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Fishing
Latest Fishing Articles
Everyone has heard about the good winter ditch bite at Lake Lanier, but how do you locate those fish and catch them? James Harmon, known as “Lanier Jim,” or LJ for short, has spent years learning to read electronics and using them to catch Lanier bass, and his tips will help you. In 2012, I…
During the late fall and early winter, bass at Lake Jackson are feeding on seawalls early and then moving to deeper rocks when the sun gets bright. Follow them and fish with a variety of baits, from topwater to jigs, to catch numbers and quality of bass this month. Dammed in 1910, Jackson is one…
Another year comes to a close this month, as the dreaded month of January looms in the not-so-distant future. North to south, east to west, if you’re in the state of Georgia, you can look at December as a “last chance” kind of month. The hype of deer season has all but faded away, and…
As I’m beginning to type this story, a quick look out my kitchen window reminds me that fall has finally arrived in south Georgia. And after my 37th summer in the Peach State, I couldn’t be happier that it’s finally my favorite time of the year. I believe bass feel the same way as…
With deer season in full swing this month, many anglers trade rods for rifles in hopes of killing a big-horned buck… maybe even one that might end up getting them in the GON Truck-Buck Shoot-Out. However, when the crisp November fog clears each morning, you won’t find Tyler Bean in a deer stand. As a…
Bass Fishing
Jonathan Ray considers Lake Lanier his home lake, but the Ball Ground resident likes to venture to Lake Allatoona several times each year. He plans to go to the Stamp Creek section of the lake a lot more in the future. All Jonathan did was what all bass fishermen dream of but what few accomplish.…
Brice Rhodes made Georgia big-bass history on Feb. 29, 2004 when he caught a 15-lb., 2.1-oz. bass in a Carroll County pond. His name currently sits at the No. 34 spot on GON’s Georgia’s Biggest Bass of All-Time list. “I was fishing in a cove and threw down the bank under some trees,” said Brice.…
I’ve never been much on fishing state-park lakes. I know that’s a heck of a line to start a story profiling one, but hang with me. Some of my experiences on these lakes have involved long hours with little to no action, other than the occasional jet ski blowing by and nearing turning my kayak…
Hybrid Fishing
With a hint of excitement in his voice, Lake Juliette fishing guide Jeff Mooney said, “Watch that pole, it’s going down!” He pointed at the rod next to Bob Turner and, as Jeff predicted, a slight bend in the rod became a deep arc toward the water as the striper pulled out line and the…
Live-bait fishing for hybrids and stripers can be crazy good this time of year on Clarks Hill, with limits in minutes when the fish are bunched on points and humps feeding on herring—if you’re there at the right time. If you’d like to see proof, take a look at fishing guide Eddie Mason’s Facebook page…
Josh McDonald, of Americus, caught a hybrid bass on April 4 that weighed 7-lbs., 11.84-ozs. that sets a benchmark for a brand-new river record on GON’s Georgia Lake and River Records list. He was spending the day with his older brother Jason and his twin brother Justin. “We are all baseball coaches, so we never…
Striper Fishing
The day of striper fishing on West Point for Mike Steele, of Dallas, was pretty-danged boring until it wasn’t. It ended with him landing a 40-lb. striper that’s a new lake record. He has his buddy Mike Bartlett to thank, and Bartlett wasn’t even the net man. “My buddy and I had fished from daylight…
The Georgia Chapter of Safari Club International (SCI) hosted 31 Purple Heart recipients during its annual Wounded Veterans Fishing Weekend at Lake Lanier July 7-9. Georgia SCI has hosted the event for more than a decade, providing a full weekend of fishing and fun on Lake Lanier for wounded veterans and their guests. The three-day event,…
With a hint of excitement in his voice, Lake Juliette fishing guide Jeff Mooney said, “Watch that pole, it’s going down!” He pointed at the rod next to Bob Turner and, as Jeff predicted, a slight bend in the rod became a deep arc toward the water as the striper pulled out line and the…
Catfish Fishing
On the afternoon of Jan. 26, long-time buddies Brandon Pitts and Kenny Scott set out on Lake Sinclair in hopes of wrangling some big stripers. Finding gizzard shad of a suitable size for bait proved to be difficult, forcing the anglers to alter their game plan. Unbeknownst to them, it put them on a path…
The world moved slower a hundred years ago in south Georgia. Life was simpler; but, truly, times were hard. There was little industry. No “town” jobs to speak of in a spot as sparse as Soperton. Willie T. Barwick was struggling just to get by in the year 1920, at wit’s end. That’s when he…
A blue catfish tagging project on the Satilla River is underway, and Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) researchers need your help. Discovered in this waterway a few years ago, fisheries managers hope to use this study to learn more about this non-native species and better assess its impact. “As a large…
Crappie Fishing
Ever thought about why crappie gravitate to the shallows in the springtime? To spawn, you say? Well, yeah… but why do they do that? Let that swim around for a bit… Let’s get you in those shallows— specifically on Lake Oconee—and looking for crappie in April as they do their thing around brush and rocks…
Aaron Jenkins calls Canton, N.C. home now, but his heart will forever be in east Georgia. He makes the three-hour trip home to crappie fish with his dad, Keith, whenever he can. As far as Aaron is concerned, there’s only one Georgia lake in which to fish for crappie. The 31-year-old grew up fishing on…
Just days after releasing the annual edition of the Georgia Lake and River Records, another river record has already fallen. On Feb. 6, Steven Todd, of Saint George, managed to reel in a 2-lb., 1-oz. black crappie that raised the river-record bar for the species for the second time in the past 13 months. “I…
Bream Fishing
Lake Seminole has miles of shallow sandy grass flats and sandbars that are ideal shellcracker bedding areas. Head south to Seminole in April and May with an eye toward panfish, and you are in for some fantastic fishing. Seminole is formed where the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers join to form the Apalachicola River just inside…
If anywhere is blessed with river fishing opportunities like that of south Georgia, I haven’t heard of the place, and if it does exist, I’m looking to buy property there. It’s true, no matter where you are in the southern portion of the state, some great river fishing is never far away. Altamaha, Ogeechee, Flint,…
Born and raised on the banks of the Satilla River, I will admit that I’m more than a little biased when it comes to my favorite river. Heck, a week ago I’d tell you another river couldn’t come close to the Satilla in terms of a redbreast fishery. All that changed last month on my…
Saltwater Fishing
A Richmond Hill man has set a new Georgia state record category for a queen triggerfish (Balistes vetula), weighing in at 7-lbs., 0.58-ozs. The fish is a new species in the Georgia Saltwater Game Fish Program and no prior record existed. The records program committee, made of Department of Natural Resources (DNR) staff and biologists,…
I don’t know if there’s a month I like better than April. With winter fading away quickly, warmer days are here, and the fishing will be fantastic! Just like their freshwater cousins, the bite takes off in the salt this month as reds, flounder, trout and sheepshead all become increasingly active with warming water temperatures.…
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced a new state record for almaco jack. Hayden W. Mundy, 24, of Midway, reeled in an almaco jack weighing 19-lbs., 10.53-ozs., while fishing offshore on March 14, 2024, shattering the previous record by nearly 180 percent. Mundy’s record-breaking catch surpasses the previous record of 7-lbs., 0.7-ozs., set…
Trout Fishing
It was hours—three or more—and the trout fishing was slow from the git-go. Early March can be that way on the upper Toccoa River, where and when the water temperature is still in the mid-40s under continued-cold nighttime skies that leave frost behind at daylight. It can be downright cold—oftentimes, in the low 20s—in the…
As the end of March draws near, trout stocking trucks are loading up high-quality trout to head to your favorite north Georgia waterways. Over 200,000 trout are ready for stocking. Thanks to the long-standing partnership between the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resource Division (GADNR WRD) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service…
“Bigger is better!” It’s a common phrase in many circles, and that turn of words might be heard most where fishing takes place… but maybe not in the circles of Georgia fly-fishermen who target trout on Peach State waters. When you join the fold of fly-fishermen who chase trout in Georgia, more often than not,…
Other Georgia Fishing
One of the keys to being a good fisherman is being observant. North Hall High School senior Charlie White was fishing for bass off his grandparent’s dock on Lake Lanier when he noticed a change. “My grandparents have one of those green lights in the water off their pier, and I noticed that the bass…
Emerson Mulhall, of Cumming, caught a yellow perch that has tied the state record. He was fishing Lake Burton on Feb. 18 when caught the 2-lb., 9-oz. fish. “I was not pursuing perch when I caught her,” said Emerson. “I am mainly a spotted bass and largemouth fisherman, and my friend Jake Maddux and I…
Now that April Waldrop has been bitten by the record fish bug, the Hogansville woman has set her sights on something even bigger. April was fishing for gar with her husband, Larry, and her two sons on West Point Lake recently when she landed a lake-record longnose gar that weighed 23 pounds. The 52 1/2-inch…