Lake Blackshear is the most beautiful lake in Georgia. Of all the lakes I visit, I find it the most scenic and interesting. For a fisherman, miles of shallow shoreline with grass and lily pad beds with cypress trees everywhere make it look like heaven. Its tannic stained colored water looks like it holds bass everywhere.

For pleasure boaters, skiers and seadoo riders, the lower half of the lake has big open water. The upper lake, above the highway 280 bridge, is full of standing trees and stumps, protecting fishermen from all but the most foolish pleasure boaters and skiers.

Blackshear has something for everyone.

I spent Tuesday morning on Blackshear with Travis Branch, getting information for my July Map of the Month Georgia Outdoor News article. Travis owns Bucks Deer Processing and Taxidermy in Cuthbert and lives in Leesburg, not far from the lake. He loves to bass fish and knows Blackshear well.

As we rode up the lake before the sun came up, the lake was calm and beautiful, reminding me of why I love being on the water.

We started fishing a grass and lily pad bank at daylight above the bridge, running topwater baits like buzzbaits and poppers through the cover. He caught a nice bass and another one, even bigger, blew up on it but missed his buzzbait right at the boat.

As the sun came up, we stayed on shady banks fishing that pattern and caught some small bass. Then, as the sun got higher, we moved out and started pitching Texas rigged worms and wacky rigged Senkos to the base of the scattered cypress trees.

Those trees provide shade and a great ambush point for feeding bass. When the sun is at an angle, morning and afternoon, there is a fairly big shady area. But when the sun is high the fish move right to the base of the tree where the shade is just a small area.

Each tree has a root ball shaped like a donut around it, extending out about as far as the branches on the tree, and the bass find perfect cover and comfort. You have to cast very accurately, and make your bait enter the water quietly, to get them to bite. The water is usually two feet or less deep, so it is easy to spook them.

We caught several more bass fishing the trees but by 11:00 the sun was hot, so we headed to the ramp. On the way Travis showed me another good pattern. Many small creeks and coves are lined with hyacinth beds floating on top of the water.

Those thick mats offer bass a shady porch to sit under and watch for food. Punching them with a plastic bait behind a heavy sinker to get through them works well later in the summer when the water and sun is hotter.

Another good pattern is skipping a bait under the many docks around the lake. They, too, provide a nice shady place for bass to sit and wait on food. They are best when the sun is high.

If you like sausage, stopping at Striplings is a must. I always do and buy several pounds to bring home. There are two stores, one on highway 280 near Veterans State Park, and another on highway 300 near the lower lake. Both offer a wide variety of link and patty sausage, hot sausage and ham biscuits and other delectibles.

Blackshear is about two hours south of us between Cordele and Americus on the Flint River. You can go down I-75 or highway 19 to reach it. There are several boat ramps and Veterans Park has rooms, cabins, a marina and boat ramps. It is well worth the drive from here.