Posts by Brad Bailey
Calling Up Clarks Hill Linesides
The planer board closest to the boat on the right-hand side had been quietly cutting a wake through the smooth surface of the Little River. Suddenly it lurched backward, then accelerated away in reverse. Steve grabbed the rod from a rod holder and swept back, setting the hook and putting a nice bow in the…
Read MoreHunt All Day For A Seminole Canvasback
Canvasback hunting in Georgia is back! After a closed season last year, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service okayed a special 30-day season for cans this season. Canvasback season will be open from December 27 through January 25 with a limit of one bird per day. In Georgia, canvasback hunting means Lake Seminole. While a…
Read MoreIn Pursuit Of Lake Hartwell’s Monster Catfish
If the catfish in Lake Hartwell could complain, they would probably complain about these two: catfishermen Red Duncan and Melvin Wall. When these two go catfishing they usually catch fish — lots of fish, and lots of big fish. A friend recently asked them to keep him the catfish they caught one day so he…
Read MoreStealth For Monster Nottely Stripers
“Tony, we are fixin’ to get hit, here.” said Randy, watching the arches on his graph. “ They are coming up.” Ten seconds later one of the rod tips began to bounce — the bait being taken by a striper “Here we go,” said Randy, as the rod tip crashed into the water. Randy’s brother-in-law…
Read MoreApril On Lake Burton, Cast A Sammy
Lake Burton, with its deep, gin-clear water, has earned the reputation of being a tough bass-fishing lake most of the year. There are two months that are an exception, however, and those months are April and May, according to Wayne Holcomb of Lakemont. “April and May are the two best months on Burton,” he said.…
Read MoreMay Day Plan For Seminole Bass
Jackie Alderman and I had been fishing on Lake Seminole for all of about two minutes when the first fish hit. We had pulled up to a sandbar in five or six feet of water within sight of the Jim Woodruff Dam and had begun to throw a Carolina-rigged Junebug lizard. On his second cast,…
Read MoreLake Eufaula’s Old Hwy 39 Bridge February Crappie
At about 4:40 p.m. the tip of one of the fishing rods I was watching just barely quivered. Exactly 25 feet below the boat, in the shadow of the sunken old Hwy 39 bridge, something was trying to decide if a minnow was on its menu. I picked up the rod, keeping a close watch…
Read MoreDeep Dock Lanier Crappie
Even in the dead of winter, Lake Lanier can provide some outstanding crappie fishing. In mid December last year, Lanier fishing guide Doug Youngblood of Buford and clients caught more than 100 crappie on a couple of trips before the Christmas deep-freeze set in. In mid January Doug caught 50 crappie off one dock. He…
Read MoreApril Bank Bite For Hartwell Linesides
I cast a Lil’ Fishy out onto the end of a narrow, rocky point in Coneross Creek on Lake Hartwell and began a slow retrieve. The white, soft-plastic bait had moved maybe 10 feet when something bumped it. “I just had a hit,” I said to Hartwell fishing guide Steve Crenshaw and his friend Preston…
Read MoreReturn To Cohutta For Grouse
Monte’s Brittany Spaniel was getting birdy. As we watched from a Forest Service road, the dog worked the grown-up clearcut on the steep bank above us, her short tail wagging furiously. The dog crossed the slope, then turned back. “That’s unusual for her to back-track,” said Monte. “There’s a bird up there somewhere.” On December…
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