Heron Outdoor Adventures

Stripers, Hybrids, Spotted Bass, Crappie Nature

Temp 54

Carters Lake

Forecast By: Eric Crowley Lake & Stream Guide Service (706) 669-4973 lakeandstreamguideservice@gmail.com

Level full +/- 6 ft

Clarity 2 feet on surface

Almost spring. I’ve been hearing it for weeks, but March can be deceiving. Cold nights, still chilly water, and cold fronts still moving through can really turn the bite on and off. The best advice is to find a pattern that works for your style and stick to it. If you fish and don’t have any luck, don’t get discouraged, as the very next day that pattern might be hot again. The walleye are preparing to spawn and moving into those pre-spawn areas. These areas include the back of every creek, the rip rap on the dam wall, and in the river. Because these fish are stocked in various locations they also spawn in various locations. This time of year, the fish are focused on spawning at night, so any feeding will usually happen right before dawn or at dusk. Because the spawn is their main focus, make your bait selections on the smaller side. Easy meals tend to get more attention than big ones this time of year. Slow moving, small to med size shad imitations are the way to go. Most of the fish we catch this month, unlike last month, will be males. The females won’t be super active again until mid to late April after they recover from the stress of spawning, at the end of the month. No matter where you’re fishing a few staple baits will help. These include original floating Rapalas dt6 and 10 crank baits, and 1/4 Oz. Jig n minnow rig. Fish slow and be very thorough. Remember, feeding isn’t their top priority right now, but they still must eat.

The striper bite has been good the last couple weeks. Live shad or alewives on 50ft down lines seem to be producing fish. Early in the day, there’s a decent shallow bite, in creeks like Worley and Beach creek, pulling boards with slightly weighted lines approximately 50ft back. We’re also catching both stripers and hybrids at night throwing artificials on points and shallow water markers on the main lake or in the backs of the creeks in less than 25ft of water. This will get better as the month goes on and the 3 or 4 kinds of baitfish present in the lake prepare for their annual spawn. Sometimes, we get this early, by mid-March and some years, it’s not until mid-April, but keep an eye out for it.

The spotted bass bite we are working on is an open water bite, targeting fish suspended, chasing bait balls. Spoons are my preferred tactic on these fish as they match the hatch perfectly. Krocodile spoons or Hopkins spoons are my first choice. I like the 1/2 Oz variety. Chrome, gold, or white have been the go to with various other colors producing as well. Look for big schools of bait over 100+ft of water as you will find schools of spots feeding near all of them.

The Hidden Gem

By James K. Pressley, jameskpressley@gmail.com

Ok, let’s talk about Sinclair. Why have you guys down there been holding out on us? Admittedly, I have lived in the lake area now for 15 years and yet, I haven’t fished Sinclair since high school 30 years ago. I just don’t ever drag the boat down there. That, my friends is changing.

A little over a month ago, I started hearing about big stripers and hybrids being caught down there. So, one afternoon, my buddy Kevin Wahl and I packed up my 2000V Pathfinder and headed down. We spent a lot of time looking. We tried different spots. We went all the way from Little River boat ramp and RV Park to Crooked Creek Marina and a little above it searching. We ended up on the first trip finding good solid fish just above 441 under the power lines on the west side of the HWY.

Since then, I have continued to add spots and have success on the lake. Mark Smith, of Reeltime Guide Services, Kevin Harris of Go Fish Lake Oconee, a striper club member and myself all went down, right before Christmas and had a phenomenal morning catching tons of good solid 2-4lb fish on Capt. Mack Super Spoons. It was so much fun it should have been illegal! On my next trip, we spent most of the day trolling mini-Mack rigs and again, we caught several good solid fish.

Fast forward to last Saturday. Georgia weather is funny. A week ago, it was trying to kill us and was below freezing, yet Saturday, I could have worn shorts and flip flops! Kevin and I headed down once again. We started fishing around 11 am and had the first fish on by 11:15; a nice five-to-sixpound striper and we were on them the rest of the day! This was an epic bite, guys! In total we caught more than 40 fish that averaged three pounds and the biggest was 8.5 pounds. We caught all our fish trolling this time.

That same day Berry’s had a bass tournament on the lake. Matt

Henry and his partner weighed in 24.20 lbs. with a bass weighing 8.45 lbs. and another in the 6 lbs. range. The report I got was they had next to nothing at 11am and then the bite switched on. Guys, that is an incredible bag on the lake these days! I mean come on!!! According to Lake Country Fishing and Jim Lumpkin the entire field saw an increased bite and boated the majority of fish from 11 on.

Now what happened at 11? As best as we can tell GA Power started letting a TON of water out of Lake Oconee right about then and both lakes lit up! Jason Duncan of Duncan’s Guide Service was fishing Oconee and he had a phenomenal afternoon catching over 30 fish in the Richland Creek area. This is a controversial statement in some areas, but I am sorry folks. Both Lakes bite better when they are generating power or letting water out. Sometimes, that is just a few extra fish and sometimes you can watch whole schools move up in the water column and start crushing baits. That’s what happened Saturday.

Now here’s some tips as to where and how…

Where - Right now find clear water deeper than 30 feet. Try the areas around the mouth of Rooty and Nancy Branch to start with.

How- Spoons first and foremost. Capt. Mack super spoons, Cast Fishing 20g slow pitch jigs, and War Eagle spoons are my favorites. Jim Lumpkin was on my boat fishing with me last Friday and landed a good 6-pound hybrid on a Cast Fishing jig. Trolling, I would use Capt. Mack mini-Mack rigs of any colors, umbrella rigs, and believe it or not we even caught fish with down riggers pulling Berkley Flicker Shads.

Folks, in my own opinion Lake Sinclair is the hidden gem of Georgia. The hyrbids, whites and stripers are healthy, plentiful, and willing to bite! Get out there and catch them!!!

Forecast By: Eric Crowley Lake & Stream Guide Service (706) 669-4973 lakeandstreamguideservice@gmail.com

Temp 49, Level 19 ft. Clarity 10ft

The water is still cold, and the lake is still down 19 feet, plus every time it rains the lake gets a bad stain from the bank runoff, but if you time it right, the bite can be a lot of fun. There’s walleye scattered everywhere right now in the main river channel from point 5 up. These walleyes are on the move to the spawning grounds. It’s mostly a night bite, with the clear water, but on overcast or rainy days you can cash in during daylight hours. We are fishing spoons vertical or pulling crank baits near the bottom in 20 to 30 feet of water. Look for a hard or rocky bottom in between mud banks and flats along the river. These are staging areas where the fish will rest along the way. These are the places to fish during the day. At night, look a bit shallower in the same general areas with jerk baits or a jig n minnow. Stick to the appropriate colors for the water conditions or glow in the dark after sunset.

March is a great month to catch the variety of bass in this lake. Largemouth are cruising the banks and the spotted bass are chasing bait up shallow early in the day, then suspending just offshore after that. Flukes and spoons will get their attention in either situation. I like a crocodile spoon in rainbow trout color, or gold, on cloudy days. Later in the month, you can start searching for beds in Star creek, Green creek and around Morganton Point where I personally prefer to use trick worms whacky rigged. The bass bite should be in full swing by the middle of March as water temps start to slowly rise. The other go to bait, in March, is craw themed cranks . Deep, shallow, on the bottom or suspended a red craw colored crankbait is hard to beat on this lake when the crayfish are spawning . Norman little Ns and Rapala dt10s are my go to lures for March.

So, You Want To Be A Charter Captain?

By Capt. Cefus McRae Nuts & Bolts Fishing Series Hartwell,

Ga

One of my most enjoyable things to do is taking folks fishing. Seeing the smile on someone’s face when they hook into a fish…big or small…gives me a great feeling. It’s a lot of fun.

So maybe you’re thinking about becoming a charter captain yourself? I would highly recommend that. It’s a rewarding experience, and one of the best decisions I ever made.

But first things first. In most cases, you’ll need to get a Coast Guard Captain’s License, also called a 6-Pack license. This lets you carry up to 6 people on a charter. You’ll need to prove you have the required number of hours at the helm and have a current USCG Captain verify those hours and your capabilities. You’ll have to pass the Coast Guard in-person written test, pass a physical, get drug tested and be subject to random drug tests, for as long as you hold your license. But that’s the easy part.

The hard part comes when you start running charters. And that means coming to terms with the fact that YOU are not going fishing. Your clients are. You are now in charge of hospitality, you’re the housekeeper, the service staff, the diplomat, and the get-it-done person. You must be very comfortable with watching other people hook fish and cheer them on. Remember, your job is to put the people on the fish, and their job is to get them in the boat.

The job can be extremely rewarding, and it can be extremely frustrating. For instance, watching someone pull the hook on a trophy fish is aggravating for both you and your client. But you must maintain a positive attitude and keep their spirits up. So now, you’ve just become a counselor too.

There will be days when the fish just don’t bite. But your client may not understand that. They’re paying you good money to bend a rod. So, you have to be personable, humble, and not make excuses. That can be difficult…and yes frustrating. For me, there are many more good days than bad days. And a good day doesn’t always mean filling up the fish box. Most clients appreciate just being out on the water and seeing things they’ve never seen before. They want to learn, and they want to be entertained. Oh yeah, you must be an entertainer too. They want to have fun, and that doesn’t mean they have to pull in a fish every minute of the trip. It’s a balance between catching and all the other fun stuff you do between bites.

Oh, you’re also the safety director, the medic, maintenance guy, boat detailer, bait catcher, the clean-up crew and in some cases… the babysitter. At the end of the day, your client goes home…hopefully with a smile on their face.

But you still have a couple more hours of work to do before you eat dinner and get back up at 4am. You’ll re-spool reels, tie on new rigs, clean reels and rods, clean out coolers, clean the boat, refuel, and a few dozen other things. For me, that’s just part of the job, and I don’t mind doing it. The rewards far outweigh any frustrations.

So, if you’re giving some thought to joining the family of fishing guides, seriously examine all that goes into it, and make an informed decision. The world needs more passionate professionals to teach folks how fun fishing can be.Tight Lines and Calm Seas, Capt. Cefus McRae.

Forecast By: Shane Goebel

Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service

(828) 361-2021

Lakes Apalachia, Chatuge, Nottely, Blue Ridge and Hiwassee

February is in the books and it’s that time of year again. The time of year our mountain stripers become crazy active. The warm early spring days are what these trophy fish thrive on. Especially, the closer we get to April. March has historically always been an excellent month for catching some huge Lake Nottely stripers. So, get out of that cramped up house and get some fresh air while catching some nice trophy fish with us! March is probably one of our favorite months for fishing. With that said, give Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service a call and book those trips. Let us put you on some of the biggest fish the mountains have to offer. We are Murphy, NC and Blairsville, Georgia’s ORIGINAL STRIPER GUIDE SERVICE. Mention The Angler Magazine and get $25 off your trip.

Currently, Lake Nottely is 18 feet below full pool. Water temperatures have been in the low to Mid 40’s. Due to all the recent rains, water clarity is stained in the river and creeks, but clear towards the dam.

Striper fishing has been super out here lately. We’ve had a very successful January and February. Most of the stripers we are catching have been in the 15 to 35 pound range, and we’re averaging about 10 to 20 stripers a trip. The warmer water temps have played a big role on the increase in numbers this year. So, this spring should be amazing! This pattern should continue into the month of March and increase as the stripers start their prespawn. Continue the same techniques as the previous months, pulling planer boards with live herring and shad in the backs of creeks and around shallow, sloping banks. As you pull boards, it’s always a good idea to work the banks by casting a Zara Spook or a Red Fin. As the sun comes up, turn your focus to fishing the mouths of creeks, as the stripers will follow bait to deeper water. With pre-spawn in mind, more and more stripers will start to stage in the mouths of creeks, in March. Keep an eye on your electronics for schooling stripers, and pay attention to where the bait balls are. I guarantee you, if you find the bait, the stripers will be close by.

One last note, the smallmouth and trout bite has been extremely good. We are catching some very nice smallmouth and trout on nearby Lake Apalachia, in the 4-5 lb. range. We are at least averaging 15 to 25 smallmouth and trout a trip. These trout and smallmouth have been feeding great. Down- lining live bluebacks and lite tackle has been the best technique for catching a slew of these great fish in 15-25 feet of water.

March is a great month for catching a lot of huge trophy stripers 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 Murphy, NC’s and Blairsville Georgia’s premier full-time guide service, specializing in striped and hybrid bass. We also serve Lakes Hiwassee (Murphy,NC), Chatuge, and Lake Blue Ridge in Blue Ridge, GA. So, come fish with the pros for the opportunity to be featured in Angler Magazine, and let us help you get your fish on!