Great fishing adventures await all of us who test skills and luck on Thurmond Lake, but sometimes, through no fault of our own, things don't turn out as hoped.

A good example is last Sunday afternoon's misadventure with a marker buoy featuring Albert Moody, Doug Poole and Eric Holden in the Grays Creek section.

Marker buoys are made of plastic and generally have nearly 100 feet of strong cord to which a lead weight is attached. Upon seeing a brushpile light up his depthfinder, Moody dropped the marker buoy overboard to mark the spot. The weight pulled the line off the buoy and it went flip-flop-flip-flop-flip-flop until it stopped as the weight apparently hit bottom.

The men lowered live shiners, hoping to catch some of the crappies suspended over the brush. After a few minutes, they discovered their boat had drifted toward the shore and so had the buoy. Moody discovered the cord had snarled on the buoy long before the weight had hit bottom in 30 feet of water.

Instead of picking the snarl apart by hand, he asked Poole to check his tackle box for a heavier weight, and a 4-ounce sinker was discovered. Moody tied it on, thinking the added weight would pull out the snarl.

He'd called pro guide William Sasser, who told him how to find a productive brushpile. It was found and the buoy was tossed out, and he also dropped his boat's 16-pound anchor to stay close to the brush. Flip-flop-flip-flop-flip-flop went the buoy as the weight fell, and when the snarl was reached, the buoy was pulled beneath the surface, slowly sinking out of sight.

Moody had an idea that if he gunned his boat in a circle around the area of the sunken buoy, the turbulence might make it pop to the surface. Problem was, the boat wouldn't get up on plane, and then Moody remembered the anchor!

Fast forward to Monday afternoon, when Sasser radioed Moody at the Herring Hut. "My party caught 55 fish today," the guide said. Moody asked where, and Sasser replied: "Where you lost that marker buoy!"

- The Bass Anglers Sportsman Society developed the Bassmaster CastingKids program in 1991. Entrants in each age group (7-10 and 11-14) compete by flipping, pitching and casting a hookless lure to a bull's-eye target. Local winners advance to state finals, winners there to regionals and champions from there to the nationals. That's one of the events scheduled at Saturday's Hook and Cook Celebration in Jackson, S.C. There also is a fishing tournament with three categories. Entrants pay $50 and can fish in one or all three. Theoretically, an individual having an astounding run of luck could win all three. See the tournament schedule for more details.

- Boat captains are needed to take out eight boys and five girls in the 10th annual John de la Howe School's Rufus Sawyer Memorial Children's Fishing Tournament on Oct. 18, at the Dorn Boating and Fishing Complex on Hawe Creek in McCormick County. Bonnie and David Annis act as weighmasters. Contact Bonnie at (803) 278-3933 for more information.

THURMOND LAKE

David Willard, U.S. Coast Guard-licensed full-time professional fishing guide specializing in hybrids and stripers and trophy largemouth bass. (Boat phone: (706) 214-0236. (803) 637-6379, crockettrocket@bellsouth.net) -- Water temperature is 76 degrees, and the lake is very clear. We're still following the surface-schooling fish that are moving fast and chasing sub-surface threadfin shad. This can be productive, but I like the fish and bait to get deeper and move less. That will happen this month with the cooler weather. Henry Martin, Edgar, Ben and David Jordan and grandson Noah, 12, fished with me this week. They had such a good time catching stripers, hybrids and largemouths up to 41 pounds that they are planning another trip before it gets really cold. All our fish came 20 to 24 feet down on live herring around breaking fish.

Ralph Barbee Jr., professional guide, (706) 860-7373 -- Last Saturday, Jonathan Rhoden, 15, of Martinez, and his father, Brent, went with me. Jonathan caught the biggest bass of his life -- a 51/2-pounder. His dad caught a jack and later got a strike from a bass. He struck back, but the lure came loose and wound up hooked into the right hip pocket of his jeans, not breaking the skin. "The fish caught you, Daddy!" his son hollered. Jonathan added a 3-pounder on the Pop-R and a 1-pounder on a Yellow Fellow. Danny Sheehan and I went up on Tuesday and fished hard until dark. I caught two tiny bass on the Pop-R and a non-keeper on the Yellow Fellow. Danny caught a 1-pounder on an XPS stick bait. My new show features catching huge striped bass on the Savannah River. This is Part 2 with Daniel Jackson and Enon Hopkins.

William Sasser, U.S. Coast Guard-licensed professional guide specializing in crappies, hybrids and striped bass. (706) 589-5468 -- Our fishing trips started on the slow side this week, but they finished in the fast lane. Russ Markwalter, Scott Taylor, Dale Strasser and Calvin Hamby, all members of the Appling Breakfast Club, fished on the slow day, but still wound up with 20 fish. I also took out some of my kinfolk -- Aunt Mamie Lawler and cousins Jimmy and Chad Hickson, from Martinez. After a few hours of fishing, we had a mixed catch of 55 crappies, stripers and hybrids in the boat. We spent a great afternoon reminiscing about my parents, Carl and Mary Sasser, who loved to fish as much as I do. Tim O'Bannon and Rusty Rivers, of Sandersville, Ga., brought Tim's dad, Jim, from Fort Myers, Fla., to try his luck at striper fishing. Jim is an accomplished fisherman, and he did great. The group had an easy limit of fish one morning. Our fish came out of 50 to 60 feet of water, with live blueback herring fished 30 feet down between Ridge Road and Winfield in Little River. My VHF radio handle is Crappie Master, and I can be reached on the lake on Channel 68. Check out my Web site at www.williamsasserfishing.com.

Capt. Tommy Dudley, U.S. Coast Guard-licensed professional guide specializing in stripers and hybrids. (706) 833-4807 -- It's been pretty much the same this week as last. We're still catching a lot of fish, just not as many big ones. I'm having to keep my boat tied up at my dock because the falling water has closed all the ramps up my way. We did get about 11/2 inches of rain on Wednesday, but we need more. Phil Roark and David Ramage, of Clinton, S.C., and Charlie Stinson, from Charleston, S.C., fished with me last Saturday. We had some steady downline fish and caught 36 before they had to leave. Lee Frazier, of Hendersonville, N.C., came down for a hunting-fishing combination weekend. We limited out early on downline fish, 20 to 40 feet down and occasionally deeper. My VHF radio handle is Boat Racer, and I can be reached on Channel 68. My Web site is www.fishlakethurmond.com.

Albert Moody, Clark Hill Herring Hut, Clarks Hill, S.C. (864) 333-2000 -- Gary Gordon, of Grovetown, caught some beautiful catfish in the 3- to 12-pound range on cut bait in the Georgia Flats. Hybrids and stripers have been schooling sporadically from the dam up to Parksville, S.C., and, sometimes, in the mouth of Keg Creek. Best time to look for them has been in the afternoons from 4 p.m. until dark.

SAVANNAH RIVER

New Savannah Bluff Lock & Dam

Lock and Dam Bait and Tackle (Bob Baurle), (706) 793-8053 -- Largemouth bass are being caught on large minnows and Rapalas up the river. The rain has certainly helped and has just barely stained the river. Nice bream and catfish are being caught both up and down the river, as well as redbreasts. Some big mullet are being caught, too.

MERRY LAND

BRICKYARD PONDS

Harrison Sears (706) 722-8263 (www.brickyardponds.com) -- Lindsey Fielding caught 35 crappies and two bass on minnows in the Ditch. Tracy Ellis caught 14 crappies in the White Elephant Pond. Ed Turner caught six catfish, nine crappies and one bass on minnows in the Ditch. The larger crappies are being caught during the early-morning and afternoon hours.

SAVANNAH

Miss Judy Charters, Capt. Judy Helmey, (912) 897-4921 (www. missjudycharters.com.) P.O. Box 30771, Savannah, Ga. 31410-0771 -- If you don't have a boat, one of your best shots at hooking a trophy redfish is to fish in the surf. I fish Warsaw Sound and the beachfronts in that area. Heading out into the sound, I noticed that both sides of the channel are lined with sandbars. There also are barrier islands. Best places to check out are areas that offer some protection to baitfish. Fish the deepest part of the channel between two sandbars because that's the area where the current will push in pods of bait. I recommend fishing with finger mullet because that's the bait the reds are looking for. Dead or cut mullet works better than live. Cut the mullet in half and fish with the part with the head still attached.