Dredger's Weekend Tips

Windknot · 06-28-12, 09:05 AM

Looks like a heat wave awaits us for the July 4th holiday period. Time your fishing trips accordingly; go early, late, or at night. Enjoy wet-wading in our bass rivers and especially in the shade of your north Georgia trout streams. Have a happy and safe holiday break.

==================================

* Headwater Streams Still Good

Jeff,

On my Friday off, I decided NOT to take your advice of staying home and tying caddis. I already had at least two decent #16 EHC in my fly box from the last time I tied, and that was enough for a few hours on the water. Instead, I decided to hit a favorite public wild rainbow stream near Blue Ridge. When I got to the stream, I checked the water temp to make sure the hot weather had not become an issue on this creek as it has on so many of our other, low elevation trout waters. Water temp was
64 degrees and flows looked good, so I tied on and headed upstream. I landed one right off the bat in the 10" range, but things slowed a bit after that. I was till catching fish, but I think I was following behind someone else because I was seeing fresh boot prints. It was good to know that I'm not the only one taking advantage of the great fishing on this stream, but it sure did slow things down for me on this particular day! Fortunately, the boot prints stopped about halfway through the stretch I fished, and things picked up after that. The biggest challenge was keeping the georgia cutthroats (warpaint shiners) and creek chubs off my fly. Actually, one of the creek chubs was a beautiful 8" male in full spawning attire, complete with thick horns and a purple coat. The rainbows were healthy, and I managed a dozen or so with a couple more in the 9-10" range. Those put up a good fight on my little 6ft 2-wt. Another great, relaxing day on the water.

Damer

============================================

* Rock Piles and Red Minnows?

It's that time of the year again for stream angler questions!
Here are some answers. Don't miss the video.

http://srel.uga.edu/ecoviews/ecoview080914.htm
http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4GPEA_enUS304US304&q=yellowfin+shiner s&hl=en&sa=X&oi=image_result_group
===========================================

* Stocker best bets

Fish early! Don't forget to hit the main streams at and just below the mouths of their small, cooler tributary streams.

Try these stocked trout waters; Rock, upper Cooper, Dicks, Holly, Soapstone, Tallulah, Holcomb, Hooch headwaters, and the Hooch, Blue Ridge, and Hartwell tailwaters,

===============================================

* River Bass and Bream

Lack of rain = low and clear water and great fishing conditions for river bass and bream. Go give the Chattooga a try for redeyes and redbreasts! Grab this magazine before you go.

http://www.nwflyfishing.net/easternflyfishing/EastSE.aspx

============================================

*Lanier and Allatoona

Top water bass bite on Lanier is still happening on the south end of the lake. Walk the dog type lures/flies are working best. Try to fish points with some brush over it that is 12-20 foot below the surface.
Early and late is certainly best but do not be afraid to continue tossing top water after the sun rises above the tree line. This bite will certainly be coming to an end with the hot weather approaching.
Stripers are DEEP and are scattered among the south end of the lake.
Power reeling is starting to take shape as one of the better techniques.

Lake Allatoona is still producing top water spotted bass for anglers tossing SMALL threadfin type baits and flies. The hybrid surface bite on artificial baits is nearly nonexistent but should get strong with the approaching hot weather...

Henry C.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

“The Southern Fishing Report”

By Ken Sturdivant

106 Hickory Ridge

770 889 2654

Cumming, Georgia 30040

www.havefunfishing.com

June 21, 2012

LAKE LANIER IS DOWN 6.50 FEET, THE CREEKS AND MAIN LAKE ARE CLEAR & 80 DEGREES

This Lake Lanier Bass report is from Jim Mathley, Jimbo's Lake Lanier Service. <tel:770-542-7764> 770 542 7764

Spotted bass fishing on Lake Lanier this past week has been very good.
We
are still (I know it sounds like a broken record) focusing on our top water pattern. We did finally have one day that was a little slower than the others have been, but it rebounded very quickly the next day and we continued our top water slug fest out on Lanier. The active fish can be found relating to the summer brush in 15 to 25 feet of water on points and humps, both on the main lake and in major creek mouths on most days.
The
humps seemed to be the better bet over this past week and offered more consistent top water action. We have been using walking top waters such as the Zara Spook with a front runner, a Chug Bug, or a Gunfish as well as a fluke to catch most of our fish. It is just hard to beat top water action, and on my trips we have been chasing this bite all day long. My customers have a blast seeing the huge surface explosions when these fish hit.
The
spots are coming up in large wolf packs and fighting over our top water baits. We continue to get doubles, especially when we have been throwing the front runner in addition to another top water bait. The swim bait bite continues to pick up and we are getting several good fish each day on a variety of swim baits, particularly in the mornings when there is a predominant, steady wind. The Sebile, the Farley swim bait and the Bull Shad have been productive for some good fish on most days. As usual, we are throwing these baits with a Daniel Truit custom paint job. A Fish Head Spin, a drop shot Wackem worm in LJ's Passion color and a Green Pumpkin Wackem worm on a Davis Shaky head have also worked well when the fish refuse to come up. Allow me to reinforce, however, that we rarely if ever have to go to these baits to catch fish. If you stay with the run and gun approach, you will catch top water fish. Also, we have found the spotted bass schooling in the mornings and focusing on smaller bait fish. Downsize your presentations to catch these fish with offerings such as a small popper or a small Chug Bug. Once you have found a brush pile holding fish and you have brought them up with your top water lures and can't get another bite, leave the area and return in an hour or so and you should be able to pull those active fish up from the pile once again. Once you have found 5 or 6 active piles, you can just rotate those areas.

This Lake Lanier Striper report is from Captain Ken West and Captain Mike Maddalena of Big Fish On! Service, 404 561 2564.
<http://www.bigfishon.com/> www.bigfishon.com

Striper fishing is good. The fish continue move and are a challenge to find.
There does not seem to be a pattern in terms of location. They are on points, humps, flats and pockets but you seldom find them in the same place two days in a row. There are still fish on points in less than 30 feet of water. I am not marking a lot of fish but instead we are running and gunning points with free lines and a couple of down lines as close to the bottom as we can get given the trees. Do not be surprised to find stripers, spotted bass and catfish on the same point. There are also over a 60 to 80 foot bottom which are being caught with down rods at 20 to 30 feet deep. If you mark a couple of fish over deeper water go ahead and put out baits as there may be a lot more in the trees. The Umbrella rig bite has picked up. We are using a 4 arm 3ounce rig with nine 1 ounce Captain Mack buck tail jigs with
4 inch white and chartreuse shad bodies. Pull between 3.3 and 3.8 mph with rigs 70 to 100 feet behind the boat depending on target depth. Target points early from the Chestatee River to the Dam with a focus on creek mouths.
As
the water continues to warm you may want to move to deeper water at mid morning. Fish are still being caught on the North end of the lake but with the warm temperatures we do not expect that bite to last.

June 21, 2012

LAKE ALLATOONA IS FULL, CLEAR AND 79 DEGREES

This Lake Allatoona Bass fishing report is from Matt Driver 404 456
6094
www.proanglerradio.com

Bass fishing is slow during the day but a little better after the sun goes down. Baits are simple for me right now. About 95% of the time, we are throwing a 1/8 oz shaky head big bite coon tail worm. Fish are holding to brush in 15 to25 feet of water. Fish your bait slow, slow, slow! We have found that chartreuse JJ’s Magic on the tail helps. Deep cranking with a cell mate colored Spro little John DD is producing some good size when you can get them to bite.

This Lake Allatoona fishing guides report is bought to you by Robert Eidson of First Bite Guide Service. <http://www.firstbiteguideservice.com/>
www.firstbiteguideservice.com <tel:770%20827-6282> 770 827 6282.

Line side fishing is great. The bite has been awesome aboard all three of our boats. All the major creeks are producing good numbers of fish right now. And the down line bite is nothing short of incredible. These fish are scatter in the water column from any where from 13 feet to 40 feet deep.
Shad, shiners and bream are all working. Make sure you catch your bream on hook and line. Be sure to carry plenty of bait and change it often.
Frisky
bait is the key to putting more fish in the boat. Trolling is really picking up, and most of our bigger fish this week came on our umbrella rigs.
And for
me there is nothing better then the Mack Farr umbrella rig. We have had some really good day here lately pulling these rigs. Also single buck tails fished a 150 feet behind the boat at 2.4 miles and hour will get you bit.
Top water is good early in the morning and late in the afternoon. And a white rooster tail is hard to beat. It is working well on Hybrids, Stripers and schooling spots.

======================================

*Hartwell - courtesy of Ken Sturdivant

June 21, 2012
LAKE HARTWELL IS DOWN 9.1 FEET, STAINED & 82 DEGREES

Bass fishing is fair and the Zoom Trick worms and Yamamoto Senko’s have both been good choices recently. Green pumpkin and June bug are reliable colors for each. Use the lightest weight possible on either worm rigged Texas style. A lot of bass are now located around open water structure such as points, humps, flats, and ledges. Depths are varying from 8 to over 20 feet deep. As is normal, most of these fish are hitting Carolina rigs. A 3 foot leader of 12 pound line matches well with 14 to 17 pound main line and a half ounce weight. Several different worms have produced well like the Zoom trick worm the finesse worm and the U tale. Red bug, June bug, green pumpkin, and watermelon are a few good color choices. A few of these open water fish may also hit larger worm’s rigged Texas or Carolina style.
Crank
baits can also be the best, especially during power generation. Some good choices are Norman DD14 and DD22, Fat Free Shad in ½ and ¾ ounce sizes, and Rapala DT10 and DT16. Varying chartreuse and shad patterns have worked well.
A jig head and Finesse worm should also produce and extra fish or two after the bite has slowed.

==========================================

* Salty Reds

Rose did a little fishing with her grandmother (also named Rose) last week despite windy conditions. The ladies warmed up catching sea trout and after boating several we were off to chase reds. The younger Rose landed the big fish of the day following an epic battle. One very special moment came when Granny and young Rose hooked and landed a double (see attached).

Sincerely,

Rose's son and Rose's dad

===========================================

Hope you find some fishing fireworks!
www.gofishgeorgia.com

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06-28-12, 09:05 AM	#1
Windknot Director, Hall of Fame Member Join Date: Feb 1999 Location: Dacula, GA Posts: 12,566	Dredger's Weekend Tips Looks like a heat wave awaits us for the July 4th holiday period. Time your fishing trips accordingly; go early, late, or at night. Enjoy wet-wading in our bass rivers and especially in the shade of your north Georgia trout streams. Have a happy and safe holiday break. ================================== * Headwater Streams Still Good Jeff, On my Friday off, I decided NOT to take your advice of staying home and tying caddis. I already had at least two decent #16 EHC in my fly box from the last time I tied, and that was enough for a few hours on the water. Instead, I decided to hit a favorite public wild rainbow stream near Blue Ridge. When I got to the stream, I checked the water temp to make sure the hot weather had not become an issue on this creek as it has on so many of our other, low elevation trout waters. Water temp was 64 degrees and flows looked good, so I tied on and headed upstream. I landed one right off the bat in the 10" range, but things slowed a bit after that. I was till catching fish, but I think I was following behind someone else because I was seeing fresh boot prints. It was good to know that I'm not the only one taking advantage of the great fishing on this stream, but it sure did slow things down for me on this particular day! Fortunately, the boot prints stopped about halfway through the stretch I fished, and things picked up after that. The biggest challenge was keeping the georgia cutthroats (warpaint shiners) and creek chubs off my fly. Actually, one of the creek chubs was a beautiful 8" male in full spawning attire, complete with thick horns and a purple coat. The rainbows were healthy, and I managed a dozen or so with a couple more in the 9-10" range. Those put up a good fight on my little 6ft 2-wt. Another great, relaxing day on the water. Damer ============================================ * Rock Piles and Red Minnows? It's that time of the year again for stream angler questions! Here are some answers. Don't miss the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WkNP7VWgIA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WkNP7VWgIA http://srel.uga.edu/ecoviews/ecoview080914.htm http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T4GPEA_enUS304US304&q=yellowfin+shiner s&hl=en&sa=X&oi=image_result_group =========================================== * Stocker best bets Fish early! Don't forget to hit the main streams at and just below the mouths of their small, cooler tributary streams. Try these stocked trout waters; Rock, upper Cooper, Dicks, Holly, Soapstone, Tallulah, Holcomb, Hooch headwaters, and the Hooch, Blue Ridge, and Hartwell tailwaters, =============================================== * River Bass and Bream Lack of rain = low and clear water and great fishing conditions for river bass and bream. Go give the Chattooga a try for redeyes and redbreasts! Grab this magazine before you go. http://www.nwflyfishing.net/easternflyfishing/EastSE.aspx ============================================ Lanier and Allatoona Top water bass bite on Lanier* is still happening on the south end of the lake. Walk the dog type lures/flies are working best. Try to fish points with some brush over it that is 12-20 foot below the surface. Early and late is certainly best but do not be afraid to continue tossing top water after the sun rises above the tree line. This bite will certainly be coming to an end with the hot weather approaching. Stripers are DEEP and are scattered among the south end of the lake. Power reeling is starting to take shape as one of the better techniques. Lake Allatoona is still producing top water spotted bass for anglers tossing SMALL threadfin type baits and flies. The hybrid surface bite on artificial baits is nearly nonexistent but should get strong with the approaching hot weather... Henry C. ----------------------------------------------------------------- “The Southern Fishing Report” By Ken Sturdivant 106 Hickory Ridge 770 889 2654 Cumming, Georgia 30040 www.havefunfishing.com June 21, 2012 LAKE LANIER IS DOWN 6.50 FEET, THE CREEKS AND MAIN LAKE ARE CLEAR & 80 DEGREES This Lake Lanier Bass report is from Jim Mathley, Jimbo's Lake Lanier Service. <tel:770-542-7764> 770 542 7764 Spotted bass fishing on Lake Lanier this past week has been very good. We are still (I know it sounds like a broken record) focusing on our top water pattern. We did finally have one day that was a little slower than the others have been, but it rebounded very quickly the next day and we continued our top water slug fest out on Lanier. The active fish can be found relating to the summer brush in 15 to 25 feet of water on points and humps, both on the main lake and in major creek mouths on most days. The humps seemed to be the better bet over this past week and offered more consistent top water action. We have been using walking top waters such as the Zara Spook with a front runner, a Chug Bug, or a Gunfish as well as a fluke to catch most of our fish. It is just hard to beat top water action, and on my trips we have been chasing this bite all day long. My customers have a blast seeing the huge surface explosions when these fish hit. The spots are coming up in large wolf packs and fighting over our top water baits. We continue to get doubles, especially when we have been throwing the front runner in addition to another top water bait. The swim bait bite continues to pick up and we are getting several good fish each day on a variety of swim baits, particularly in the mornings when there is a predominant, steady wind. The Sebile, the Farley swim bait and the Bull Shad have been productive for some good fish on most days. As usual, we are throwing these baits with a Daniel Truit custom paint job. A Fish Head Spin, a drop shot Wackem worm in LJ's Passion color and a Green Pumpkin Wackem worm on a Davis Shaky head have also worked well when the fish refuse to come up. Allow me to reinforce, however, that we rarely if ever have to go to these baits to catch fish. If you stay with the run and gun approach, you will catch top water fish. Also, we have found the spotted bass schooling in the mornings and focusing on smaller bait fish. Downsize your presentations to catch these fish with offerings such as a small popper or a small Chug Bug. Once you have found a brush pile holding fish and you have brought them up with your top water lures and can't get another bite, leave the area and return in an hour or so and you should be able to pull those active fish up from the pile once again. Once you have found 5 or 6 active piles, you can just rotate those areas. This Lake Lanier Striper report is from Captain Ken West and Captain Mike Maddalena of Big Fish On! Service, 404 561 2564. <http://www.bigfishon.com/> www.bigfishon.com Striper fishing is good. The fish continue move and are a challenge to find. There does not seem to be a pattern in terms of location. They are on points, humps, flats and pockets but you seldom find them in the same place two days in a row. There are still fish on points in less than 30 feet of water. I am not marking a lot of fish but instead we are running and gunning points with free lines and a couple of down lines as close to the bottom as we can get given the trees. Do not be surprised to find stripers, spotted bass and catfish on the same point. There are also over a 60 to 80 foot bottom which are being caught with down rods at 20 to 30 feet deep. If you mark a couple of fish over deeper water go ahead and put out baits as there may be a lot more in the trees. The Umbrella rig bite has picked up. We are using a 4 arm 3ounce rig with nine 1 ounce Captain Mack buck tail jigs with 4 inch white and chartreuse shad bodies. Pull between 3.3 and 3.8 mph with rigs 70 to 100 feet behind the boat depending on target depth. Target points early from the Chestatee River to the Dam with a focus on creek mouths. As the water continues to warm you may want to move to deeper water at mid morning. Fish are still being caught on the North end of the lake but with the warm temperatures we do not expect that bite to last. June 21, 2012 LAKE ALLATOONA IS FULL, CLEAR AND 79 DEGREES This Lake Allatoona Bass fishing report is from Matt Driver 404 456 6094 www.proanglerradio.com Bass fishing is slow during the day but a little better after the sun goes down. Baits are simple for me right now. About 95% of the time, we are throwing a 1/8 oz shaky head big bite coon tail worm. Fish are holding to brush in 15 to25 feet of water. Fish your bait slow, slow, slow! We have found that chartreuse JJ’s Magic on the tail helps. Deep cranking with a cell mate colored Spro little John DD is producing some good size when you can get them to bite. This Lake Allatoona fishing guides report is bought to you by Robert Eidson of First Bite Guide Service. <http://www.firstbiteguideservice.com/> www.firstbiteguideservice.com <tel:770%20827-6282> 770 827 6282. Line side fishing is great. The bite has been awesome aboard all three of our boats. All the major creeks are producing good numbers of fish right now. And the down line bite is nothing short of incredible. These fish are scatter in the water column from any where from 13 feet to 40 feet deep. Shad, shiners and bream are all working. Make sure you catch your bream on hook and line. Be sure to carry plenty of bait and change it often. Frisky bait is the key to putting more fish in the boat. Trolling is really picking up, and most of our bigger fish this week came on our umbrella rigs. And for me there is nothing better then the Mack Farr umbrella rig. We have had some really good day here lately pulling these rigs. Also single buck tails fished a 150 feet behind the boat at 2.4 miles and hour will get you bit. Top water is good early in the morning and late in the afternoon. And a white rooster tail is hard to beat. It is working well on Hybrids, Stripers and schooling spots. ====================================== Hartwell - courtesy of Ken Sturdivant June 21, 2012 LAKE HARTWELL IS DOWN 9.1 FEET, STAINED & 82 DEGREES Bass fishing is fair and the Zoom Trick worms and Yamamoto Senko’s have both been good choices recently. Green pumpkin and June bug are reliable colors for each. Use the lightest weight possible on either worm rigged Texas style. A lot of bass are now located around open water structure such as points, humps, flats, and ledges. Depths are varying from 8 to over 20 feet deep. As is normal, most of these fish are hitting Carolina rigs. A 3 foot leader of 12 pound line matches well with 14 to 17 pound main line and a half ounce weight. Several different worms have produced well like the Zoom trick worm the finesse worm and the U tale. Red bug, June bug, green pumpkin, and watermelon are a few good color choices. A few of these open water fish may also hit larger worm’s rigged Texas or Carolina style. Crank baits can also be the best, especially during power generation. Some good choices are Norman DD14 and DD22, Fat Free Shad in ½ and ¾ ounce sizes, and Rapala DT10 and DT16. Varying chartreuse and shad patterns have worked well. A jig head and Finesse worm should also produce and extra fish or two after the bite has slowed. ========================================== Salty Reds Rose did a little fishing with her grandmother (also named Rose) last week despite windy conditions. The ladies warmed up catching sea trout and after boating several we were off to chase reds. The younger Rose landed the big fish of the day following an epic battle. One very special moment came when Granny and young Rose hooked and landed a double (see attached). Sincerely, Rose's son and Rose's dad =========================================== Hope you find some fishing fireworks! www.gofishgeorgia.com