2B I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, July 17,2019
LAKE LANIER FISHING REPORT
Bass fishing wanes, striper fishing heats up
Lake Lanier’s water level
is just above full pool at
1071.17 or .17 feet above
the normal full pool of
1071. Lake surface temper
atures are in the mid to
upper 80s. Main lake is
clear and the creeks are
slightly stained. The water
in the rivers is slightly
stained.
The Chattahoochee River
below Buford Dam is clear.
Check generation schedules before
heading out to the river at 770-945-
1466.
Bass fishing rates run from fair to
good, depending on who you ask. The
surface layer of water is very warm,
which means a large portion of Lake
Lanier’s spotted bass will be found
deeper and away from the banks. That
being said, there are still some shallow
spotted bass and largemouth that can be
found close to the banks early in the
day.
This is the time to utilize your
Lowrance Electronics to locate and
mark brush from 20 to 35 feet deep.
Most of the spotted bass will be hanging
right around the thermocline, which my
Lowrance Carbon 12 and 16 shows to
be around 27 feet deep. The thermocline
is where the cooler bottom layer of
water meets the warmer surface layer.
If you are serious about catching spot
ted bass in summer, then invest some
time locating as many brush piles at the
20 to 30 feet depth. This practice will
pay dividends for future trips.
Utilize Structure Scan to locate brush
and set your cursor to where the brush’s
shadow lines start. Continue to add way-
points and mark as many of these off
shore honey holes as possible. I have lit
erally thousands of brush piles marked
all over the lake.
When approaching your GPS way
points, stop the boat
about a cast away from
the brush. Then make
casts over the brush with
top water plugs, spy baits
and deep diving crank
baits. Try casting a SPRO
Little John DD 70 and
the newer Little John 90
to the brush and work
these lures over and
through the brush. The
DD 70 will run down to 18
feet deep and the DD 90 will run as
deep as 25 feet. These crank baits will
fool the biggest bass in the school.
After working over the brush, drop a
Lanier Baits Fruity Worm on a drop shot
rig in the brush. Use a braided line, like
a 16-pound Sunline SX1, for the main
line with an 8 foot leader of 7-pound
Sunline Fluorocarbon attached with a
SPRO Swivel. You will often see the
fish rise to intercept the worm as it falls
on your screen, but most strikes will
occur as the bass follow it down to trap
it against the bottom.
We have also been catching some big
ger largemouth shallow early in the day
on a jig or a buzz bait. These big mouth
bass are eating brim, and this is proba
bly your best bet for catching a big bag.
Cast these lures to any bank cover like
laydowns, stumps, docks and rocks and
work them parallel to the bank.
If you really want to catch a lot of
bass this week, consider using live bait
like spot tail minnows. Throw some
cracker crumbs or grits around beach
areas then throw a fine mesh cast net
once the minnows show up. Once you
catch a few dozen, head out to the deep
er brush. Hook these minnows through
the lips on a drop shot rig; drop them
down to the brush and hold on.
Striper fishing has been very good
for anglers that can find the deeper
schools of fish. The stripers are deep,
and they are relating to the blue back
herring schools from the thermocline
layer at 27-feet down to the bottom.
Follow the creek and river channels that
run through Fake Fanier’s flooded tim
ber.
The same deal that worked last week
continues to produce stripers this week.
Purchase several dozen herring and
make sure you have your bait tanks set
up to keep your baits lively. This
involves the right combination of water,
non-chlorinated ice and an air stone to
supply dissolved oxygen to the water. In
the hot summer weather, your baits must
stay cool enough to keep them alive.
Plan on watching your Fowrance
Electronics until you locate the arcs or
wavy lines that indicate the deep striper
schools. Don’t waste your efforts
deploying herring until you locate the
active schools of stripers. You must find
fish because they will rarely find you.
Use a heavy 1- to 2-ounce weight to
get your herring down quickly through
the warmer upper layer down to the
cooler water below the thermocline.
Use a 20-pound mainline of Sunline
Monofilament attached to a smaller
diameter 12-pound Sunline fluorocarbon
leader. The standard down line is basi
cally a Caroline rig with a weight, swiv
el and 10 to 12 foot leader. The longer
leader will help catch stripers that may
be “line shy”. When you find a school,
deploy your down lines to a level just
above where you mark fish on your
electronics and place your rods in a rod
holder.
The power reeling technique contin
ues to produce some arm breaking
strikes. Drop a big Ben Parker or a
smaller Fake Forks spoon below the
level of the fish that you see on your
electronics, and then reel them up
quickly through the fish.
Other lures will also work. Try a
2-ounce SPRO McStick with a Big Bites
Suicide Shad; use this in the same way
you would the larger spoons.
Crappie fishing has been very slow
during the day, but you can still catch
them as long as you locate the deeper
brush or timber edges in 25 to 35 feet
deep. Your best bet for catching a mess
of fish is to fish under lights after dark.
Fighted boat docks that have green
Hydro Glow style lights will pull the
deeper crappie into the shallows. You
can also set lights out around the bridge
pilings. The best bait to use are native
spottail minnows, but store-bought crap
pie minnows and medium shad will also
work well. Set down lines from 10 to 20
feet deep. Once you catch a few fish, set
your lines to that same level to try and
duplicate where the active slabs are
hanging.
Bank fishing: The trout are biting
well below Buford Dam during periods
when the CORPS is not generating
water. The trout bite is best early in the
day at sunrise and again toward dark
(night fishing is not allowed in Georgia
trout waters). Five earthworms fished on
a weighted line are a time-tested catch
ing technique. Remember that by law,
you can only use one hand held rod on
trout waters. Casting a dry fly or a small
Rooster Tail on light line will fool these
stocked trout. Target the deeper pools or
areas behind current breaks for your
best results. After the sun gets high in
the sky, the action will slow down, but
the cold river water makes it a pleasure
to be out on these hot summer days.
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 at esaldrich@yahoo.com or
visit his website at aldrichfishing.com.
ERIC ALDRICH
Columnist
Photo for the Dawson County News
Chase Elliott finished the Quaker State 400 NASCAR race in 15th place.
FROM 1B
NASCAR
able to jump cleanly into the lead on the
restart, Kurt had to fight past Erik Jones
before he had the opportunity to give
chase.
It took all 1.5 miles of the final lap,
but as the cars headed into the final
stretch Kurt found room on the outside
and slipped into the lead and held on for
the narrowest victory in Kentucky
Speedway history at .076 seconds. It
was the first time in three career 1-2 bat
tles that he had crossed the finish line
ahead of his brother.
kind of impact but they think oh my
gosh I know her’ and they see the big
girls on the sideline Friday nights in
their uniforms and it’s huge,” Walker
said. “Stuff like that’s important to me
and I want it to be important to them.”
Though the camp wrapped up
“You know, racing your little brother
every week and watching him win a lot,
I’m proud of him, but I’m proud of him
he gave me a little bit of room on that
outside,” Kurt said. “What an awesome
run.”
Between the two, the brothers held the
lead for a combined 113 laps, with Kyle
leading a race high 72, and won both
stages as Kurt held off Joey Fogano to
win stage one, and the younger Busch
dominated stage two, at one point hold
ing an 8.7 second lead, for the victory.
“I’m glad it was a thriller.
Unfortunately, we were on the wrong end
of the deal...” Kyle said. “Obviously great
to put on great races and great finishes.
Been part of a lot of them, but none with
my brother like that. So that was a first.
Wednesday morning, the Tigers football
cheer squad will be back in action in
August as they cheer on the Tigers.
No hard feelings.”
Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Mountain Dew
DEWnited States car was responsible for
the first of seven caution flags as a flat
tire forced him to crawl around the track
to pit row. Elliott re-entered the race one
lap behind the pack but was awarded the
free pass on the next caution a mere four
laps later. A loose tire penalty quickly
burst the team’s bubble, but the penalty
was rescinded, and Elliott remained on
the lead lap for the remainder of the race
and went on to finish 15th.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup
Series heads to New Hampshire for the
twentieth race of the season on the one-
mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway
for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 on
July 21.
“Come out Friday nights. Cheer with
us. Support the high school,” Walker said.
“We definitely appreciate all the support.”
FROM 1B
Gauff
Tiger Woods before the real one
roared to remind us he was still in the
hunt.
Basketball has been rocked by a
summer of restructuring that can
arguably be linked to the drafting of
Zion Williamson by the New Orleans
Pelicans and the MFB is experienc
ing one of its youngest eras in history
as the average roster age hovers
around 24.
The pattern is always the same, a
seminal talent such as a Brady, or a
Woods, or a Michael Jordan over
whelms their current sport. Entire
teams would game plan to stop one
guy. The front offices and coaching
staffs would search desperately for
an answer to the new level of play.
In Woods’ case, entire courses
were replotted to make it more diffi
cult for him. It was called Tiger
proofing and it raised the caliber of
play in golf to phenomenal heights.
The same is true of all sports, they
are made better by the passing of the
torch.
Part of the reason each generation
of sports is better than the next is just
the nature of the game; competition
drives improvement, but another part
of the reason is an environment that
stresses teamwork over individuality
and the concept of long-term success.
This idea is on full display in Eos
Angeles as both basketball teams
have made moves towards building
championship teams with one, the
Fakers, centered around a legend of
the game, FeBron James, while the
other, the Clippers, feature the
league’s rising talent in Kawhi
Feonard.
It will be interesting to watch the
season unfold but my money is on
the Fakers because they have the
benefit of FeBron’s 15 years of expe
rience on the court (almost double
the years of any of the other star
players), and that is critical for any
team in transition.
History is filled with examples of
teams achieving success with a single
talent only to see that success disap
pear when the star leaves. The most
recent example would be the Denver
Broncos after Peyton Manning.
There are many more success sto
ries involving teams that build for the
long-term, teams that understand the
need for a mix of talent and experi
ence. Teams such as the United
States Women’s Soccer Team, the
New England Patriots, the Golden
State Warriors and the New York
Yankees that have created dynasties
within their sport.
These teams understand that pass
ing the torch doesn’t mean that I am
quitting. It doesn’t mean that I have
failed, and it doesn’t mean that the
next person is inherently better than
me. It just means that it is time for
somebody to continue to run with my
fire and continue to blaze a path for
all of us to follow.
FROM 1B
Cheer
camp for the past six years.
“I have a really, really good group of
girls. I’m very proud of them,” Walker
said. “They are a sisterhood and they
definitely show it.”
Beyond being a fundraiser and a fun
experience for both cheerleaders and
young girls, Walker said she hopes her
girls “lead by example” for the young
girls who look up to them.
“On Friday nights, and I tell them
over and over, these little girls look up
to you. You may not think you have this
Dawson County Tigers football cheerleaders
cheer duringTuesday morning's cheer camp.
Jessica Taylor Dawson County News
demonstrate the steps of a
