Originally created 02/25/05

Muddy water makes it tough for sight fishing

By Fishing Editor

Fishing for hybrids, striped bass and largemouth bass moved into full swing during spring-like weather conditions earlier this week.

Largemouths moved into the spawning mode, but anglers had difficulty "sight fishing" along the banks after heavy rains stained many creeks with silt. Water temperature in Hart Creek, upper Little River, Ga., and elsewhere was 60 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, but muddy conditions made fishing difficult.

Hybrid and striped bass started schooling beneath flocks of diving gulls and terns from the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division's "goose farm" to the mouth of Big Hart Creek. Live bait fishermen reported some success, while trolled 3-inch-long Gotcha Shad plastic baits threaded onto 3/8-ounce lead-headed jigs nailed several fish in the 3- to 6-pound class.

Crappies have yet to move into bankside cover to spawn, but are holding above brushpiles in 10 to 15 feet of water. Another shot of warm air ought to bring the fish closer to shore.

Some of bass fishing pros, in town for next week's ESPN Bassmasters Tournament, will appear at Sportsman's Link, 596 Bobby Jones Expressway. Former BASS Masters Classic champion Jay Yelas will appear from 6-8 p.m. Monday; Jimmy Houston will visit during the same hours on Tuesday and Zell Rowland is coming Thursday from 6:30-8 p.m.

A boat show will run through Sunday in the parking lot in front of Sportsman's Link. Augusta Marine Super Store and Belvedere Marine are participating dealers. Show hours today and Saturday are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and 1 -5 p.m. on Sunday.

A public meeting to discuss the reopening of the Savannah River to limited striped bass fishing will be held March 10 from 7-9 p.m., at Augusta Technical College, Building 600, Room 612. A moratorium against catching and keeping stripers and look-alike hybrids has been in effect since 1988. Biologists are considering a two-fish daily limit with a 27-inch minimum length for each fish beginning in October.

A Casting Kids contest will be held Saturday, March 5, between noon and 3 p.m., and prior to the weigh-in of the CITGO-ESPN Bassmasters Tournament at Wildwood Park. Kids in two age groups will compete ñ 7-10-year-olds (entrants cannot have reached age 11 before Aug. 31, 2006) and 11-14-year-olds (entrants cannot reach age 15 before Aug. 31, 2006).

Pioneer professional bass fisherman and fishing tackle manufacturer Tom Mann, 72, of Eufaula, Ala., died of complications following heart surgery a week ago. Mann was known for such lures as "Jelly Worms" (plastic worms in strawberry, grape and other "flavors") and the Little George tailspinner named for Alabama Gov. George Wallace.

STROM THURMOND LAKE

Ralph Barbee, professional guide, (706) 860-7373, 957 Windmill Lane, Evans, GA 30809 ñ I'll be giving out free fishing stuff to kids during the Augusta Marine-Belvedere Marine Boat Show in front of Sportsman's Link on Bobby Jones Expressway today through Sunday.

My fishing show features biologist Ed Bettross of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources shocking up striped bass in the Raysville area. Also coming to the surface are flathead catfish weighing 47 and 57 pounds. Another part of the show has Jeremy Altman and I catching redfish in the Hilton Head area. The show runs each Sunday at 2:30 p.m. on UPN Augusta ñ Knology Ch. 7 and Ch. 66, Comcast Ch. 21, Charter Ch. 9 (Fort Gordon), G Force (Aiken) Ch. 7 ñ and Northland (Burke County, Statesboro, Ga., Swainsboro, Ga.) Ch. 9 on Sundays at 2.

SAVANNAH RIVER

New Savannah Bluff

Lock & Dam

Lock and Dam Bait and Tackle (Bob Baurle), (706) 793-8053. ñ American shad are biting hot pink and other colorful plastic grubs, as well as the Sabiki Rig, for fishermen casting off the fishing platform at the dam. Willard Thompkins caught 17 big crappies up river on small and medium minnows. Mark Eckstein caught and released 15 hybrids and stripers on shiners. Lots of bass are being caught in Butler Creek between the levee and river on medium shiners. A few mullet also have been caught on little red worms.

MERRY BROS.

BRICKYARD PONDS

Harrison Sears (706) 722-8263 (www.brickyardponds.com) ñ Terry Mathis and Bill Gibson caught more than 20 catfish and 35 crappies the last two nights, all on minnows, in the White Elephant Pond. Keith and Peggy Majors caught 10 bass totaling 33 pounds in the Garden Pond on plastic worms. Gene Fallaw caught three bass, largest 4.38 pounds, in the Ditch on a jig and pig. Stephen Kelly and his son, Isiah, caught a 5-pound bass for big fish of the month in the Middle Ditch on plastic worms.

SAVANNAH AREA

Miss Judy Charters, Capt. Judy Helmey, (912) 897-4921 (www.missjudycharters.com.) P.O. Box 30771, Savannah, GA 31410-0771 ñ The sheepshead bite is still on at the nearshore wrecks and artificial reefs. Fiddler crabs, the bait of choice, generally burrow deep into the sands during cold weather, but you can dig them up. There is no law against it, according to the Georgia DNR. Channel bass (redfish) also are on the move on the flats.

Offshore, the Savannah Snapper Banks are producing mixed bag catches of various species of grouper, snapper, porgy and trigger fish, along with the black sea bass.