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any fish in Georgia?
#1
So when does the fishing pick back up - after a summer of bass hiding and not biting? The weather is cooling, when will it begin to make a difference? I like fishing, but I also like catching. We stopped fishing about 6 weeks ago because we hadn't had a decent hit in over 5 trips to 2 different lakes. I'm not so compulsive about fishing that I'll keep going back for more of that for long. They say nothing can stop the Duke of Earl, but that did it for me.
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#2
Hey Earl, welcome to BFT. My being a Yankee I can't say when they will bite but I know that when the water temp. drops to about 65-68 they do seem to put the feed bag on. I don't know what you guys are using, but senco worms are working great for us. Just throw them out and let them sink.Color seems to make a difference depending on the day. I'm lucky that if the sweet water isn't producing I'll go salt. Maybe try what ever the tackle shops report are hitting hard. Good Luck
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#3
Thanks for the welcome, gdn - I see you're way up there almost all the way to the arctic or so...up there in Connecticut, where it's already cooled off much more than it has here in the North Georgia mountains. We still have 80 plus degree weather, though the nights are cooler now than the typical 60 to 70 degrees we had all summer. I'll keep my ears open and my eyes searching for evidence that fishing has picked up here.
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#4
we realy dont have a group of regulars on this board. I hope you will make this board your home... we have a lot of regular on lookers, just no regular reporters...

I was wondering the same thing myself. especialy after all them storms....

If you have any experience please drop in and clue us in. ( we dont need to know your secreate fishing hole ) Just how things are going. good or bad....

Have you been out at all since the storms?
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#5
Hi Dave -
No, I haven't been out yet. I do intend to get out soon, possibly next week, just to see if the water has cooled enough in the relatively small reservoirs I sometimes visit to make any difference. Weather permitting, I'll let you know whether there is any action or not when we go.
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#6
[Smile] Been a while since I've been on the water too. I'm waiting for the Lake Lanier top-water bite for Stripers but it's not here yet. (Heard the Striper bite was great before Ivan the terrible but I couldn't get out for it!) Also, crappie fishing is starting to pick up with the cooler temps. I've stopped fishing for LM bass on Lanier and Allatoona because it's so frustrating there...[laugh]

Thanks for coming on board with BFT, I look forward to hearing your reports! Hope you do well this fall in North Georgia!
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#7
thats great news. having two reporters from georgia....

looking like things are shaping up...

good luck guys.

I was out the last couple days fishing in northern michigan and manaaged to pull in one little fish.

you can check the pic out on the 16 species contest on the fishing tournaments and events board.
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#8
Bass fishin no good lately near my home at Norris Lake, in So. Gwinnett county. But last Sat. night 8pm I landed the attached...
8 lb 11 oz channel cat. Nice fight and a great meal or two! [Wink]

~best to ya,
Glenn
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#9
[#800000]Guess I'm one of them die-hard fishermen, I've been out on hot days from 6am to 3 w/o bites, still love it. The cold doesn't bother me either, Lanier is clear with the dry air in the late fall and winter and sunset pictures from there are great.[/#800000]

[black][size 3]But next days we're getting into better weather, we should be nice and warm, in the 70's. There's a great lunar phase tomorrow (Sat Oct 23rd) around 8:30am, and as it warms the spotted bass bite might be good from morning through the day. I haven't heard any good striper reports lately, but topwater might really kick in for them soon.[/size][/black]

[cool] Best to ya'll & good fishing, ~Glenn
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#10
That was me with the "not dedicated" post, just forgot to log in. If the weather is good next week, my wife and I will go out for the first time in a couple of months. We won't have high expectations, but we'll give it a shot. Who knows, we may even catch bass for a change!
I think my problem is that I remember when catching fish wasn't work, it was just fun. Now you need $40,000 worth of boat and engine, $5,000 worth of tackle, a $30,000 truck to haul it all in...or you can't get out on the big water where the action supposedly is. Sure, every once in a while, someone will tell a story about how they caught that nice big bass in a small pond...or a small reservoir...but from what I've seen, they might be the only one who did catch a nice fish that day, while dozens of others threw back a few 12" juniors. Lake fishing has become a sport for people with lots of extra money. Sad but true. I'm not one of those people, so I'm losing interest.
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#11
Yes Virginia, There is a big fish in the water. (please excuse the pun)

you know, I can testify to what you are saying, been there and done that my self, a dozen times every year. on both ends of the stick as well.

just a couple weeks ago I sat beside a kid on the handycapped access peir and watched as he would hook in to one giant fish after another, yet I couldnt catch a cold let alone hook on to one of them atlantic salmons. I fished there for three for 4 days before I finaly hooked on in to one, then I was standing on the other end of the stick. I was hooking in to them left and right and the other guys was getting agrivated with me....

the real trick is getting out there and putting in your time... you have to pay your dues in order to get the big ones...

This year I managed to pull in 6 master angler fish. Here in michigan a master angler fish is a species of minimum entry size which is larger than that what is normaly caught.

I have received 5 awards this year from the state, and at the moment I have two fish that are in the top three of their clasifications. should they remain in the places they are in I will receive two more awards come january of 2005.

Do I have any of those fancy rigs you speak of? nope.... but It would be nice to be able to get out to where the rich guys are fishing.

I drive a 12 foot aluminum smokercraft with a 5 horse brigs&stratin. I fish with a 27 year old sears telicopic rod that I paid 2.35 cents for way back in the seventies. I do have my second reel on this rod. It cost me 39.oo.

On a bad day a rich man could buy me out for $1200.oo.....

I did at one time beleive like you. and now, when I come in with the big ones the rich guys are jellous of me... I have the time, yet they have the money. Who is better off? lets just say I would like a couple more bucks per day to realy make my fishing better. I would like to have just a little bit bigger boat but not one of them 40-G boats. not unless I can earn it for fishing....

I do have to admit I fish 4 bad days to one good day. but that one good day makes it all worth the effort.....

I do have to admit I try to fish at least 2-3 times per week. so if you only get out once per month I can understand why things would seem to you the way they do....

If you dont mind my asking, how often do you manage to get out?
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#12
Dave,
We bought our 14' aluminum boat in March of 2004. We went out weekly for about 3 months. We fished two different lakes in our area, both of them relatively lightly used. We did OK at one of them for a month or so, mostly catching small bass, with only one that was decent. After that, around June or so, the bite died, and after several trips without a hit, we packed the boat away for the summer.
I've fished here and there for years, but hadn't had a boat for about 5 years. I began to think it might be something I was doing that wasn't working...so I started talking to the other guys when the boats would come to the ramp after their day on the water. Turned out they didn't do any better than we did, time after time after time.
I began to see that a lot of people have very low expectations when it comes to catching fish. Of course, when 200 people go fishing in one day, someone is bound to catch a nice fish or two, and that guy will be the one you read about in the magazine or the local fishing news...but the 198 others who caught two or three 12" fish aren't mentioned.
It's interesting to me that most of the people who are featured in Georgia Outdoor News, our local fishing and hunting magazine, are guides. When they publish an article about someone catching a pile of nice fish, it's always a guide or someone on a guided trip. And what is that? Pay fishing.
I've been fishing since I was a kid. I'm 60 years old. I always heard fishing in the South was great. I'm in the South. Fishing isn't great. It isn't as good as it is in the west, in my opinion. Even in lightly trafficked lakes, the fishing is poor to fair. I'm talking 500 acres or less.
Places that should be full of fish, where on a really big day, there are 5 or 6 boats on the entire lake...but no one catches anything but baitsized fish.
I'm not going to tackle large lakes with my 14' boat. In fact, I'm starting to lean toward selling the boat and considering fishing a thing I used to do when it was fun. There are so many things in life to do with my time other than sit in a boat all day in the sun wondering why there aren't any fish, and why I haven't even seen one on the fishfinder all day.
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#13
I am beginning to see a pattern....

you are fishing primarily for black bass (larg and small mouths).....

you are taking your day off work to spend it on the lake if it is a nice day.

During my life time fishing, I am only 45. I have fish both great lakes and ponds all the way down to 3 acres. they all had nice fish including the 3 acre pond with a couple 28 inch large mouths. I fished that small pond for 10 years trying to catch one of them big hogs. In those 10 years I managed to get ahold of them only 5 times. Now mind you I was not the only person trying to catch them. there was at least a dozen others. I broke my fishing rod in my attempts one day when I had hold of one. I was fairly inexperienced in handling large game fish of that size at that early age in my life.

I have had the benifit as of late to be able to fish with a frend who had a camera and we dropped it down to the fish and watch as the lures passed in front yet no hits. They just were not bitting no matter what we dropped in front of them.

I am also a trapper. I learned a long time ago from my dad that if you want to catch game no matter what it is you need to learn something about the animal your looking to catch. This rule runs especialy for fish.

On days of my youth I spent countless hours not catching fish. remembering what my dad had said about catching game I decided to set off insearch of finding these fish.

setting my rods aside I began rowing around the lakes, looking at all the things sitting in the water. not moving vary fast, actualy moving rather slowly I peired over the boat more than I rowed.

What I saw changed the way I fished for life. Of the many stories I had heard some I found to be total bunk and others extreamly valuable.
[ul] [li]fish are stupid... [/li] [ul] [li]Bunk. fish learn what they can eat and what they cant eat through trial and error. they hook up on a lure x number of times they no longer will go after it. [/li][/ul] [li]fish have long term memories.[/li] [ul] [li]Bunk after a while of not seeing a spicific lure they will forget all about it. and stike it again.[/li][/ul] [li]fish eat all day[/li] [ul] [li]Bunk, fish feed during times of change of atmopheric preasure. neather at the top nor at the bottom, always on the change.[/li][/ul] [li]the time of day will have more impact on your ability to produce fish[/li] [ul] [li]True, if fishing for the freezer you will want to consentrat on cirtain hours of the day. and most of them are twilight hours. dawn and dusk.[/li][/ul] [li]Weather has a major impact on fishing[/li] [ul] [li]So vary true, There is only one other factor that has a greater impact on fishing than the weather. so pick your days and think like a duck....[Wink][/li][/ul] [li]The moon phases has no baring on fishing [/li] [ul] [li]Bunk Bunk Bunk Bunk Bunk Bunk. once you learn the secreats of the moon phases you can plot your calender for the days when you will produce fish.[/li][/ul] [li]Location Location Location [/li] [ul] [li]knowing where the fish are and when they are there. in essence, knowing when they are going to be there is your bestest tool to hooking up on the big ones. [/li] [li]Many species move around lake all day and have patterns they like to follow. so if you know when they will be passing through and getting there befor they pass will get you in the right place at the right time.[/li][/ul] [li]Bass will hide during hot summer days[/li] [ul] [li]this is true, finding them can prove to be a chalange. and getting them to hit even more of a chalange.[/li] [li]fish dont swet and can get sunburned under water if they dont find shelter from the sun.[/li][/ul] [li]You should have been here yesterday[/li] [ul] [li]this is an understatement to say the least. I cant remember how many times I have missed the bite by a day or even by an hour. I have got there an hour late or left an hour early. I have even missed the bites by a minute, no joke. I have gone out seeing guys hooking up and as soon as I got there they quit and just the opisite when I left when the fish werent hitting and as soon as I packed up and started heading out they would start hitting.[/li][/ul] [li]the majority of people who go fishing dont catch fish[/li] [ul] [li]no truer statement has ever been said. most people go fishing on butifull sunny days, days off work, with out regard to lunar cycles, with little knolage of the art.[/li][/ul][/ul]
There is no wonder to me why a featured pic of a fish in a publication would be a guide or a guided tour, they do have the greatest advantage over you and that is the number of hours spent out on the water and the secreates they have learned about the targeted species. So dont let the thing about guides get to you. they have learned what I have mentioned here and more. there realy is a lot behind fishing and you have to be willing to addapt to fit the bill.

the pro's who fish for compititions have days when they cant produce a 12 inch bass on waters loaded with them.

I think you are being way to hard on your self. "Don't" If is a matter of not having the patients, I understand, that is why so many people rely upon guides to get them on the fish. And a good guide will book during times of good fishing and do other task during the slow peeks and wont waist time and money of their clients.

some times it is good to hire a guide or go with some one who has experience who will be willing to teach you about what it is you are doing and not just setting the hook and putting the pole in your hand to let you reel it in.

So here it is, the greatest secreate to catching fish is being ready to go fishing when the conditions are right. so grab your self a note book and start compiling all the information you can about the day when you are fishing. it dosnt matter weather you are catching or not. just compile it and you will begin to see a pattern.

you can catch fish out side the patterns, the pro's have learnd this by doing their home work. but the best way to keep a pond full of big bass is to put them back after taking a quick picture...[Wink]
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#14
the link to sign in is always on the main index page.

you can find that link just the main index link on the main index page.

if you do not see it there, it is because you are already signed in.

the only way you will be logged out is if you manualy log out or you delete your cookies. in eather event you will have to log in to use your user name.

it would seem that you were still logged in when you posted, I can see your user name...

as for the main topic, It is true a man can go fishing once a month for life and never catch a fish. there are days when I cant buy a bait stealer let alone a fish.

as for Guides, they wont take you out on a bad day if they know what is good for them. because they can not garentee you a fish. Me even if it was the wrong time to go, I still would go if it were a trip for a fish species I have never caught befor, only because I am paying for the lesson [Wink]

I remember my first day of skiing, and the three days after when I could not lift a mussle to blow out a birthday candle. I bought an hour lesson cost me a franklin, and boy howdy, I was skiining like a beginner... insted of skiing like a faller [pirate][pirate][pirate].
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#15
you should do this,
[ol] [li]go to another web site other than bigfishtackle.[/li] [li]then click on tools at the top of your window[/li] [li]click on internet options[/li] [li]click delet cookies[/li] [li]click delet files[/li] [li]when the the popup shows put a check in the little white box and click ok.[/li] [li]return to the bigfishtackle board by clicking on a link to a privet message that I sent you, you should receive an email about the privet message, the site will take you directly to a log in page where you can sign back in.[/li][/ol]
you may have pickuped snoopy bug which messed with your cookies....

On the fishing thing, YOU GOT THAT RIGHT.....
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