Crew Mike Martin and Don Finfrock got wore out today reeling in striper after striper. We literally started out under Browns Bridge today trolling Lead Core into the 100′ slot in Chestatee Bay. The magic was seven colors out 2 ounce jig head with lime ice trailers doing 3 1/2 mph. The stripers we were smallies between 23 inches and 27″.

After catching six that size we decided to do some downlining to catch some bigger ones with bluebacks. Unfortunately we marked fish at 20 to 30′ deep over the 100′ treed bottom. Our bait would not live very long in the 86° water so that meant back to Lead Core. Still in an effort to get larger fish we moved to Flat Creek then Balus Creek with some longer paddle tails. We managed to get 2 more smallies but when that last fish hit Mike said “oh no not another one”. At this point the sun started blazing down on us so it was time to leave. Another good day of fishing with friends. Caught 8.

My great nephews Vinny and Sonny caught their first fish today. I brought crickets and red wigglers. Sonny was in charge of the worms and we baited his rod up. Vinny remembered how to cast and started fishing with crickets. As soon as Sonny’s line hit the water it was fish on. Because of the initial surprise we lost the first one not setting the hook. Vinny wasn’t doing well with crickets so we switched him out to worms too. After just a few minutes Sonny had his first fish on.

He reeled it in struggling with the railing that was a tad too high for him even with him on the step stool. No matter this fish didn’t getaway this time. Vinny came over and fished the exact spot Sonny was in while we baited him up and voile fish on.

Vinny reeled in the next fish all excited. That’s 2 Blue Gills so far. Sonny wanted to release his fish so I removed the hook and handed Sonny the fish. He held it in his hand for about 10 seconds until it wiggled and he dropped it on the dock watching it doing the fish dance. I picked it up and Sonny held on this time and released it. I let him go.

Sonny and Vinny caught one more fish each. There were big smiles for the cameras. And as my sister Lynn always says let’s quit on a good note so we packed up everything and left to enjoy the rest of the day with good memories fishing with Great Uncle Steve.

The Pirates of Lanier Poker Run was to start today at 11:30am so all the folks fishing needed to get lucky before the cigarette boats would go flying by at extreme miles per hour. Today’s plan was to fish the channel right in front of Port Royale on a clean bottom and be done by nine. We started downlining at 6:30 and managed to boat only one striper out of several quick hits.

As the sun aimed down on us just clearing the tree tops across the channel by Mountain View, we started to see more and more boat activity around us and made the decision to leave the area and pull Lead Core. We began just south of Browns Bridge on the west side of the channel. I first hooked up with a fish and while reeling it in my partner was to grab the other rod and start reeling to get it out of my way. It seemed like forever for him to bring in the line so I turned and asked him if he had gotten the line in yet and he said “I think I’ve got a fish on too” just as the boat passed under Browns Bridge with wave after wave from boats passing us on all sides and water crashing over the bow, we had our first double on Lead Core. Around 10:30 the sun decided to give us a break and move behind the clouds. At this point I changed the 4 1/2″ paddle tail color we were using on the 2oz Bucktail Jig from Lime Ice to an 8″ blue and white paddle tail. I also added a noise pellet to one of them to further get the striper’s attention. Well this was the right call as my partner said.

We caught six more stripers. While this was an “inches” tournament we were unable to get more than 50 inches with 2 fish. The lake was getting overwhelming now so it was time to cross the churning river channel with big and little boats coming from all directions and get to the quiet safety of Balus Creek. We started pulling again and managed to boat one more striper for a total of 8 on the day. I had loads of fun, caught a lot of stripers, made a new striper record in Bob’s new boat of 8. It was time to head in and get to the weigh in at OBT. Eleven boats fished the tournament and we tied for fourth. Another great day fishing for stripers.

At 5am this morning we picked up five dozen blueback herring at OBT, launched at Shoal Creek ramp and bolted to 9TM where we had been lucky three weeks in a row finding stripers and catching them on downlines but not today, tournament day. We really didn’t see many fish anywhere. No fish by 10am. Three hours until weigh in. It was time for Lead Core. We trolled from Six Mile Creek to Young Deer and finally boated a striper. While he wasn’t very big at 23″ at least we didn’t skunk.

We picked up one more striper in the Two Mile Chute which measured 24 1/2″. 

So we at least had a fairly good catch of two stripers totaling 47 1/2″. This would beat anyone who skunked and any other boater who only caught one striper even if it was 35″ or better. The lake started to churn with other boaters and skiers with a slight wind around noon. We had less than one hour to be able to cull a bigger striper into our count but were unsuccessful. A great day fishing with Bob Fields. GO TEAM FISH HUNTER!!!

It was a sunrise bite today for stripers. After fishing yesterday I had a pretty good idea where they’d be this morning, 9TM. The morning was heating up again quickly. First striper was on. While it was only 22 1/4″ long I got to show Terry Lee how to use a Seaqualizer. With the surface temperature at 86.1 we quickly measured the striper, took our pictures then dropped him quickly into the cooler water below the boat at the Seaqualizer release depth of 30′. We watched him swim off on the sonar. It was good to see he made it.

A few moments later we got a double. Terry started reeling between head shakes so I concentrated on netting his fish as it seemed to be pulling harder than the last one and I was hoping the second fish would still be waiting on the other downline as the rod tip buried under the surface. When I turned around the second striper was gone. Again we measured, took pictures and this time it was Terry’s turn to use the Seaqualizer. This striper was 24″ long.

After that we were still marking fish in 80′ of water with tree tops at 40′ when our back downline at 30′ buzzed out 98 more feet in the blink of an eye. Terry picked up the rod and started reeling to no avail as the striper went down to the trees. This happened again 20 minutes later. If we had put more drag on the striper would have snapped the line. We decided to move away from the trees but it didn’t matter as the stripers had already moved out. I decided to power reel out in the main Hooch channel. We did mark some fish but they weren’t biting. After that we headed back to the Vanns Tavern bay near the buoys and caught 3 nice spotted bass. First Terry said here’s lunch but after the second spot he said here’s dinner.

7:30am started at Vanns Tavern buoy where we were catching midday last week but no luck. Too early. Did most of Two Mile Chute no luck. We started to leave and as usual saw fish as we were putting up our rods. Decided to not leave fish to find fish. Put downlines out again and voile started catching stripers. 27″ then 23″.

Did I mention this was a Holiday weekend. By 10am the Two Mile Chute water began churning like a washing machine. Jet skiers and cabin cruisers were coming at us from all directions. With wave after wave crashing over the bow, it was time to exit this area. Headed back to Vanns Tavern area buoys and started catching again. One more striper and one huge spot. I will be back here tomorrow for the Lanier Striper Club Mentoring Day.

We launched at Vanns Tavern at 7am and motored out to the B Buoy discovering it to be split in half and moved 50′ south of its original position.

 We marked a few fish but no takers. After circling a few more times we decided it was time to move. We headed towards the Two mile chute. The temperature today was supposed to get to 97° and it was already 78°. Within a few minutes we got our first striper around 8 am downlining 30 feet  over an 80′ bottom. It was 23″ long.

A little later one of our downlines 22′ down took off like a freight train and was out 122′ in seconds. Apparently a striper came out of the trees, grabbed the blueback and went back down into the trees leaving us high and dry. After a while we ended up in the mouth of Six Mile but no more bites on downlines. We switched to Lead Core and trolled all the way back to Vanns Tavern. No takers. Air Temperature now close to 90°. Time to get out the boat umbrella. We swtched back to downlines and headed further into Two Mile Creek. It didn’t take long before we got the freight train hit again stripping out line to 100′. This downline was 30′ deep and in the creek by the Vanns Tavern no wake buoys. After a great fight Lynn was able to get the fish in and a much nicer striper at 33 inches.

Stopping on a good note it was time to head in. The temperature reached 100° on the Tahoe’s temperature display.

Thursday morning June 16th I took my great nephews Vinny and Sonny on their first fishing trip. We went to Colt Creek State Park in Lakeland Florida. While it was hot and no bites to be had Sonny the 4 year old asked if he could touch one of the night crawlers. I said sure but they’re slimy. After he touched it he said ewe. Next thing I knew he had one out of the container and was playing with it. Vinny the six year old on the other hand was squeamish about them and dodging his brothers attempts to wrap the night crawler around his legs. When it was time to leave I told Sonny to ask the others who were fishing if they wanted our leftover bait. He took the red wigglers and night crawlers over to them. They thanked him for the bait. As we neared the car I noticed that Sonny still had one of the night crawlers in his hand.

I told him that he needed to leave the night crawler here as it would not survive the trip home. He started to cry because he didn’t want to leave his friend behind. I took the worm and placed it under a rock so the birds wouldn’t get it. At the car were hugs and tears for good byes. A few photos with the rods and the end to a great 1st fishing outing with the great nephews Vinny and Sonny.

Although my contribution to the North Georgia Crappie Anglers club tournament today was only a potato chip, I believe my team Tommy Bruce, Dale Burrell & I came in second place. The weigh in for the club tournament was held at Sherry’s Bait & BBQ on Hwy 53 in Gainesville. In addition to the club’s tournament being held there, the NGCA Annual Kids tournament sponsored by the club was also weighing in. After a tasty pulled pork sandwich for lunch at Sherry’s, there were trophies, certificates and fishing rods handed out to each kid participating in the tournament.

A few hours later I attended another weigh in. The Lanier Striper Club’s tournament weigh in was being held at Pelican Pete’s restaurant at the Port Royale marina. Lynn Gregory, the tournament director was viewing the members’ photos of stripers caught and released to determine which team had the most inches. I shot a few more videos then headed home.

Many thanks to Captain Derrick for taking me out on the water today since I was boatless. We launched at Vanns Tavern this morning at 6am and were on fish in 10 minutes. Derrick on a hunch tried the 1st reef marker. Two fish on, both were 34″. The one I brought in put up a good fight stripping off line as I took up the slack. This fish was shaking his head left and right then went straight down then tried to head back out but I kept just enough drag on him until he finally gave up as he neared the boat to be netted. Brian Dye a soon to be LSC club member brought in the other striper. He fought this striper for over 10 minutes.  After that we headed over to the east side of the lake into Flowery Branch where Derrick brought in our third striper. Another good day on the lake with friends.