The Angler Magazine | September 2020 | Greater Atlanta Edition by Coastal Angler Magazine

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SLOB SNOOK By Ryan Izquierdo

he anticipation is over. Snook season opened Sept. 1 on Florida’s Atlantic coast, and I know a lot of anglers who are excited to get that thump, fire up the skillet and enjoy a beautiful keeper snook with friends and family. Snook, in case you didn’t know it, are pretty much the most awesome inshore gamefish around. They grow large, up into the 30- and 40-pound range. They are aggressive feeders, and the fight is definitely something to write home about. Florida anglers are lucky to live in one of the world’s best places to catch snook. For everyone else, it’s definitely worth a fall trip to the Sunshine State to do battle with these tacklebusters. Regulations allow you to keep just one fish a day in the 28- to 32-inch slot limit. One of the best ways to catch that one keeper—or a giant slob snook—is beach fishing. You don’t need a fancy boat. All you need is your own two legs, a rod and reel and the appropriate tackle. Location — When fishing for snook, tarpon

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and other gamefish, there are a few key things to look for: birds flying/diving, baitfish being ambushed, obvious structure and current flow. I always bring binoculars to the beach and scan the shoreline for birds and baitfish. If you don’t see any action, keep moving down the beach. I drive my truck to every beach access, quickly hop out and scout. This is the fastest way to cover ground and scan for what you are looking for! The more you fish the beach, the more you will learn and understand a pattern. Snook are hunters; they stage up in obvious areas ready to ambush prey. The beach may all look the same on the surface, but underwater is a different story. Be on the lookout for deep holes, rocks, grass, dropoffs, swash channels and any other structure you might find. Any time sand meets grass or rocks, that’s a great area to fish. Look past the obvious structure, and sometimes that will yield fish other anglers fail to notice. Equipment — When it comes to beach snook fishing, finesse is everything. However, the goal is to get the fish in quickly to ensure a healthy release if it’s not a keeper. Typically, you want to

downscale your line, leader, and hook when beach fishing. My go-to set up is a 4000 spinning reel; 10- to 20-lb. braid; a 7-foot medium action rod; 3 to 4 feet of 30-lb. fluorocarbon leader; a 1/4- to 3/8-ounce jig-head; and 3- to 6-inch swimbaits, depending on the forage, depth and fishing conditions. Jerkbaits and plugs that dive 3 to 5 feet are also a good option. Matching the hatch is key. Use lures that look similar in size and color to what the fish are feeding on. Fishing with live bait is also a good option. I always keep a 5- or 6-foot cast net in the bed of my truck. It’s lightweight, easy, and gets the job done. Pilchards, threadfin, mullet, croaker and whiting are all great baits found on Florida’s east coast beaches. Keep an aerator and bucket with a lid to ensure the baits are alive and cool. The bigger the bait, the bigger the tackle you will need. I like to free line baits, but I carry pinchon split shot weights if I need to get baits down into the strike zone. I recommend 2/0 to 6/0 circle hooks for the best hook up ratio. Time — The best times to go fishing are at dawn and dusk. Tides are also extremely important. The best time to fish for beach snook is the first hour before and after incoming and outgoing tides. I’ve had the best results right before and after high tide. It is important to check the tides and plan ahead. I also log my catches in a small notebook, where I write down the date, tide, time, tackle/bait used. Start a logbook, and you will eventually have excellent data to use in planning. That is the best way to truly learn and master beach snook fishing. Follow Ryan Izquierdo on YouTube (RyanIzFishing) and Instagram (Instagram.com/Ryan_Izquierdo) to check out his fishing adventures.

Spider Rigging To Catch

Crappie C

By Darcie Arahill

rappie, also known as “specks,” and “sac-a-lait” and a host of other names, depending on where you live, are absolutely delicious and are easy to catch for the whole family. I grew up saltwater fishing and did not know much about crappie. However, all it took was one trip to the lake and I was hooked on these fish; on the correct light tackle crappie are just as much fun as larger fish, and more “yummy” than most! Crappie, both white and black variations, can be found in almost any body of freshwater from Michigan to Florida. I usually catch them in Lake

Okeechobee, Fla. Depending on the time of year, you will catch them in grass mats, along edges, in deep holes, and even through the ice. They generally hold tight to some type of cover like brushpiles or sunken timber, and they eat primarily smaller fish. Small minnows or baits that mimic small minnows work best. When the fish are biting, it is easy on many lakes to see where crappie are by the dozens of boats seeking to catch what I call “lake lobster!” This type of fishing is a way of life for many lake anglers. My favorite way to catch them is often called “spider rigging.” Anglers set out multiple specially designed rods, up to 20 sometimes, such as the BP Crappie Max Crappie Rod, with very light line and leader (no more than 4- to 8-lb. test), a bobber, then a split shot and a small hook. We generally use size #1, #2 or #4 Mustad Aberdeen hooks, and you can try different color hooks as well—gold, bronze or red. The easiest bait to catch crappie with is tiny live minnows from the local tackle shop. Set your rods at varying depths, and discover where they are biting! If you want to up your game, try jigging for them. Mustad crappie jigs are usually “ball head” jigs and come in a variety of colors. Drop your jig into deep holes and along grass mats or slow troll a spread of jigs around the mouths of creeks. You can attach a variety of trailers, curly tails, minnows and some even add spinners to the jig. Lastly, to really make it fun you can even fly fish for crappie. They will hit many types of flies, and be sure to focus on the size of the fly as much as anything. In conclusion, the only way to catch crappie is to GO, get out there! It’s time to bring the entire family, kids and everyone, for a wonderful day on the water and an even better dinner. This type of fishing is a great way to introduce young kids to fishing because it’s hard to not catch a crappie or other by-catch like bass, catfish, sunfish and bluegills when out the lake. Find “Darcizzle Offshore” on all the major social media platforms. Darcie has more than 850 videos of her fishing adventures on YouTube and would love to hear from you.

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ere’s what anglers in Maine were up to in August. The Casco Bay Bluefin Bonanza, out of South Portland, Maine, hauled in more than 10,000 pounds of bluefin tuna Aug. 6-8. That’s a whole lot of good eating. The field of 41 boats landed 23 big fish, and the top four finishers all boated bluefins heavier than 600 pounds. Local captain Pete Speeches and the crew of Backstabber won the tournament and $6,250 for a 687.5-pound giant they brought to the scale the third and final day of fishing on Saturday, Aug. 8. Weigh-ins were exciting and filled with drama on Day 3, as the top five positions changed multiple times in just a few hours. Capt. Keith Jordan (Bailey & Bella) established an early lead on the first day with a 679.5-pound bluefin. Last year’s winner, Capt. Kurt Christensen (Molly Jane) brought in a 538-pounder on the second day, followed shortly thereafter by Capt. Nate Bolduc (Cecelia Jean) with a 501.5 pounder. Molly Jane’s second fish, a 671.5-pounder reeled in by Aiden McLean and Reid Hansen seemed a solid second place. Just two hours later, Bailey & Bella’s second fish looked to be a contender but fell just shy at 637 pounds. Their fish had barely been

hoisted and weighed when Backstabber brought in a 687.5-pound behemoth that launched them into first place. Capt. Kevin Lord (Square Footage) shuffled the deck again after lunch with a 547 pounder. Here’s the list of the top-10: 1st: Pete Speeches - Backstabber - 687.5 - $6,250 2nd: Keith Jordan - Bailey & Bella - 679.5 - $3,250 3rd: Kurt Christensen - Molly Jane - 671.5 - $1,500 4th: Keith Jordan - Bailey & Bella - 637 - $1,000 5th: Kevin Lord - 547 - $500 6th: Kurt Christensen - Molly Jane - 538 7th: Nate Bolduc - Cecelia Jean - 501.5 8th: Rusty Parmenter - Patricia Ann - 483 9th: Jeremy Loomis - Kelsey Anne - 466 10th: Shawn Moore - Katelyn A – 462

Dr. Walt Golet, adjunct professor from the University of Maine, and team members with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute collected biological samples from all fish landed for continuing work on bluefin tuna. In its second year, the Casco Bay Bluefin Bonanza is a charitable organization dedicated to raising funds for scholarships to Maine’s community college system. In 2019, the Bonanza

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LOCAL RIVERS & FLY FISHING KNOW THEIR NICHES Contributed By: Jeff Durniak www.unicoioutfitters.com Unicoi Outfitters, Orvis 2018 Fly Shop of the Year

main current. The other river bass and bream species also like shoalie niches, but they love what the Unicoi Guru terms, “frog water.” Look for the slowest, shadiest spots along the river with at least 2-3 feet of depth to hide them. Deep, slow, shady spots along the riverbank are some of the best river bass niches created by Mother Nature. If there’s a bunch of low branches, a downed tree, or a huge logjam over that niche, you better check your knots and have your cam-

From Merriam-Webster: “niche: a habitat supplying the factors necessary for the existence of an organism or species.” After electrofishing streams and lakes for three decades and fishing them twice as long, I’ve learned a bit about fish niches and would like to share this intel with you. If you know their niches, you’ll catch more fishes! In scientific terms, these niches, or habitats, are a combination of water velocity, depth, substrate, and cover that a certain species prefers, and selects those spots when they’re available. In angler terms, those niches are where sportfish can hang out safely, grab a meal, and not be a meal themselves. Watch a veteran angler. They will first “dissect” a river or stream by looking for those niches and concentrating their casts in those prime addresses. Many anglers call this “reading the water.” When you can recognize these instream abodes and knock on their doors with your popper or Ned rig, you might have some extra fish stories for your friends! Let’s look at some niches for several of our favorite North GA fishes. A real popular target is the rainbow trout. They’re built like a bullet or rocketship (fusiform) and evolved in the swift streams of the Pacific Northwest. Unlike their lazy cousins, ‘bows prefer and can tolerate faster currents, and they’re not as addicted to some form of cover over their heads. Just give them a rocky bottom to blend in with and they’re happy while picking off drifting nymphs. Since they’re not picky about homeplaces, agency research shows wild rainbows often have 2-3

times the density (fish/mile) than brookies or browns in similar-sized southern Appalachian streams. Show me a nice “blue-green” run or pool head with moderate current speed, depth of 2-5 feet, and a cobble/boulder bottom, and I’ll drift my double nymph rig through it for bows (plural!). In contrast, browns and brookies are fat, lazy, and paranoid of predators. They like much slower currents and a roof over their heads and will even tolerate sand and silt under them. North GA “roofs” are often bedrock ledges, boulders with undercuts, undercut streambanks, thick overhanging vegetation, fallen logs, and especially big logjams. With this cover-loving duo, I coach anglers to cast at “groundhog holes” in the stream. A slow spot with some depth and shade is a prime niche for a colorful speck or a hefty brown. Let’s slide downstream and hit a few niches for our river fans. Like our slower trout species, river bass and bream are also fat, lazy, and wary of “death from above.” Their body shapes tell us they won’t spend much time body-surfing the waves in the main current. Look for those groundhog holes in your favorite rivers and you’ll have a great shot at shoalies, smallies, spots, and colorful redbreasts. Shoalies are addicted to rocks, so aim for boulder fields and rock ledges- the ones that are perpendicular to flow (slow water, right?). Put some low tree branches or a big fallen log over that slow, rocky spot and watch out for Bubba, who may push 20 inches. You’ll also find some shoalies in the whitewater, but they’ll actually be in the slow water “underneath” the ripping

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era ready before you knock on that door. Boss Hog might be home. Scan your favorite stream for these niches before you hop in or float down. By skipping over the marginal water and knocking on these prime doors, those niches may give you more fishes, too. If the niche system works for you, then be the hero and pass on your intel to that new angler following you. He or she will be your next best friend, niche spotter and conservation ally. Good luck fishing the niches!

on that e. m for in or er the ng on es may e niche be the to that or she niche Good

LOCAL RIVERS & FLY FISHING SEPTEMBER FLY FISHING REPORT

Contributed By: Henry Cowen www.henrycowenflyfishing.com After the long hot summer, September brings with it the hope of a new striper season as the water tends to cool down from their mid-eighties surface temperature. In-the-know anglers are preparing for what is arguably the most fun time of the year for both fly and conventional fishing for striped bass; the surface feed. In 2019 we saw the surface feeding fish begin by mid-September. Will we see that again this year? September fishing is like opening a box of Cracker Jacks in that you never know what surprise you are going to get. What you positively can count on about September is that we are closer to October (which is the true start of striper season). You have a few options when fishing our area lakes and rivers in September. Fishing for carp has anglers getting in their last licks of the season. The river will be less crowded this time of year, and the river water temperatures starts to cool down. If the nighttime temperatures start to cool slightly earlier in the month, the carp will again take one more look at the flats for a meal before heading back into the deeper holes in the river. Also getting in their last licks are the river rats who search for stripers in the shallows before they make their journey south to get back to the lakes they call home. The Lanier stripers that have spent most of their summer in and around Helen and Dahlonega are making their way back down toward the big lake. Same holds true for the West Point stripers that resided in and around Sandy Springs and Buckhead. August turned out to be a GREAT month for striper fishing the Hooch. For river fisherman, the best news of all is that September does not have as much pressure on the river fish. Less pressure on a river usually means better fishing! September is also the time of the season when hybrids may begin their topwater ritual on Lakes Allatoona, Oconee and Hartwell.

Combine lower surface water temperatures with the lakes where the Corp of Engineers start to pull down water, and you have the perfect environment for hybrids to start hitting the surface. This can lead to some fast and exciting topwater action. The fish are feeding on threadfin shad that range in the 1” to 3” size. It is a perfect opportunity for fly anglers to get in some great fishing. The topwater bite will happen at low light periods, and you can expect that from first light until 9am and then again from 5pm until dark will see the most action. Combine that with a new or full moon phase, and there is a good chance you will see surface feeding hybrids. Even conventional anglers can get in on this great fishery. Just have a medium to medium light tackle outfit rigged with 10-pound test and a casting bubble along with a small fly, and you will be set. Fly anglers should arm themselves with a 6-8 weight fly rod, intermediate fly line and a few small flies to be in the game. Best flies are small Clousers, Albie Anchovies and Somethin’ Else patterns. Lakes like Hartwell, Clarks Hill, Carters, West Point, Chatuge and Allatoona will see this topwater action. Lake Lanier, while not a hybrid lake, will see similar action with spotted bass schooling in September. With any luck you might even see small stripers in the 2 to 5-pound class hitting the surface by the end of the month. Use the same tactics that applies for hybrids, and you too can get in on this action. Lanier striper anglers need to keep an eye out for surface feeding fish all over the south end of the lake. From Browns Bridge south to Buford Dam and everywhere inbetween is the area you might find surface feeding stripers. I would key in on the area around Three Sisters as a good starting point. Afternoons will be the time to look for these surface feeders (especially if they are pulling water from Buford Dam). You can call Buford Dam before you decide to go and see when they will actually start

pulling water. One thing I love about September is it also means our beloved Georgia Bull Dawgs will begin their new season and HOPEFULLY BEAT ALABAMA THIS YEAR

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LOCAL RIVERS & FLY FISHING OCONEE ON THE FLY-SEPTEMBER FORECAST SMORGASBORD OF OPPORTUNITIES

Contributed By Capt. Wayne Moore USCG www.oconeeonthefly.com I believe the dog days of summer here on Oconee are finally coming to an end. The water temperatures will begin to drop, oxygen levels will increase, and the fall fishing season begins! The recreational boat traffic will diminish, and the bite for stripers, hybrids, crappie, and even largemouth will pick up and keep getting better all the way through February next year. Hybrids/Stripers – September is the beginning of the time when we no longer have to throw a cast net for shad and can use large bass minnows if we are spin fishing. Often, I start my trips near the dam, but fish can be found anywhere from highway 44 south to the dam and from the dam up to Richland Creek. If it’s cloudy or low light in the early morning, I use a simple long line setup. It’s a medium spinning rod with 12-pound Stren mono (low visi green), tie on a swivel, add a leader of 10-pound fluorocarbon about 18 inches long, and put a #4 sinker in front of the swivel. Simply cast behind the boat and troll at 6/10 to 9/10 mph. For fly fisherman, I love the versatility of using an 8 weight fly rod with intermediate line, which runs below the surface but is not sink tip. I can use this for surface feeding fish or slow down the retrieve and reach fish in the 8 foot range. I use a 9 foot, tapered 12-pound fluorocarbon leader. Henry Cowen’s Something Else is my go-to fly. You can get the fly at The Fish Hawk in Atlanta, and they will ship to your address. If you look at the picture, in addition to hybrids, I have caught some nice largemouth on this fly. The largemouth will be close to the stone rip rap in the shoreline. The hybrids will generally be in more open water. The retrieve is 5 short strips followed by a 20 to 30 second pause, then repeat. Crappie – Finally, the long line bite will resume. In July and August, many guides here fish brush piles in deep water. This requires great electronics, a trolling motor with spot lock, and preferably I-pilot link between your sonar and side scan and the trolling motor. Long lining is a bit easier. It’s important to find the fish in the sub4 ATLANTA

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Guided Fly Fishing and Conventional Tackle Trips for Hybrids, Stripers, and Crappie merged treetops, and even more important to know how deep your jig is running. The idea is troll your jig just above the top of the submerged timber. Jody Stephens of Crappie Daze Guide Service is a master at this. I do well with it myself, and I am grateful to the other guides here who showed me the ropes. Just troll a 1/16-ounce jig with a 1/32 ounce jig tied a few feet below it. I use Curtis Hobbs livewire hooks for the jigs and Jiffy Jigs curly tail jigs in a Junebug /chartreuse color. Final Words - Don’t forget to book your trip well in advance. All the guides here on Lake Oconee stay booked out well into the future. Email me at wmoore1700 @outlook. com or call 404-317-9556 and lock in your dates.

Booking now, novice or experienced anglers. On the water instruction, top of the line fly gear! Mix it up with light spinning tackle as well for a great combo trip!

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LOCAL RIVERS & FLY FISHING THE CASTING CORNER BASS AND BLUEGILL IN THE HEAT

Contributed By: Rene J. Hesse Certified Casting InstructorFederation of Fly Fishers & Atlanta Fly Fishing and Camping Meetup Organizer

Dang, it’s been hot. Getting up early and hitting a lake is my plan of attack most summer days. The only problem is, ‘early’ only lasts so long, and then it’s just hot. So casting a popping bug will only last so long on the fish since they will drop down to cooler water. My next plan of attack is to pull off the bank and go down a line weight or two and start casting a streamer. Going from a 7 or 8 wt. to a 5 or 6 wt. is a welcome relief on the casting arm. Changing from a popping bug to a tandem streamer changes the casting. It’s beneficial to modify the setup, lift and cast with the rod and fly change. Here are the contrasts between casting a popper and a weighted streamer or tandem rig. Casting a popper is more of a medium to small loop size, with lots of line speed. It helps to do a lift pickup by making a small spiral of the rod tip. Going to a lighter line to cast small streamers like a Wooly Bugger or tandem rig will be differ-

ent. There is a good chance your fly will have sunk down a few feet as you are about to start your casting sequence. Doing a bit of a roll cast, almost a flop type cast in the direction of your target will get the fly up to the surface. Then you can do a ‘roll cast pickup’ by doing a roll cast with a high trajectory so you have time to have it unroll in the air as you get ready to do your back cast. The line speed on a weighted streamer and the casting plane are of importance. We slow down the cast and let the fly help load the line, however, the back cast slightly off to the side and the forward cast coming through on a higher plane will create an oval type cast that holds the tension on the rod tip. The reason we use this slower pace and oval cast is because of the weight of the fly. If we kept the same cast as the popper, it’s easy to get a dip in the rod tip and create knots in the line. I know it’s been hot, but the fish are still there. Go get ‘em.

SEPTEMBER 2 CORN MOON

SEPTEMBER FISHING GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR GUIDE TRIP

Contributed by David Hulsey International Federation of Fly Fishers Master Certified Casting Instructor http://www.hulseyflyfishing.com 770-639-4001

You’ve saved hard earned bucks for a year or two, plopped down a deposit, and anxiously waited for this day to come. The fly fishing trip of a lifetime comes and you’re ready to catch some fish! Half way into the day and the fish are being tough customers. The trout seem reluctant to chase your fly into the trees that surround the stream where your fly lands half the time. A little prep work before your trip would save you some frustration and a few more bucks replacing the flies lost to the branches. A little prep work can also put more fish in the net. As I’ve seen many times on a few bumper stickers plastered on old pickup trucks, drift boats, and Yeti coolers; “GUIDE NOT GOD”. Sometimes it does not matter how experienced or good your guide is, it may be impossible for them to get their clients to the skill point on limited time that they need to be at to catch fish. The fly fisher can do some work before the trip to cut down that time period needed to have a productive and more enjoyable trip. Here are a few tips on this that I’ve seen over thousands of guide trips over the last two decades of guiding. Trout see color. Wearing bright colored clothing is a sure way to shave off a few fish from your daily total. Wear colors that blend in with the environment. Who’s the best fisherman on the river? The great blue heron. I wear the same stinky wore out shirt on almost all my guide trips. It’s heron gray. Trout see movement. Keep your movement along the creek very deliberant and to a minimum. Learn to cast without a lot of false casts over the fish.

Trout feel vibrations in the water and sense clacking of rocks, splashing water, ripping your fly off the water, etc. Don’t fall in! If catching fish is important to you, take a casting lesson or two before your trip. Fly Fishers International is the leading fly casters organization in the world, and you can find a certified instructor most of the time in your neck of the woods. A cast of 30 feet or less is adequate for most Eastern trout streams, 60 feet in the West with wind included, and 90 feet with wind for saltwater flats species. This is a rough example of course. Line control after your fly is in the water is critical. Mending your line is something your guide can show you very quickly on the river, but it doesn’t hurt to know what he or she is talking about beforehand. Dress for the weather and bring a lightweight rain jacket, polarized amber lensed sunglasses, and a hat. Bug spray and sunscreen are a good idea. Just keep it off your hands! Trout can smell it, and it’ll eat your fly line. Be at your pre-appointed meeting place on time and sober. Be ready to fish and ready to focus totally on the task at hand, not doing business on your cell phone. Having focus and the right attitude can go a long way to catching a few fish. Believe me, there’s a thousand other details that can come up on the river, but that’s where the guide comes in; putting you in good waders and boots with the proper gear to fish with and the skills of connecting with the fish. Above all else, make sure to look up every now and then and take in the view. That makes the prep work worth it.

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LOCAL RIVERS & FLY FISHING CHATTOOGA RIVER

Summertime heat has definitely been upon us for quite some time now, and we are all ready for the reprieve of the fall temperatures. Fishing for trout of late has been minimal through late August with the water temperatures quite high. On the other hand, the bartram bass and panfish have made for great days of fishing. The topwater bite has been great from mid-morning throughout the day. As the topwater

bite seems to subside, the use of streamers has been the delight to the angler continuing to catch fish. The extended forecast for September is for below average temperatures, which we will all take after the summer heat. On the same outlook of September, forecasts have below average rainfall. As we look forward to the cooler temperatures of the fall season, we will start to see the emergence of the first of the “fall bugs”. These bugs will start to appear as the water temperatures start to drop. The rocks in the rivers are loaded with very small dark nymphs as well. Try swinging a heavy nymph with

a smaller nymph dropper through the riffle areas of the river and into the heads of the pools. Deeper runs will also produce fish. As daytime temperatures heat up, the fish will move further into the depths of the rivers, so getting a bit deeper with a heavier front fly or a pinch of split shot will help greatly. Streamers are equally productive and will continue as well through the fall season. With the heat of the summer behind us and a good amount of water in the rivers, the cooler temperatures of the fall

should bring excellent fishing for another year. For all of the fly tiers out there, we just wanted to mention that we are bringing in barbless hooks and have stocked many new feather selections. Stop by on your way to the river and check them out. Let’s also remember that we can all help in keeping our rivers clean by picking up what someone else left behind. It makes for a cleaner watershed for our next visit. As we leave no trace, we look forward to seeing everyone out on the rivers!

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LOCAL RIVERS & FLY FISHING SUMMERTIME SHOAL BASS Contributed By: William Reed Nucanoe National Pro Staff Writer will@nucanoe.com IG: @wde_will The hotter the weather, the better the fishing. Sounds crazy, right? Hear me out. When summer temperatures begin topping 90 degrees, the bite for bass species can sometimes feel nonexistent, with the exception of shoal bass. As the name implies, these bass were identified in 1999 and are known to inhabit the shoals of the Chattahoochee, Flint and Ocmulgee rivers. These moving waters keep temps down and assist with dissolved oxygen levels. This near perfect water, combined with the toppling temps is where they thrive, and the bite gets as hot as the weather. People now travel great distances targeting this catch. A fine example is a recent trip to target these shoal bass. Waking up at dark thirty, I hit the road to meet fellow Nucanoe TeamNU mem-

ber, Will Clements. He is known as “River Maverick”, and one could say he is a shoal bass/moving water connoisseur and all around amazing fisherman. The plan was to float the Chattahoochee River from Duncan Bridge to Mossy Creek, both being public canoe launches and prime shoal bass territory. Upon arrival, we start to rig our kayaks. Seeing Will tie everything down to his kayak told me the type of water we would be fishing. This won’t be a casual lake paddle. Once we get on the river, I am in awe of its beauty, as it is shallow, rocky and for the most part, undeveloped. Every 100 yards or so is a complex of large shoals, some drops and swirling eddies. To add to the beauty, we also are the only ones on the river. It’s time to fish. I start with my usual river lures;

inline spinners, jointed Rapalas and jerk baits. To my dismay, I look over while Will is throwing a monster sized swimbait about 5-7” or so in length. Right away, the fish are eager to eat at almost every set of shoals. After seeing Will consistently pull out 2+ pounders, I knew I needed to make a switch. Big baits and swift current called for my 7’ Daiwa Kage swimbait rod and Coastal SV 150 reel, running 40-pound braid with a Sebille 6 1/2 Magic Swimmer. This setup was the magic ticket. It had the backbone and power to pull the Sebille through the current while still being light and responsive. Very first cast, I hooked into a stud. This fish ran up the current, made a 100 yard run back downstream and decided he’d need to do that again before finally being land-

ed. I don’t think I could pull the bait fast enough through the current. Shoal bass truly do fight harder than any bass I have ever caught. Think of them as a smallmouth and largemouth cross with a side of trout, but on steroids. They’re able to cut into and out of the current to eat bait getting pushed downstream. Subtle bites are not a thing with these fish. Every take is an explosion followed by screaming drag. At one point I thought I had a trophy sized largemouth only to find it be a 12 inch shoalie. To say I’m now hooked on shoal bass fishing is an understatement. If you’re tired of simply beating the heat, start embracing it instead. I’ll see you on the river.

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LOCAL RIVERS & FLY FISHING THE GUIDES ANGLE HOPPERS ON THE HOOCH!

Contributed By: Chris Scalley River Through Atlanta Guide Service For most fly fishermen, hopper fishing is usually why they head to the Rocky Mountain West. Out there, the grasshopper population peaks in late summer, and big wild fish key in on these fat insects. I must remind our clients that this usually occurs on the Chattahoochee in the month of September. When we begin to notice fish looking at our strike indicators, we know it’s time to break out the big

dries. When you go to a larger dry fly on #6 hook sizes, you know a lot of these fly patterns are made of buoyant materials like deer hair or closed-cell foam. These more buoyant flies are perfect for suspending one or even two nymphs which doubles or triples your odds of bites, and maybe you just might be pleasantly surprised to catch a few fish on those big dry flies!

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LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST THE ATLANTA SALTWATER SPORTSMAN CLUB TOURNAMENTS By Chuck Alford, President ASWSC, chuckalford@comcast.net Red Snapper Season – The most anticipated time of year for the ASWSC as everyone can’t wait to fill their freezer with those delicious fillets. For 2020 in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida opened the season for 44 days (June 11th – July 25th) and Alabama opened for 35 days Fridays through Mondays only (May 22nd – July 19th) but midway through ended the season on July 3rd due to the quota being caught up quicker than expected. The club always plans an Apalachicola, FL (June 17th – 20th) tournament during the front end of the season, and the Orange Beach, AL (July 5th -11th) tournament which is always timed based on the Pensacola Blue Angels show usually picks up a couple more days at the end of the season. Unfortunately, we missed the season with Orange Beach due to the early Alabama closure, but the Apalachicola tournament was phenomenal with some of the calmest ocean conditions anyone could remember, and the snapper and grouper were on fire. The Apalachicola tournament was the first one the club held this year since the January Sailfish tour-

nament due to Covid-19 closures, and folks were raring to go. The tournament is based out of Bay City Lodge which is a throwback old school fish camp which everyone loves, and we had a good turnout with 15 boats and about 60 people fishing. Every boat brought in a lot of fish. Most boats brought in their limit of 2 red snapper per angler, with the biggest red snapper weighed was a 23-pound giant and a couple more over 20 pounds with several more in the upper teens. Quite a few grouper were caught, and the largest was a 24-pound gag grouper along with many other gags, a lot of red grouper, and a whole lot of scamp grouper came to the dock. The big fish at the weighin was a beautiful 48-pound cobia and a there was a nice assortment of other fish: mangrove snapper, vermillion snapper, almaco jacks and king mackerel. This tournament was also captured on two professional YouTube videos giving everyone a great way to see how the fishing was. The Darcizzle Offshore Team drove up from

South Florida to fish with us for their first time in the Panhandle. I encourage everyone to go on YouTube and search for “Darcizzle Caught our Limit of Giant Red Snapper” and “Darcizzle Deep Sea Red Grouper”. The videos are from the first day with Capt. Mike Springer’s “Outlaw” crew and the second day with Capt. Chuck Alford’s “Pegasus” crew. With the perfect conditions and fish biting, the videos turned out great with some really nice overhead drone shots of the boats, dolphins and tiger sharks. If you have never been to Apalachicola, it needs to be on your bucket list along with the surrounding “Forgotten Coast” of Florida. It is like traveling back in time 100 years to old Florida before Disney World and

the tourism boom changed the landscape. It is beautiful, peaceful, great seafood and the fishing is fantastic. One of the best things about joining ASWSC is that you can fish great new locations like Apalachicola without having to learn everything on your own. You get tips on where to stay, to eat, to get bait and tackle, and lots of help where and how to fish, along with knowing there are others in the area a VHF radio or phone call away if you need help or advice. The Atlanta Saltwater Sportsman Club (ASWSC) is the largest inland saltwater fishing club in the US and has been active since 1987 and is the foremost authority on saltwater fishing in the Atlanta area. For more information about ASWSC: www. aswsc.org, info@aswsc.org, and like us on Facebook “Atlanta Saltwater Sportsman Club”.

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LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST SUPER DUPER TROUT By Tim Dangar ltdangar@tds.net When it gets too hot to lake fish, it’s time to find some cold trout water, and that’s what I did the evening of August 13th. I had about two hours of daylight to work with, so I decided to try some of the close honey holes found in Dawson and Lumpkin Counties. It clouded up with temps around 80 degrees, which was a big relief from the mid90s. I decided to use a new lure that someone back in the spring turned me on to. They are called “Super Duper”, and I have to say they live up to their name. And yes, there are some things an old fisherman like me can still learn. This thing looks like anything but what a trout would

like to eat. The unorthodox way it jumps from side to side when coming through the water makes it attractive to feeding trout. I have not used it enough to know if color really matters, but it does come in an assortment of sizes and colors. I caught a limit and this was the largest of them, but all were good eating size. So don’t stop fishing due to heat. Just find colder water up in the mountains of North Georgia. Until next time, stay calm and fish on!

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LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST WALLEYE ON THE LINE!

By Gary Turner

Stacy Fleming and I met our friend Eric Crowley at Carters Lake a little before 6:00 a.m. and headed out in search of fish. We knew it was going to be another blistering day, so we wanted to try and get on the fish early. With the surface water temps in the 90’s, there was very little action up top. If you aren’t familiar with Carters Lake, you might look at your fish finder and think it is broken. The main lake has a lot of places over 200 feet deep and some over 300. This very large water column gives fish a lot of water to hide in. When I caught the lake record blue cat several years ago, it was in 130 feet of water, and the fish were submerged in a tree top at 80 feet. This is the kind of fishing that makes Carters a little different than most lakes. Just for the record, Alan Short has beaten my record for the blue cat, but he didn’t have time to take the fish to be certified, so there are lake records swimming there. Speaking of records, word has it that DNR has stocked some very large walleye in this lake. No, they are not the size of Volkswagens that made people scared to swim in there. So Eric is marking a thick band of fish from 50 to 80 feet on the Hummingbird with very little activity above that 50-foot mark except. Our plan is to see if we can get a bait to that depth and pull a fish out of what looks like every fish in the lake all huddled together. Well, fishing is fishing and catching is a whole different ballgame. We managed to elicit a few bites but no hookups. Then I finally managed to hook on one, but it came unbuttoned before I got it to the boat. Sometimes fishing is on fire and sometimes it takes patience. Today was a day for the latter. I love fishing with my friends and just being on the water and can almost say that I’m ok not catching any fish, but I just am not there yet. I LOVE TO CATCH FISH! I have that need to reel them in. If anybody works hard to put you on fish, it’s Eric. You have heard me say this about several of my other friends and guides too, and I think that may be why the list of people I

fish with is such a short list. I have been on a trip in the South Pacific for 8 hours and we never changed a thing and never got a sniff only to come back in and see local fishermen with basically wood kayaks filled with fish. Anyway, Eric is putting in the effort and time, and it happens. The rod is down and Stacy gets it. It’s none other than Mr. Walleye. NICE! We fished awhile longer and decided to call it a day, as it had gotten super sticky hot. Eric said, “Well, let’s make another try right before we dock up”. So we tried one last place and it was my turn. The rod tip buried down and I grabbed it and started reeling. I’m sure there was a cat-eating-a-canary grin on my face. As it neared the boat, we could see it was another nice walleye. Eric doesn’t catch walleye every day because lots of days he catches stripers, spots and even occasionally a catfish (this is actually the first time I’ve been with him that we didn’t catch a catfish), but for one reason or another, Eric has been catching lots of walleye this year. So if you are looking to put a Georgia walleye on your list of fish caught, he is the guy to call. It may even get better toward the fall. Well, I hope you all stay safe and healthy out there and this Covid 19

12 ATLANTA

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SEPTEMBER 2020

com, or he can be reached at (706) 669-4973. I’m not sure what next month’s article will be on, but remember, if you have an empty seat on your boat that needs filling, shoot me an email and maybe it will be about fishing with you! You can reach me at gary@ purgeright.com. Please remember, if you are not going to eat it, don’t kill it.

will soon be a thing of our past. ‘Till then, stay safe and FISH ON! If you want to catch walleye on Carters Lake or Blue Ridge, Eric is the person to go with. His guide service is Lake and Stream Guide Service. You can get more information on fishing with Eric at his website www.lakeandstreamguideservice. com and you can also email him at lakeandstreamguideservice@gmail.

LAKE EUFAULA By Capt Sam Williams hawk184@earthlink.net 334-687-6266 Water temperature: upper 80’s to low 90’s, lake level: 188.12 msl, clarity: stained. The river continues to drop slowly as the Corps prepare for the repairs on the dam at Ft. Gaines. The obvious hazards have been marked with buoy markers for our safety. Follow the river cans and the creek markers. Your maps on your electronics are a safe bet to stay in the deeper water and keep a close eye out for floating debris. Fishing patterns have held steady from our last report. The shallow bass bite is still active at day break and just before sunset where you can find cover and outside grass patches. Frogs and blade baits are effective here and shaky heads and wacky rigs using trick worms and Senkos. Red and black, watermelon candy and watermelon are good colors. The deeper bass are still scattered on the deeper man-made and natural structure in the creeks and river ledges. We are finding these in 18 to 30 feet of water using heavy jigs and Carolina rigs baited with large worms and creature baits. Red and black, watermelon candy, watermelon red and June bug colors are a good choice. The shad are still plentiful and growing. When you see these shad pods in the open water, throw your twitch bait beyond the school and work it back through it. If you like a crankbait in these situations, match the size as close as possible to the shad size. We are seeing two definite sizes lately. A dot on the side will emulate the threadfin shad the fish are feeding on. If you don’t have one, take a magic marker and make your own. A Rat-L-Trap worked beneath

these schools will draw a hit from bigger fish. Crappie are still on the deeper trash piles on the drops. Working a jig vertically in these schools will get a bite. They are also full and very lethargic and must be finessed into a strike. Tipping these jigs with a minnow or a minnow on an Aberdeen hook will also work. Bream on the banks are still eating worms and crickets. Look for overhanging bushes and blown down trees in the water. Catfish are in the creeks and on river ledges. The warm water has pushed then a little deeper. Jugs baited with shrimp, hot dogs and cut bait are getting a good mess for the table. Sign up for the newsletter for the Alabama Classic Bass Tournament at www.alclassic.com. We are privileged to have Alfa Insurance as our new title sponsor guaranteeing our first place winning team a $5,000.00 check and increasing the total purse to $15,000.00. God Bless and good fishn’.

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LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST LAKE LANIER OFFERS OPTIONS IN SEPTEMBER Contributed By: Jim “Jimbo” Mathley www.jimboonlanier.com

A traditional September on Lake Lanier offers anglers many choices of approach. The lake has been above full pool most of the year, and we should go into September around full pool. The water temperatures have been normal for late summer, so the traditional late summer patterns should be in play. Often during these kind of conditions, you can find fish very deep as well as very shallow, and some in between. Today, we will look at the options for fishing Lanier this September and how to approach catching bass in this key transitional month. Location: In September, we often find spotted bass in 3 different types of locations: 1. Very deep (30-50 ft) off the ends of humps and points, relating to timber lines. 2. Very shallow in the backs of creeks and creek arms in major tributaries around the lake or shallow on rocky bluff walls. 3. Suspended in the mouths of major creeks around brush in 20-30 feet of water, as well as deeper pockets near the main lake. Now that we understand where we can find them, let’s look at some of the tools we can use to catch them in each of the above situations. Lures and Presentation Deep 1. Drop-Shot – This is a great tool to target deep fish. This presentation can be made vertically into cover or it can be cast toward the target and slowly retrieved. I prefer the Lanier

Baits Fruity drop-shot worms. Light line is a must. I prefer 6 to 8-pound test Seaguar Abrazx. 2. Jigging Spoon/Flutter Spoon -In general, I prefer the Flex-it spoons, but choose your favorite in this category. A Georgia Blade flutter spoon can be a great option this time of year as well. Experiment with the presentation once you have located the fish. Some sort of rip/pause or fast reel/pause cadence should do the trick. Look around timber lines and tree tops near the mouths of creeks. Lures and Presentation Shallow 1. Buzzbait – While Lanier is not necessarily known as a buzzbait lake, this can be a very effective tool in both shallow situations discussed above. Make your retrieve an erratic one and present around cover where possible in addition to steep rocky banks early in the morning. I like the Georgia Blade choices for a buzzbait. 2. Spinnerbait- An old favorite that can be deadly around flooded shoreline cover and shallow docks and blow down trees, as well as steeper rocky banks. Try the new offerings from Georgia Blade. They offer a nice variance of bait sizes and blade types. 3. Crankbait - Opt for a shallow to medium diving plug and work the same areas as you would the spinnerbait. I am a big fan of the SPRO offerings. 4. Jig/Worm - When the fish are not chasing, don’t be afraid to

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pitch worms and jigs to the flooded shoreline cover. This can be a very effective technique to catch fish with a smaller strike zone. Georgia Jigs rule! Lures and Presentation Suspended 1. Topwater – When the water starts to cool, the topwater action can be awesome. Look around manmade brush on off-shore structure such as humps and points for the fish that are hanging out. Topwater baits such as a Chug Bug and a Zara Spook can be an excellent way to catch these fish, and a lot of fun too! 2. SuperSpin by SuperFish Baits – This is an excellent producer on Lanier. Fish the bait at the depth you see the fish suspending near bait balls. Understand the fall-rate for your rig and count the bait down to the depth of the fish and maintain that depth. 3. Jerk Bait – Another great tool for targeting suspending fish. Choose a bait that suspends at

the depth the fish are holding and experiment with your retrieve cadence until you zero in on what the fish are looking for any given day. The SPRO McStick or McRip are great options here. 4. Spy Bait – This bait has become popular in the recent years. It is a great option when the fish are not hitting your topwater or jerkbait presentations. Cast this bait out, count it down to 10 or so, and then begin a very slow retrieve. This technique is the epitome of finesse fishing. Slow and methodical is the key. I like the Duo Realis offerings in the G-fix 80 size which you can purchase at Hammonds Fishing or through Lanier Baits. I still have a few dates available this September, so call me to book a trip. See you on the water! For more information or to book your trip, contact Jimbo on Lanier! 770-542-7764. Jimbo’s website: www.jimboonlanier.com.

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LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST CHATUGE HYBRID TONS OF LAKE CHATUGE HYBRIDS WITH BIG OL’ FISH GUIDING SERVICE By: Darren Hughes Owner: Hughes General Store & Bait Shop The Angler Magazine Fishing Team & Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service www.bigolfish.com 828-361-2021

I’m not sure these hard fighting hybrids even know that fall starts this month. These fish are still schooling and biting like it’s June. However, September is historically a great month for hybrid fishing on Lake Chatuge, and it’s looking like this year is going to be even better! If you’re looking for an actionpacked morning of fishing, give us a call. We are Lake Chatuge’s #1 guide service for loads of trophy hybrids and spotted bass. Currently, Lake Chatuge is at full pool. Water temps are in the low 80s, and water clarity is clear throughout the lake. Hybrid fishing is wicked good! The fish are still schooling in large numbers, and we are catching some big quantities. Our average trips

are consisting of 30 to 50 fish in just a few hours. Most of our hybrids are averaging 5-10 pounds. The early morning and mid-afternoon bite has been prime. Look for schools of fish along the main channel and off points. Down lining live blueback herring has been the best technique. Watch your electronics and when you mark fish, drop your lines. Topwater bite has slowed down considerably, but you can still find a few busting. The spotted bass bite is also off the hook! Using the same techniques we do for catching those schooling hybrids, we’ve been killing it with the bass. We’ve been catching at least 20 or so spots every morning. These aren’t small spots either. Just this morning, we had several fish 5 to 7 pounds and probably averaged 3 to 4 pounds. Huge spotted bass! September fishing on Lake Chatuge is always exciting. Remember, live bait on this lake can be the difference between a successful day of fishing and a horrid one. For all

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LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST LAKE CHATUGE

LANIER STRIPERS Forecast by: Clay Cunningham www.catchingnotfishing.com 770-630-2673 Striper fishing on Lake Lanier has been solid the whole month of August just about identical to last August. The only difference this year has been the increase in the number of fishermen due to Covid. Two patterns have been dominant. The downline bite has been solid as has the trolling bite with leadcore. These same two patterns will continue into September with maybe a little more leadcore. As long as the weather stays hot, look for the stripers to stay deep on the south end of the lake feeding on herring. With the right electronics like the Humminbird Solix Series, you can see the fish feeding through the schools of bait and biting your herring on the hook. To catch these fish deep, you need a Carolina type rig using a Capt. Mack swivel sinker, a six foot piece of Trilene 100% flourocarbon leader material and a 1/0 Gamakatsu circle hook. Hook the herring right up between the nostrils and drop them right above the schools of stripers on your electronics. I can see the Capt. Mack swivel sinker and the bait swimming around on the hook. Rely on your electronics for success right now. If you do not see fish on your

unit, do not stop the boat to fish. If you do not want to use live bait, lead core is also still catching some big fish. Lead core is a weighted line you pull behind the boat. It is color coded to help you dictate your depth. On the end of the lead core line, tie a thirty to fifty foot piece of 20-pound Trilene 100% flourocarbon tipped with a Spro Prime white bucktail, a white Berkley Fusion bucktail, or a Capt. Mack white chipmunk jig. You need a wide selection of these bucktails from 1 to 2 oz. Some days they will key in on a particular jig or color. Tip the bucktail with a 4” chartreuse Capt. Mack Shad Body as a starting point. Be sure to purchase several colors of the Shad Bodies as well. Some days, a certain color will out-perform other colors due to numerous factors like cloud cover. Lastly, in late September the weather will begin to cool off. Be sure to have several topwater rods loaded with topwater baits and swimbaits for any early topwater. Baits like a Berkley Canewalker and Berkley J-Walker and the Sebile Magic Swimmer are essentials. A great casting reel like the Abu Garcia Revo makes the difference. With the large number of fishermen on Lanier, a little extra distance makes a difference. These fish will school on the surface in October. Be ready for the fun.

As long as the weather stays hot, look for the stripers to stay deep on the south end of the lake feeding on herring.

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Eric Welch Welch’s Guide Service www.welchsguideservice. com 706-455-2323 Water temperature: 84-85 degrees, lake level: 1.5 feet below full pool, clarity: clear. The weather has been strange. We’ve been having some hot days with mid-day and afternoon storms, but our nights have been cool. With it being like this, the bait is still hanging deep. We have been seeing and catching some fish on topwater, but you have to be fast and hit it in the circle where they just busted or they are gone. Sometimes you can follow it up with a Strike King 3.25” Rage Swimmer on a 1/8 ounce swimbait hook. My bait of choice for topwater has been a Strike King Sexy Dawg Jr and a Whopper Plopper on flats and off points. After the sun gets up, it’s time to start fishing deep with a drop-shot using a 6” RoboWorm or a shaky

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head with a Strike King 6.5” finesse worm around brush or off deep banks and drops. This time of year, I like to throw a wacky rig with a Strike King Ocho or a Yum Dinger around docks or brush. This upcoming month, we should start seeing more fish moving up and feeding. In years past, mid-September is when we start having a good topwater bite, but until that starts, you need to use your electronics and see if you mark any fish around the areas you’re fishing. If you’re going to fish a jig, fish it slowly and work the area real good. The bigger spots right now need to be coaxed into biting. We guide on 8 different lakes, so if you’re looking for some great fishing, give Welch’s Guide Service a call. We’re your #1 guide service, and we’ve been doing this since 2001. Good luck!

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LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST WEST POINT LAKE

Bass: Fair - A few largemouth and spots are still being caught on deeper brush piles, ledges and road beds in the main lake area, basically holding to a summer pattern. Try big deep diving crankbaits or Texas rigged Ol Monster worms. Also, dropshotting can be effective in these areas. Best fishing is around brush piles or other structure in these areas. Water generation always improves this bite. Downsize baits in these same areas and improve your chances for spotted bass. A few fish will remain shallow, and this pattern should improve as we move toward fall. Topwater baits such as Pop R’s, Zara Spooks and Spro Poppin Frogs can still be effective for shallow fish, especially around grass and weed beds. Try targeting the mouths of feeder

creeks north of the 219 bridge in the Chattahoochee. Also, have a jig handy to pitch into wood cover in these same areas. Spotted bass are still your best bet on the south end of the lake. Spots are being caught by casting Spot Remover heads loaded with Shaky Tail worms or just dragging a Carolinarigged Zoom finesse worm or mini lizard around shoal markers. Also, try a small Texas rigged worm or a pig-n-jig around blown down trees. Actively schooling groups of fish will also hit the Flash Mob Jr rig, a personal favorite in the early fall. Linesides: Fair - It has been a good summer in general for schooling topwater action on the main lake. These fish can generally be caught on Rooster Tails, topwaters, pop-n-cork rigs and Storm Swim Shad lures. Start early or stay late for the best results. Trolling with crankbait/bucktail combos should also continue to be fairly effective. Try old faithful areas like the railroad trestle hump and

the humps out from Amity Park for good results. Crappie: Fair - The fish will typically move out and hold on deeper brush and structure or under docks until the water temps drop into the low 70s or so. Try drop-shotting minnows or shooting docks in 1015 feet of water for the best results. You can really do well if you find one of these schools. Try the cuts

and coves in Yellow Jacket Creek and from Highland Marina north to Wolf Creek in the Chattahoochee. Some fish will start to move a little shallower as the water slowly cools. Minnows fished under a float will usually work on them. Any blowdown near deep water is a good starting point. Night fishing is still pretty good. Try under the bridges with lights.

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LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST LAKE MARTIN

LAKE SEMINOLE shad are running. For an exciting Lake Seminole Fishing Adventure, email us at lakeseminolefishingadventures@gmail.com or follow us on Instagram and Face Lake Seminole is a foot below full book @lakeseminolefishingadvenpool, and the water temperature is in tures! Give us a call at 850-264-7534 the upper 80â€™s. The Flint and Chatta- to check availability! hoochee River arms of the lake have a slight stain while Spring Creek remains clear. Currently, the bass have been biting topwater lures in the mornings and afternoons. Walking baits like a Heddon Zara Spooks and buzzbaits continue to generate some explosive strikes on the grass lines on the main lake. Plastic worms like a 5â€? Yum Dinger in June bug fished weightless along the grass lines have been very productive after the topwater bite slows. As we move into September, the topwater bite should continue and get even better as the bass start the fall feed. If coming to Lake Seminole in September, swimbaits, crankbaits and jerkbaits are also productive if the

Forecast By: by Capt. Paul Tyre paultyrefishing@yahoo.com

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Provided By: David Hare Alex City Guide Service 256-401-3089 Water temperatures: 89 degrees, lake level: 490.5 (full pool 491.00), clarity: very clear. Our clients have caught a lot of big fish with us lately including the husband and wife team pictured in this article: husband Robert with his 25-pounder and wife Renae with her 41-pounder. These are local, long time repeat clients who certainly deserved this catch. As of today (8-12) August has been very hot with not much rain which has stressed our fish. In saying this, it has been a tough few days to catch fish. Iâ€™m guessing that by the time youâ€™re reading this that the bite has improved and we are back to normal catches for the month of September. After Labor Day comes much less recreational boating traffic, which in most cases helps the fish be less stressed and more likely to strike. Youâ€™re not going to graph huge schools of stripers this month, but in the right areas youâ€™re going to graph a lot more singles and doubles than you probably did in August. I personally will be carrying a few live baits on our charter trips each day, but will spend

the majority of the trip trolling with my â€œScottyâ€? electric down riggers covering as much water as I can. When trolling, if I get a hookup then I just simply circle that area until I get no more strikes. Once I know I have worked that particular area thoroughly, I move on. As far as lures, Iâ€™m using trolling spoons, hair jigs, and a big variety of crankbaits. I will constantly be changing lures until I find the one they are preferring that particular day. September is a month Iâ€™m not thinking as much about where Iâ€™m going to fish as to where Iâ€™m not going to fish. This particular month has a lot of non-productive water, and Iâ€™m not going to waste any of my time in those areas. Most likely, you will not see us fishing north of Youngâ€™s Island or any other water that doesnâ€™t have an average depth of 70 plus feet. Iâ€™m not going to spend much time in any creek regardless of depth.Â Â Catch and release is promoted especially for the green bass, but September is not a month to be releasing stripers. They absolutely are not going to live. Even if you get them to swim off, they are going to resurface and die, so take the fish with you. If you donâ€™t eat fish, give it to someone who will. Until next time, tight lines

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LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST LAKE BURTON

CLARKS HILL LAKE by Capt Tony Shepherd and Capt Rocky Fulmer Little River Guide Service lrguideservice@gmail.com (706) 210-3474

The dog days of summer are here and the fishing is HOT. The surface temperatures are hovering around 85 degrees, and the lake is a foot and a half below full pool. The fish have been very cooperative to date and we are witnessing some of the best catches of the entire year. The live bait bite has been replaced

with a trolling bite. Both umbrella rigs 120 feet back and leadcore lines (7-8) colors back with bucktail jigs and swimbaits have produced nice fish. The mid-morning power reeling bite has also kicked into gear and is by far my favorite way to hook into a striped freight train. We anticipate this pattern to remain wide open until the lake begins to cool down toward October. Visit our website at www.littleriverguideservice.net then give the professionals a call for your next outdoor adventure.

Forecast by: Capt. Wes Carlton Georgia Lake Fishing 770-318-9777 www.georgialakefishing.com Water temperature: 83 degrees, lake level: full pool, clarity: clear. Bass: The bass bite has been decent the last few days. Most of the fish seem to be on a normal summer pattern. We have been catching some bigger spotted bass over a 30 foot bottom drop-shotting green and morning dawn Robo worms which are working best. We typically scan long points near the main lake channels looking for structure. These fish will be close by. The largemouth

bite has been good the last week or so. Zoom frogs worked in and around docks seem to be working best. This pattern should continue for the next few weeks. Yellow Perch: The yellow perch bite has been great this summer so far. These fish are piled up in every creek on the lake. Look for heavy grass on the fish finder in the 15 to 20 foot depths. A drop-shot rig tipped with small Zoom Flukes is working best. These fish take some time to locate, so be patient. The bite is best after the sun is up a little. We have caught some 14 to 16-inchers in the last couple of days. This bite should continue for several more weeks. Good luck!

The bass bite has been decent the last few days. Most of the fish seem to be on a normal summer pattern.

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LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST WHAT SONAR EQUIPMENT TO BUY By Ken Sturdivant www.southernfishing.com 770-889-2654

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Anglers are always looking for the best way to find and catch fish. When the Lowrance family started the company in 1957, they changed sport fishing forever. Anglers were accustomed to casting to what “looks good”. But now with the huge advancement in this technology, anglers can find structure where fish live and go catching, not fishing. Lowrance surveyed 5,000 of their customers. The questions were what do they want in a basic machine and how much they were willing to pay. As a result of this survey, the HOOK family of machines were introduced. Anglers have three options with the HOOK machines. These current machines offer Sonar/GOS/ Structure Scan technology. There are options based on the angler’s requirements, and it is important to understand these options. The entry level machines from Lowrance are the HOOK2 family. With several technology options, the angler can choose what meets their needs and their budget. These are button machines and do offer a touch screen. These machines offer a basic plotter with no mapping. The next level machine have advanced 4000+ US Inland maps cartography. Most of the major bodies of inland waters with high detail US inland maps on your device. The GPS plotters can add waypoints, follow trails and navigate to your favorite fishing spots with a basic GPS plotter. Intuitive menus and expertly auto tuned sonar beams can make these machines easy to install and learn and get anglers onto the fish. There are plug and play machines.

No special training is required to operate these machines. This line of machines offer auto tuning CHIRP sonar. This is the latest advancement for the weekend anglers to get them going. CHIRP sonar automatically adapts to the water depth so anglers can spend more time fishing and less time setting up. These machines are now “smart phones” for fishing. The wide angle CHIRP sonar beams triple the amount of water covered so anglers can see more fish in the water column. This first machine is called Single Shot with Sonar only and a plotter. The next machine is called the Double Shot. It offers Chirp Sonar and Down Scan imaging. This machine offers mapping. The third and top of the line machine has a Triple Shot transducer. It offers CHIRP Sonar, Down Scan and Structure Scan imaging. This machine offer mapping. The SideScan and DownScan offers incredible high resolution views beside the traditional sonar view with DownScan and SideScan Imaging. These new machines can be transom mounted or mounted on a trolling motor with special brackets. Ken Sturdivant is a member of the Lowrance Professional Fishing staff. Ken teaches this technology on Lake Lanier.

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LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST KEEPING YOUR ANGLING EQUIPMENT SAFE FROM POTENTIAL THEFT Dr. Andrew Cox

Many outdoor enthusiasts realize that outdoor equipment is a prime commodity for being stolen. The Southeastern states represent a region with a great number of property related crimes. Accordingly, we have to anticipate and take action to prevent potential equipment theft. I have been a victim of fishing equipment theft on at least three different occasions. These include two times involving theft of rods and reels from my boat on a fishing trip to the Florida Panhandle and at a private lake in Harris County, Georgia. A third incident involved the theft of a large tackle box containing an extensive array of fishing lures and other equipment, stolen from my boat while anchored at a dock on Lake Harding. These thefts were expensive as equipment had to be replaced and time expended to

compile information necessary to file an insurance claim. I have also reviewed various reports of automobile break-ins at public launch ramps and public use areas at various lakes and rivers across the state of Georgia. Angler’s property being targeted by thieves is not an isolated incidence. As anglers, we have to think like a criminal to make efforts to protect our expensive equipment from potential theft. Here are some pointers to potentially protect yourself from theft while enjoying your sport: • Make sure your vehicle doors are locked and windows rolled up when fishing; • Do not leave items in view within your truck or automobile; lock items in the automobile’s trunk or lay things down inside your truck covered from view;

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have written serial numbers, model numbers, dates of purchase, and prices for angling items. These will be required in filing a police report; • Have close up color photographs of your equipment that can be easily retrieved if necessary; • Consider placing identifying marks on your equipment that will accommodate such identification. Unfortunately, times have changed for many things in America. We have to take the time and effort to anticipate and prevent the potential theft of our property that we spent hard earned dollars in acquiring over the years. The above tips may not prevent but may deter potential thieves from stealing your property. Author’s Note: Dr. Andrew Cox is a contributing writer to outdoor publications and newspapers. He is a member of the Georgia Outdoor Writer’s Association. He has been fishing the waters of Georgia, Alabama and north Florida for over forty years. Dr. Cox financially supports his fishing habits as Professor Emeritus at Troy University, Phenix City, Alabama. He may be contacted at andrewtrout@aol.com.

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• Do not leave items inside your boat as I had the misfortune to do. If you leave things in your boat, place them in lockable rod or storage boxes that may be built into your boat; • Place angling items in lockable storage bins with closed covers that can be easily transported to and from your vehicle, boat, or fishing locale; • If possible, place all moveable items such as tackle, coolers, etc. inside your room if staying overnight. Only remove items from your room that you may use over the course of each fishing day; • If you have an audible alarm or anti-theft device on your automobile or truck, make sure it is activated to sound alarm if your vehicle is tampered with while you are fishing; • Park your vehicle in a location frequented by many people over the course of the fishing day such as a recreational day use area or boat launch ramp. Avoid parking your vehicle in a secluded or poorly lighted area; • Keep a written list with items used in your boat or while fishing so you can inventory items in case of a potential theft. Better still,

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LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST CARTERS LAKE Forecast By: Eric Crowley Lake & Stream Guide Service (706) 669-4973

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Water temperature: 85 degrees, lake level: full, clarity: 6 to 8 feet. Dog days of summer fishing on Carters means one thing; fish deep. Regardless of what you’re fishing for, 40 feet is about the shallowest you’re going find them. The stripers are holding deep on the tree lines 70 to 90 feet deep. The best bite is live alewife or threadfins fished on 10 to 12-pound leaders just above the fish. They are eating from early morning till about 8 am. We tend not to target them much this time of year as pulling them up from the depths into the heat is not very good for their survival success. Look around the creek mouths on first or secondary points that are holding bait. The areas around the mouth of Worley Creek, the beach points and the mouth of Fisher Creek have all been holding fish. The hybrid bite is pretty solid half way back in the creeks. Pulling live threads on light leaders with just a split shot back about 75 feet has been our go-to method for catching them. Again, the first few hours of the day will be the most productive. If you’re looking to target them with artificials, I’d go with the Capt. Mack’s umbrella rig in white or chartreuse or even just a few chipmunk jigs with various trailer colors. We have seen some really big schools of hybrids in the last month holding in Fisher Creek and around the beach area. The walleye bite has been excellent for the last month and should remain steady till turnover happens. We have boated over a hundred walleye averaging 22” on Carter’s since mid-July and are dialed in on their daily activity and locations. Similar to the stripers, they are down in the 70 to 90 foot depths holding near tree tops around shallow water areas. Use the sonar to locate them on steep contour lines which they use to ambush prey. Vertical jigging spoons has been the go-to in the early morning hours, and we have also been catching them trolling deep crankbaits that make lots of racket in the evening. The fish don’t roam very far. They are moving up and down in

the water column to feed vs chasing schools of bait around the lake. By the end of September they hopefully will be moving up a little shallower where they are more easily targeted. Our biggest fish in the past few weeks has been 6.5-pounds and the best trip was 7 walleye over 20”. We are after a new lake record, and hopefully we will see it this fall. If you’re, looking to acquire some walleye for dinner, let us know and we can put you on them.

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LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST BUCKET LIST TRIPS

by O’Neill Williams An awful lot of guys aren’t working for a multitude of reasons we needn’t get into, so allow little O’Neill to recommend a few ‘bucket list’ trips and destinations since you may have some time. In each case, these are places I’ve been fortunate to have visited multiple times. Each can be researched easily on the internet for up-to-date availability, contact information, pricing and other details which we will not bother with today. Cajun Vista Lodge, Barataria, Louisiana: Where the Mississippi River has been dumping fertile waters into the Gulf for the last 11,000 years makes this area possibly the best ‘in-shore’ saltwater fishing on the coast of the US. Anytime of the year works, but the best is in late September through November. That’s when the speckled trout and giant reds visit by the billions. On most of the coasts, the limit on speckled trout is five per day per fisherman. At Cajun Vista, it’s 25 per person, and unless you’re extremely unlucky or just can’t catch fish at all, everyone in the boat will have a limit by lunch time. One of the most attractive attributes about Cajun Vista is once you park the truck, you don’t have to go anywhere else. How’s that? First class lodging is there in a completely remodeled old schoolhouse that can sleep 50 easily and very comfortably. Three fabulous Cajun style meals are there, and the boats and experienced guides are within 100 feet of the breakfast table. Unless you are want to use your tackle, you don’t even have to bring that. I’m taking a group there on October 22nd this year for two days of fishing. Blackhawk Fly Fishing, Clarksville, Georgia: Abby Jackson operates a first-class excursion on what may be the best mountain trout stream on the East Coast. She owns the river. Food, lodging, equipment, guides – all standing ready. What about the fishing? It’s a fly thing. If you are one of those guys, this is for you. What’ll you catch? With your guide’s help and advisement and fishing both before and after one of 28 ATLANTA

Abby’s spectacular lunches, you’ll catch and release 20 rainbows over 20-inches and a couple of browns in the area of 26-inches. There are many 30-inch browns in the river. Again, look up Blackhawk Fly Fishing. It’s a treat. I go there at least once a year and wouldn’t miss it. When? Spring, then fall through the winter. To me, the colder the better. Better hurry though as Abby only allows about six rods per day on the two miles of river she owns and operates. Pensacola Bay Redfish: Search out and telephone Eddie Woodall and Full Net Charters. In December, thousands of huge redfish fill the bay. You just follow the birds, cast curly tail jigs on Road Runners with medium line and hold on tight. I spent about three hours with Eddie a few years ago, and we caught and released at least 20 reds over 20-pounds each. That day, following Eddie’s advice, I caught a 25-pounder on the first cast. You’ll have one on all the time. Reds are dumb as a post, so getting them to bite is no trouble. Just cast under the birds. Boat Ride? No, it’ll happen in sight of the ramp and you might see one or two other boats during the day. St Simons Island, Georgia: Captain Mark Noble. Look him up. I’ve fished with Mark probably ten times over the years shooting television shows. During those trips, I’ve caught several 100+ pound tarpon, 30-pound kings, boat loads of trout and too many giant reds to count. Mark is an island native and no one knows these waters better. In a morning of fishing for reds, with many triples on at once, I’m sure we boated and released 500-pounds of reds. If I recall correctly, the minimum length to keep a red is 22 inches. During all

my visits, I never kept a single redfish. They were all too big. My personal record with Mark exceeded 50-pounds. When to go? Full moon in September and October for reds, summer for tarpon, and spring for kings. OK, there are few for your consideration. Again, look them up. Oh, too, if you’d like a copy of my

book, O’Neill Outside People and Places Along the Way, you can get it at Amazon.com or just visit my website, oneilloutside.com or net. Buy the book off the home page and I’ll sign it. Never can tell, it might be a collector’s item one day. Visit O’Neill Outside on YouTube and subscribe where there are lots of prizes and give-a-ways from our sponsors.

JACKSON LAKE By Brian Lee leebrian16 @yahoo.com Water temperature: high 80’s-low 90’s, lake level: full, clarity: clear/stained. The fall bite isn’t very far away. Topwater in the mornings is wide open. Throw a Spook, buzzbait or Pop-R along deeper sea walls. Run as many spots as you can before the sun gets above the tree line. Once the sun is above the trees, throw a shaky head or

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C-rig on points and docks. On any brush you find, slow down and fish it really thoroughly. The offshore bite will still produce fish as all the bass will not move up at once. A dropshot is a very effective way to catch offshore bass. Humps and brush will be your key areas to look for. Be patient and the bass will give you a key as to what you need to be doing. Each bite will give you something to go on. Just remember where you were and what you were doing. Just duplicate it and you will catch fish. Till next month, tight lines.

LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST FISHING THE TRANSITION

By Capt. Cefus McRae Nuts & Bolts Fishing Series

As summer gives way to fall, the days begin to get shorter, and nights become a little cooler. These factors convince fish to start their semi-annual migrations to their winter hangouts. Essentially, you’re dealing with springtime fishing in reverse. In September, and even into October, water temperatures can still be quite warm, but to a fish, even a couple degrees can make a difference. As an example, on offshore trips looking for king mackerel, I’ve found a two degree temperature differential made a significant difference in the number of fish caught. Inshore, the trout and flounder that have been hanging out in their summertime deep holes will move onto the grass flats and oyster bars. Stripers and bass will start to move from their deep water haunts up to

the shallow humps and points looking for bait schools as they put on their winter feed bags. While water temperatures do have a distinct effect, I think the number of daylight hours also plays a key role. As we go from 15 hours of daylight down to 10 or 12 hours, fish sense a changing of the seasons, and the transition begins. It’s the same natural phenomenon that heralds in the rut for deer. The summer to fall seasonal change is one type of transition for anglers to think about, but the word ‘transition’ also conjures up several other thoughts as well. One of the first images that come to mind, and also a key factor to finding fish, are underwater topographical transitions. Offshore, we are constantly looking for ledges, rock piles, sandy bottom tran-

sitioning to live bottom and reefs, and other things that stick out in an otherwise flat landscape. These places become congregating areas for baitfish which attract the game fish. Wrecks and artificial reefs that present vertical relief will hold everything from grouper to amberjack, to kingfish and cobia. These are the obvious ones, but a small crack or ledge that’s barely visible on your sonar can be prime ambush habitat for mondo grouper and snapper. That’s where high-tech electronics becomes your best friend. DownScan and StructureScan can reveal small anomalies that turn out to be grouper gold mines. Grass flats may seem like a huge underwater pasture to us, but a

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depression that drops one foot is a guaranteed fish attractor. Creek channels that empty onto a flat are another sure-fire hangout for big trout, reds and even cobia. Bass anglers know the fish-attracting power of underwater structure. Long points, rock outcroppings, and submerged timber all offer prime hunting grounds for freshwater predators. As the water begins to cool, start to look for those situations in shallower water. Another piece of ‘gotta-have’ technology is SiriusXM Marine’s newest service: Fish Mapping. For offshore anglers, you can see Surface Temperature Contours, Plankton Concentrations, Surface Height Anomalies, even Fishing Recommendations…all on your chartplotter. This single tool can help you plan your trip and maximize your fish-catching potential. The lesson here is to look at the changes that are about to occur, both in the weather and the changes that happen below the surface, and take advantage of them. Understanding how to take advantage of them will definitely improve your fishy adventures this fall.

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SEPTEMBER 2020

ATLANTA 29

LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST LAKE ALATOONA

LAKE NOTTELY STRIPER By: Shane Goebel Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service & The Angler Magazine Fishing Team www.bigolfish.com 828-361-2021, 1-844-4-ANGLER If you asked us which of the months was our favorite for striper fishing, the answer would definitely be September. With the cooling temps and water levels falling, it really gets the stripers schooled up and feeding like crazy. This means we can absolutely wear them out, and trust me, we do! This is a perfect time to experience some extreme striper fishing, and what’s the best way to do that? By booking a trip with Blairsville Georgia’s #1 striper guide: Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service. We have what it takes to put you on some sweet trophy stripers. Currently, Lake Nottely is 4 feet below full pool. Water clarity is clear and water temps are in the mid to low 80s. Striper fishing has been extremely excellent for us lately. We’ve been averaging around 20 to 30 stripers per morning out here and on other surrounding lakes. Most of our fish have been in the 8 to 15 pound range. We have also caught some bigger stripers in the 20 to 30 pound range. The earlymorning and evening bites are your best times to see action. With the cooling water temps, stripers will really start to show up in the mouths of creeks and points off the main lake channel. Also, these fish will start working their way up

30 ATLANTA

the Hiwassee and Nottely Rivers. The majority of our fish have been caught from Point 8 to the dam. Down lining live blue back herring will be your best technique. The topwater bite on our ultra-light tackle has picked up a bit too, so keep a Spook or a Red Fin at the ready to snag surface-busting fish. The fish will continue to be schooled up throughout the next month and will remain in deeper water before starting to spread out. Just remember to keep an eye on your electronics and watch for schools of stripers when cruising the lake. Also, remember to get the fish back into the water as quickly as possible after they are caught and remember that the limit is 4 per person out there. This is an excellent striper lake, and it’s only going to get better if we help them thrive. September is a fantastic month for catching a lot of stripers and bass on this North Georgia lake. Give Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service a call and let the area’s #1 rated guide service put you on some of Lake Nottely’s best trophy stripers during the fishing trip of a lifetime. We are Blairsville, GA’s premier full-time guide service, specializing in striped and hybrid bass. We also serve Lakes Hiwassee, Chatuge and Lake Blue Ridge. For all your live bait and tackle needs, check out Hughes General Store in Blairsville. They carry everything you need for a successful day of fishing. So, come fish with the pros and let us help you get your fish on!

404-834-0007 Lake Allatoona has fished excellent all summer, and we are still so thankful to have this wonderful and thriving fishery at our disposal. Now, headed into September we can get a little more excited for the autumn bite. Water levels have been consistent at a full pool of 840 ft. since late summer. Generation had just begun again in mid-August after a long hiatus during which repairs to a power line were being performed. While this had been only sluicing the warm top layer of water downstream, the fish in the Lower Etowah were surely happy for some cooler waters coming their way. Fishing will be good in the Upper and Lower Etowah through September, and we expect it to be fantastic in the reservoir! These past several weeks the fish are starting to school up nicely, and there is a fantastic topwater bite beginning that we hope to enjoy on into October. We have seen a start of topwater boiling of hybrids, stripers and white bass in recent weeks. Always have a rod ready to cast that has a topwater lure or smaller spoon attached. While they are in a feeding frenzy, most any artificial you can get in front of them could produce. A lot of these fish are chasing and devouring small young-of-year threadfin shad that are still in the 1”-2” range, though they do not seem to hesitate on striking a larger topwater lure being walked or even up to a 5” spoon being pulled across the top or worked subsurface through the school.

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For the most part, the target start depth for downlining has been at around 15 feet down with live threadfins on a #1 octopus or mosquito hook. We have been catching as deep as 25-30 feet down over waters of up to 100’ depths. Also free-lining threadfin or small gizzard shad is a proven and effective technique nearly year-round. This is exercised easily in conjunction with fishing live bait on the downlines moving at approximately .4-.7 mph. There has been a great bite extending well after dark when these fish have settled to the bottom in 5-12’ of water in flats and running the banks on points. They are often actively feeding and a freeline shad can typically outproduce most anything else here. There have been a few evenings that we noted a small BB or 3/0 split shot on a lighter line presentation with a threadfin has been the ideal approach, both moving the boat at .1 mph and especially slowreeling the threadfin shad back to the boat and triggering hard strikes. The catfish bite will be in full swing by now, and we are having a blast tangling with the catfish and gar alike when targeted. We are pleased to include Catfish Adventures on the menu during this season and running two boats for double the pleasure on a nighttime adventure. We will do our best to share some nightly catches and tips with everyone as the month progresses. Please continue to help us keep our waterways clean and calm. Take out one thing besides your own when possible. Please continue to be respectful of others whatever their preferred watersport / pastime or watercraft type. If you are reading this, let’s go fishing!

LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST ANGLERS, DON’T PUT YOUR TOPWATER BAITS AWAY BECAUSE IT’S HOT Contributed By: Jay Striker www.jaystriker.com

Topwater lures are typical lures you can find in just about any angler’s array of tackle. I know in mine, you sure can. Big, medium, and small ones in just about every color there is. Did you know the best time to throw topwater lures is not just in the morning before the sun gets up? I have found that in the heat of the summer, I can throw a topwater bait all day long and catch fish. Let discuss some of the reasons throwing a topwater bait will allow you to beat the heat and keep you active when fishing seems to slow down. Walking baits such as the KVD Sexy Dawg is one of the most used baits on my deck, followed up by two other favorites, a buzzbait, and a frog. Each of these baits will be used for different situations when it is extremely hot. A Sexy Dawg top-

water plug is a go-to because I can cover a ton of water with this bait. In the morning on clear days, I opt for a color that has chrome in the body to get the flash of a fleeing baitfish. The key to throwing the Sexy Dawg all day is throwing it in the right spots. Targeting any cove that has a creek running from the back and has several docks close by each other gives an excellent opportunity to catch a largemouth looking for an easy meal. A must technique is that pausing the bait during the retrieve makes the strikes more frequent. Remember to always pause for a second after the fish strikes so your odds of catching the fish are higher. Whenever I missed an opportunity at a fish with my walking bait on top, I pick up a Primal buzzbait with a different cadence so that I can tar-

get the same area, and many times the fish come back, and you get another bite at the apple. When throwing a buzzbait in the heat of the summer, I try to throw it in the calm of a pocket, over submerged brush piles and along bluff deep rock. My last go-to bait in the heat of the summer is a frog. I like to get in an area of grass mats or grass areas and try to concentrate on the most productive areas in the mat. I’m looking for different holes that I can present my frogs. In addition to fishing grass, I will fish a frog

around docks and rocks and laydowns. All of these will hold some fish in the summer. One bait I did not mention you must have in the heat of the summer is confidence. This is and will always be the essential bait you must have. So the next time the sun gets high in the sky in the middle of summer, don’t put down the topwater baits. Instead, throw them and they might get you the bite of a lifetime and a trip to the winners’ circle. Thanks for always supporting me on social media and at Jaystriker.com

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ATLANTA 31

Wall of Fame

WIN A FREE ANGLER MAGAZINE CAP! One will be given away each month for the best reader submitted photo!

Connor Lee and Matt Wilson with a stud striper caught on the Hooch.

Russ Williams fishing Lake Eufaula with his pop, Capt. Sam Williams.

Jim Harvey used a Butt Monkey streamer to land this 25 inch brown on Tennesseeâ€™s Watauga River.

WINNER! Danny Christ with Hawks Fishing Guide Service caught these bass fishing Lake Eufula.

Elliot Parsowith with a very healthy Lake Blue Ridge walleye caught with Lake and Stream Guide Service.

Andy Shaw with one of many stripers caught on Lake Hartwell with Preston Harden using a 5 inch swim bait.

Jennifer Shepherd with Little River Guide Service with a nice Clarks Hill striper caught power reeling a spoon.

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’ve fished the Shinnecock Inlet in Hampton Bays, N.Y. for many years and have usually found plenty of striped bass and bluefish to keep me occupied. One afternoon last September, I pulled into the parking lot on the inlet’s west side, took a look at the water and smiled as I saw a large school of bait flashing on the surface. Something, or a lot of somethings were feeding on them. There was a flotilla of maybe 15 boats chasing the school, including a party boat, which was crammed with weekend anglers. The school moved quickly and as I worked my way along the jetty, I could just make out larger predator fish thrashing about on the surface. It was a real blitz! On the shore with me were 20 or so anglers, all trying to keep up as fish zipped north to south and back north again. At times, they were too far away to cast to, and all we could do was watch as the boats tried to corral the school. The fish repeatedly slid through the gaps and veered off in another direction. Even though there were close to 100 anglers involved in this melee, all of whom at one point or another were able to cast into the midst of the feeding frenzy, no one got so much as a strike. Except for the guy standing just off to my left. He had driven from in Montauk, where he had spent a fruitless morning looking for stripers. He was tired when he got to the inlet, so he parked his vehicle and settled in for a nap. When he opened his eyes, the school was right in front of him. Maybe because he was more rested than anyone else, or perhaps because he was simply a better angler, he hooked into two different fish on a pencil popper. The first spat the hook quickly, but the second stayed on. It didn’t take long for him to realize what he’d laced into. It was a false albacore. Albies are not huge, but they fight like a fish of much greater size. The runs this guy’s fish made were extraordinary, both for their length and speed. It never jumped, as the other blitzing albies had while gorging on the baitfish, but his fish did come within view a couple of times. It looked to be close to 10 pounds, which the guy confirmed once he’d landed and released it. “That was my first albie!” he shouted. It was the first time I’d even seen one, so I walked over to offer congratulations and we chatted for a bit. The other anglers were too busy trying to get their lures back into the water to join us. Peter Cammann has been writing fishing stories for magazines and newspapers for over 30 years. He is the author of three books: Fishing Vermont’s Streams and Lakes, Ultralight Spin Fishing, and a novel titled SlipNot, all of which are available on amazon.com.

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ummertime means catfish to a lot of anglers, and it was one heck of a summer for catfish in North Carolina. In July, two state catfish records were broken. The first, an enormous Lake Gaston blue cat, weighed more than 120 pounds. The second, a 78-pound, 14-ounce Neuse River flathead broke a record that has stood for 15 years. Joey Baird, of Lawrenceville, Va., caught his state record 121-pound, 9-ounce blue catfish out of Six Pound Creek at Lake Gaston on July 5. The

monster fish, which ate a chunk of cut bait, was more than 5 feet long, with a girth of 40.5 inches. It broke a 117-pound, 8-ounce record that has stood since June 2016. Lake Gaston is a 20,000-acre reservoir of the Roanoke River up on North Carolina’s northern border with Virginia. It has a history of producing giant blue catfish, as this is the fourth North Carolina record blue to come from its waters. The Roanoke River system also lays claim to the world record blue catfish. The largest blue catfish ever certified came from Kerr Lake, Virginia, which is one dam upstream of Lake Gaston on the Roanoke. That fish, which weighed 143 pounds, was caught in June 2011. The new North Carolina record flathead was caught by Pikeville angler Tyler Barns. The 78-pound, 14-ounce beast ate a live bream fished in the Neuse River on July 20. Barns’ monster fish was more than 4 feet long and had a girth of more than 3 feet. It bested the 78-pound record flathead caught from the Cape Fear River in 2005. The Neuse River runs from Falls Lake north of Raleigh all the way to the coast to feed the Atlantic Ocean at Pamlico Sound.

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NATIONAL 13

J.O. SPICE COMPANY CELEBRATES 75 YEARS AND 4 GENERATIONS

teamed blue crabs seasoned with J.O. No.2 or a custom blend that J.O. manufactures is the flavor people experience at crab establishments all over. Most people credit this crab house seasoning to another product but J.O. has been the crab houses’ seasoning of choice since 1945. J.O. Spice, started by J.O. (James Ozzle) Strigle and his wife Dot in Baltimore City in 1945, is celebrating its 75th Anniversary. A native of Tangier Island, Va., J.O. Strigle brought the seafood spice blend he created in his kitchen on the island to Maryland. Jane McPhaul, J.O.’s daughter took over operations of the family business in the late eighties while her son, Don Ports, was serving in the Marine Corps. In 1990 Don joined his mother in the family business with a vision to expand. In the summer of 1991 Don met his spice girl, Ginger, with the pick up line, “you’re destined to be mine; you’re named for a spice,” said J.O. Spice Company president Don Ports to wife Ginger Ports the moment they met. Twenty eight years later, Don and Ginger- alongside their children Brittany, Tyler and Bethany, are continuing the family traditions of quality seasonings, spices, and more at reasonable prices at their Halethorpe based J.O. Spice Company. “We can provide crab houses everything they need for the crab eating experience, minus the crabs”, Don says. The company added crab boxes, crab paper, bushel baskets, crab knives, crab mallets and a variety of other items to their offerings. “We purchased our first laser engraver and that opened the door to the retail gift world and personalized options,” Don says. J.O. specializes in custom blended seasonings for pizza companies, pit beef stands, butchers, potato chip companies and more. We are more than seafood seasonings. “My children, the fourth generation, and our amazing team work side-by-side to make all of this happen,” Ginger says. “At J.O., we are all family who enjoy working with so many other family businesses. We are blessed.” Please visit us at jospices.com.

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8/6/20 3:32 PM

Three Cheers For FREE!

Not feeling so free these days? How about something absolutely stunning that is!

PRAISE FOR STAUER BLUE TOPAZ

PRAISE FOR STAUER GARNET JEWELRY

“Love at first sight! Without a doubt - one of my favorite pieces from Stauer!”

“It was beautiful and it made my day. Buy it you won’t regret it. Love it!”

Pendants enlarged to show exquisite color. Chain sold separately.

– H., Spokane WA

fter months of “together time” she deserves something truly special. You do too. How about a genuine gemstone pendant at a price worth raising a glass to–– FREE!* We can’t think of a better way to introduce you to the fine art of affording the extraordinary than with an absolutely extraordinary offer. Delight her with nearly 3 total carats of perfectly-faceted cushion cut genuine gemstones. You pay only $2495, our regular charge for shipping, processing and insurance. We’ll even pay you back with $30 in Stauer Dollars to use on future Stauer orders— that’s our Better Than Free Shipping®! This awesome deal is a no-brainer. The hard part is deciding which one, so maybe start with her favorite color. Choose from vibrant green Verdant Peridot, golden Champagne Citrine, dreamy Sky Blue Topaz, lush Cabernet Garnet, or decadent Royal Amethyst. Set in .925 sterling silver finished in lustrous gold or in gleaming sterling silver, you really can’t go wrong–– A. no matter which gemstone you choose.

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Now you could spend nearly $1,700 on a sterling silver pendant set with just one blue topaz stone. But, with Stauer in your corner, you can give her even more for FREE! LIMITED AVAILABILITY. No one has an offer that even comes close to this, so we can’t guarantee our supplies will last long. Call today for your FREE ThreeStone Gemstone Pendant and enjoy oohs and ahhs without the ouch. Call now!

Three-Stone Gemstone Pendant $299† Choose Peridot, Citrine, Blue Topaz, Red Garnet or Amethyst

Your Pendant Cost With Offer Code — FREE*

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1-800-333-2045

Your Insider Offer Code: TSP143-01 Please use this code when you order to receive our free offer.

Stauer

14101 Southcross Drive W., Ste 155, Dept. TSP143-01, Burnsville, Minnesota 55337 www.stauer.com

Rating of A+

• 3 ctw each: Verdant peridot, Champagne citrine, Sky Blue topaz, Cabernet garnet, Royal amethyst • white zircon accents • .925 sterling silver or yellow gold-finished .925 sterling silver settings • Chain sold separately * This offer is valid in the United States (and Puerto Rico) except in TX, FL, CO, OK, RI, NH, WV, OR, SC, VA, ID and CA. These state residents will be charged one cent ($.01) + shipping & processing for the item. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Offer subject to state and local regulations. Not valid with any other offers and only while supplies last. This offer is limited to one item per shipping address. † Free is only for customers using the offer code versus the price on Stauer.com without your offer code.

Stauer… Afford the Extraordinary.®