Bait shop didn’t have the large Gizzard Shad I wanted to use up in the skinny water of the Chattahoochee River today. I had to settle for large Rainbow Trout 15” long. I also got a dozen and a half Blueback Herring and got a couple bags of ice to keep the trout at 55° in the bait tank. We stopped at Rabbittown for some nourishment on the way to the Clark’s Bridge ramp. When we came up on the ramp the area was closed due to a large scale regatta that was to take place this morning. Having no other choice we headed for Don Carter state park to launch the boat. Of course this put us way up the river from Clark’s Bridge. We launched and headed north. We put out a small spread including 2 of the large trout out on Planer Boards and a couple of unweighted Freelines with the Blueback Herring. After pulling only ten minutes the port side board went under. Dave grabbed the rod and started reeling like a fiend and pumping the rod. BIG MISTAKE. I tried shouting out commands but was too late. It had to be a big Striper to take that 15” trout. Lesson learned. We continued heading north. Water temperature was 84° and the average water depth was only 13’. Shortly after we started getting Stripers on our Freelines.

When we reached the rock wall it was time to either go on to Lula or turn back towards Clark’s Bridge and run our Lead Core lines in the 50’ depths. We chose the latter and pulled 2 two ounce Bucktail Jigs with Lime Ice paddle tails out 5 & 6 colors. This was a good bet as we got another Striper.

It was a short run with the Lead Core so we decided to go back to pulling boards and Freelines. Almost out of bait and a few rain clouds heading our way we decided to call it a day. We caught 5 Stripers today and had a lot of fun doing so.

We launched from Old Federal Park ramp today at 7:30am. After a Facebook post from a fellow Striper angler who strictly uses Umbrella Rigs and already put a fish in the boat, I took that as a sign to at least start with this technique. Five minutes after putting out a Urig it was Fish On and a double at that.

These two Stripers at 18″ each took the pressure off by not skunking in the tournament. We left Mud Creek and headed to Three Sisters to pull some Lead Core. We put out two 2oz Bucktail Jigs with Lime Ice paddle tail trailers out 9 colors at 2.5 mph and got hit with a 26 3/4″ Striper allowing us to increase our total inches now to 44 3/4″.

We pulled for another hour picking up a 4lb Largemouth Bass but it would not count in this tournament.

We left for more productive waters and on the way to the humps in Young Deer Creek we picked up another fish to cul the other 18 incher we got this morning. We were now at 49 1/4″ total length for the weigh in at 2pm. The weigh in was held at the Land Shark Bar & Grill at Margaritaville at Lake Lanier Islands. We did not get in the money but placed half way down the list of 34 anglers. Upon leaving the event we saw a fellow angler unable to start his motor so we pulled in close and tried to jump start his motor from our batteries. No luck there. He lived very close by so we pulled him to his dock in Shoal Creek.

With Stripers staying down 40′ deep in their comfort zone getting an Umbrella Rig down to them was a challenge. Discussions with Capt Mack brought new light to the topic of getting deeper than the usual 22′ depth using his 9 arm Umbrella Rig. I took off the 1oz jigs and used 9 – 2oz jigs on a 3oz rig making it a total of 21 ounces and then let it out 100′ at 3 mph. That put us down to 40′ and voile Fish On. It was an incredible fight even though the Striper was only 25″. Reeling in all that extra weight along with the fish was intensive. I threw the boat in neutral, struggled to get the rod out of the holder and handed it to Don, frantically reeling in the other Umbrella Rig before it could get hung in a tree. I reached down and grabbed the rig hoisting it up into the boat fish and all. Don and I high-fived, took some pictures, measured him then released the Striper with the Seaqualizer back into his comfort zone.

With a little bit of wind and a plethora of boats on Lanier today it was a bit rough on the water. We left Vanns Tavern ramp at 7am and headed for the Six Mile crossroads. Surface temp was 89.1°. Bait care would be of great concern as Blueback Herring need 50-65° in the bait tank to be lively not just alive and we would have to drop the bait quickly to our desired depth which was 40 to 80 feet over a 100′ bottom, else the bait would die in less than a minute on the hot surface. I kept checking the bait tank temp for the next 40 minutes adding ice until the temperature stabililized at 62°. We staged four rods in the rod holders with enough line to get them 60 to 70 feet down holding the hook at the gunnel. Using the bait net we hooked a Herring and released the bail so that the bait plummeted downward immediately with the help of the 2oz. pencil weights. We had a couple of nice Stripers on within 10 minutes.

We took some pictures and realized with the hot surface temp the fish were not going to make it even with the seaqualizer. So I threw them on ice to be fileted later. We decided to move out to find a little cooler water finding 84° between the last Three Sisters island and the mouth of Big Creek not very far where we just were. By this time more boats were cruising in all directions and the wind picked up causing the water to be like a washing machine. We remained successful with our Downlines and caught 2 more smaller Stripers releasing them to the water torpedo style.

We were almost out of bait. I should have brought 3 dozen instead of two. We were also low on fuel so we headed to the gas dock at Holiday Marina. On our way in we came upon a center console barely moving. We thought they were fishing but realized they were not under much power. We slowed near them and they told us they ran out of gas and that the trolling battery was almost dead. So we towed them to the gas dock which is where we were headed. After grabbing some ice to put on the two Stripers we kept, we decided to grab some lunch at the Twisted Oar. We ran into some club buddies that had been successful pulling Umbrella Rigs. They said they tried some Downlining but with no success. They had five Herring left so they gave them to us. Well our bait soon ran out after snagging some trees. It was either quit and go home or get out the Lead Core rods. We used 2 different color 2oz. bucktail jigs and trailers, one pink and one chartreuse. Since the Stripers were down deep between 40-80′ we needed to seriously change our Lead Core presentation by decreasing our speed from 3 mph to 1.5 mph which would drop the baits to 36-40′, out 9 & 10 colors respectively. After a couple of hours the lake was seriously rougher than when we started. We decided to head back to the ramp to end the day.

Tropical storm Alberto brought the threats of lots of rain and storms over the Memorial day weekend. Trying to pick the best day to go was tricky but we guessed right. Sunday morning was clear with the best chance at a beautiful day on the lake. The skies were clear at the bait shop.

We loaded up with Blueback Herring and headed to East Bank park next to the dam. We were going to start here on a tip from the bait shop. Right after launching we put out a couple of Flatlines weighted and out 100’ & 130’. Before we could get another rod baited up it was Fish On. As we were bringing that 1st one the other rod started ripping off line. We got them both in for measurements and pictures.

After letting them go we hung around the area in hopes of getting a third but the Stripers were moving out to deeper water. We too moved out. We did our myriad of rods in addition to the 2 Flatlines which consisted of a couple of Downlines, a couple of weighted Planer Boards and one more weighted Flatline out about 30’. Our target was main lake points. The first 2 Stripers we caught were in 78 degree water around 6:45am. The first fish Don brought in with a fiercesome fight was a nice fish at 27”. I know Don really enjoyed that fight. The second Striper was only 25” but it too felt good bring him in. As we came out of East Bank bay into Shoal Creek another Striper hit our Flatline. Another exciting fight bringing in this 8 pound female. She was only 24” but weighed more than the others. It was close to 9:30am when we started see more boats cruising. We knew it was close to the time to leave. We decided to fish the area where we had caught the Stripers earlier but that area too was buzzing with boats.

Bill wanted to learn how to fish for trout. We met at the bait shop and since I did want Bill to catch his first trout today we brought a myriad of bait which included red wigglers, night crawlers, crickets, corn, salmon eggs, power bait and spinners. Our next stop was Rabbittown for some nourishment that will hold us most of the day. Our destination, the Soque River. When we got to the parking area we suited up for the fishing meaning donned our fishing vests which made us walking tackle boxes. We crossed the road and started down the river trail for about a ¼ mile stopping at the first step down into the river. I explained to Bill how to put a cricket on the hook and where to cast. If you’ve ever started doing something new and following all the rules and got it right, well, Bill got his first fish. It wasn’t a Trout, but it was a fish after just a few casts. This spot I chose to teach Bill was the easiest to fish as it was close to the start of a long trail through the woods to get to other fishing spots. After a few minutes with no other bites we moved on. Our next stop was a long sand bar adjacent to a deep trough and plenty of room for the three of us to cast. Don had joined us at this point. We all put on something different to see what they were biting. We’ll we all were getting bites, so we kept at it. While letting Bill cast on his own he caught his first trout. This is always a good feeling for me as well as for Bill. It was a nice Rainbow.

Following several casts Bill & I caught several trout. We then gave our spot up to a dad and his sons and we moved on. After exploring to find our next spot we discovered that there was no other safe place to cast from. The weather and time had changed the course of the river and it wasn’t as I remembered it. We headed back to the beginning of the trail and decided to fish the deep pool and river bend beyond the bridge. We crossed the road, then the bridge and walked to the trail heading down to a wide beach. Again, there was plenty of room for the three of us to fish. There were clouds of gnats circling around our heads annoyingly.

The fish there were smaller, but we continued to catch trout. After catching a few smaller fish, we decided to quit and head to the Mark of the Potter. This was a store that sold hand-made pottery from local artisans. It was also a place to see some awesome Trout that were two to three feet long below the store’s deck swimming around in the huge pool of water below the cascade. On the deck there was a Purina Trout Chow gumball machine where you could put in a quarter and get a handful of pellets to drop down onto the multitude of swarming Trout. Heading back home we learned that the teacher caught 4 trout and the student caught 5. Bill don’t be mad but you’re hooked for life.

The 7am launch today from Stephens County Park ramp yielded a double catch in the first six minutes. Since it had rained hard most of the night and early morning hours in Toccoa GA, I suspected that going north would be muddy and full of debris. So we headed south. Just after passing the old bridge we put out 4 Planer Boards two on each side then a couple of Flatlines all baited with Blueback Herring. Water temperature was 62.7.  In just a couple of minutes we had two hybrids in the boat.

We kept moving south staying in the channel and picked up our next hybrid on a Flatline.

We continued to catch one here one there.

We made it to the esses where we slayed these hybrids several years back. They were still there waiting for us.

Bill noticed that the inside port side Planer Board went under for a second but it seemed that there were no takers.. He decided to bring it in to check the condition of the bait. As it neared the boat another hybrid took the bait and it was Fish On. After boating that fish he tried to get the Planer Board back into the water 3 times having the hybrids take the bait before he could attach the Planer Board. All in all it was another great time with friends. We’ll probably talk about this trip and all the antics and jokes that went on between catches for years to come.

Four boats set out this morning for Team Lanier’s 2018 Tugaloo River Hybrid Run on a pristine morning with no wind, fog or rain in the weather forecast. After meeting at Oakwood Bait & Tackle to get our bait we were all to converge at the Rabbittown Cafe for breakfast then caravan up to the launch on the Tugaloo River at Stephens County Park. We headed north for the skinny water that I had visited in previous years for these fearsome fighting Hybrids. Bringing in one of these football shaped fish was a feat all on its own because they fought like a freight train making each fight memorable. The others scouted ahead as we slowly made our way through the narrow channels. One mistake getting off course would mean we would run aground in the mud. As our other boat captains were coming back toward us from the north it was stated that there were no fish to be had. They stated that the water temperature was 50 degrees. The area we were fishing was south of the Yonah dam. Since this was a weekday we were counting on the water generation to make the Hybrids active. Water coming out of the bottom of the lake would definetly be a lot colder than the Lake Yonah’s surface temperatures. We still forged northward in the hopes that our other captains were wrong. Well being a little patient here proved to be the right approach. The Hybrids came one after another then Don latched onto a 10lb 29″ Striper. It was a tremendous fight with Don on the front of the boat as the Striper moved from the right side to the left crossing and tangling several rods on the back of the boat. We ended up netting this monster on the left side of the boat. This fish came on a Planer Board with a Blueback Herring 40′ behind the board. Its size was totally unexpected. We wanted to call out to the others but we either had no signal bars or no more battery to contact them. They should have hung with us instead of the “gun and run” technique they were accustomed to. 

The others did catch some fish. After they left us early in the day they headed southward for deeper waters.

We had discovered that the pattern to catch fish today was fishing the mouths of the creeks.We fished an area of the river where two creeks entered from each side. Water temp was 50 degrees. We basically circled the area picking up a fish on each pass until the gusty wind showed up. We knew that is was time to leave as we could no longer control the boat under these gusts.

This past Saturday we hit the Dog Island beaches between the three points over a 55’ bottom. The air temp was 45° with the water temperature at 51.8°. It was the outside Planer Board that got hit with the 12” Gizzard Shad and a stinger hook in the Vent. Weighing only 8 lbs this 25 ½” Striper swam toward the boat only to dive under when it got close enough to be seen. Darin had reeled in the inside Planer Board but it had already crossed the rod with the Striper that Dale was reeling in.  Dale was near the front of the boat with Darin to his left. I grabbed the net and dipped it into the water trying to reach the Striper that went under the boat. There wasn’t much room to maneuver as Darin was basically pinned between Dale and myself being caught in the arm of his coat by a Mini Mack that was hanging low in the rod holder. I finally got the Striper into the boat for measurements and pictures.

Earlier that morning we ran into Capt. Mack at the bait shop. We chatted a few minutes and he advised us to use his Mini Mack in the back of Shoal Creek by the boat ramp and surrounding area. We launched at East Bank Park and headed to our tip from the guide. When we arrived there was already one boat trolling with more boats coming in. We did not see any diving birds but did see a few bait balls but no Stripers to be found. We left after trolling for about an hour and headed to SC8 to pull a chartreuse/white jigged Umbrella Rig over the three humps on our way to Dog Island. As we approached the island another Striper boat followed us in and tried to hog us out by moving in front of us but eventually gave up as I held my ground so to speak. They finally left. Nothing on our first pass because we were not positioned in the right place to begin pulling bait between the points. We turned around at the far right point and went back across the pocket following the deep-shallow contour lines adjacent to our trail coming in when the outside Planer Board got hit. We thought we were on them but no other takers for the next hour or so. We left Dog Island and headed across to Sunset Cove for a look. Nothing there. We then went all the way around Lake Lanier Islands to Cocktail Cove but it too was barren of bait and Stripers. We went a little further around the main island to a multitude of reef poles near the Tiki Huts and resumed our spread of Planer Boards and Diagonal Bobbers. Water temperature was 53.5°. Again there was activity on the outside Planer Board. A 4 pound Spotted Bass took the medium Trout and Darin brought him in for pictures.

Headed back to the ramp after that to get home early for a nap. Gotta rest. Going Crappie fishing tomorrow with more good friends.

Hit the bait shop at 7am this morning for a couple of small Gizzard Shad, 2 dozen medium Shiners and 1 dozen Blueback Herring. Also picked up a Sebile 125 in White and a Mcstick 110.

We launched at Aqualand and headed back into Flowery Branch towards the 2nd set of power lines. We continued further just to see what was past the McEver bridge. We marked several nice fish so we turned around and put out our spread of Planer Boards, Downlines and Flatlines. Water temperature was 59.9°. As we moved back towards the main lake pulling our baits we passed another boat doing the same thing and caught our first Spotted Bass on a Planer Board with one of the Gizzard Shad baits right in front of them. Just after passing them we marked more fish in a pocket to the right then the trolling motor konked out on us. It seemed like the day was over before it started. I called Minnkota technical support and waited a while. Then it was finally my turn. They provided a reset code which worked and we were back to fishing in no time. After catching another Spot we decided to move in the hopes of finding Stripers instead of Spots. We went to Mud Creek 4 and managed to see several Loons diving just passed the point. Water temperature here rose to 61°. We put out our same spread but added a long range Gizzie on a balloon and started getting bit but with more Spots and a couple of nice ones too. They were hitting the medium Shiners on the channel side of the boat. We picked up another 6 here. Decided to go to DBs honey hole in OC4. Caught a few more Spots and finally a small Striper allowing me to tell today’s story. We ended up with 12 fish caught on the day. Sun came out of the clouds and we were shedding our heavy layers of clothes to feel the warmth of the sun with just a cool breeze. No pictures today. Went Striper fishing and caught 11 Spots and an aquarium sized Striper. After a great day of searching for Stripers and great conversations with Gerry W. it was time to head in. We still had to manually stow the trolling motor as this was still an issue which partner would have to deal with when he got home. Thanks Gerry for a fine outing on a weekday just before Thanksgiving and have a happy one to you and the Mrs.