Fishing is a pastime in which excuses for having a bad day on Thurmond Lake are commonplace and, to the untrained ears of non-fishermen, sound perfectly plausible.

Excuses such as too much wind, not enough wind, water's too cold, water's too warm, the fish bite was too early and I missed it, the fish bite was too late and I'd gone home, the water was too muddy, or too clear -- all roll with ease off veteran fishermen's tongues. Plenty of practice makes them perfect.

Even worse, don't promise a neighbor some fish. Just carrying an ice chest in which to place said fish can be the kiss of death to any possible success.

My wife and I fished the lake late Wednesday afternoon and found excuses just waiting to be spoken. The lake was muddy, the wind was up, the water temperature was in the low 60s and, yes, we had carried an ice chest in which we'd planned to place the fish we caught.

After going fishless, we used all of the above, and heard a brand new one from professional guide William Sasser, whose party had a somewhat slow day. "I think we've got too much water and the fish are scattered," he said.

Too much water? Maybe so, but the lake surely looks a lot better than it did during the winter months.

- Rob Pavey, the Augusta Chronicle outdoors editor, chimed in with why yellow perch are sometimes called Eisenhowers, or Eisenhower perch. In his 2002 50th anniversary Thurmond Lake story, he quotes Corps of Engineers fisheries biologist Mike Alexander: "Yellow perch were stocked in the lake during the Eisenhower administration. That's while a lot of old-timers still call them 'Eisenhowers,'" Alexander said.

THURMOND LAKE

Capt. 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 was 59 degrees on Thursday morning with a lot of trash floating on the lake surface. Conditions have made it tough fishing this week, either dodging thunderstorms or fighting the high winds. The fish are up shallow and it's hard to keep the boat positioned at the right depth in 15-20 mph winds. Still, most people have been on spring break and wanted to go fishing. One fellow told me he'd rather be on the lake under bad conditions than sitting in his motel in good conditions. I like that optimism and he ended up with a limit of fish. David Sampson, of Aiken, braved winds and rain and caught some nice stripers and hybrids. Jeremy Doran entertained his fishing buddies from New York -- Jim Pavlock and Brian Fitts. These guys have a great fishery in the Niagara River, catching brown and rainbow trout as well as 30-pound salmon. They love to fish and travel around the country enjoying different fisheries. They enjoyed fishing our lake, ending with 20 hybrids and stripers. All our fish are being caught in the shallows on planer boards and freelines, or else anchored down fishing cut bait.

Ralph Barbee Jr., professional guide, (706) 860-7373 -- My show features an archived feature: The Georgia DNR's fish hatchery at Richmond Hill, Ga., making "baby" hybrids and stripers and catching some big stripers in the Savannah River.

Capt. William Sasser, U.S. Coast Guard-licensed professional guide specializing in crappies, hybrids and striped bass. (706) 589-5468 -- It's been a great week, with the exception of one slow day. I think the fish will remain scattered as the lake rises. James Brooks Sr., James Jr., Ryan Brooks and Ray Hodge, all of Augusta, decided to take their dad on a striper-catching trip before he underwent surgery, which will keep him off the lake for a while. The morning started slowly, but when a bad weather front moved in, the fish turned on. The guys boated 31 quality fish caught on live herring fished on freelines. Paul Adkisson, brothers Aaron, Zack and Bryan Queen, all of Social Circle, Ga.; Andy Booth, of Danielsville, Ga.; and Carl Morrow, of Loganville, Ga., suffered the opposite result on their trip. We downlined, fished cut bait and pulled planer boards, all to no avail, winding up with a very few fish. 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 -- After the rains, I've really had to work to find and catch fish. The fish are scattered and they're smaller for some reason. All my fish are being caught in 20-30 feet of water on downlines. Gerry Gordon, David Vigeant and Jay Wilson, all of Aiken, and Don Variner, of Phoenix, had a great day on the lake and caught a bunch of fish. They kept 22 hybrids and stripers last Saturday. Ron and Larry Walworth and Michael Gehman, of Greenwood, S.C., braved the winds with me Thursday. We struggled with a slow bite. They kept 14 out of the 20 fish we caught, releasing the small ones.

My VHF radio handle is Boat Racer and I can be reached on Channel 68. My Web site is www.fishlake thurmond.com.

Albert Moody, Clark Hill Herring Hut, Clarks Hill, S.C. (864) 333-2000 -- William Zealy and Mitch Borror, of Augusta, caught a 37.6-pound flathead catfish on cut bait. O.G. Penner and Ted Boileau have been catching hybrids and stripers using cut bait.

MERRY LAND BRICKYARD PONDS

Harrison Sears (706) 722-8263 (www.brickyard ponds.com) -- Adam Beckum caught a 7.12-pound largemouth bass in the ditch on a crank bait to take over the lead in our big fish contest of the month. Andrew Workman caught a 3.46-pound bass in the ditch on a Rat-L-Trap. Adam Minyard and Paul Wolfe caught 13.99 pounds of bass in the garden pond on black plastic worms. Blandon Johnson caught two bass weighing 4.67 pounds in the garden pond on plastic worms. J.J. Dixon and J.C. Dicks caught five bass weighing 11.92 pounds and big fish of 3.16 pounds to win last Friday's tournament. Adam Beckum and Adam Suarez were second with 8.86 pounds. The Sunday tournament was won by J.C. Dicks with 3.39 pounds, which also was the big fish.

Our bass tournaments run from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., every Friday, and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays. Entry fee is $20 per fisherman in each event. A fishing license is not required to fish in our ponds.

ATLANTIC OCEAN

BEAUFORT, S.C. & VICINITY

Ralph Goodison, Fripp Island, (843) 838-2530 -- The redfish and spotted sea trout bite continues to be slow, with water temperatures staying about 60. No one has been offshore. The mackerel tournament scheduled this weekend out of Fripp Island Marina is still on.

SAVANNAH

Miss Judy Charters, Capt. Judy Helmey, (912) 897-4921 (www.missjudycharters.com.) P.O. Box 30771, Savannah, GA 31410-0771 -- The key to getting a successful bite while using live shrimp as bait is lively shrimp. If the shrimp looks good, but isn't fleeing, tail-popping or scared to death, it will be a long time between bites.

Fishermen are catching redfish in the marsh grass at high tide, using mud minnows with trimmed fins. When the float over the bait starts to move, don't strike too soon or you'll reel in a hook sans fish.

Spanish mackerel have arrived around the artificial reefs. You won't see them, but they are there. Trolling with medium and small Clark Spoons behind a planer is the ticket to catching them. Once the weather warms, the mackerel will start chasing bait fish schools to the surface. The Savannah Snapper Banks are producing great catches of bottom feeder on cut squid and fish. Black fin tuna, dolphin and wahoo are being caught trolling ballyhoo in the Gulf Stream.