LOCAL LAKES AND FORECAST

and rip - rap. It’s a good time to catch a big fish, even though the numbers are not that great early in the month. One of the main keys to this type of shallow fishing is to look for warmer stained water. A ditch or creek run sometimes helps to bring warmer water into an area, especially after a warm rain. Dark chunk rock and red clay retain heat and attract bass. Fishing for spotted bass can be awesome, as they will start to bed in March. Small crankbaits or Carolina rigged finesse worms will catch fish on almost any gravel bank.

Linesides: Good. The river run will start in March, and how good it gets usually depends on weather and water conditions. What you don’t want is really muddy and cold water below 50 degrees. I usually start out with cut bait, soaked in garlic spray, in water temps around 60 or lower. Live shad will usually work better in water temps of 60 or higher. Start around Ringer Access, and follow the fish upstream as the water warms. Stripers, mixed with hybrids and white bass can continue to school on top, at times, in early spring as well. Expect the topwater fishing to be the best very early and very late or on overcast days. The schooling fish are typically less than 3 pounds, but there is some bigger fish mixed in. Gulls and loons are also still out there to help you pinpoint the schooling linesides. The mouths of Yellow Jacket, Wehadkee and Maple creeks have all been producing some fish. Downlining with live shiners will also work. Target drop-offs near the channel or the top of humps. Trolling with mid-depth crankbaits, Flash Mob Jr Rigs, bucktail jigs and vertical jigging with spoons have also been producing in these same areas. The key is finding a little clearer water.

Crappie: Good. A few warm days in a row will drastically improve crappie fishing. Good numbers of slab size crappie are already being caught in the shallows on minnows and jigs under a float, especially in the afternoons. Blowdown trees and brush piles in 3 to 6 feet of water are holding fish as well. Trolling for crappie usually kicks into high gear soon. Whitewater and Yellow Jacket creeks almost always seem to turn on this month. Some fish are being caught by drop-shotting minnows over or near deeper brush, as well. Expect the shallow bite to turn off in the event of an extended cold snap or get even better with an extended warming trend. Hopefully the water will clear up a little as we move into March. Trolling always seems to work better in clearer water. Overall, March is probably the BEST month for size and numbers of crappie. Expect many of the crappie to bed on the full moon in mid-March.

NOW IS THE TIME! Book your trip with me for the prime April, May or June striper season , email me now to insure your day!! Hudsonsprobass@gmail.com or visit my website LakeWestPointFishing.com for more info.

Bass: Guide Eric Welch reports: “Fishing has been good, We’ve had some crazy weather, It’s cold for a few days and then it warms back up and then drops a lot of rain, and then cools back down. But that’s your winters in North Georgia, which, all in all winter time is the best time to fish. You don’t have all the crazy boat traffic and it’s the time of year you get to learn more about the lake, and it lets you slow down and hone your skills. I like spending the extra time with my electronics looking around for new places to fish, finding ditches, brush and drop offs around docks. We’ve been catching fish in the 12’ to 45’ range. We have seen some good groups of fish around off shore brush, and small pockets off the main body of lake. It seems the better bite has been on sunny days and most of the fish have been in secondary points and around brush. My wintertime baits are to always size down. We’ve been catching fish on Ned rig with small Trd, 3” swimbait on a round ball jig head, and dropshoting a 4.5” Roboworm. February is a month that I have caught some of my biggest fish, the reason is, you don’t know what kind of weather we might get. But in years past, if you have some nice warm days in February, it seems the Largemouth bass like to move up and feed some, so I would make sure to throw a swimbait, and A-rig around pockets and creek runs. Good Luck!

FISHING WITH MORE FRIENDS!

By Gary Turner

At 28 years old, my friend Danny had the first fish of his life on the line! These are the moments I love sharing with my friends. I’ve taught a lot of kids how to fish, and I’ve seen their happy faces when they catch that first fish. Seeing one of your friends that never caught a fish growing up about to land a nice fish is what it’s all about. I have probably said this before, but will say it again, you will reach a stage in your fishing life where it is almost as satisfying to see your friends catch fish as it is you reeling them in yourself.

My friend Matt and I were looking forward to our trip down the Toccoa River with Guide Joe Dipetro, but the weather had other plans and we had to reschedule. I also had a couple of trips lined up to go to Santee, and the weather wasn’t looking great for those either, but Capt. Dewayne has a cover over part of his pontoon that we can hide in while waiting on the bites, so fish on! Stacy, Danny, Rafi and I were planning on two days of fishing

Lake Marion with Capt. Dewayne, but, as luck had it, Danny and Rafi had some work they had to finish up on Wednesday and Thursday, so they would catch up with us Thursday night. Thursday night came and they were not there, so I called them. They were finishing up one more job. At 10 minutes after 3:00 in the morning they came rolling in. I welcomed them to the place we had rented, showed them the 3:00 a.m. tour and their accommodations, and I hit the hay. We were meeting Capt. Dewayne at 8:00 a.m., so Stacy and I headed to Loves at 7ish for some snacks, drinks and my breakfast of champions: two Jalapeno Cheddar dogs! Danny and Ravi rolled out to grab some McDonalds. We finished up and headed for the dock.

When we got there, Dewayne was unloaded and waiting for us. We all boarded his pontoon and took off out of Goat Island, in search of Catfish, Blue, Flathead, Channel, we didn’t care. I just wanted to see these guys reeling some in! The day before when Stacy, Capt. Dewayne and I were fishing, we caught a bunch of nice fish including a 38-pound Blue, Stacy pulled in. We knew a front was coming but had high hopes that Friday would be as good as Thursday or better. Well, as most of us that fish frequently know, those fronts can be brutal on the fishing, and that was the case this time. We marked fish all over, but they were like little kids at the dentist, those mouths were shut really tight! The wind was blowing and it was cold, but we didn’t care, we just wanted bites. As the day went along, we started picking up a few fish. Rafi got the first fish, then Danny hooked up on his.

This was the first fish he had ever caught! He had been fishing before but never caught anything. It was so awesome to see him reeling in that first fish! Rafi and Danny both reeled in several nice Blue Cats that afternoon and now they are both hooked! After we finished fishing, we went to the Lake House in Summerton for dinner and then Danny and Rafi said they were gonna pack up and head home so they could work the next morning. They are half my age, but I can still remember the days I could do that! Dewayne wanted Stacy and me to go check out some swamp with him the next morning, so we did. At the landing there was a curious little bait shop that had a sign that said “Knock Please”. When the little older man, 82, opened the door, he welcomed us into his neat bait-taxidermy shop . . . that’s a story for another time. Just let me say that was a very neat experience!

You can get more information on fishing with Capt. Dewayne Profitt by calling him at 740-4043900 or 803-478-6479. His website is TakinitEasyGuideService.com Get with some of your friends and take a fishing trip. Whether with a guide or just on your own, GO FISHING!

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!

If you want to see Danny’s first catch or other videos I have done, check out my YouTube channel here https://youtube.com/@FishingWithGary.

You can reach me at gary@purgeright. Please remember, if you are not going to eat it, don’t kill it , “Tight Lines and Squeal every time.”