“The Southern Fishing Report”

By Ken Sturdivant

106 Hickory Ridge

770 889 2654

Cumming, Georgia 30040

www.havefunfishing.com



January 27, 2012



LAKE LANIER IS DOWN 8.91 FEET, THE CREEKS ARE SLIGHTLY STAINED AND THE MAIN LAKE IS CLEAR & 50 DEGREES.



This Lake Lanier Bass report is from Jimbo Mathley, www.jimboonlanier.com, 770-642-7764



Bass fishing is good. The lake has surged up approximately 1.5 feet over the past week due to the heavy rains last weekend. While our focus over the last week has continued to be the creek channel ditches, we have also found some big spotted bass as well as largemouth up shallow on main lake points. Last week we caught a 6 pound, 5 ounce spotted bass as well as an 8 pound, 2 ounce largemouth bass. We have continued to work the ditches from 5 feet deep all the way out to 40 feet deep. When we are out deeper, we are focusing on the ditches with isolated timber and using either a spoon jigged vertically or a jig worked VERY slowly through the timber. We have caught the shallow fish on shaky head worms, jigs, crank baits, jerk baits, swim baits, and the Fish Head Spin. The shallow fish seem to be the best fish and most available during periods of sunny weather, while the cloudy weather pushes the bait and fish deeper. However, with the recent rise of the water level, we have found fish shallow even on cloudy days. They may not be right up on the bank, but they are not far off. Look for the first significant break as you work off the bank. Once you find that break, target cover in that area on the cloudy days and that will produce fish. If there is wind blowing, fish your moving baits where the wind is the strongest and most direct into the bank and use a very slow retrieve with any of the above baits. When using the jerk bait, make sure to impart long pauses between your twitches. Don't expect to get many bites, but the ones you get will be quality. In addition to the main lake points, look for secondary points in the mouths of creeks that offer clay and rock that are close to deep water. When searching for the deeper fish in the creek channels/ditches, use your Lowrance electronics to identify subtle structure changes to include creek-ditch depressions. Where there is bait, there is or will soon be fish. As always, once you find a creek, pocket, or main lake area holding bait and fish, you may have success by rotating that area with other areas you find holding bait and fish. Fish move up and down in the water column throughout the day, and in the same context move from deep to shallow. Given that, if you have success at one point in the day in a particular location, you may return again later and enjoy further success in the same area and perhaps at different depths.



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 good. There are a good number of birds in the south end creeks from Six Mile Creek south to the dam. However, every time I have tried the south end creeks the birds have not been working and we have not been able to find any fish and very little bait. I think it is more of a social hang out for the birds than a feeding area. Your best bet is from Flat creek to the north end creeks. The backs of the creeks and the rivers are stained with all the rain and storms. Fish from the heavily stained water out to the mouth of the any of the creeks. Spend some time finding the bait and fish only where you find high concentrations of bait. The majority of the bait has been over the creek channels half way back in the creeks. Downsize your baits. If you can throw the net get some Threadfin Shad and use those. If not, take some medium shiners, very small trout and small herring. The down rod bite just over the bait is your best bet. However, if you are searching an area put out a couple weighted free lines and planner boards with your down rods. Keep your eyes open for birds and follow their lead. If they are diving at bait and you can get to the fish before they disperse, throw a Mack Farr 1/2 oz buck tail with a small fluke trailer. You can also use a spinning rod to toss a small herring or threadfin on a weighted float into the center of the activity. Keep your bait about three feet below the float. If the birds are actively searching an area, set out a spread with weighted free lines and down rods. If the birds are sitting down and not working, ignore them and move on. You can also use umbrella rigs to quickly search an area. However, check them often for pine straw and leaves picked up due to the rain and wind. Remember to keep your hook size matched to the size of your bait. Balus Creek, Flat Creek and Short Creek are good places to start mid lake. On the north end try Johnson Creek, Lathem Creek, Sardis Creek, Wahoo Creek and Little River. We teach “ON THE WATER SCHOOLS” for SONAR and Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass. Call for details. Call for details.



January 27, 2012



WEST POINT LAKE IS DOWN 3.77 FEET, DIRTY & 53 DEGREES BY CHRIS BELL



Bass fishing has been good. Fish have scattered a bit this week with the continuing rise in water levels. The few warmer days have kept fish within the five to eight feet depths and sometimes shallower. Covering water is the ticket right now. Using spinnerbaits and crank baits cover main lake rocky points and red clay banks. These areas can hold multiple fish, but you may have to fish several of them before finding fish. For crank baits use Bomber 4A or Bandit 200 in chartreuse pattern similar to a fire tiger or black back chartreuse pattern. For spinnerbaits keep it simple with a double willow leaf blades and chartreuse white skirts. Bites will be further apart on spinnerbaits, but will be bigger fish.



Hybrid and striper fishing is good. Fish have positioned on top of humps and road beds. Using live shad dropped down to schools of fish is working the best. Use your depth finders to locate fish. You may have to check multiple areas before locating fish with the recent changes in water levels.



Crappie fishing has been good. Fish have pushed further back into creeks and pockets with the higher water levels. For your trolling bite troll Jiffy jigs in a black chartreuse pattern to depths of ten to twelve feet. Whenever cover is present in the way of brush piles and letdowns multiple crappies will hold in this time of year. Use live minnows down lined to depths ten to twelve feet in and around cover. Learn how to use the new Lowrance GEN2 Structure Map technology with our exclusive On the Water schools. www.havefunfishing.com



January 27, 2012



LAKE ALLATOONA IS DOWN 8.47 FEET, STAINED AND 51 DEGREES



This bass fishing report is from Matt Driver 404-456-6094 www.proanglerradio.com



Bass fishing is fair. This week the major change is rain and more rain and we are seeing stained and slightly rising water. The water temperatures are holding steady and so is the fishing. Think early spring when digging into your bag of tricks, and let water temp and not time of year dictate your tactics. Mid lake is still your best location and tactics like mid running crank baits and jerk baits are the ticket. Use a slow to steady retrieve with pauses every now and then. Craw colors up the river due to stained water. When the water stains up and temps are over 50degree the fish will move tight to cover and shallow.



This Lake Allatoona Fishing Guides Fishing Report Is Bought to You by Robert Eidson of First Bite Guide Service 770 827-6282 www,firstbiteguideservice.com.



This Lake Allatoona 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 sides fishing is good and live bait is working well on down lines, free lines, and planner boards. The best times for this are early morning and late afternoon. During mid day find a point set up over a 30 to 40 foot bottom and change over to all down lines. Most of the fish caught this week came between 24 to 30 feet deep and mid lake is the only place to be right now. Finding fish isn't that hard right now, but finding feeding fish is. If you find a school a fish work them no longer than and hour. If they don't bite find another school. Sometimes you don't have to look 30 to 40 yards from the school you just fished. The big fish are starting to show up and there has been a few caught in the past two weeks over 20 pounds. The water temperature is holding in the high forty's and the bite should remain good through Feb. With any luck we want have a shad kill this year. And fishing will remain good the rest of the winter. We teach “ON THE WATER SCHOOLS” for SONAR and Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass. Call for details. Call for details.


January 27, 2012



LAKE HARTWELL IS DOWN 7.24 FEET, CLEAR & 51 DEGREES



Bass fishing is fair but did slow down with the cold weather earlier in the week. Bass are still being caught on the main lake and in both the Tugaloo River and Savannah Rivers. The pattern for most anglers is searching the wind blown main lake points for early morning bass. DT10's and DT6's are still the preferred bait of choice. Try the Deep Husky Jerk In shad, silver and Tennessee shad, Rocky points with little submerged stumps and small brush piles seem to be the most productive. There is a little secret on catching a nice bass off these points. Stay off the points as much as possible and make long casts to your target. Moving in too close will spook the bass and they will move back to the deeper water. If you are locating good fish on your graph, you are in too close. The spotted bass seem to be roaming the most so expect these bass to make up the majority of you limit. Carolina rigs with a variety of plastics are another good choice this week. Anglers are working depths 20 to 30 feet with the rig. An excellent bait to use on this application is a small Zoom green pumpkin lizard. Also try the watermelon color. Twenty to twenty four inch leader is working best. all that is needed so don’t tie on a lot of line Learn how to use the Lowrance Structure Scan and Down Scan technology with Southern Fishing “On the Water” fishing schools.



January 27, 2012



CLARKS HILL IS DOWN 8.22 FEET, 52 DEGREES & STAINED



Bass fishing is fair and look for the grassy humps at the mouths of the creeks. With the fish on top schooling use the Sammy’s and Zoom Super Flukes. A crank bait and a trick worm on a Shaky head can catch them on the deeper side of the humps if they aren’t hitting on top. Use a Shad Rap and stay shallow at less the 5 feet .The spinner bait or Rat L Trap are also good choices. Berkley Power lizards and worms in dark colors on Texas rig on any wood on around the points has been fair. Also the 3/8 ounce spinner bait with a hammered nickel willow leaf and smaller Colorado blade in tandem is also good on the creek ledges. Slow roll this bait and use a #6 Colorado blade in silver is fair. Skirts should be white and chartreuse Add some type of white split tail or a grub as a trailer. See our web site for Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass DVD on sale.



January 27, 2012



LAKE RUSSELL IS FULL, CLEAR & 53 DEGREES



Bass fishing is fair and the majority of the bass being caught are the spotted bass with an occasional largemouth. Main lake points will the pattern. Use the #7 Shad Raps along with the DT10' and DT6's seem to being working the best. Fishermen seem to be favoring the area from Rocky River d. Deep water running near the channel markers are the best places to fish this week. Use the Flex-it spoons for the deep suspended bass. Medium tackle and the 1/2 jigs are also working on any wood or on the longer points down lake. Carolina rigs on heavy stumps fields in the deeper water and on the channel ledges is another good choice. Use 10 to 12 pound Sufix Siege lone test on medium heavy spinning outfit on the stumps. The bite will usually be nothing more than added weight to your line so be prepared for anything unusual while fishing. See our web site for Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass DVD on sale.



January 27, 2012



LAKE SEMINOLE IS FULL, CLEAR, 58 DEGREES BY MATT BATY



Bass fishing is good all over the lake. We have reports anglers catching them on lipless crank baits and jerk baits. The lipless crank bait bite can be a little frustrating with all of the coots on the lake pulling up the hydrilla. There are still good defined grass lines, but most of the fish that are being caught have moved off of the grass lines and can be caught up on the flats. To locate fish, fish a Spro Aruku Shad 75 in Mudbug Red. Fish the bait on the flats and yo-yo it and rip it free from the hydrilla. Use the 30 pound braid with this technique and we recommend and use Sunline Shooter Fluorocarbon in 20 pound test. This seems to work better and does not rip the hooks out of the fish’s mouth when you hook a big one. Once you locate a school of fish and catch all that you can on the Aruku Shad, and then you can throw a suspending jerk bait in on the same fish and they will more then likely nail it, a good suspending jerk bait to use is a Spro McStick 110 in Blue Bandit. The 5-10 second pause when you work this bait is what really drives the fish crazy. If the bite gets really slow, you can slow down and fish weightless stick bait in the same areas. Use a 6" Big Bite Baits Trick Stick in watermelon. Learn how to use the Lowrance Structure Scan and Down Scan technology with Southern Fishing “On the Water” fishing schools.



January 27, 2012



LAKE GEORGE IS DOWN 1.65 FEET, 55 DEGREES AND CLEAR



Bass fishing is fair and stay on main lake creek ledges in the mouth of the creeks. Big bright Mann’s bream crank baits are fair and use light line to get the baits deep. Also the Texas or Carolina rigged worms in red shad or purple and use the brass and glass weight for extra sound. Work all slow lures all the way back to the boat on the points and ledges. Up river in the creeks mouths, slow roll a larger 1/2 ounce Stanley spinner bait with gold and silver willow leaf blades. Later each day, the fish are moving to river points. As always, have the jig and pig ready and fish this bait all black anywhere you can cast. Pork trailers are not used a lot by anglers but this is THE bait trailer you need to use for the bigger bass to get in the boat. We teach “ON THE WATER SCHOOLS” for SONAR and Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass. Call for details. Call for details.



January 27, 2012



LAKE WEISS IS DOWN 5.02 FEET AND RISING, MUDDY AND 50 51 DEGREES BY MARK 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 poor and the water is just plain muddy and cold water from all the rain. Look for things to improve as the water clears next week.



Crappie fishing is fair and a few crappies are still being caught, long line trolling in Little River. Look for things to improve as the water clears next week.



January 27, 2012



LAKE SINCLAIR IS DOWN 1.31 FEET, 54 DEGREES, MOSTLY STAINED.



Bass fishing is fair and all the fish seem to be smaller. Work the spoons, jigs and worms. Look for the bass in the mouths of the main lake and main river creeks. The lower lake creeks are clearing and use the smaller jigs in black and silver with a small pork. Fish any bank cover all the way to the boat working the lure’s slowly in cover. Find any warming water in the northwest cove’s later in the afternoons. Hopkins spoons in 1/2 ounce sizes on and over the old tree lines in the major creeks is also fair just fish them slowly. Try medium all white Rooster Tails at daylight down lake on points. Also use a small green worm or a night crawler fished around the main lake marinas. Stay on the points on the main lake with a small Zoom finesse worms in greens on a Texas rig. Use night crawlers on a 1/8TH ounce jig head and fish vertically. We teach “ON THE WATER SCHOOLS” for SONAR and Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass. Call for details.



January 27, 2012



LAKE OCONEE IS FULL, 48 DEGREES.



Bass fishing is fair and the fish are tight to cover. The main lake is clear and stained to muddy up the rivers. Jigs are still the way to go. Blue black is the color of choice. Use your Lowrance to locate brush or timber in 10 to 15 ft of water. When you find the brush make sure the fish are there. Then drop your jig into the brush. Work the jig very slowly and the bite will be soft most of the time. There is still a spoon bite on the south end of the lake. Look for these fish to be on the side of the humps on the south end of the lake. Capt. Mack's shad pattern spoons have been the best producers.



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 good. This report is the same as last week and should hold as long as the water temperature stays in the upper 40’s top low 50’s.The stripers and hybrids continue to bite down near the dam. These fish are after smaller baits. I have cut down the size of my u-rigs. You can take the trailers and cut about an inch off of them and this will down size your rigs. Live bait is also producing. Use your Lowrance to locate the schools of bait and drop your bait in the schools. The Stripers may not show on the Lowrance but they are close to the bait. Keep a Cat. Mac spoon tied on. There are times that it will out produce the live bait.



Crappie fishing is good. The fish are in the middle of most creeks and big coves. Spider rigging is working as well as finding the fish on your Lowrance and dropping live bait to them. Tip you jig with a minnow to increase your bite. Lick Creek has been out producing most of the other creeks. I will be starting my crappie trips this month. Give me a call and we will try and fill your cooler with big slabs. Remember to stop by Sugar Creek Marina for all your bass, crappie and striper needs. They have Capt. Mack’s umbrella rigs in stock along with the Capt. Mack spoons, and all the crappie jigs you can use. Call about our “ON THE WATER SCHOOLS” for SONAR and Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass. Call for 770-889-2654 for details.



January 27, 2012



JACKSON LAKE IS DOWN 2.98 FEET, LIGHT STAIN & 51 DEGREES



Bass fishing is fair and the fish will bite crank baits almost all day. Try the Bagley Killer B II in the Tennessee shad color. There is a good jig bite for largemouth and the spots. Just use dark colors in the off colored waters. Try the 3/8 ounce Stanley jig in green pumpkin and work the lay downs up in the pockets. Out on the main lake the spots will bite the smaller jigs that are bounced around any rock structure. The bigger fish should show up in the pockets soon, especially if they can get a little rain to put some stain on the water. Run a bright spinner bait past any dock like the Lucky Craft Redemption with twin silver and gold blades. We teach “ON THE WATER SCHOOLS” for SONAR and Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass. Call for details. Call for details.



Our DVD, Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass are now on sale for only $25.00 including shipping. Send a check payable to Southern Fishing Schools Inc. to: Southern Fishing Schools Inc to 106 Hickory Ridge Drive, Cumming Georgia. Please allow 14 days for delivery.



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. See the new Lowrance machines at www.lowrance.com. Lowrance Announces HDS Gen2. See them in action at Bass Pro Shops in Lawrenceville this Saturday from noon until 5pm.



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.



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.



Copyright 2012, Southern Fishing Schools Inc. calls us to set up a school, Maps and Depth Finders or SONAR and Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass. Call for details.www.havefunfishing.com 770 889 2654.