2B I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, April 10,2019
LAKE LANIER FISHING REPORT
Bass, crappie both biting best in shallow water
Lake Lanier is above full
pool at 1,072.39 feet or 1.39
above full pool of 1,071 feet.
Lake surface temperatures are
in the upper 50’s with some
warmer pockets with water
temps around 60 degrees.
The lake below Browns
Bridge is clear around the
main lake and in the creek
mouths. It’s also clear to
stained midway into the backs
of the creeks. The creeks and rivers up
the lake are clear in the mouths and light
ly stained in the backs. The headwater
rivers are slightly stained to stained.
Check generation schedules before
heading out to the river below Buford
Dam at 770-945-1466.
Bass fishing has been very good for
anglers that are willing to move around and
find the active bites. Catching bass can
seem easy this time of year, when you are
around the fish but don’t expect them to
just jump in the boat everywhere you go.
A lot of bass will be staging around
docks in the pockets. Isolated docks can
hold numbers of bass this time of years.
A jerk bait is one of my favorite lures to
throw. Bass will relate to the black floats
that gather heat. I like to cast a SPRO
McStick 110 along the sides of the floats.
Reel it slow and steady with an occasion
al pause and jerk to trigger
bites on the ends of the
deeper floats.
Other lures like a Jerk
Shad or a Zoom Fluke
skipped under the floats
will produce some good
bites. You can also work a
Gamakatsu Alien Head
rigged with a Lanier Baits
finesse worm in the areas
around docks. These same
lures can also work very well on the reef
markers around the main lake.
Moving lures like a spinner bait, SPRO
Little John MD or a jerk bait on the reef
markers has been a solid pattern. There are
a lot of fish in certain areas, but not every
reef marker is holding fish. Small swim-
baits like a Big Bites Baits Cain Thumper
on a -'-ounce jig head can work extremely
well for pre-spawn spotted bass.
Hit the rocky banks with a SPRO
RkCrawler to catch some big spotted
bass after dark.
Striper fishing has been good. The fish
are shallow where they are easier to catch.
Start out early in the mornings, slow
trolling multiple flat lines and planner
boards. This shallow pattern has been
working very well early in the day and
can last longer on overcast days. Target
the shallow water in the backs of the
creeks and in the rivers. Keep a variety of
live baits like small trout, herring and
medium shiners for your best success.
The medium-sized herring have been the
best baits to use shallow.
As the sun rises, the fish will often
remain shallow. As a general rule, the
stripers will move deeper where they can
be coaxed to hit the same flat lines.
Watch your Lowrance electronics and
switch to downlines as needed.
Most of the stripers are remaining rela
tively shallow. Continue to pull flat lines
out toward the middle of the pockets.
Cast a SPRO McStick or a Captain
Mack’s Mini Rig to catch a few extra fish
while pulling live baits.
After dark, the stripers are relating to
lighted boat docks but there are also fish
shallow in the backs of the creeks. Cast a
SPRO McStick or Bomber Long A to the
banks and retrieve these lures in a slow-to-
medium retrieve. If you can feel the wob
ble of the lure through your rod tip, then
that is the best retrieve speed. Stripers feel
these lures through their lateral lines, so
when you can feel the lure wobbling, then
you know you are in the zone.
Crappie fishing is very good as these
fish are spawning shallow. All you need
is a crappie minnow below a float. Keep
in mind that these fish will be located in
schools. If you do not get a bite within
the first 30 minutes, then move on to
more productive water.
Cast your minnows shallow in the
pockets around laydowns or docks with
brush. Casting or trolling small Hal Flies
is also a great way to cover water and to
find the active fish.
Bank fishing: Fishing with a live min
now below a bobber is a great way to catch
a variety of fish in early spring. Crappie,
brim, white bass and spotted bass will all
strike a properly presented minnow.
There is something about fishing with
a bobber that is hypnotic. Get a bucket
full or crappie or medium shiners and hit
the bridges or laydowns in your local
park banks for some relaxing, sometimes
very active fishing to make a fun day
from the banks, local farm and subdivi
sion ponds.
Reports are based on personal experi
ence and permission from a close net
work of friends. He would love to hear
from readers, so please email him at esal-
drich@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 permission from
a close network of friends. Contact him at
esaldrich@yahoo.com or visit his website at
aldrichfishing.com.
ERIC ALDRICH
Columnist
Bob Christian Dawson County News
Senior Frankie Muldoon runs March 16 in the
3200-meter race at the GACS Invitational.
Home field makes difference for Tigers golf
Bob Christian Dawson County News
Members take advantage of the chipping and putting greens of the
Chestatee Golf Club.
FROM 1B
Muldoon
to pursue a degree in
sports nutrition with the
goal of advising athletic
teams on proper diet and
eating habits.
“Every college and
professional football
team has a nutritionist
on staff,” Muldoon said.
“It’s an important part of
being an athlete and
teams need that informa
tion.”
Cross country Head
Coach Charles Beusse
covered the impressive
list of accomplishments
that highlight Muldoon’s
cross country career at
DCHS and the impact
she has had on the pro
gram during her four-
year tenure.
“(Muldoon) has won
four individual region
championships, led the
women’s team to two
region championships,
set the DCHS women’s
cross-country school
record, been a four time
All-State runner, led the
women’s team to four
top 10 finishes at state,
and helped our women
earn a fourth place podi
um finish at state,”
Beusse said.
“While she will be
missed, the standard that
(Muldoon) has helped to
set for DCHS cross
country will last long
after she is gone.
(Muldoon’s) signing
with GSU is not only
because of her athletic
ability, but also due to
her hard work in the
classroom and her over
all character as an indi
vidual.”
Due to the gap
between running sea
sons at DCHS, Muldoon
waited until near the end
of the school year to
begin some of her appli-
cations so she could
include statistics from
this season’s track and
field events. The happi
ness and relief of putting
the decision behind her
was evident as she spoke
after the ceremony.
“Obviously, it’s a
relief. I know I was real
ly cutting it close,”
Muldoon said. “I’m just
really excited to see
where it takes me. I’m
anxious to get to know
the girls and become a
part of that team.”
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
Unlike every other
Dawson County sports
team when the members
of the boys and girls golf
team play a home game,
they are not playing on
the high school campus.
Instead, the Tigers face
off against their visiting
opponents on the forest
ed, rolling-hills alongside
Lake Lanier that make up
the Chestatee Golf Club.
According to its web
site the Dennis Griffiths
designed course features
a combination of “bril
liant water holes and vig
orous mountain-like ter
rain” and the 18-hole, par
71 course was named one
of the top 100 courses to
play in the United States
by Golf Digest in 2002.
A challenging course is
just one of the many ben
efits of the club that is
extended to the members
of the Dawson County
golf team as part of a
generous sponsorship
package administered by
Club General Manager
Cheryl Howard.
“Brian Ferris, who
owns the club, he told me
several years ago that we
promote junior sports. We
want to promote junior
golf. Those are our future
golfers,” Howard said.
“That’s kind of how it all
started, him giving me the
leeway to say, ‘yes, pro
mote the junior golf.’”
Members of the Dawson
County varsity teams, in
addition to practicing on
the course Monday
through Thursday, are
given free access to walk
the course or ride the
course for a minimal cart
fee so long as they coordi
nate ahead of time.
Chestatee’s resident
professionals occasional
ly give lessons to the
team during practice ses
sions and are made avail
able to the individual
players for private
instruction.
“The pros give lessons,
Mike gave the girl’s team
a lesson on chipping and
putting a couple of weeks
ago,” Howard said. “They
teach a lot of the kids.”
The support of the
Chestatee Golf Club is
rivaled only by the sup
port of the membership
and the surrounding com
munity as demonstrated
by last year’s bag drive
organized in an effort to
buy the Tigers matching
team color golf bags with
the team logo.
Howard came up with
the idea of a bag drive.
Using the club’s newslet
ter and flyers posted
around the club house she
explained the circum
stances to the member
ship and put out a request
for donations.
By the end of the drive
the Club bought a com
plete set of bags for both
teams with funds raised
solely from the members’
donations.
“The members support
the juniors. They love
seeing them here, they
talk about them, they like
to watch the junior’s
play” Howard said. “This
year we turned over our
rental clubs, and we gave
the sets of clubs we no
longer needed to team,
and then the members
will come in with buckets
of balls that collect in
their yards and they give
them to the coaches.”
The Tigers have taken
full advantage of the
opportunities provided by
the course sponsorship as
the team’s have combined
to produce a 9-1 record at
the mid-point of the sea
son and have risen to the
top of the standings in the
regional rankings.
“It’s a good environ
ment for kids to be in
because members, obvi
ously, set such good
examples,” Howard said.
“Golf is such an integrity
sport it is such a good
sport for them to be in.”
Dawson County returned
from spring break with a
nine-hole tournament ver
sus East Jackson at the
Double Oaks Golf Course
on April 10 but is not
scheduled to play at
Chestatee again until April
16 when they tee-off a tri
match with North Hall and
Union. Results were
unavailable as of press
time.
FROM 1B
Reed
Teamwork and Excellence,” according
to the website and has been active on
campuses across the country since 1966.
FCA is a recognized club on all three
Dawson County campuses to include
the high school, junior high and middle
school, and the groups of athletes meet
once a month in a “huddle” to listen to
guest speakers, usually athletes or
coaches from the local community, and
discuss faith as it relates to sporting
experiences.
“We are part of the high school, the
junior high, and the middle school and
all three operate the exact same way,”
Reed said. “I personally bring in a
speaker, a motivational speaker, and
they tell the athletes about what sports
and faith did for them in their lives and
careers.”
Traditionally managed by the Forsyth
County chapter of the FCA, the idea to
split Dawson County into a separate dis
trict was brought up over the summer of
2017 and Reed took over as the full
time director in November of 2018.
“FCA opened up where they said
we’ve seen your heart Sam, we’ve seen
how much you love students, we’ve
seen your vision of where it can grow,”
Reed said. “We want to ask you to come
and direct things in Dawson County. We
want to see growth.”
Reed spent the last six months reach
ing out to community groups and lead
ers in an effort to gather the donations
and sponsorships necessary to begin
implementing his vision, and he is excit
ed to be able to welcome and thank the
community in the first major event of
his tenure, the Annual Banquet and
Auction on May 5 featuring retired hall-
of-fame quarterback Steve Bartowski.
“This is one of the best nights that we
have, potentially we’ll have over 600
people there for this,” Reed said. “It is a
celebration of what happened in the
year, but it is also a way of us enjoying a
dinner together. When you’ve got 600
people in the same room that has the
same cause, and the same heart that
you’ve got, its just a wonderful evening
all together.”
For more information about volun
teering or donating to the Fellowship of
Christian Athletes, visit www.fca.org or
call (678)617-1003.
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
