Newspaper Page Text
2B I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, April 3,2019
LAKE LANIER FISHING REPORT
No better place to be than fishing ... shallow
Lake Lanier is above full
pool at 1072.61 feet or 1.61
above full pool of 1071. Lake
surface temperatures remain
in the mid 50’s with warmer
water in sun filled pockets
pushing water temperatures
closer to the mid- to upper-
50s.
The lake below Browns
Bridge is clear around the
main lake and into the creek
mouths and clear to stained midway into the back of the
creeks. The creeks and rivers up lake are clear in the
mouths but slightly stained to very stained in the backs,
while the head water rivers are slightly stained to muddy.
The CORP is pulling a lot of water, but they are
allowing some quiet times, where fishing below
Buford Dam should be good. Make sure you check
generation schedules at 770-945-1466 before heading
to the river below Buford Dam.
Bass fishing has been up and down for some anglers
while others are staying on fish nearly all day.
Junk Fishing (casting six or more different rod and
reel combos with different lures) is the order of the day
until you find a pattern. Keep an open mind and tie on
any lure type that worked well in the spring.
I saw or caught fish that hit crank baits like a SPRO
Little John DD or a SPRO RkCrawler, spinner baits
with natural herring/shad colors, jerk baits like the
McStick 110, casting and dropping Lanier’s Baits
Worms on a shaky head.
Try to search a pattern early. The bass have been set
ting up from mid-depth points down lake on into the
shallower pockets with docks later in the day. Fishing
seems to be best around secondary points and into
shallow ditches close to docks later in the day.
Use SPRO Crank Baits after dark. The RkCrawler
works best to plow up the shallows, bounce off rocks
on steeper rocky bluff walls and deflect long rocky
points. Crank banks like the RkCrawler call fish in
with their vibration.
Striper fishing has been good, but the changing
fronts and sunny versus overcast days has affected the
fish. For the most part, spring stripers will move shal
low when sun levels are low, meaning overcast weath
er, rainy days or at night are best. The fish can become
very active after dark, early in the day and during
active feeding times. Cloudy skies and current flow
also have an effect.
Start your days looking towards the backs of the
pockets and in shallow depth very early in the day. If
you found an active group of fish in an area earlier in
the week, then try to arrive there again before sun up.
Planner Boards and flat lines are the order of the day.
Pull live herring close with a larger trout or Gizzard
Shad on a shallow running planner board to score a big
ger fish. Hook your herring and shad or trout through
the lips, so they look natural while driving 2-3 MPH.
On sunny days, the stripers will move deeper in the creeks.
Here is where your electronics can help, It can help find fish
and locate areas that are similar in producing. When the sun
is high in the sky, look in the 25- to 40-feet range, where the
fish will often group up on your Lowrance’s Screen or
Structure Scan. If you place a lure or live bait in front of their
noses, then they will most likely bite it.
Keep hooks sharpened on your Bomber Long A’s
and McSticks. There are fish in secret spots (lighted
boat docks, long flat pockets towards the back of the
creeks, Flat Creek-ops). Cast lures to the banks, reel
ing them slow to medium steady.
Crappie fishing remains good, and the fish remain up
to 10-foot deep. Hook a minnow on a light spinning bait
reel and rod (even though most anglers will want at least
5!). Grab some small crappie minnows and cast these
below a bobber around any submerged Christmas trees,
shallow brush or laydowns in the backs of the pockets.
Bank fishing: There is good striper fishing at the
parks dams close to the Buford Dam. Most of these
parks are open only during day light hours, so be
aware of the hours.
Get a heavy fishing rod with at least 12-pound
monofilament fishing line. A slip bobber is a bank
anglers’ best friend. You can condense the live bait and
bobber into one compact cast.
Make sure to secure your rod with a professional rod
holder or use a long piece of PVC thick enough to hold
your rods.
Grab a lively minnow, set your bobber stop at 5 to
15 feet, and cast to the best-looking fishing areas.
Watch your bobber to see if the bait is getting attacked.
Let your rod stay in the strike zone until the rod pulls
over, then set the hook.
Reports are based on personal experience and permis
sion from a close network of friends. Aldrich would
love to hear from his readers, so please email him at
esaldrich@yahoo.com. Remember to take a kid fishing.
Eric Aldrich is an outdoor writer, marketing specialist and bass
angler. Reports are based on personal experience and permis
sion from a close network of friends. Contact him atesal-
drich@yahoo.com or visit his website at aldrichfishing.com.
Tigers soccer team continues season
turn-around with win over Indians
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
Dawson County fought against
man and nature as the varsity boys’
soccer team took on the GAC
Spartans in the pouring rain on
March 26 and then traveled to
Lumpkin County to face the rival
Indians on March 28.
Prior to the game head coach
Patrick Muenchen expressed con
cerns about the offensive power
and speed of the Spartans and, in a
steady downpour that created slop
py conditions for both teams, his
concerns proved correct as the
Tigers lost their first regional game
of 2019 by a final score of 5-0.
“GAC has put up a lot of scores
in their matches and we are going
to have to play tight defense to stay
in the game,” Muenchen
said. “Their speed up top is a con
cern.”
After the loss the Tigers took the
short trip north to Dahlonega to
take on another powerful team in
the Lumpkin County Indians.
“Lumpkin is another must win
situation for us,” Muenchen
said. “They have had similar results
(to GAC) so I look forward to a
good battle.”
The Indians opened the game
with a quick strike to take an early
1-0 lead that looked as if it would
last until half-time until junior
Riley Herndon found the back of
the net to tie the game at one as the
teams headed for the locker rooms.
Dawson County team captain
Patrick Rosales broke the tie on a
header past the Indians keeper early
in the second half and from there
the Tigers continued to apply pres
sure and created opportunities for
the remainders of the game.
With just over half the period
remaining junior Michael
Velasquez worked his through the
box, outmaneuvering his defender
to put a third point on the board,
and Rosales finished off the scoring
with another header late in the half
to secure the 4-1 victory.
“The boys played a great game
against Lumpkin, especially in the
second half,” Muenchen said. “It
was important for us to get the tran
sition and offense flowing as we
approach our last two region
games. Scoring four should defi
nitely boost our confidence and
spark some hunger in the guys to
put the ball in the net.”
The split games moved the
Tigers to an overall record of 3-8
and a regional record of 3-1 and
with two games remaining in the
regular season, both featuring
regional opponents, the Tigers
entered into a much-needed spring
break period.
“I am not concerned about loss
of momentum during spring break,”
Muenchen said. “We have had a
busy season with only one rain out
and I think the rest will give us
time to heal and look forward with
anticipation to a strong finish.”
Dawson County will be fully
rested and back in action against
Fannin County on April 10.
Bob Christian Dawson County News
Bo Lewis andTJ Allen warm-up March 15 atTigers
Stadium.
FROM 1B
Loss
senior Hudson Sapp opened
the game with a full-count,
solo home run to give the
Tigers an early 1-0 lead.
Dawson County took
advantage of some loose
pitching from the Indians
and put together two more
runs in the bottom of the
third inning to extend their
lead to 3-0 at the halfway
mark.
Sapp doubled and scored
in the bottom of the fourth
to pad the lead, and Kristian
Kelley did the same in the
bottom of the fifth to put
Dawson County out front
by a 5-0 margin with two
innings left to play.
Kelley turned in his finest
pitching performance of the
season as he held the
Indians scoreless on three
hits over six innings of play
with zero walks. The sev
enth inning almost spelled
disaster for Kelley and the
Tigers as an error opened
the door for Lumpkin
County.
The Indians strung
together three seventh
inning hits and another error
from the Tigers infield to
push three runs across the
plate before Kelley was able
to pop up the final batter
and put a cap on the 5-3 vic
tory.
It was Lumpkin County
that opened an early lead in
game two as they took
advantage of three walks
issued by Tiger starting
pitcher Mauricio Hernandez
to push three runs across the
plate in two innings.
The third inning was the
big one for the Dawson
County as Peyton Goodwin
took over the pitching duties
and retired the Indians in
order and the Tigers bats
came to life behind aggres
sive base running from
Sapp and a powerful three-
run Bo Lewis dinger that
gave Dawson County their
first lead by a score of 4-3.
Goodwin continued to hold
the Indians scoreless while
the offense extended the gap
with two more runs in the
fourth inning and another in
the fifth to take a 7-3 lead
into the late innings.
Some loose pitching and
an error gave the Indians the
opportunity to tie the game
in the sixth inning, but the
Tigers fought back to re
take the lead with two runs
of their own and hit the sev
enth inning up by a score of
9-7.
Dawson County’s
Andrew Burt came to the
mound for the save opportu
nity and quickly nabbed two
outs although the Indians
had runners at first and sec
ond. A costly error from the
infield allowed one run to
score and the momentum
clearly shifted to Lumpkin
County as the very next bat
ter crushed a three-run shout
to jump out to an 11-9,
which proved to be the final
score as the Tigers could not
find the come back magic
for a third time in the game.
After game one was
moved, the Tigers traveled
to Lumpkin County on
March 27 and found them
selves stymied by Indian
starting pitcher Grizzle who
mowed down the Tigers
with a one run, one hit, 10
strikeout complete game
performance in the 4-1 win
by the Indians.
Sapp and Kelley split the
pitching duties for the
Tigers with Sapp picking up
the loss as he gave up three
runs on three hits over three
innings. Kelley gave up one
run over three innings as
well as picking up the
Tigers lone hit of the game
with his second inning sin
gle.
The three-game perfor
mance left Dawson County
squarely in the middle of
the pack in region 7-AAA
as their regional record
moved to 5-7 while they
hovered just below .500
with an overall record of 7-8
as the team prepared for a
break from regional action.
“When we come back,
the next two series will
determine our season and
what kind of finish we will
have,” Head Coach Dwayne
Sapp said. “The younger
players are starting to get
acclimated to varsity base
ball and the older players aie
playing well. I am really
proud of how we have com
peted and hopefully we will
continue to develop and get
better each time out.”
The Tigers were the
only spring sports team in
action during spring
break as they took on a
pair of non-regional
opponents early in the
week starting with Prince
Avenue Christian on
April 1. Results were
unavailable of press time.
FROM 1B
Spring
in the upcoming
7-AAAAA region tourna
ment and with a clean 5-0
sweep the Lady Tigers
improved their region
record to an even 3-3 and
claimed the tournament’s
fourth seed.
The varsity girls went
on to finish their season
with a 3-2 victory over
West Hall on March 27 to
close out the regular sea
son with an overall record
of 9-4 as they headed into
the extended rest period
that ends with the start of
the region tournament
April 10 when they face-
off against Fannin County.
Head Coach Stefanie
Gibbs was aware of the
risks such a gap could
have on the Lady Tigers
but indicated the team was
ready to handle the sched
ule and was looking for
ward to region competi
tion on the home court.
“Spring break does
slow down our momen
tum for region, but most
of the girls have commit
ted to playing or hitting
over the break,” Gibbs
said. “We also have some
home court advantage
since we are hosting
region, but we have our
work cut out for us.”
The Dawson County
varsity boys entered their
game with Cherokee
Bluff in much the same
position as they looked to
build on the momentum
gathered from a March 22
win over Pickens County.
The Bears edged out
the Tigers by a final score
of 3-2 and dropped
Dawson County to a
regional record of 1-4 and
guaranteed low seed for
the upcoming tournament.
The team shook off the
loss and ended their sea
son on a positive note
with 4-1 victory over West
Hall to improve to an
overall record of 7-5.
The Tigers will be
back in action in the
7-AAAAA Tournament
on April 10.
Track and Field
In a meet that roughly
marked the halfway point
of the season the Dawson
County track and field
teams once again rewrote
the record books as they
took on Gilmer High
School in a head-to-head
meet on March 28.
Junior Noah Brock led
the way for the Tigers in
their sweep of but two
events as he set the Long
Jump record by leaping
21 feet and 2 1/4 inches
surpassing the old record,
set Chris Jacobs in 2005,
by just under four inches.
Gilmer picked up gold
in the discus and the 300-
meter hurdles, but at the
end of the day Dawson
County continued their
track and field dominance
with a 101-35 score.
The Lady Tigers faced
their toughest competition
of the season in the Lady
Bobcats as they split the
gold medals evenly at
eight a piece and the meet
came down to the depth of
the teams in their second
and third place runners up.
With a clean sweep in
the pole vault, highlighted
by junior Briana Ray
tying her own record of 8
feet, and the 100-meter
dash and a strong showing
in the silver and bronze
medal categories the Lady
Tigers emerged with the
win by the narrow margin
of 80-59.
The teams will be back
on the track when they
host a tri-meet with
Johnson and Lumpkin
counties on April 9.
A New Beginning
TRINITY CHURCH
of DAWSONVILLE
An Eco Presbyterian Church
Palm Sunday 4/14 10:30 am
Good Friday 4/19 5:00 pm
Easter Sunday 4/2110:30 am
Fire Station #2, Highway 53
Just past Tractor Supply
706-531-4252
