Fishing Guides in Georgia
Water Clarity: clear
Water Temp: 44deg
Spotted Bass/Large-mouth:
With the water temps falling there will be some some fish that will stay shallow (Large-mouth,12ft range) all winter. I start out targeting these fish with a crank bait. Use bombers and shad raps in a natural color or white. As the day wears on and the sun gets high this bite may slow down. When this happens I switch to a shaky head under the docks. With the temps falling a large concentration of the fish will move to the 40 to 50ft range. I would look for these fish to congregate around timber or brush and rock bluff banks. I start out throwing a fish head spin with a fluke body and a jigging spoon. Sometimes you will have to slow down and throw a Carolina rig around the brush and long points. With the fish moving deep you need to rely heavily on your electronics. The good news is, where you catch one fish, you will more than likely catch more in the same place.
Brown Trout:
The spoon trolling bite has really taken off this week. We have been trolling Johnson (gold spoons) and silver/blue Crocodile spoons. The bite has been best in the morning between 8am and 11pm. Trolling speed has been critical to catching these fish. Try holding your boat speed to 1.9mph to 2.5mph. The fish seem to like the slower speeds in the winter months. Most of our fish have been biting over open water (50 to 60ft). We have caught fish over main lake points in the 30ft range as well. The Brown Trout are getting big with the overabundance of forage (bait “Blue-backs”). The younger trout have been hanging in the mouths of the creeks. These fish are in suspending in the 25 to 30 ft depth. Try using a smaller #2 spoon to catch these fish. Be prepared; we have had several double and triple hookups when trolling through these massive schools!!!
Walleye:
Georgia’s Walleye population is thriving and will continue to grow. Most of the North Georgia lakes have not had cold enough water temperatures this year for a conducive bait die off. If the air temperatures continue to be mild and the wind subsides. The bait die off will be minimal. This will lead to an abundance of food supply for the fish. The current stockings of Walleye and last years should be between 3/4lb and 2lbs. The food source for these fish is very important at this age. The older fish that were stocked 3 years prior will benefit as well. I look to see a new Georgia record to be caught in the next year or two! The optimum idea is to have a self sustaining Walleye fishery; in which there is some recent evidence of this happening. Georgia lakes are different than lakes up in the northern part of the country. Most of our lakes are timber flooded with deep water. This gives the Walleye plenty of cover to hide and can make for a though day of fishing. With that being said the era of fishing with good fish finding electronics is upon us. A good sonar can help pinpoint these fish suspended in timber, brush piles, rock piles, etc… Walleye are not as aggressive as bass, so retrieve the bait a little slower. Deep water jigging (30 to 50ft) small spoons and down-lining Blue-backs has been producing the best bites and will continue through February. Be sure and look for brush piles or submerged trees close to deep water. Mid -lake humps are holding a good population of Walleye. I look to see a population of Walleye that’ comparable to the Crappie fishery we now have (wishful thinking)! The Department of Natural Resources has done a great job with this fishery and needs a public pat on the back for their hard work!!