Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current, February 13, 2019, Image 14
2B I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com Wednesday, February 13,2019 LAKE LANIER FISHING REPORT Bass will continue to bite late in day as weather cools Lake Lanier is above normal pool at 1,071.86 or .86 feet above full pool of 1,071. The CORP is dropping the lake quickly and the level may have fallen even more by the time you read this report. Lake surface temperatures are around 50 degrees with some warmer water in the backs of the pockets. The colder weather should drop temperatures, but not too quickly. The water quality is improving on the lake but there are still plen ty of stained areas. The lake below Browns Bridge remains clear in the in the creek mouths and stained in the backs of the creeks. The upper lake creeks are stained in the mouths and very stained in the backs and the rivers are very stained. Check genera tion schedules before heading out to the river below Buford Dam at 770-945-1466. A reminder of our free semi nars: West Marine in Buford with be hosting two free seminars. Call 470-202-1052 for details and directions. On Tuesday, there is a free striper and bass fishing seminar from 6-7 p.m. On February 26, there is a free electronics seminar. Factory reps will be there to help customers with GPS, mapping, finding fish and much more. Bass fishing has been tougher in the mornings but it’s been bet ter during the warmer afternoons. The past week’s record warm temperatures have made winter fishing feel more like late February or early March. The water should retain some warmth, even with the colder weather coming in. ERIC ALDRICH Columnist We have been starting out in the morning fishing slow moving lures like shaky heads, drop shots rigs and jigs around ditches and drains that feed out from shallow flats. The bass are wanting to move shallow, but the shorter days are still keeping them deep. These early morning fish are in depres sions from 20-35 feet. I have relied on my Lowrance Carbon units to “video fish” these deeper bass. Keep a drop-shot rig ready at all times while working a jig or shaky head down the sides of the depressions. Use Sunline Fluorocarbon and a sensitive rod like my Kissel Krafts Custom Rod, so that you can feel the deeper bites. A lot of these fish are migrating in from deep water later in the day. In the afternoons, it’s been crank baits working best. The fish have been biting on rocky banks with sun shinning on them. Wind has been a plus. Crank a mid-to- deep diving lure like a SPRO MD or DD through the rocks. The secret is to fish slow and steady. When the lure hangs up, just stop reeling and it will usually float free of the obstruction. If not, use your trolling motor to get on the other side to pop it free. With the cooler weather fore cast for this upcoming week, these patterns may change but not by much. Hit the water and go catch some fish. Striper fishing has been good. We continue to see stripers shal low in the mornings and all day long on cloudy days. On sunny days, the stripers can be either shallow or deep. Use your Lowrance electronics to show you where the fish are located and keep moving until you find them. Flat lines and weighted flat lines have worked well this week with the warmer weather. Down lines are still working too. Be pre pared for all conditions. Look for fish and bait in the pockets and pull shad, herring or smaller trout around the areas where you mark fish. Keep a trout shallow on a plan ner board that you can run close to the bank. This will often pro duce larger fish. In my experi ence, stripers over 20 pounds run alone, away from the schools of medium-sized fish. This tip is from my buddy Mack Farr. If you see a lot of fish on the screen, drop a Captain Mack’s Mini Rig down through the school and reel it through the school to trigger a bite. These fish are eating herring and shad that are schooled up in tight and this smaller umbrella rig will be hard to get through a hungry school of stripers. Trolling Umbrella Rigs is also a great way to cover water while looking for the schools that you can drop bait to. Run your boat at around 2 mph and watch your graph while trolling your lure. If you have a down rigger, set it to 15 or 20-feet and slow troll a SPRO McStick. As mentioned last week, I rely heavily on my Lowrance Carbon’s Structure scan to see fish that are outside of the stan dard two-dimensional sonar cone. Structure scan can give away a big school of stripers that anglers would normally miss and that Carbon 16 screen is so big you can see almost everything with it. Crappie: The crappie are relat ing to deeper docks midway back into the smaller creeks and also in the warmer pockets off the main lake creeks. Target docks that have brush set around them or that have holes in the Styrofoam floats where beavers have set up a hutch. If you are unable to use elec tronics, then a big giveaway is older docks with fishing rod hold ers. Lowrance Structure Scan makes seeing the best areas much easier. Set your distance to 50 feet and to the left or right side only, based on which side of your boat the docks are located. Ride around the front of the docks to find the most productive areas to shoot jigs. These schools are easy to see and look like multiple roundish dots. Shooting jigs takes some prac tice. There are plenty of YouTube videos showing this technique. Before you snag your jigs on docks spend some time practicing by setting your garage door a foot above closed and practice shoot ing from your driveway. Make sure to cut off the tips of your hooks to prevent animals or your self from accidents. Bank fishing: I recently saw a post on Facebook asking if there are any anglers who bank fish for catfish. While there may not be many, there probably should be more people fishing for “mister whiskers”. Lake Lanier as well as many farm and subdivision pounds have good populations of catfish. Catfish are suckers for live bait and cut shad. You can net your own or stop by your local bait shop to acquire these catfish treats. Use the same tackle that you would for stripers. Fishing poles spooled with 12-20-pound Sunline Natural monofilament will work well. Either place a large split shot above your hook or use a Carolina Rig (a sinker, swivel and two-foot leader) and use a No. 3 Gamakatsu Octopus Hook. If you are using line bait, hook your minnows through the lips. If you are using cut bait hook it directly in the middle. Cast your lines to channels or the deeper parts of the ponds and lakes and secure your rod. A piece of PVC pipe with a diameter large enough to hold the handle of your rod and cut the other end at an angle. Hammer this into the bank, secure your rod and wait. These fish can vary in size from 1 pound on up to over 30 pounds, so be prepared for a great battle. Eric Aldrich is an outdoor writer, marketing specialist and bass angler. Reports are based on per sonal experience and permission from a close network of friends. Contact him at esaldrich@yahoo. com or visit his website at aldrich- fishing.com. 5 Tigers advance to GHSA state wrestling tournament By Bob Christian bchristian@dawsonnews.com Dawson County seniors Levi Baggett, Wyatt Smith and Kevin Arias along with juniors DJ Mitchell, Alex Payne, Briana Ray and Danny Phillips traveled to Norcross Feb. 8-9 to com pete in the state sectionals, the qualifying event for the GHSA State wrestling tour nament. A two-day, traditional- style event, the state sec tionals brackets are com prised of the top four wres tlers in the 14 standard weight classes from each region and area in the state, with the six finalists in each class moving on to the state tournament. This year’s event featured 160 wres tlers. After a tough first day of competition, Arias ended his season with a seventh- place finish in the 126- pound weight class, while Phillips saw his day come to a close early in the 285- pound bracket. Baggett, Smith, Mitchell and Payne all remained alive as the tournament rolled into the second day. Smith, who has battled a shoulder injury all season, punched his ticket to state with a sixth-place finish in the 132-pound category and Payne followed suit in the 220-pound weight class with a fifth-place finish. Mitchell fought deep into the 170-pound bracket only to run into a buzz saw by the name of Dalton Malone out of Pierce County, who shut down the Dawson County junior and ended his day with a fourth-place finish. Baggett entered the day heavily favored in the 195- pound weight class with a season record of 37-3 and he did not disappoint. Winning his first match with a first-round pin, his second by decision and his third with a second-round pin, Baggett made quick work of his opponents to capture first-place and head into the state tournament in top form. This year featured the first ever girl’s GHSA State sectionals and tournament, and Ray represented the Dawson County Tigers in the 106-pound weight class. In a field of limited, but tal ented, competition, Ray wrestled her way into a sec ond-place finished to join the boys in the state tourna ment. The four-day GHSA State tournament will begin Feb. 13 in Macon. FROM 1B Boys “They got out ahead of us in transition and scored some easy points,” Pittman said. Dawson County fought back in the second period as they continued to keep pace with the Spartans Junior Jasper Gibson began to find his sweet spot along the 3-point line toward the end of the period and the Tigers briefly tied the game, but GAC grabbed a quick pair of buckets to close out the half and take a 43-39 lead into the lock er room. Gibson’s sweet spot from the first half expanded to cover the entire floor dur ing the third period as he personally led the Dawson County comeback with a 22-point spree to give his team their first lead at 63-61 headed into the final min utes. “He started feeling it in the second quarter. I think it kind of blew every body away,” Pittman said. “Obviously, it was huge.” GAC focused most of their defense on Gibson in the final period and succeed ed in shutting him down almost com pletely as the teams continued to pound away at each other. With three minutes remaining in the game, and the teams separated by a sin gle basket, the Dawson County defense turned the tide of the game with a series of plays that finally turned the board permanently in favor of the Tigers. Juniors Eli Burruss and Tate Adkins converted clutch steals into points, and sophomore Mason Barnes successfully challenged the lane to draw a foul and completed the 3-point play. The Tigers continued to build their lead from the free-throw line in the final minute of play and celebrated their 86-76 victory, becoming the Region 7-AAA champions. “In my career, this was one of the bet ter high school games I’ve participated in,” Pittman said. “Kind of like a boxing match, back-and-forth, all game. I feel it was our most complete game of the sea son. The kids played so hard, it’s a well- deserved success.” The win wraps up an incredible regu lar season that saw the Tigers post a 24-4 overall record and go 10-2 in regional play. As the top seed, Dawson County will mS BASKETBA. TIMWH wssstunb rj moat spi Photos by Bob Christian Dawson County News Junior Jason Gibson looks for a shot against Fannin County in round one of the Region 7-AAA tournament Feb. 7. A New Beginning TRINITY CHURCH of DAWSONVILLE An Eco Presbyterian Church “The most loving small church I’ve attended lately.” Isn’t it time you came back? Firestation #2 Highway 53 Just Down from the Tractor Supply Junior Brody Howell breaks away for an easy layup against Fannin County Sunday School 9:30 Worship 10:30 host the fourth-seeded Ringgold Tigers from Region 6-AAA in the first round of the GHSA state tournament, tipping off at 6 p.m. on Feb. 16. 706-531-4252