The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has maintained a full pool at Strom Thurmond Lake since Sept. 21 and fishermen surely do appreciate it.
Because the lake level has been at 330 feet or higher, anglers have been able to move their boats safely into waters that previously were dangerous to operate in when levels were 3 and 4 feet lower.
Hybrid and striper fishing remain red hot in the Raysville area in both Hart Creek and Little River. This weekend's impending cooler weather shouldn't have much of an effect since daily high temperatures in the upper 50s are predicted.
Lake surface temperatures this week ranged from 52 to 56 degrees.
The Gotcha Shad fished on a r-ounce lead-headed jig has been one of the key lures. Here's a tip that could increase catches: Dip the lure's tail into quick-drying chartreuse dye (available at most bait and tackle shops). It's believed this "new look" and color quickly get the fishes' attention.
Check out the salt water reports below. Both inshore and offshore fishing have been exceptional for this time of the year.
STROM THURMOND LAKE
Raysville Marina, near Thomson, Ga. (Doug Pentecost, Leon Buffington) (706) 595-5582 - Mack Walker, Cliff Crowe and Mike Arrington caught 78 bream, largest being 2 pounds. Johnny Maxwell of Augusta caught a limit of stripers, weighing 3 to 9 pounds. Maxwell and Pat Cain caught 14 stripers and hybrids on another trip. Faye and Bobby Matthews, of Lawrenceville, Ga., caught 23 crappies in our fish house on shiners.
Capt. David Willard, U.S. Coast Guard-licensed full-time professional fishing guide specializing in hybrids and stripers and trophy largemouth bass. Box 131, Clarks Hill, SC 29821 (803) 637-6379 (crockettrocketstriperfishing.com) - No report.
Ralph Barbee, professional guide, (706) 860-7373, 957 Windmill Lane, Evans, GA. 30809 - Danny Sheehan, of Augusta, fished with me on Tuesday. We wound up with four 8-pound class hybrids. Amazingly, Danny caught one of the fish on a tiny, green-and-black BeetleSpin, what he calls his "confidence bait." I fished on Wednesday and wound up with six smaller fish, caught schooling in the vicinity of the Washington-Wilkes Pumping Station.
Bloopers and highlights of all my TV shows are the subjects of my latest show on Knology Ch. 6 and Comcast Ch. 66. It's played every night at 10:30 p.m. before the news on Knology. On Comcast, it's on at 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays and 7:30 p.m. Thursdays.
Ron Figueroa, professional guide specializing in largemouth bass, hybrid bass, (706) 832-7230 (ronfig@comcast.net or his web site at buckeyelures.com/figs) - I fished last Saturday and fished a Zoom Super Fluke in the shallows. You really had to work it to catch bass in Shriver and Wells creeks, sometimes throwing it three times to the same area before a fish would hit it. I caught 16 or 17 bass. I caught a 4-pounder among some bigger fish on Sunday in Keg Creek. I did really good inside Trade Winds Marina, catching nine fish. I threw a jig and pig on humps and caught a 3-pounder and missed a better one during a Monday trip. I returned to the fluke in Cherokee Creek and caught several nice bass.
Billy Murphy, professional guide, (706-733-0124) (Web site doubletroublefishingguides.com) with twins Brad and Jim) - Last Saturday, Larry Freeman and I caught nine hybrids. Most were caught free-lining or planer-board fishing with live herring. Larry caught the biggest of 8 pounds. The fish were caught at Holiday Park and near Red Bank Island above the Raysville Bridge in Georgia's Little River.
Savannah River
New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam
(Bob Baurle), (706) 793-8053 - A few shad are striking around the dam, while bream and crappies also are being caught. The yellow perch spawning run continues as well.
Harrison Sears (706) 722-8263 (www.brickyardponds.com) - Lindsey Fielding caught a 7.59-pound bass, which has become the big fish of the month in our contest. It hit a plastic worm in the Ditch. He also caught a 4-pound, 6-ounce bass. Keith and Peggy Major caught six bass weighing a total of 181 pounds with one being a 6-pounder, in the Garden Pond on plastic worms. Kenny Phelps caught a 4.27 and 2-pound bass in the Garden Pond on plastic worms. Bill Gibson and Wes Ables are still catching crappies, while Gibson lucked up on a 41-pound bass in the White Elephant Pond. Quality crappies continue to bite in the Membership Pond and Front Ditch pretty regularly.
Atlantic Ocean
Beaufort, S.C. and Vicinity
Ralph Goodison, Fripp Island, 1 (843) 838-2530, and Doug Gertis, professional guide, 1 (843) 524-5250) - "Our fish are happy, thanks to the warmer-than-usual weather," Gertis said. "Fishing has been very good, with water temperatures at 57 degrees. The redfish have been good for fly fishermen. We're catching them on chartreuse and gold metal-flake Clouser Minnows. Some were caught on the Electric Chicken and the Space Guppy (yellow, gold flakes) grubs, too. We didn't try gold spoons, but I believe they'd hit anything. The fish were in the 6-to-7-pound range. I also caught a limit of speckled trout off the bank at Brickyard Point, on artificial DOA Shrimp (pink, brown, or clear with red tail). From last Monday until Thursday, I caught five to six limits of 2-to-3-pound trout on the DOA Shrimp. Offshore wrecks and reefs are producing big black sea bass and some nice sheepshead."
Savannah Area
Miss Judy Charters, Capt. Judy Helmey, (912) 897-4921 (www.missjudycharters.com.) P.O. Box 30771, Savannah, Ga. 31410-0771 - Spotted sea trout have been up and moving out of their deep wintering holes, thanks to springlike conditions. Fish are being caught on plastic grubs.
Sheepshead are to be found holding on artificial reefs located in less than 50 feet of water. Fiddler crabs, hard to find this time of the year, are the prime baits. Key to catching these sneaky fish, acclaimed bait stealers all, is boat placement. Anchor it so that you can drop your baited hook vertically along a piling, or a sunken barge. Sheepshead are vertical feeders; that is, they move up and down when they feed on barnacle-encrusted structures. It will be easier for you to detect their subtle strikes, too.
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