The Southern Fishing Report” by Ken Sturdivant

106 Hickory Ridge

Cumming Georgia 30040

770 889 2654

www.havefunfishing.com



December 10, 2010



LAKE LANIER IS DOWN 3.2 FEET, CLEAR AND 53 DEGREES.



Spotted bass are still biting but the fish are deep on and over natural structure mid lake. There are a lot of fish scattered all over the lake. Fish Head Spins, drop shot rigs and spoons are the best baits all week. The water temperatures are still dropping and the deep fish are still schooling over deep structure. The best locations will be on the main lake point’s rocky points up and down lake. Afternoons the fish are on or close to main lake points and in the natural or man made structure. Use the drop shot rig and find the edges of the old debris filed in the lake at 30 feet deep and find the trees on the Lowrance. Fish the spoon right into the brush. The pilings on the bridge are never fished with a spoon. Try it and fish every one. The 1/4 ounce all brown jig and a small #101 Uncle Josh pork trailer will work almost all day. Spoons are working in the mouths of the lower lake creeks and depths are almost 40 feet in the center of the creek channels. Let the spoon go all the way to the bottom and work it up slowly. The green Zoom finesse worms and jigs slowly worked deep will produce a quality fish. Most of the fish will be inactive except on major or minor feeding periods so watch the Fish and Game Forecaster the rest of the month. The creeks mid lake around the Cheastee Bay are a few of the areas to look for the fish. The Zoom finesse worm in green and a finesse red shad worm are fair. Look for the deeper docks around the water intake. This week we caught some big spots pulling baits for stripers over 70 feet of water while striper fishing.



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



The cold weather we have had this week has dropped the lake temperature to the high 40's and low 50's. The backs of the creeks are colder than the middle of the creeks consequently the bait has moved from the back of the creeks to the middle. Look for the bait mid way back in the creeks 30 to 40 feet deep over a 40 to 70 foot bottom. The bite has changed from free lines and planners shallow to down rods and Umbrella rigs over a 40 to 70 foot bottom. A four arm Umbrella rig pulled 100 to 120 feet back makes a great search tool and when you find the fish you can catch some good numbers. Herring, Threadfin shad and Trout on down rods will all work. The north end of the lake has slowed but the south end remains strong. Bald Ridge Creek, Shoal Creek, Four Mile Creek and Six Mile Creek are good starting points. We have not had any reports on Flat Creek but the fish should start to move into the back of Flat this week. It is cold and there will be ice in your boat and the boat docks most mornings. Be careful out there. The Bait Shop at Bald Ridge Marina has live bait at the marina gas dock, 770-887-2248.

Take a look at this new web site: www.seethelake.net. They have filmed the entire lake for viewing on the web by subscription.



December 10, 2010



WEST POINT LAKE IS DOWN 4.1FEET, STAINED & 57 DEGREES BY CHRIS BELL



Bass fishing has been great. The cooler temperatures have turned the bite on for numbers. Spotted bass have still been schooled up on red clay and rocky points from depths twelve to eighteen feet. A Z-Man floating worm on a 1/8 ounce shaky head has producing the bigger spots for me, but for numbers use a Carolina rig finesse worm. Throw a one ounce lead with an eighteen to twenty two inch Triple Fish ten pound fluorocarbon leader. On the business end of my Carolina rig a 3/0 Gamakatsu worm hook and Zoom green pumpkin finesse worm have worked the best. Largemouth are still spread out a little, but my best bites have came in the backs of pockets on jerk baits and rattle traps in depths from three to eight feet relating to shad. Pockets that have had consistent wind blowing into them seem to have the most bait and fish. For bait selection we are using the X-Calibur XT3 twitch baits and a Bill Lewis Rattle Trap in chrome blue or black.



Hybrid and striper fishing is good. This week line sides have pushed further up the river in deeper holes relating to shad. Use live shad dropped into schools for best success. The best areas have been from Ringer Access north. There are still fish on the lake that are relating to creek mouths, but are a bit more scattered. For these fish troll Bomber 6A crankbaits and Rapala Shad Raps in a shad pattern.



Crappie fishing has been excellent. Crappie began pushing further back into creeks along creek channels following small shad. Their depth ranges have not changed much ranging from twelve to fifteen feet. With the lower water levels you will need to fish the first break off of main channel going into pockets. These channel contours are anywhere from twelve to fifteen feet deep. Use pink and white or black and chartreuse jigs tipped with minnows in twelve to fifteen feet of water. Trolling patterns have seemed to work the best to locate fish. The best creeks have been Half Moon Creek., Yellow Jacket Creek., and Whitewater Creek.



December 10, 2010



LAKE ALLATOONA IS DOWN 10.4 FEET CLEAR AND 54 DEGREES



Bass fishing is good but it is a deep bite most of the early mornings. Fish from dam up to Allatoona Pass and fish spoons, drop shot rigs and deep running crank baits. Use the D 20 Lucky Craft and a DD22 crank bait with a little bit of chartreuse in them. Cover a lot of water and bang the crank bait into anything and everything. In the clear water and deep bluff walls fish the drop shot. Keep an eye on your sonar and see if you can find the schools of fish around where bait is present. This is really easy if you have a Lowrance HDS machine and you use both 200 kHz and 83 kHz. You will be limited to just a sonar. But concentrate at the mouths of creeks to about 1/2 way back. Alternate between an all white and all chartreuse spoon. And white Flex it is doing best.



This Lake Allatoona fishing guides report is bought to you by Robert Eidson of First Bite Guide Service. www.firstbiteguideservice.com 770 827 6282.



Line sides fishing is good but should be better. The sudden drop in the temperature this week has dropped the water temperature 6 degrees in the last few days. The bait that move out over the river channel last week is now starting to move back into the creeks. This has the fish scattered from the river channels all the way to the very back of the creeks. Free lines and planner broad fishing is really starting to pick up and should only get better in the up coming months. The trolling bite this week has really slowed down. As the lake starts to clear it should pick back up as well and even get better on into December and January. We still have days open for Christmas break give me a call 770 827-6282 if you would like to book a trip. First Bite Gift Certificates make Great Christmas gifts. Don't forget we are giveaway a fishing trip this month. And you can view details and enter at

http://www.lakeallatoonafishing.net/...ead.php?t=5689



December 10, 2010



LAKE RUSSELL IS DOWN 3.7 FEET, 53 DEGREES AND CLEAR



Bass fishing is slow and will be tough fishing for another week with a new cold front on the way. The freezing temperatures keep the fish deep and tight on cover. Temperatures next week for the most part will not get above the 36 degree mark all day. Use the Rapala DT10's and 6's on the wind blown points. Also try slow cranking the DT16 along the channel ledges and areas near the south end of the lake where you find small patches of stumps in 15 to 25 feet of water. If you see fish on you graph, make long casts and crank the Rapala DT14 over the top of these stumps real slow. Get the spoons ready and drop them on the fish that are hanging in and around the deep stumps along with the largemouth and will attack a slow moving Rapala DT14 In shad and silver but also try the green tiger color.




December 10, 2010



LAKE HARTWELL IS DOWN 5.9 FEET, 54 DEGREES AND CLEAR



Bass fishing is fair and the water is cooling down is quickly grouping the bass in tight areas. The wind and cold weather will return mid week as another cold front will move through the area. Look for small to medium schools of shad breaking the surface off the main lake points. The better points were the long run out ones with the water depth around six to eight feet. Bass will follow the bait schools and feed on these shad. Cranking the smaller Shad Raps can work but add some Storm Suspend Stripe on the baits to keep them down in the strike zone. Use the number five jointed Shad Rap in the fire crawdad color. Expect the bass both largemouth and spotted to stay on or near the main lake points. Several anglers are going into the coves and creeks and having no lick at all. The DT10's are still good big fish baits but the key is to fish the wind blown rocky points for the best results. The stronger the wind blows across a rocky point the better. Making long casts and staying off these areas will help in catching more bass. During the mid day crisis when the fishing gets tough, fish the docks that hold the best brush piles and throw a Rattle Twin Tail Grub or a Rattle Tube. Green is always a good color to fish on this lake. Several anglers are still spoon jigging a few bass up from the deep water in the areas on the south end of the lake. This will work but it might be a little difficult to navigate during the periods the wind is blowing hard.



December 10, 2010



CLARKS HILL IS DOWN 7.2 FEET, 54 DEGREES AND CLEAR



Bass fishing slowed with the sudden water temperature drops lake wide. The bass will take couple of days off as the cold fronts continue to blast through. Bass are holding tight in the deeper water and expect them to stay there with eh coming weather changes. Grass mats are still present and a few good size bass are being caught while working these mats. Husky Jerks and the Down Deep Husky Jerks can work along the edges of the heavier mats. With the wind blowing in on these huge grass beds, you should get a good bite with a stop and go retrieve. Let the bait sit longer than normal to get some action. Use the Down Deeps on the mats with light 10 pound test Sufix Elite line. This allows the bait to stop and even sink just a little when stopped. The shad and glass minnows seem to be working the best. Carolina rigs in real deep water is where some anglers prefer to fish on the colder mornings while others are still depending on that deep water vertical jig bite. All these combinations are working and you will have to see which one is doing the best job on the day you go.



December 10, 2010



LAKE SEMINOLE IS FULL, 52 DEGREES AND STAINED



Bass fishing is fair and the fish are still getting used to the cold. The water temperature has dropped nearly 10 degrees over the course of a week. We have had some unusually cold December weather. With the cold the fish will be grouping up and looking for heat in wood, grass, and hyacinths. You have many options right now. The standing timber is Spring Creek offers some good winter fishing along the deep creek channel, as the shad will be looking for the deepest water possible to escape the cold. Two techniques work real well over in the creek. A drop shot Big Bite Baits 6" Finesse worm is hard to beat for numbers. The best way to rig the bait it to use a No. 2 Gamakatsu wide gap finesse hook and nose hook the finesse worm on the hook. Weight size depends on the wind so use a 3/16 for little or no wind and a 1/4 to 5/16 for windy conditions. The key to this pattern is finding the bends in the old creek channel. Some of the bends will be 22 to 24 feet deep, and this is where the fish will group up. Use a spinning outfit and 8 pound Sunline FC Sniper for this technique. The other technique for this time of year is to fish the 7 to 10 feet hydrilla edges on the main lake. The best way to fish these areas is to slow crank either a Spro Little John MD in Nasty Shad or a Spro Aruku Shad 75 in Old Glory. The 3rd and final technique is to go in the backwaters of the Chattahoochee and flip dead hyacinths, as the fish will group up underneath these to get warm. Sunny days work best for this technique. Use a 4" Big Bite Baits Yo Momma in Hematoma teamed up with a 1 1/4 ounce Tru Tungsten weight and 65 pound braid.




December 10, 2011



LAKE EUFAULA IS FULL, 53 DEGREES AND CLEAR DOWN



Bass fishing is slow and the lake is holding 52 to 56 degrees most of the lake has some stain while the lower end is clear. This has quite an effect on the bass fishing. When the weather is warm the spinnerbait bite in the stained water is good. This is the first time this bite has been on like this in several years. Spinnerbaits in chartreuse and white worked best early this week with different blade combinations. Try swimming jigs through flooded vegetation when the next cold front hits this will kill the shallow water bite. When it warms up a week away, try the spinnerbait, shallow running crank baits and the Texas rigged u tail worms. With the water high focus on flooded grass.



December 10, 2010



LAKE WEISS IS DOWN 4.39 FEET, STAINED AND 47 DEGREES BY MARK COLLINS GUIDE SERVICE



Bass fishing is fair and the bite is starting to slow down as winter sets in. Look for shad in shallow flats, on secondary points and the mouth of any shallow cove or pocket. In the upper Coosa river, starting at Three Mile creek all the way to Mayo's Lock and Dam, the Bass are busting shad on top of the water in the mouth of any cove or pocket and any shallow flat near the main river channel. These active feeding fish can be caught on a variety of Shad imitation lure's, very shallow shallow running crank baits, Rat L Traps, spinner baits, smaller 3 to 4 inch swim baits are catching these very aggressive fish, Carolina and Texas rigged plastics are also catching fish, the bass are hitting top water baits also. Little River is also producing some great Spot fishing in the upper part on the old river ledges and the steep rock banks, a drop shot rig with a 4 inch worm or a small craw is working great.



Crappie fishing is fair and the fish are being caught on structure on the drop offs of the old Coosa River and Little River channel ledges in 12 to 14 feet of water, Spider rigging with live minnows and Jiffy Jigs is the way to catch these fall Crappie, Look for structure on the edges of the old channel with schools of fish suspended around or above the structure, fish your baits very slowly at or near the depth you are marking the schools of fish. A few Crappie are still being caught shooting docks with a 1/24th ounce Jiffy Jig in color JJ13 and JJ17 is also producing some good Crappie. Docks with at least 6 to 10 feet of water or more seem to be the most productive right now, with this low water level you have to move around a lot and hunt for the deeper docks, look for bigger well shaded docks, although the smaller docks can sometimes be very productive. The Crappie will not stay under the docks much longer.



Striper fishing is fair and the fish are starting to move back to the main lake on the old river ledges and main lake flats, trolling 1/4 ounce jigs with a 3 or 4 inch Sassy Shad at 1 to 1.5 mph will be productive all winter.



Ask for a sample of the 50 GPS waypoints for off shore structure for Bass and Crappie fishing on Weiss Lake, Alabama. For more info contact Ken Sturdivant at ken@havefunfishing.com


December 10, 2010



LAKE OCONEE IS FULL, 53 DEGREES, MUDDY UP THE RIVERS AND CLEAR DOWN LAKE BY MARK SMITH, REEL TIME GUIDE SERVICE 404 803 0741.

www.eeltimeguideservice.com



Bass fishing is fair. The fish are moving out to deeper water. Start looking off the river channels on humps and long points. Try white spinner bait, fished around bait fish. You can also pick up a few fish with a #7 shad rap fished around the same bait. Be ready to move deeper as the water cools with these cold fronts coming every week it will change fast. As the water cools remember to slow down and down size your bait. Keep a spoon ready and when you see fish on your Lowrance the spoon is always a good go to bait this time of year.



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. Look in the river bend area. There has been a large school from the mouth of the cove to the middle. Live bait is the way to go. Look for the large schools on your Lowrance and then drop the bait to the fish. Most of the fish have been in the 12 to 20 foot range. There is also some fish showing up at the I20 bridge. The birds are here so keep an eye out for birds and the fish will not be far away.



Crappie fishing is very good. The fish are in the mouths of most creeks and big coves. Lick Creek seams to be the best. Spider rigging is working as well as finding the fish on your Lowrance and dropping live bait to them.



December 10, 2010



LAKE SINCLAIR IS DOWN 2.4 FEET, SLIGHT STAIN AND 55 DEGREES




Bass fishing is fair and any kind of shallow cover including docks, blow downs, grass, stumps, and points can have fish holding tight. Small to medium crank baits are catching a few fish on shallow points and rip rap mainly in the stained water of Little River. The majority of bass caught are coming from boat houses and docks using soft plastics. The best approach for dock anglers is to be versatile by trying different baits. A 5” Senko rigged with a small weight or fished weightless can be very good today and not produce at all tomorrow. A Zoom Dead Ringer or U-Tale is worthy of trying. A Trick worm rigged Texas style with a small weight pegged against the worm is a good skipping bait using spinning tackle. The trick worm works well with a modified Carolina rig. Try using a 6” leader with a ¼ ounce weight and cast or pitch it beneath the docks. If skipping, peg the weight against the bead and swivel. Spinner baits are catching a few fish from shallow cover in the stained water.



December 10, 2010



JACKSON LAKE IS DOWN 3.8 FEET, SLIGHT STAIN AND 55 DEGREES



Bass fishing is slow due to the cold weather. Look for the best fishing when the sun is shining and you find the warmest water. You may find the water in the South and Alcovy rivers to be stained. Go down lake and find warmest water in the very back of Tussahaw Creek. The areas down toward the dam may be your best bet. Look for many fish to hold from 2 to 10 feet deep. If the sun shine is in your favor, look shallow around docks, rocks and other radiant cover. Throw a black and blue jig al over the docks. Try small Shad Raps on the rocky areas. Cranking rocky features is a classic winter pattern for catching the biggest largemouth bass. Fire tiger and craws are good colors to try and the Rapala DT6 and DT 10, Shad Raps and Bandit 300 scan produce a bigger fish. Look deeper and try a light Texas rigged U tail or drop shot a 3" Yum Dinger, if fishing is tuff. Try green pumpkin or junebug in the stain and watermelon seed in more clear water.



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. The next seminar date is December 18, 2010 at 2pm. Here is the 2011 schedule: January 29, February 26, March 26, April 30, May 28, June 25, July 30, August 27, September 24, October 29, December26 and December 31, 2011. 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”.



We have these BASS FISHING books for sale: “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.



We have 3 books that cover ALL SPECIES in these lakes, “52 WEEKS ON LAKE ALLATOONA, “52 WEEKS ON LAKE LANIER”, and “52 WEEKS ON WEST POINT LAKE” on sale. Each book is $23.95. Our mailing address is: Southern Fishing Schools Inc. 106 Hickory Ridge, Cumming Georgia 30040. Copyright 2010, Southern Fishing Schools Inc. Call us to set up a school, “Maps and Depth Finders” or “Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass”. www.havefunfishing.com 770 889 2654.