Fire Ants And Wildlife

Thank goodness they aren’t as big as rabbits! Fire ants, tiny as they are, pack a powerful punch. Since their arrival, they have become a pervasive pest on the landscape of the South, pockmarking the countryside with mounds of dirt packed full of stinging ants. The stinging ants have had a predominantly negative impact on…

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Lake Varner Live-Bait Hybrids On Fire

There was no warning about what was going to happen. One minute the rod was sitting still in the rodholder — the next instant something slamming the bait had plunged the rod tip violently into the water, twisting the rodholder out of place, peeling line off the reel. Wayne grabbed the rod with both hands…

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High Falls Flatheads With The Sultan Of Slime

The High Falls lake record for flathead catfish stands at 60 pounds. When that record is broken, you can expect to see the name Jonathan Herndon of Jackson installed as the new lake-record flathead angler. Jonathan, who specializes in catching giant catfish, has set his sights on breaking that record. Jonathan is an avid participant…

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Mountain Lakes Dominate New Lake & River Records

Five recent new lake records have been updated on GON’s Lake & River Record Fish list — all of them on mountain lakes. The Carters Lake record for hybrid bass has been broken twice this spring and six times during the past two years. The Carters record for striped bass has also been reset —…

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FDR State Park Deer Hunt In Proposed Hunting Regulations

DNR Parks can be applauded for taking action to control deer overpopulations on several state-park properties. Last year, deer-management hunts were allowed on three additional parks, Mistletoe, Bobby Brown and Tugaloo. Overall, hunting was allowed on 10 state parks. This year, DNR’s proposed hunting regulations include a management hunt on the state’s largest park, the…

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Four Baits For A Target-Rich Lake Blackshear In May

More than most Georgia lakes, Lake Blackshear is what a bass fisherman would call a “target-rich” environment. Everywhere there are grassbeds, cypress trees, logs, stumps and docks that all look like they hold bass. Fishing cypress trees is the basic pattern at Blackshear in the spring, according to Clint Brownlee of Tifton, a tournament angler…

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In Search Of Lake Blackshear’s Biggest Crappie

If you want to catch big crappie at Lake Blackshear, Jack Ivey of Leesburg says, “Go up the river.” The upper end of Blackshear, up to the Hwy 27 bridge, is one of Jack’s favorite places to fish for the solitude, the moving water and the big crappie. Jack, who has been fishing the lake…

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Spooning Stone Mountain Lake For Winter Largemouths

“Look at that,” said Joffer, motioning toward the screen of his graph. “That’s what I like to see — it looks like spaghetti.” His Lowrance color graph showed a jumble of string-like arches just off the bottom in 38 feet of water. “There,” he said, “That’s my spoon,” he said, indicating a descending blip on…

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Cormorants: Georgia’s Flying, Feathered Fish-Eaters

They come winging south to winter in Georgia and Florida by the thousands. Long lines or “V”s of 4- to 5-lb. birds, often mistaken for geese, migrate north and arrive in big numbers on Georgia impoundments in early winter. They line the standing timber in Sugar Creek on Lake Oconee, they roost in the trees…

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