“The Southern Fishing Report” 7-21

By Ken Sturdivant

106 Hickory Ridge

770 889 2654

Cumming, Georgia 30040

www.havefunfishing.com

July 22, 2011

LAKE LANIER IS DOWN 5.1 FEET, THE CREEKS ARE SLIGHTLY STAINED AND THE MAIN LAKE IS CLEAR & 87 DEGREES.

Spotted bass fishing has been fair and the fish are on docks and reef markers as well any main lake hump. Early morning feeding periods may show some top water action. Keep top water bait ready in the event that they feed. There are still some really big spots feeding on top on bone Super Spooks on the deep main lake points. Bang A Lures, High Rollers and floating Rapala’s are very good choices and use clear 8 pound Sufix line. Scrounger heads with a small Zoom Fluke on 10 pound test Fireline Crystal line on a spinning reel will take some big spots. Just let the bait hit the bottom and drag it slowly and hold on. The drop shot rig is still working and the fish are really close to the deeper brush. After dark, the bigger spots seem to feed very late past midnight. Big June bug Bill Norman crank baits and the larger Strike King night bite spinner baits are the best lures. The 4 inch Senko in bright colors on a Texas rig or with no weight is catching some very large spots mid lake around docks. Pick the docks half way in the backs of major creek, skips the baits under the dock and be sure to have fresh line. Fat Albert dark grubs on a 1/16 or 1/8 lead head and a single or twin tail grub can work on main lake structure. Points and long banks right in the mouth of the lower lake creek can produce some good action until about midnight. Cast the baits right on the bank and reel the back with a straight steady motion. Occasionally “drop” the bait and the fish will strike.

This Lake Lanier Striper report is from Captain Ken West and Captain Mike Maddalena of Big Fish On! Guide Service, 404 561 2564. www.bigfishonguide.com

Striper fishing is very good. The afternoon bite continues to out perform the morning. There are a lot of fish holding at 30 to 60 feet over both river and creek channels. Bald ridge, Shoal, Six mile and Four mile have been the go to creeks but you should not rule out any creek from Browns Bridge to the Dam. There are also a good number of fish in pockets early in the morning from 60 – 80 feet of water. Focus on the pockets in the mouths of the creeks. The summer time pattern is in full force. Down line herring at 30 to 60 feet is working but the fish are easily spooked and it can be difficult staying on them. If you see fish vertical in the water column do not hesitate to fish for the deeper fish. As an example; if the 30 foot fish will not bite drop your baits to 55 feet and fish for the deeper fish. You can also try power reeling for those fish that will just not bite. Drop your bait well below the fish and reel your bait up through the fish. This approach will often trigger a reaction bite and can serve to "fire up" the rest of the fish in the school. Shorten your leader to about three foot when power reeling. You will have a lot less trouble with tangles and knots than with the long leaders. You can also use a 2 ounce Captain Mack’s bucktail jig tipped with a herring. Downriggers and lead core are both working with Captain Mack’s 1ounce bucktail jig with a chartreuse or white 4 inch shad body. Lead core at 7 to 8 colors and a chartreuse shad body has worked best this week. At our current 80+ degree water temperature catching a striper subjects it to a lot of stress. Consider not taking "another" fish picture and instead release it immediately. Finding fish in trees is a much simpler with the new Lowrance structure scan.

July 22, 2011

WEST POINT LAKE IS DOWN 4.8 FEET, STAINED & 89 DEGREES BY CHRIS BELL

Bass fishing has been slow as the summer patterns take hold and we pass the full moon last weekend. This time of year there is very little change in pattern. Fish have committed to deep water cover and will remain there for the next few weeks. This is actually one of my favorite times of year on West Point because you can go back to these same deep hideouts time after time and they will produce. Once the sun is high focus on docks and lay downs near the mouth of pockets with a green pumpkin Z-Man floating worm or a Z-Man Texas rigged Saw Tail Worm. The Z-Man floating worm will stand up on a 1/8 or 3/16 ounce shaky head so do not be afraid to let this bait soak to catch larger fish. You can catch several fish off of one lay down so make several cast to productive cover. Once the bite slows switch to a All Terrain 3/8 ounce black and blue jig tipped with a black and blue Z-Man chunkz. The deep crank bait bite is beginning to turn on in the afternoon during generating schedules. Look for fish to begin stacking up on long points and roadbeds close to the main river channel. Crankbaits are working best with multiple casts on cover close to the river channel. I spent several days the last couple of weeks just watching my fish finder and following contour lines with my GPS. Once I located cover in the twelve to eighteen feet depth I would turn back to fish these locations. It takes time to find this ideal habitat, but once you do several fish can be caught in this area. The best points to search are from the 109 bridge north going up the river. During generation periods use deep diving crankbaits on humps and road beds. You can load the boat quick with some really heavy weights during these periods of generation and cover.

Hybrid and striper fishing is slow. There has been some top water action early in the morning down lake at the mouths of creeks such as Wehadkee and Maple. Use popping corks and flys making long casts over schooling fish. Do not use your outboard to approach these fish because they are very spooky. Use your trolling motor on a consistent speed to get within casting distance. Once the top water action has slowed the best bites have been coming from down lake on deep flats, humps, and road beds during generation periods. Some the best areas to fish have been from Glass Bridge Park south. Using your electronics use your trolling motor to search out schools of fish. Shad have been really hard to find this year so use bream and chicken livers dropped into schools of fish. Watch your graph closely to locate large schools of fish. Be sure to check the generation schedules for the best feeding times.

Crappie fishing has been slow. This is the time of year to beat the heat with some night fishing. The most consistent fishing for crappie seems to be at night. This time of year bridge pilings will produce best. It will take some time to attract bait with your lights, but once you do the fish will be directly behind them. Use live minnows dropped down about twelve feet. The best bridges have been the 109 bridge and Yellow Jacket bridge.

July 22, 2011

LAKE ALLATOONA IS DOWN 3.3 FEET, 88 DEGREES AND CLEAR

This Lake Allatoona bass report is from Matt Driver of www.proanglerradio.com

Bass fishing is fair. Something new going on right now is the fish were shallower at the end of the week with a few coming on jigs on blow downs in the main lake pockets. As usual the fresh brush bite is hit or miss and covering multiple piles is the way to catch them. Fish brush in the 12 to 14 feet range that is isolated and not heavily fished is holding good spots and largemouth. Right now the sonar and side finder machines are the key. Fishing blind is no very productive. The night and evening bite is the ticket. Deep cranking a Spro Little John DD in cell mate and a big Colorado blade spinner bait around brush and large rocks in the 12 to 18 foot range is producing good fish. Use the little John DD on 10 pound Sunline fluorocarbon and a 7’11 cranking rod. For numbers the Skakey head is your best bet. We are using the 1/8 Davis Bait Company hbt jig head tipped with a natural colored squirrel tailed worm made by Big Bite. Fish it slow around rock and brush in 12 to 16 feet in the Etowah River.

This Lake Allatoona striper and hybrid fishing guides report has been brought to you exclusively by Robert Eidson of First Bite Guide Service, 770 827 6282. www.firstbiteguideservice.com Lake Allatoona, Georgia email: eidson6260@comcast.net

Line side fishing is good and trolling bite is starting to over take the live bait bite on Lake Allatoona. The dissolved oxygen level on Lake Allatoona is making live bait fishing tough. Shad have less than a five minute life span on a hook fished deeper then 20 feet. The window of opportunity for catching numbers on live bait is less then and hour and a half right at sun up. This is the time of year where trollers rule and will for the next two months. The key to good numbers in late summer is to be universal. Be open mined every time you head to the lake. Live bait, umbrella rigs, deep diving, crank baits, spoons and even lead core will all work this time of year.

July 22, 2011

LAKE HARTWELL IS DOWN 4.7 FEET, CLEAR & 88 DEGREES

Bass fishing is fair and the fish are up very early on small top water stick baits. Fish the down stream side of any of the major points and the rip rap around the bridges all day. Use the #5 and the #7 black and silver and natural shad color Shad Raps and throw them up stream past the points and crank it down. The bass will stage up on the back side of these areas and wait for the bait fish to come by. If the water still has a little stain to it, stick with the darker black/silver color. With the heat of the day another good area to fish and during generating times will be the back side of the docks located in the deeper water near the channels. Cranking Shad Raps in shad patterns along with Carolina rigged finesse worms will work. Up the rivers, the small spots are still working the secondary and smaller points with scattered spots found back in the coves. Green worms and lizards are taking most of these fish. Fish the rock and docks and any wood with the Zoom Super Fluke in pearl.

July 22, 2011

LAKE RUSSELL IS DOWN 3.9 FEET, CLEAR & 87 DEGREES

Bass fishing is fair and there are several different crankbaits that are working on light 10 pound test Sufix Elite line. The DT 6 and DT 10 in either the hot tiger or shad colors and the #5 jointed Shad Rap in either the green crawdad or fire tiger will work. Work the main lake and secondary points and the strikes will occur right at the edge of 10 foot line. Top water baits like the Pop R and the Chug Bug will work. Work the Chug Bug fast and do not stop the popping noises as this attracts the spots thinking the bait is a fleeing bait fish. Jigs around rocks and wood is another good choice this week. The 3/8 ounce Strike King jig is a good choice and the colors need to be browns and greens. Use the Lowrance Structure Scan down Scan technology to scan an area and you will see the fish. The Lowrance and Sirius Weather module will help keep you safe with the Lowrance HDS machines.

July 22, 2011

CLARK HILL IS DOWN 4.8 FEET, STAINED & 88 DEGREES

Bass fishing is fair the 3/8 ounce Scrounger head and a Zoom Fluke is a hot bait on the lake. Use the pearl white and the baby bass Flukes. The upper end of the lake is stained and this colored water can be a plus to those fishing the northern end of the lake. This week crank baits will work and use a Shad Rap and a small Bandit is shad patterns. Try a Rat L Trap lipless crank bait on the rocky banks and around the islands. The 3/8 ounce and the ½ ounce sizes can work all day. Cast up into shallow water and work the shallows where rock and the brush piles are located. Switch colors often and find out which one is catching the larger bass. Some anglers are fishing the grass beds with weightless worms. Take a hot pink trick worm and rig it with a 3/0 Mustad hook. Cast it right along the edge of the heavier matted grass and let it sink. Count it down and try different depths to find out how deep the bass are.

July 22, 2011

LAKE SEMINOLE IS DOWN ONE FOOT, CLEAR AND 86 DEGREES BY CLAYTON BATTS

Bass fishing is good and the recent rains have added a little stain and current to the lake. The fish are really relating to grass points all over the lake right now. You can target these points early in the morning with a top water lure such as a buzz bait or a Spro Dawg 100 in Old Glory on Sunline FX2 Braid. After the morning top water has diminished, then you have some other techniques that seem to be working well on the same grass points. The grass points that have seemed to be producing better are the ones that are closer to the river channels. If the wind is blowing, then you need to fish the wind blown points with a Spro Superstar 1/2 Spinner Bait in white/chartreuse. If there is no wind, then back off a little and fish a little deeper off of the points with a Texas-Rig 7" Big Bite Baits Sugar Cane Worm in Easy Money color. Use a 5/16 ounce Tungsten and a 5/0 Gamakatsu Off-set Worm Hook on this bait. This bait works really good because you can either bump it off of the bottom, or swim it through the grass. In the upcoming dog days of summer, look for the flipping bite to become a really dependable way to catch fish. A Big Bite Fighting Frog is the best flipping bait to use on Lake Seminole. Use the Lowrance Structure Scan down Scan technology to scan an area and you will see the fish. The Lowrance and Sirius Weather module will help keep you safe with the Lowrance HDS machines.

July 22, 2011

LAKE GEORGE IS FULL, 84 DEGREES & CLEAR

Bas fishing is fair and the larger baits are summer times best tactics for the deeper fish. Try the Old Monster on deep water humps and points. There are some smaller fish around docks and they can be caught using smaller soft plastics. A good approach is to have about 3 soft plastic rigs of various sizes and styles ready to experiment with each. The normal summer humps, points, and ledges are not holding as many fish as normal, but some of the larger fish are out there. Large deep diving crank baits are probably the best choice when the fish are more active. Some good choices are Norman DD22, Poe’s 400, #7 Fat Free Shad, and Mann’s 20Plus. Shad and chartreuse patterns have both produced fish. Carolina rigs, large Texas rigs, jig head and worm, and heavy spinner baits are other good choices. Keep a buzz bait ready with the larger gold blade and white skirt and use it any time of the day.

July 22, 2011

LAKE WEISS IS DOWN .19 FEET, LIGHT STAIN & 85 DEGREES BY COLLINS GUIDE SERVICE

Now available for sale 50 of my proven GPS waypoints for off shore structure for Bass and Crappie fishing on Weiss Lake, Alabama. E mail ken@havefunfishing.com

Bass fishing is good and with all the rain some fish have moved shallow to seawalls, docks and secondary points. Most largemouth and spotted bass are still on their summer pattern, 8-14 feet deep on river and creek channel ledges, main lake points and humps and road beds, deeper rocky banks are producing some great spotted bass on a 6 inch worm, Texas rigged, or a 1/4 ounce jig with a craw trailer. Carolina rigged plastics are working well with a green pumpkin and pumpkin seed lizard or worm as the dominant colors. Medium to deep running crank baits and 1/2 ounce spinner baits slow rolled are also catching some good bass, a few bass are still being caught shallow on jigs and tubes under docks.

Striper fishing is good and they are in good numbers in Little River and the lower Chattooga River. The canal and the powerhouse lake are also producing some Stripers. Live Shad is the key to catching these fish, flat lines and down lines fished 8 to 10 feet deep and trolled slowly are producing some great striper fishing.

Crappie fishing is poor and the crappie are mainly under the docks and out deep 8-14 feet, on the channel ledges, Night fishing with live minnows with lights on the edges of the old Little River channel is producing some fair crappie. shooting Jiffy Jigs in 1/24 ounce, under docks is still producing some decent crappie fishing. A few crappie are being caught on minnows from under lights at night off docks.

July 22, 2011

LAKE OCONEE IS FULL, 90 DEGREES AND A LIGHT STAIN UP RIVER

Bass fishing is fair. The rivers have a light stain and the main Lake is clear. There is a good early morning top water bite in the rivers around deep structure. White old Nelly buzz bait worked around structure in deep water will produce until the sun gets up. When the sun gets up switch to a 6in. watermelon Zoom u-tail worm on a Texas rig and works the same structure. Down the lake there is still a deep water crank bait bite on the ledges and humps on the south end of Richland Creek. Work a Normans DD22 down the ledge into deeper water. Use your Lowrance to locate the fish on the ledges, if you do not see any fish move to another ledge or hump until you find the fish. Then work you DD22. If you would like to try and beat the heat think about night fishing. Look for lighted boat docks with structure. You can work these docks with a crank bait or a worm. Use a big dark u tail worm Texas rigged. Remember to keep your boat lights on and look out for the other guy.

Lake Oconee Line Side report brought to you by Mark Smith at Reel Time Guide Service. 404-803-0741. wwwreeltimeguideservice.com

Line side fishing is poor. The best way to find the fish is with a Capt. Mack’s U-rig. You will need to run it about 20 feet deep. There is a chart on the u-rig package that will tell you how deep it runs under certain conditions. The fish are on the move so be ready to search until you find them. We have seen fish up the river near the I-20 bridge. These fish will continue to move up the rivers to find cooler water. If you are working the main lake look in the river bend area. Sugar Creek has the Capt. Mac umbrella rigs in stock along with Okuma line counter reels and Okuma striper rods. If you like to learn how to fish your rigs, give me a call and we will show you to catch more fish.

Crappie fishing is fair. Some fish are showing up in brush piles from 10 to15 feet. The night bite in the timber is still the best producer. Look for the fish to show up on your Lowrance and drop the live shiners down to the fish.

July 22, 2011

LAKE SINCLAIR IS DOWN 1.3 FEET, 89 DEGREES, MOSTLY STAINED.

Bass fishing is fair to good but the heat is tough in the middle of the day. The fish are coming from shallow and deep water. Top water baits and spinner baits continue to produce some good catches during early morning and throughout the day at times. Top water baits like Torpedo’s, Chug Bugs, and Pop R’s have done well around most any shallow cover, but especially around main lake seawalls that have rock on the bottom or against the wall. A few small groups of bass are surface feeding over shallow flats and points adjacent to the river channel. The same top water baits are the best choice here too. Spinner baits have been good around lay downs, grass, and stained water. Rip rap continues to hold fish that can be caught most of the day. Top water baits, spinner baits, and crank baits are worthy of trying during early morning, with lightweight soft plastics and crank baits being the best choices the rest of the day. Docks and boat houses are holding fish that are mostly hitting soft plastics.

JACKSON LAKE IS DOWN 2.2 FEET, STAINED & 88 DEGREES

Bass fishing is a little slow and the bass are going to move up to the shallows later each day. Use the ½ ounce Rat L Trap and throw it shallow. Work as much water as passable and try to locate areas that contain the most rock. Early in the morning is a good time to throw a buzz bait or a Storm Chug bug off any point. Small bass are taking these baits early and often during the early hours. Also try a 1/4 or 3/8 ounce double willow leaf spinnerbait in either white/blue or all white. Work the same areas as the top water baits and all blow downs and brush piles that are present. After the sun comes up, a 3/8 ounce black jig and pig with a pork trailer is working on isolated stumps and docks. Green pumpkin worms on the Texas rig are also taking bass when thrown into brush piles and around docks. Don’t forget about the Dam area for some late day schoolers.

Ken Sturdivant, Lowrance Professional Fishing Staff will be conducting FREE! Sonar Seminars at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Lawrenceville Georgia. The BASICS OF SONAR seminars are held on the last Saturday of each month at 2pm. All seminars are subject to change without notice.

If you would like to have a free set up sheet for your sonar, send me an e mail to kensturdivant@earthlink.net and ask for the Sonar Setup Quick List.

We have these BASS FISHING books for sale: BASS FISHING LAKE LANIER, BASS FISHING LAKE ALLATOONA, BASS FISHING WEST POINT LAKE, BASS FISHING LAKE RUSSELL, BASS FISHING WEST POINT LAKE and BASS FISHING LAKE HARTWELL. These books are written exclusively for Bass and each book covers every week of the year. Each book $ 39.00. If you would like a sample of any book, send us an e mail to kensturdivant@earthlink.net. Our mailing address is: Southern Fishing Schools Inc. 106 Hickory Ridge, Cumming Georgia 30040.

Copyright 2011, Southern Fishing Schools Inc. calls us to set up a school, Maps and Depth Finders or Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass. www.havefunfishing.com 770 889 2654