pound blue cats and one pound channel cats, but ten pound blues and five pound channel cats are fairly common.

River fishing is different from lakes but fish can be found in consistent places. Find a deeper hole where the river forms a pool and the biggest cats will be living there. Logjams or rocks make pools even better. The fish hold in the deeper water and will feed, but they also move to the more shallow water at each end of the pool to feed.

The best baits in the river for blues and channel cats are chicken liver, earthworms and stink baits. For bigger blues and flatheads try live or cut shad or live bream. The bigger fish tend to stay deeper so fish the deepest water in the pool with big live baits to entice them.

Anchor your boat at the head of the pool and let your bait drift down the slope into the deeper water, or cast into the deep water and fish on the bottom. Also try anchoring in the pool or tying to a shoreline limb and letting your bait drift to the end of the pool where the water gets shallower.

Two of the best areas to catch catfish here are just downstream of the Allatoona Dam and near Heritage Park in Rome. There are some good holes near the dam and at the park where the Etowah joins with the Oostanaula River to form the Coosa River.

There are no restrictions on eating catfish from the Etowah River and the average size blue and channel cat is good eating, any way you want to cook them. Flatheads are also good at any size cooked any way you like. There are restrictions of one meal per week on channel cats from the Coosa River because of PCB contamination, so if you fish near the junction of the two rivers near the head of the Coosa you should consider releasing most of the channel cats you catch there.

Lake Oconee

The numbers and size of catfish in Lake Oconee often surprise anglers, especially when bass fishermen have their plugs slammed by one. I have caught an 18 pound channel cat on a spinnerbait and a 35 pound flathead on a jig and pig in club tournaments there. If they will eat artificial baits you can catch a lot of big cats on baits they like better.

Located on the Oconee River near Eatonton, Lake Oconee offers both bank and boat fishing. You can fish from the bank at any of the boat ramps and bridge crossings on the lake and catch fish. Bridge crossings are especially good around the riprap at night if you suspend your bait a few inches above the rocks so you don’t get hung up on every cast.

You can catch blue, channel and flathead catfish as well as bullheads there. The lake has produced a 40 pound flathead, a 34 pound channel cat and a 15 pound blue cat, but much bigger blue cats are in the lake. Bullheads will average about a pound each but are very common. Often called mud cats or yellow cats, bullheads are good to eat but have very red, soft meat. There are also white catfish in the lake and they look a lot like channel cats.

Live shad or bluegill as well as cut bait work well for blues and flatheads. For channel cats earthworms and stink baits are good. Night fishing is best on this heavily used lake and the calmer water at night gives you peace and quiet and there is a more consistent bite than during the day.

There is a lot of standing timber on the lake and cats live in it, but it is hard to land a big one around it. The best bet is to anchor your boat on a point near the timber and fish on the bottom. Baiting up a hole to draw the fish out of the timber works. You can pour out a bag of rice, put a bag of fish guts on the bottom or throw out some sinking catfish food in advance of your trip then sweeten the hole the day before you go fishing to get them to come to you.

Rocky points always hold bullheads and catfish so concentrate on them. There are fish all over the lake but the Oconee River above the interstate bridge has some good holes and channel swings to fish. Anchor on the edge of the river channel where it makes a bend or where a feeder creek or ditch enters it and catfish will be there.

There are no advisories or restrictions on eating catfish of any size or species from Lake Oconee.

West Point Lake

West Point Lake on the Chattahoochee River near LaGrange is one of the best catfish lakes in middle Georgia. There are many two to three pound channel cats in it and they are a good eating size. There used to be a lot of commercial cat fishermen working the lake due to the numbers of fish there, and the fish are still there. Flatheads and blue cats are also in the lake.

A 33 pound flathead and a 20 pound blue cat have been recorded at West Point but there are much bigger fish in the lake. Access is good for fishing from the many parks and ramps on the bank and there is a boat ramp close to any part of the lake you want to fish. Yellowjacket Creek, Whitewater Creek and Wehadkee Creek are all good areas to try for channel cats. Your best bet for flatheads is the upper Chattahoochee River.

Fish at night around the bridges in Yellowjacket and Wehadkee Creeks but also try the Highway 109 bridge on the main lake. You can fish from the bank around those bridges or tie up under the bridges and fish beside the end pilings. Also try fishing just off the riprap from your boat.

For flatheads here and anywhere else live bream are the best bait. For blues and channel cats the usual baits like earthworms, stink baits, live or cut shad and cut mullet works very well. When getting a fish for cut bait, an oily fish like a mullet or shad is best since it will put more scent into the water to attract the fish.

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division has no restrictions on smaller channel cats from West Point but you should not eat more than one meal per week of fish 16 inches long or longer due to PCB contamination.

McDuffie Public Fishing Area

McDuffie PFA offers great fishing for channel cats and easy access for bank and boat fishing. There is handicapped fishing access and the seven ponds ranging from five to 37 acres are stocked with channel cats regularly and are fertilized. You will one of the following if you are ages 16 to 64: A 3-day hunting/fishing license, a Wildlife Management Area License, a 3-day hunting/fishing license, a Sportsman’s, Honorary or Lifetime License or a Georgia Outdoor Recreation Pass.

The McDuffie PFA is near Thomson and offers concrete boat ramps, restrooms, picnic tables and camping. Shorelines are clean and easy to fish from but you can fish only from sunrise to sunset Wednesday through Sunday. The limit on channel cats is five per day and you are limited to two lines in the water at a time.

Best baits are chicken liver, blood and stink baits and earthworms. You are not allowed to use live fish of any kind, including minnows, to fish here. Most channel cats are good eating size but you are not likely to catch a really big cat here. The best bet is to find a sandy bank, set up two lines in the water with one of the above baits on a small catfish hook and light lead and wait for a bite. Fishing is relaxed and simple.

You can launch a boat on any of the open ponds and get away from the more crowded bank access areas. Boats are restricted to electric or paddle power only. A gas motor may be attached to the boat but may not be cranked. Find a small drop off or channel with a depthfinder in the ponds and fish around it for the best chances of catching fish.

This is a great place to take kids fishing since facilities are convenient and fishing is good. Kids can play when they get tired of fishing, something important when teaching young kids to fish.

Any of these destinations would be a great choice this summer and you will catch catfish if you give them a try. Load up your tackle, head to one and bring home a mess of delicious fish for your next c

Where Can I Catch March Bass In Georgia?

Georgia bass fishermen dream of days like this in March. You get up early to head for the lake. The weather has been warm for several days with bright sun warming the water. When you get to the lake there is a slight wind blowing out of the west. You just know you are going to catch bass.

In early March bass in Georgia are really coming out of their winter doldrums, feeding heavily as soon as the water warms. They are shallow and will hit a wide variety of baits as they feed up for the coming spawn. By the end of the month some are already on the beds and others are cruising the shallow spawning pockets, searching for suitable bedding spots.

Even in bad weather the bass will bite in March. Heavy winds can be a problem for the fisherman but wind can be your friend, blowing baitfish onto banks and points where bass take advantage of the confusion of the shad to gorge on them. Cold fronts are a problem but the bass recover quickly, returning to feeding as soon as the front settles down.

Try one of the following lakes to have a great catch this month. You can fish just about any lure you like and catch fish if you follow patterns that are consistent every March in out state.

Oconee

My best ever catch of bass in a tournament was several years ago in March at Oconee. The weather had been warm all week and it was beautiful by the mid-March Saturday when we launched. I just knew I would catch bass, and I did, landing nine in two days that weighed 37 pounds. That catch included a 6 pound 15 ounce and an 8 pound 11 ounce bass on Saturday and a 9 pound, 5 ounce beauty on Sunday.

All those fish hit a spinnerbait slow rolled on riprap in Lick Creek. Riprap always attracts bass in March from the beginning of the month to its end. The rocks hold heat and warm fast from the sun and riprap on bridges are great holding areas as bass move up the creeks as the water warms.

Oconee is in the middle of the state on the Oconee River and has a lot of different kinds of cover and structure. The slot limit allows bass to grow and put on weight until they reach the 14 inch size limit that tournaments require and most fishermen observe, releasing the smaller bass they can keep legally.

Big houses line much of the lake and riprap seawalls cover the points and coves they are on. Clay points are common as are natural rocks, all attracting bass in March. Shad are the most common baitfish but bass also feed heavily on crayfish and bream this time of year.

A spinnerbait is a good choice in March. You can fish it fairly fast to cove a lot of water and the active bass are attracted to the flash. Use a chartreuse and white skirted bait with two willowleaf blades, one gold and one silver, and stick with a 3/16ths to half ounce bait. Cast it near rocks and reel it back at varying speeds to find what the bass want.

A crawfish colored crankbait like a #8 Shadrap is a good choice around rocks and clay points where mudbugs live. Cast it near the bank and try to bump the bottom as you reel it in. That erratic darting motion and puffs of mud from hitting the bottom attract strikes.

Main lake points through-out the lake are good but the ones near the mouths of pockets and smaller creeks hold the most bass. They stage on them and feed all month long. Near the end of the month a buzzbait will allow you to cover water faster and draw explosive strikes. Use a white bait with a silver blade and run it near any cover you see.

Hartwell

Lake Hartwell is a big 55,000 acre impoundment on the upper Savannah River. It has a variety of water color, with the main lake staying clear most of the spring but the rivers like the Tugaloo staining up from runoff. It has a wide variety of types of cover, from shallow creeks with lots of brush and other wood cover to rocky points. You can catch largemouth, spotted bass and redeye bass on Hartwell.

Jeff Jones is president of the Georgia BASS Federation Nation and does well at Hartwell, placing second in the Top Six there in 2010. He was top man on the Georgia team at the Regional tournament and went to the Nationals, competing for a spot in the Bassmasters Classic last year.

Bass move out of their deep winter holding area in the standing timber in early March, according to Jeff. They stage on rocky points and steep banks near the spawning pockets and can be caught there on a variety of baits. Roadbeds crossing spawning pockets are also key places for catching March bass.

As soon as the water starts warming bass start moving and, as the month progresses and the water gets warmer, they move further back into the pockets. Spawning pockets with standing timber in deep water nearby improves your chances since this is where Hartwell bass live in the winter.

You can catch spotted bass in the same areas but they tend to move to them a little later in the month and spawn in deeper water, so a cove with gravel and rock in six feet of water is ideal for them. Most of the time both species will be holding in the same area by the middle of the month.

Jeff likes a Lucky Craft 1.5 DD shad pattern crankbait and a Pointer 78 XD in ghost minnow for working the points and banks fairly fast. For a slower presentation he has a three sixteenths ounce jig head with a red crawler Robo worm rigged on it. These baits are best early in the month.

As the bass move more shallow Jeff switches to a regular Lucky Craft 1.5 crankbait but sticks with the same jerk bait. He also likes a white Shaddie Shad soft jerkbait and a five sixteenths ounce Bi Hawg Jig with qn Okeechobee Craw Net Bait trailer.

The best places in March are the creeks and pockets off the main lake from Big Water Marina to Mary Ann Branch. You can fish this area without running all over the lake and the water tends to stay more stable, not mudding up with rains.

Lanier

Lanier is a 40,000 acre lake just outside Atlanta on the upper Chattahoochee River. It is famous for its big spotted bass, clear water and deep structure and cover. Spots turn on in March, moving into more shallow water where they are easier to catch for most fishermen.

Mike Millsaps is well known on the tournament trails in Georgia and has had some incredible catches at Lanier, like a five fish limit weighing 23.5 pounds in a couple’s tournament there. He says the big spots are easy to follow in March.

As the water warms early in the month the big spots move out of the deep structure and cover and work back into spawning pockets, holding on any cover in the pockets as they move back. Early in the month they will be near the mouths of the pockets and by the end of the month on the cover near the backs of the coves.

Boat docks are the key to the cover and most spawning pockets are lined with them. The bass will also hold on stumps, brush, blowdowns and rocks. Mike likes the lower lake below Brown’s Bridge and will catch some largemouth there, but most of his catch are spotted bass.

You need only three baits for March at Lanier, according to Mike. He throws a Team Diawai TD Minnow jerk bait, a one eight ounce Money Maker jig head and worm, and a Blademaster Jig with a Zoom Chunk.

Pick a pocket on the lower lake, start on the outer point early in the month and work back, hitting all the cover you come to with those three baits and you will catch fish. As the month progresses start further back in the coves and pockets and work all the way to the back. By the end of the month start in the back and work out until you find where the bass are holding. It will be consistent on most other similar places.

Lake Harding

Also called Bartlett’s Ferry, Harding is a small Georgia Power Lake on the Chattahoochee north of Columbus. It is a deep, rocky lake near the dam but has many shallow flats in the river above the mouth of Hawalakee Creek. Grassbeds are common on the lake, with water willow the most prolific weed.

Harding has produced good largemouth and spots over the years but spotted bass are most common now. There are lots of small bass in the lake and a limit of five spots weighing six pounds is not unusual. It is a good lake in March to catch large numbers of fish.

Nick Roberson lived near Harding and fished it often until recently. He weighed in a five fish limit weighing just over 22 pounds there a couple of years ago. He also has an 8 pound, 8 ounce largemouth from the lake.

After a warm winter Nick often finds bass on the beds up the river in oxbow lakes as early as February, and they are usually spawning heavily in March there. Bass in the river oxbows spawn a lot earlier then most people realize, according to Nick. The bass on the lake will be spawning by late March most years.

Several baits catch bass in March and Nick will have a Jawbreaker jig and pig, a jig head worm, a Senko, a spinnerbait, a crankbait, a topwater bait and a jerk bait tied on this month. The Senkos and spinnerbaits work best in the oxbow lakes where there is a lot of grass and he drops the Senko into holes in it. The spinnerbait is worked through more open grass.

On the main lake throw the crankbait, spinnerbait and jerk bait on rocky points and around docks. Fish the jig head worm in the same places but work the jig and pig in brush and other wood cover. Use dark colors in stained water and lighter browns in more clear water.

Blackshear

Lake Blackshear is west of Cordele on the Flint River and it just looks “bassy.” Cypress trees, grass beds and stumps are everywhere and all hold bass. Huge shallows up the river warm early and attract bass to them in March.

Jim Murray, Jr. is a well known Georgia pro fisherman and he grew up on Blackshear. He guides on Blackshear, Seminole and Eufaula and makes lures with his Custom Bass Tackle business at http://custombasstackle.com/

In March most of Blackshear bass will be prespawn, feeding around shallow cover, so stay in shallow water to catch them. Cypress trees and grassbeds are the key and Lee fishes for them with a three eights ounce chartreuse and white spinnerbait with Indiana blades and a eight inch green pumpkin Zoom lizard behind a one eight ounce sinker or a green pumpkin Senko rigged weightless.

Lee will go up the river above the bridge at Veterans State Park and fish pockets and backouts, hitting all the grass beds and cypress trees in them. Points and edges are best and he fishes them fairly fast, looking for active bass.

Isolated cover is where you are most likely to catch a fish so trees out from the others, a tree or clump of grass on a point or a single clump of grass on a bank a few feet from other grass is best. Make repeated casts to isolated cover.

These lakes will all give you a good chance to catch bass this month. Choose the one you like best and get on the water.

Where and How Can I Catch Bass in Georgia In September

Bass fishermen have something to look forward at the beginning of September each year. It will only be about another month before fishing gets good again after a long hot summer. September can be a mean month for catching bass, but they can be caught even now. Yes, you can catch bass in Georgia in September

Our Georgia lakes are as hot as they get all year in September and oxygen content is at its lowest level. And there are more baitfish making easy meals for bass, but shad and herring draw them to open water, making them harder to find and pattern.

Fortunately, there are three patterns that will usually pay off in September. You may be able to find bass on all three on some lakes but at least one or two will work on all our lakes. You can fish at night, go deep or find moving water.

At night many bass move shallow and get more active. For years fishing early in the morning and late in the afternoon has been known as the best time to catch bass in hot weather. Extend that and fish during the dark. It means adjusting some of the things you do, and works best on clear lakes, but you will be more comfortable and catch more bass after the sun goes down.

Fishing deep it a traditional way to catch bass in hot water and bass are schooled up and holding on deep structure and cover. It takes special techniques to find and catch them, but once you find a school you can often catch large numbers of fish in one spot. And bass often come up from deep cover to hit baitfish on top, opening up an exciting way to catch them.

Current turns bass on and finding moving water usually means catching bass. Everything from natural current way up rivers and creeks to water moving across main lake points from power generation at the dam will make bass feed. Look in the right places and you can find active bass in current in most of our lakes.

Each of the following lakes has its own characteristics that fit some of the above three methods of catching September bass:

Thurmond (Clarks Hill}

One Labor Day weekend several years ago I was staying at my place at Raysville Boat Club on Clark’s Hill and woke up very early Saturday morning. I was too excited about an afternoon dove shoot to sleep, so I got in the boat and idled across to a brush pile I had built in eight feet of water. The full moon was beautiful and lit the lake brightly enough to throw shadows.

A bass took my Texas rigged curly tail worm in the brush and jumped twice when I set the hook. It looked to be well over eight pounds, but it threw the hook on the second jump. Two weeks later, just before the sun rose over the trees, I hooked and landed my first nine-pound bass from that same brush pile, on the same kind of worm.

Fishing at night is very good at Clarks Hill and you can catch bass from sunset until sunrise in shallow water. There is a full moon on September 23 this year and there is no more exciting way to catch bass than running a buzzbait or Jitterbug over shallow cover in the moonlight. Fish a topwater bait slowly and steadily to give the bass a better shot at it.

Riprap is always good on Clarks Hill at night but shallow hydrilla beds are excellent, too. Start fishing as the sun sets and keep fishing topwater as long as there is any light, working around the outside edges of the hydrilla and through cuts in it. It is best to locate the beds in daylight so you have an idea of the area to fish. Keep at it until the sun rises.

On dark nights work a Texas rigged worm on a light lead or a light jig and pig around riprap and the hydrilla, too. Crawl both baits on the rocks and drop them into holes and cuts in the hydrilla. You can use a black light to help you see the cover and your line, but this is a great way to learn to feel what your bait is doing.

Moving water is hard to find on Clarks Hill but you can run up the Savannah River to near the Russell dam and catch current flowing both ways. When power is being generated at the Russell dam strong current flows down the river. At night and early in the morning when the Corps is pumping water back into Russell current goes up the river.

Get out on main lake points and work a big crankbait or big Carolina rigged worm with the current. The bass will usually hold on the break on the downstream side of the current, so their position will change depending on which way the water is flowing.

On most of the lake, current is not a factor and bass hold as deep as oxygen levels allow. One year in late August I was playing with an oxygen monitor and discovered there was not enough oxygen below 11 feet deep in the Raysville area for a bass to survive. Further down the lake the depth of good oxygen got deeper.

Ride over deep points and humps watching your depthfinder. When you find fish, often holding near stumps and brush on the steepest drop on the structure, back off and make long casts with a big crankbait or big Carolina or Texas rigged worm. Bass will usually be holding from 18 to 30 feet deep on the lower Savannah River and Little River areas of the main lake.

Watch for surface activity in these same areas. Largemouth will come up to the surface to hit blueback herring and shad and will fall for topwater plugs like Spooks and Sammys. Work these baits over the deep cover even if they are not coming up and you can sometimes draw them to the surface.

Lanier

Lanier means spots and herring in September, and night fishing is usually best on this big, heavily used lake. At night you can actually hold your boat on points on the main lake without getting thrown out by the wake of passing cruisers. And it is a lot cooler.

Lanier is so clear and busy with pleasure craft that bass usually hold deep even at night. You can fish the same places and patterns day and night to catch them, and use the same baits.

Laura and Trent Gober fish many tournaments on Lanier and often finish high on the list. Laura fished the Women’s Bass Tour before it closed and did well on that trail, too. Lanier is her home lake and she loves to go after the big spots there.

Find brush on a deep hump or point and you are likely to find big spots holding there day and night. And think real deep. Bass on Lanier often hold 30 to 60 feet deep. It is harder to fish that deep but it pays off in bigger fish.

Laura likes to throw a Texas rigged Senko on light line and work it through the brush and any other cover on points and humps from Brown’s Bridge to the dam. Ride over the humps and points watching your depthfinder carefully for cover. Sometimes you will see the fish in it if you have a good unit. When you spot a likely looking place, throw a marker out a few feet from it so you can stay on it. At night you can attach a small glow stick to your marker so you can see it.

Back off and make long casts. Feed line out so your lure sinks straight down. When fishing extreme depths, if you don’t let your lure sink on a slack line, the lure will swing way off the cover as it sinks. When you hit the cover, work your bait in it slowly, twitching it in one spot. Yo-yo it on limbs in brush piles, making it dance up and down in one spot.

The same deep places hold bass day and night and the Texas rigged worm works well, but blueback herring offer another option during the day. Bass holding 30 feet deep in brush and tree tops will come to the surface to eat herring that swim near the top on bright, sunny days. During the day, find deep cover, back off and cast a topwater bait like a Spook or Sammy over it. A Fluke can be worked in the same spots in the same way.

Make long casts and work the bait fast, making it look like a bass chasing a herring across the surface. Be ready for a smashing hit when a big spots comes rushing up for an easy meal.

Finding current on Lanier means running way up the Chattahoochee River, and you need a shallow draft boat to be safe. You have to be very careful in any boat, but if you go up the river far enough you will find moving water. If power is being generated at the dam you can find current further down the river.

When you get to moving water fish any cover you see with a Texas rigged worm. Most cover this far up the river will be shoreline rocks and trees in the water. Pitch your bait to the upstream side of the cover and let is wash downstream with the current in a natural movement.

You can also keep your boat downstream of the cover and cast a small crankbait up past it and work it back. Make it look like a baitfish being moved down the river, making it an easy meal for waiting bass.

Oconee

Lake Oconee is unusual for its strong currents that flow both ways. Power generation at the dam creates current all over the lake, and the pumpback moves water back upstream far up the Oconee River and main creeks. That current makes the bass feed heavily in September.

Terry Adams lives near Oconee and fishes it often. He won the BFL and an Oconee Marine tournament on Oconee two years ago with five bass limits weighing over 17 pounds in each. In 2006 he and one of his mentors, Jack Brown, won the Berry’s Classic on Oconee and Sinclair. Terry has won several other tournaments there including some of the old JR Tournaments.

Docks are a key to Terry’s fishing and he looks for docks on deep water. He wants to find a dock with at least ten feet of water in front of it. He pitches a jig and pig to the dock posts, lets it sink to the bottom, strokes it up off the bottom and lets it fall back, then hits the next post. He does not try to get his bait way back under a dock, he says too many fish get tangled up and break off. He looks for active fish on the outside posts.

Current running by the docks makes them much better and pulls the fish out to the outside posts. Waves from passing boats can do this, too, so Terry likes boat traffic. Docks from the Highway 44 Bridge to the mouth of Richland Creek are his favorite ones.

Docks are good at night, too. Terry will look for a lighted dock and run a crankbait under the light if he can get an angle on it. He casts a Shadrap or other small crankbait in shad color. He will also pitch a big worm to the lights. Dock lights are inconsistent on Oconee because they get turned on and off. The best bet is to ride the lake and hit any lighted docks you find.

Fishing a big crankbait 12 to 20 feet deep on points and humps is a good way to catch quality bass on Oconee, too. The bass will hold on the drop on the downstream side of the current, so that can change between generation current running downstream and pumpback current running upstream. Find the drop with your depthfinder then make long casts to get your bait down to the bottom.

West Point

Although the Corps of Engineers seems determined to remove as much shoreline cover as they can pile up and burn every winter, night fishing around blowdowns and stumps can be good at West Point. Brushpiles are also good in the dark and any wood cover you can find will produce bass in the dark.

Find blowdowns during daylight hours and learn how they lay and how to fish them when you can see them. Also find deeper brush on points and humps and mark it. Work a Texas rigged worm through all the wood cover. A big worm, from a Zoom Mag 2 up to an Old Monster, in dark colors, will draw bites from fish holding in the wood.

Look for blowdowns from Highland Marina up Yellowjacket Creek and the Chattahoochee River. From Highland Marina down, much of the shoreline cover has been removed so look for brush piles in 10 to 20 feet of water to fish. If you ride almost any point or hump you will find bush somebody has put out.

During the day bass really key on current moving across the humps and points on the main lake. Week days are best by far since power generation is stronger and more consistent than on weekends. Current moves schools of shad across deeper cover and bass feed heavily on them.

Look for roadbeds, humps and long points from Highland Marina to the dam. Bass will often feed during the day from 12 to 30 feet deep as current flows across them, and they will usually hold on the downsteam side, where there is a drop. Cover like brush and stumps make it even better.

Big crankbaits like Mann’s 20+, Fat Free Shad and Norman DD22 Ns work well to imitate the shad the bass feed on and get down deep enough to catch them. You need to fish them on eight to 10 pound line to get them deep, and fluorocarbon line is best since it is thin, sinks and does not stretch much.

Get on the downstream side of structure and cover and make long casts upstream. Stay close enough to the cover to get your bait down to it. It takes 20 to 30 feet to get a big crankbait down 20 feet, so you have to cast that far past the target to hit it.

Reel your lure steadily with a medium speed. When you hit cover, pause it a second and let it float up, then jerk it so it darts away. Check your line on every cast since it will get frayed hitting the cover.

You can catch bass right now. Try these tactics and adapt them to the ways you fish, and you won’t have to wait another month to enjoy successful bass fishing!

What Are the Best Fishing Trips In Georgia Each Month?

Month by month tips for the best fishing trips in Georgia

JANUARY
Spotted Bass:
Lake Allatoona

What to Expect: Spotted bass are abundant on Lake Allatoona and boat traffic is at a minimum so you can fish for them in comfort. The bigger spots hold deep on steep rocky bluff banks on both arms of the main lake and feed in the cold water. Smaller spots are more active in the same areas in more shallow water.

How To: Fish bluff banks with a jig and pig or jig head worm on light line and move both baits in short hops, staying in contact with the bottom. Mid-day is often the best time to get a bite since the sun warms the rocks and water.

Contacts: Mike Bucca owner of Spot Country Guide Service – [email protected]

Options: Largemouth move into spawning areas early on Lake Seminole and you can catch them around bedding areas on Carolina rigged lizards and worms on the flats.

Crappie at Lake Thurmond hold in standing timber on old creek and river channels, holding 11 to 20 feet deep in the tops of them.

FEBUARY
Yellow Perch:
Savannah River

What to Expect: Yellow perch run up the Savannah River in the winter and concentrate below the Thurmond Dam. They feed heavily in the pools and eddies and can be caught on a variety of baits. Fish in the one pound range are common and bigger fish can be caught. The Georgia record is only 2 pounds, 8 ounces so you could probably break it if you want to try.

How To: Fish small jigs and live minnows from a boat or the fishing piers to fill your freezer with these tasty fish, there is no limit. Use light line and tackle to get the best fight possible from these fish known for their taste, not fighting ability.

Contacts: The Herring Hut – 864-333-2000

Options: The warm water discharged by the power plant makes Lake Sinclair one of the best places to catch winter largemouths on crankbaits and spinnerbaits.

The state record spotted bass was caught at Lake Burton in February. Fish the ends of long main lake points under schools of baitfish with a jigging spoon or jig and pig.

MARCH
Crappie:
Lake Oconee

What to Expect: Crappie at Lake Oconee move shallow and feed as they get ready to spawn. Some of the biggest crappie of the year will be caught in early March but the whole month is good for numbers of these tasty fish. They will be fat and full of eggs this time of year.

How To: Troll small jigs and live minnows on the ledges and flats up the Oconee River above the I-20 Bridge. Keep your boat right on the lip of the drop and change speeds and depths you are fishing until you hit the right combination. Using several poles or rods with different colors and at different depths will help you quickly find what they want.

Contacts: Guide Al Bassett – 706-473-7758

Options: Rainbow trout bite good in the 48 miles of the Chattahoochee River below the Lake Lanier Dam and is restricted to artificials only and catch and release this time of year.
Prespawn West Point largemouths move onto secondary points in coves and creeks and will hit crankbaits and spinnerbaits.

APRIL
Bluegill:
Lake Seminole

What to Expect: The full moon on April 9th brings the bluegill into shallow flats to spawn on Lake Seminole. Starting a week before the full moon the fish congregate in huge numbers and make beds side by side that are easy to spot over large areas.

How To: Look for beds on sandy flats and fish crickets, grass shrimp and Mepps #2 spinners around them. Anchor your boat a cast away from the edge of the beds so you won’t spook the fish and you can catch fish after fish.

Fish with ultralight rods and reels spooled with four pound line for a good fight or go with the traditional cane pole. The bluegill don’t care how fancy your tackle but a rod and reel makes it easier to stay back from the beds and catch fish.

Contacts: Wingate’s Lunker Lodge – 229-246-0658

Options: Catch Sheepshead on fiddler crabs and shrimp around pilings and rock jetties in bays on the coast.

Your best chance for a Georgia smallmouth bass is Lake Blue Ridge on small worms, crankbaits and a jig and pig on main lake points.

MAY
Largemouths:
Lake Hartwell

What to Expect: Blueback herring spawn on Hartwell in May, especially around the full moon on the 9th, and largemouth gorge on them. The blueback spawn offers some of the best fishing of the year for big largemouth since they will be actively feeding and the big baitfish make the big largemouth move shallow.

How To: Fish a topwater plug like a Zara Spook or soft jerkbaits like Zoom Flukes over shallow bars and humps on the main lake. Bluebacks like to spawn in “blowthroughs,” places where an island near the bank concentrates the wind blowing through a shallow area. The wind and waves expose gravel for the herring to spawn on and bass are nearby.

Contacts: Lamar’s Fishing Cabin – (706) 376-1478

Options: Catch your own mahi-mahi, also called dolphin fish, off the Georgia coast. Troll squid lures and spoons under birds.

The Ogeechee River is full of redbreast sunfish and they hit small spinners, earthworms and crickets under overhanging brush.

JUNE
Mackerel:
Offshore

What to Expect: Both Spanish and King Mackerel are chasing schools of baitfish off the coast. They are on reefs not far off the beaches so long runs are not necessary. Kings get big and will test your tackle. Spanish Mackerel are not as big but both put up good fights and are great eating. On a good day you will get dozens of hits.

How To: Slow troll live bait or artificials near natural and man-made reefs. Be prepared for screaming runs up to 200 yards if you hook a big King. Watch for birds feeding over schools of fish and get near them before starting to troll your baits.

The state record King is a 75 pound, 12 ounce fish caught near Grays Reef by Joe Bell in 2004.

Contacts: Captain Mark Noble (912) 634-1219

Options: Flathead cats feed heavily in hot weather on the Altamaha River. Fish deep holes with big live bream.

Waters Creek is a trophy trout stream and the big ones are smart and hard to catch. Try to outwit a bragging size trout with a fly rod.

JULY
Spotted Bass:
Lake Lanier

What to Expect: Lake Lanier is crowded with pleasure boaters during the day but night time brings the spotted bass out to feed. Night tournaments are common on the lake and winning stringers usually include a five-pound-plus spot. Some big fish can be caught in the dark at Lanier in the summertime.

How To: Start at dusk with topwater baits over offshore humps and long main lake points. When it gets dark switch to big black spinnerbaits slow rolled along the bottom in 18 to 25 feet of water or a deep running crankbait on humps and points with rocks and brush. Also fish a jig and pig or jig head worm with rattles in the same areas, shaking it in one place to attract the fish.

You can get by with heavier line and tackle in the dark but stick with 10 to 12 pound line for your baits. Fish an area slowly and carefully and return to places were you catch fish since there is probably a school feeding there.

Contact: Guide Ryan Coleman – 770-356-4136

Options: Sea Trout feed on oyster bars in the bays on the coast and you can catch them with live shrimp or jigs.

Put your boat in the Flint River downstream of Albany and fish topwater poppers late in the day for exciting hits from big shoal bass.

AUGUST
Blue Cats:
Chattahoochee River

What to Expect: Big blue cats feed in deeper holes in the river below the Walter George dam. From eating size up to trophy size fish, you can catch a lot of them there now. The current means a hard fight from cats grown fat from the fish killed by the generators at the dam. Fishing is best when there is strong current from power generation.

How To: Anchor at the heads of deeper holes and drift live bream or shad into them. Also use cut shad on heavy line and stout tackle. Tie a rig with a sinker heavy enough to get to the bottom and hold there with a swivel two to three feet above it. Tie the sinker on with lighter line so you can break it off if it gets hung. Put a short dropper line from the swivel to a hook of suitable size for the bait you are using and the size fish you are after.

Use big baits for big cats or smaller baits for eating size fish. Frozen shrimp and small chunks of chicken breast work good for smaller cats. Whole shad and bream are best for trophy size fish.

Contacts: Corps of Engineers for generation schedules – 866-772-9542.

Options: Flounder are in the bays on the coast this time of year and can be caught drifting live minnows, bloodworms or shrimp.

Bluegill bed on the full moon again on August 6 so take some crickets and earthworms to the Big Laser PFA.

SEPTEMER
Red Drum:
Coast

What to Expect: Red Drum, also called redfish and channel bass, migrate out of the bays and rivers in the summer and congregate off the beaches and on reefs in the fall. This is the best time to land a big bull drum surf fishing or fishing wrecks and reefs.

How To: Fish cut mullet or blue crab are the best baits for big drum in heavy surf at the mouths of creeks and rivers or fished on reefs and wrecks. Use heavy tackle to take these strong fish – the state record is 47 pound, 7 ounce fish caught off artificial reef “KC.” You can keep Red Drum between 14 and 23 inches long, only and there is a five fish daily limit.

Contacts: Miss Judy Charter – 912-897-4921

Options: Stripers in the Coosa River seek out deep holes this time of year and can be caught on live bait and jigs.

For a change of pace, fray an eight inch piece of white nylon cord and tie it on a silver spoon. Cast to gar on the surface in backouts up the river at Lake Harding.

OCTOBER
Shoal Bass:
Ocmulgee River

What to Expect: Shoal bass were introduced into the Ocmulgee River by fishermen and took a liking to it. Four and five pound fish are common from the Jackson Lake dam to Macon and bigger fish are caught. This time of year the river is low and the bass are easier to find. Be careful and watch the water levels because generation at Jackson Lake will cause the water to rise rapidly. Shoal bass bite better when there is a strong current when power is being generated.

How To: Fish small crayfish colored crankbaits at the heads of pools and work them by any rocks in the current. Drift a Texas rigged worm on light lead with the current through cuts and into deeper pools. Live bait like small crayfish and rock worms are excellent when drifted with the current under a cork. Fish all baits naturally with the current.

Options: In the fall big walleye move onto main lake points on Lake Raburn and can be caught on live earthworms and minnows.

Rocky Mount PFA offers two lakes to fish for largemouth. Time your trip the first ten days of the month when Heath Lake is open.

NOVEMBER
Largemouths:
Jackson Lake

What to Expect: Cooling water makes Jackson Lake largemouth move to shallow wood cover and feed. It also means less boat traffic, making for a more pleasurable fishing day. Some of the biggest bass of the year are caught at Jackson during the cooler months since they are more likely to be in shallow water and more accessible to anglers.

How To: Fish a jig and pig around blowdowns and brush near the main river and creek channels. Use a brown jig if the water is clear or black and blue if it is stained. Work the bait slowly, hitting ever limb and letting it fall back to the bottom.

Wood cover in short pockets and small coves off the main channels are best since the bass can run into them to feed and still have access to deep water nearby.

Contacts: Guide Barry Stokes – 770-713-8521

Options: The Toccoa River is a good year-round river for rainbows but it gets outstanding in the fall

Lake Weiss is known for its big crappie in the fall. Fish wood cover in deep water in major creeks with jigs and minnows.

DECEMBER
Striped Bass:
Lake Thurmond

What to Expect: Big stripers move shallow in the cold water to feed on blueback herring. Fish weighing forty pounds and more are caught each year at Thurmond. The population of big stripers is good and winter is the best time to catch them.

How To: Use planer boards to take live blueback herring in close to the rocks on main lake points. At the same time freeline live herring behind the boat in deeper water to cover a range of depths.

Contacts: Captain Dave Willard – 803-637-6379

Options: Laargemouth bass feed in the Altamaha River in the winter. Fish a jig and pig or crankbait around main river wood cover.

Look for gulls to point the way to hybrids schooling up on West Pointand cast bucktail jigs to them.

These are just a few of the trips you can take to enjoy Georgia fishing at its best this year.

What Are the Top Midwest Walleyes Lakes

Top Midwest Walleyes Lakes

By Vexilar Pro Jason Mitchell
from The Fishing Wire

Big walleye caught in a Midwest lake

The Midwest is ground zero for walleye fishing popularity. Midwesterners love their fish with the white tipped tails and luckily, there are several great walleye fishing destinations across the northern tier of the United States. Of course we couldn’t put every great walleye fishery on this list and the list is in no particular order. This list is nothing more than some top-notch fisheries that are fishing extremely well right now. Healthy fish populations, trophy fish potential and catch ability all factor into some of the best walleye water we have seen in our travels that in our opinion offer some of the best walleye fishing in the region.

Leech Lake, Minnesota
This massive natural lake in northern Minnesota has gotten a lot of attention in recent years for great walleye fishing but this lake just seems to get more solid each year. There are a lot of walleye in this lake with opportunities for both eater size fish and big fish. What is neat about this big lake is that you can fish so many different ways. From classic rigging and jigging presentations to lead core and swim baits, there is so much variety in this ecosystem that there are usually several solid patterns happing at once.

Lake Winnibigoshish, Minnesota
Another of the big natural lakes in northern Minnesota, Winnie has quietly developed into one of Minnesota’s best walleye lakes. Perhaps at the expense of the Lake’s renowned perch population, the walleye population is healthy and thriving. Fun shallow weed patterns occur through the summer as well as classic structure fishing over deep gravel bars.

Devils Lake, North Dakota
This now massive natural lake is now nearly 200,000 acres of water when you look at the entire lake basin and include Stump Lake. With high water and a decade and a half of incredible recruitment, this lake continues to live up to its stellar reputation as a top tier walleye fishery. Several shallow patterns emerge that are fun for anglers. Top tactics include pitching crank baits and soft plastic swim baits into shallow water along with classic bottom bouncer and spinner presentations along weed bed edges.

Bitter Lake, South Dakota
The Glacial Lakes Region of South Dakota is very similar to Devils Lake in terms of history and high water creating new fishing opportunities. Bitter Lake is now the largest lake in the region and offers tremendous fishing. Anglers enjoy casting jigs and crank baits along weed bed edges or run the contours with bottom bouncer and spinners. Within sixty miles of Bitter Lake however are countless small lakes that also offer tremendous fishing and some of the lakes no doubt offer as good of fishing as your going to find anywhere particular for numbers of fish.

Green Bay, Wisconsin
Probably the best fishery on the list for consistently producing trophy caliber fish. While some fisheries like the Western Basin of Lake Erie, Columbia River, Lake Winnipeg and Tobin Lake get a lot of attention for producing big fish. Green Bay often gets overlooked. Classic Great Lakes harness and board fishing tactics often shine through the summer with many small boat fishing opportunities on the right days.

Lake Sakakawea, North Dakota
This reservoir on the Missouri River in western North Dakota has been on the upswing in recent years and has several good year classes of fish. Extremely high amounts of forage have actually slowed fishing down over the past few years but there are a lot of walleyes in this lake and they have been well fed. This is more of an anticipatory pick as this cyclic lake by nature is due to really turn on and the stars are lining up. Anglers often focus on classic reservoir structure with live bait rigs, jigs and bottom bouncer and spinner presentations along with trolling crankbaits.

Kabetogama Lake, Minnesota
A classic Minnesota north woods fishing experience. With much of the lake located within Voyageurs National Forest, this mostly undeveloped lake offers that cool wilderness experience. Classic deep structure jigging and rigging tactics shine on this lake. Much like a Canadian Shield fishing experience, this lake is full of sixteen to twenty four inch walleye.

Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin
Really some of Wisconsin’s best inland walleye water. Great early season opportunities exist on the Wolf River but as the season progresses, much of the attention shifts back to the basin of Winnebago. Another lake with so many different patterns, walleyes can be found in shallow reeds and rocks or suspended out over the deeper basins.

Mississippi River Pool Four, Minnesota
We would rate this fishery right behind Green Bay for big fish potential on this list. Probably one of the best places in Minnesota for consistently finding fish over twenty-nine inches. A variety of fun patterns emerge including wing dams, trolling lead core and blade baits.

Lake of the Woods/ Rainy River, Minnesota
A very big lake with a huge population of walleyes. The Rainy River spring walleye run is one of the best fishing opportunities there is but what surprises some people are just how good the small boat opportunities are on the Rainy long after the crowds have left. Out on the big water, there are some phenomenal trolling bites that more recreational anglers are discovering with snap weights and lead core.

Missouri River, North Dakota
While the overall size of the fish has dropped off in recent years, the spring run up the Missouri River near Bismarck, North Dakota is still a walleye slug fest where anglers can sometimes score some big catches of walleyes with many fifteen to nineteen inch fish. Pitch jigs along shallow wood and sand bar current seams, slip jigs in faster water or pull crankbaits upstream.

All of these notable fisheries are top tier destinations that attract legions of anglers each season. A sampling of some of the Midwest’s top walleye fisheries but in no way is this a complete list of every great fishing opportunity. There are several smaller and more obscure fishing opportunities that fly under the radar and remember that a great day on a mediocre fishery is much better than a poor day on a great fishery. Is there a fishery we left off this list? Let us know what you think on the Jason Mitchell Outdoors Facebook Page, www.facebook.com/JasonMitchellOutdoors

Also don’t forget to check out the new and improved Vexilar website!! Visit www.Vexilar.com for more info and to learn/see all the great products!!

Good luck out there and be safe!!

About Fishing

Welcome To About Fishing