Newspaper Page Text
2B I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, March 4,2020
LAKE LANIER FISHING REPORT:
Start around rocky points to catch bass
Lake Lanier’s water
level is at 1,075.86 or
4.86 over the full pool
level of 1,071 and falling.
The CORPs has done
an awesome job keeping
all of the rain and lake
level in check. They were
able to keep the lake from
reaching the all-time
record high of 1,077.12.
Water temperatures are in
the low 50’s. Note that
many of the CORPS boat
ramps remain closed due
to high water conditions.
The main lake and
creeks mouths below
Browns Bridge are clear
on the main lake and
slightly stained in the
coves and finger pockets.
The backs of the creeks
and the inflow from the
rivers remain very stained
and still muddy in some
places. The
Chattahoochee River
below Buford Dam is
clear.
Check generation
schedules before heading
out to the river at (770)
945-1466.
Bass fishing has actual
ly been decent even with
the high-water levels.
The water has been so
high that the shoreline is
drawn back into the
woods in many places.
We have had our best
luck ignoring the shal
lows for the most part.
Instead, try fishing areas
where you have caught
bass in years past during
normal lake levels.
Rocky areas seem to be
the best areas to target.
Banks where the bottom
type transitions from rock
ERIC ALDRICH
Columnist
to clay or sand to rock or
even small pebbles to
larger rock have all held
fish this past week.
Start you day casting
crank baits around rocky
points in the creek
mouths on back into mid
creek coves. Work your
crank baits slowly and
allow them to dig deep
into the bottom. Rocks
heat up quicker than other
types of bottom structure
and crayfish are drawn to
them for both heat and
shelter.
Bass love crawfish as
they provide a big, tasty,
protein-rich meal. These
tasty critters help bass to
store up energy as they
continue to put on weight
before the spawn. Other
lures that mimic crawfish
live jigs, Ned Rigs or
creature baits rigged on a
Carolina or Jig Head.
Before the introduction
of modern-day GPS
anglers had to learn to set
brush piles using triangu
lation.
Triangulation is the pro
cess of lining up three
objects on the shore line
or horizon so that you can
relocate brush and other
objects found on the bot
tom. Now the process is a
lot easier because finding
brush or other bottom
objects and putting a GPS
waypoint is as simple as
seeing it on the screen and
then touching the screen
or using the scroll arrows
to place a waypoint. I pro
vide on-the-water classes
about boat electronics.
Email me at esaldrich@
yahoo.com or look me up
on Facebook to book an
instructional trip.
Striper fishing has
been good and the water
color has improved in
most areas.
The rivers and way-
backs of the creeks con
tinue to be very stained to
almost muddy. Anglers
should continue to check
areas where the clear,
main lake water meets the
stained or muddy water
inflow during or after the
frequent rains we have
been having.
In the areas in the rivers
and creeks, striper anglers
should pull a combination
of flat and down lines and
let the stripers that bite
tell you their preference.
In late winter and early
spring, stripers go
through the motions of
spawning. Although they
go through the process,
our stripers seldom repro
duce successfully in Lake
Lanier’s rivers and
creeks. Striper eggs need
fast-flowing, clear water.
Our rivers tend to get
really cloudy when they
are flowing fast. Our
feeder rivers and creeks
are not conclusive to a
healthy striper spawn.
When these stripers
move into the creeks, they
can often be found either
deep or very shallow.
Running both down and
flat lines allows you an
opportunity to cover the
water column from top to
bottom. If the stripers are
shallow, pull in your
downlines and deploy
planner boards. Planner
boards help you cover a
much wider spread and
also allow you to run
your baits far away from
the boat and much closer
to the bank.
Down lines may be
your better choice down
lake and in the mouths of
the creeks.
The gulls and loons
provide and easy way to
pattern fish. If these bait-
fish-eating birds are in the
area and feeding than you
can bet the bait and strip
ers are there too. Use
medium-to-large shiners,
herring or trout. Make
sure to purchase enough
bait for an outing. If you
get into a large school of
fish, you do not want to
run out of bait when the
fishing gets fast and furi
ous.
You should also have a
high-quality fish finder
like my Lowrance Carbon
units to show you how
deep the bait and stripers
are and a quality mapping
chip like my Navionics
Hot Maps to show you
the best areas. Seeing
good bottom cartography
will help greatly for
determining the best loca
tions to start.
Get out your Bomber
Long A’s and SPRO
McSticks starts to
improve.
Target the green Hydro
Glow lights around docks
in the back of the creeks
for your best action.
Cast these large plugs
to the shore, reel them
back slow and steady and
hold on.
Crappie fishing is get
ting good and now is the
time to make a milk run
of docks that have brush
planted below them. Scan
the docks with your
Lowrance Side Structure
Scan.
I set my Lowrance
Carbon 16 to scan only
the right-hand side. Then I
run down the side to scan
these docks to find the
schools of crappie that
appear like small ovals in
groups of at least 10 or
many more.
Use 4-6 points test line
on your reels and use a
6-7-foot long limber poles
and either shoot or cast
your crappie jigs under
docks where the brush is
located. Allow your tiny
jigs to pendulum down
back to the boat. Keep
making cast as long as
you get bites.
Some anglers will catch
their entire limit of one or
two docks.
Other methods like
trolling or fishing min
nows under a float have
also just started to work.
Bank Fishing: Crappie
start to move shallow in
late winter and early
spring. Get out your light
weight spinning or spin
casting outfits and head to
the lake. Crappies tend to
group in schools in the
late winter. These tasty
pan fish make for fine
table fare. My favorite
way to cook them is deep
fried for fish tacos.
Walk the banks and
look for dead trees that
have been laying down in
the lake for a couple of
years.
Other areas like bridges,
docks, rip rap banks and
anything else that can pro
vide cover for the fish to
hide.
Get a cooler, several
light-or-medium weight
crappie rods, a bucket full
of small or crappie min
nows and some light
Aberdeen Style hooks to
fish. Buy the bobbers that
have a weight built into
them as they are much
easier to cast. Experiment
with the depth you set
below each bobber. Pay
attention to how deep they
are when you catch a fish.
When you get a bite,
stick around in that area as
crappie hang out in schools
and there may be many
closer by. If you set out
your lines and don’t get a
bite in a half an hour, then
it’s probably a good time
to move down the bank to
more productive water.
Eric Aldrich is an outdoor
writer, marketing specialist,
guide and bass angler. He is
currently booking teaching
trips for Lake Lanier's spot
ted and largemouth bass.
Reports are based on per
sonal experience and per
mission 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 fish
ing.
FROM 1B
Baseball
and play solid defense,” Sapp
said. “They are well coached and
compete very well. No real weak
ness.”
Coach Sapp said that he would
like to see the “hot hitting” con
tinue against the Trojans.
“I believe we will hit and keep
playing solid defense,” he said.
“We will see much better pitching
this week. One of our better pitch
es is injured and I hope he’s back
in time before the series is over.”
Senior Hudson Sapp pitched for
the Tigers on Tuesday, March 3 in
the first of three games against
the Trojans. The next two games
will be on Wednesday, March 4
and Friday, March 6. The other
two starting pitchers have yet to
be determined.
Photos by Jacob Smith Dawson County News
Above: Senior Hudson Sapp swings on one of his three homeruns Tuesday night against the White County Warriors.
Right: Junior Nick Mullinax comes off of the mound to field a ground ball back to him during the 14-4Tigers victory
over the White County Warriors.
-t- +—*- > -*• - 1 —*■ >■ f—f~f~f—f~~*t—(1
i r rrrri
‘‘Tf 1111
ytifiTlttff—| f m—7 Tf—f t i T —(T
» > -»—► -—t -—>—* » - > ' * ■*—'’—T-*- 4—*--*--*- * —f—j—■
Tf III
—T—t—t—4—r—r—
W4-P
FROM 1B
Tennis
the entire match. With both first singles and
second singles falling short of a win and
both doubles teams coming out victorious, it
was up to Sticker to pull out a victory.
After losing the first set 4-6, Sticker came
out in the second set not letting her oppo
nents win a single match, winning the sec
ond set 6-0. Sticker then won a 10 point tie
breaker to give the Tigers the win at
Johnson.
Jacob Smith Dawson County News
First Singles Lady Tiger Kathryn Menoche sending a backhand back to her opponent in Tuesday's matchup
against the Chestatee War Eagles. Menoche won her matches (7-6) and (6-4)
Tigers
The Tigers traveled to Chestatee High
School on Tuesday, Feb. 25 to battle the
War Eagles. All singles matches won in
straight sets, or won both their games.
These singles matches consisted of Devin
Garlock, Brendan Swafford and Bailey
Jennings.
The doubles team consisting of Matthew
Wood and Connor Scroggins also won
their matchup, giving the Tigers the 4-1
victory against the War Eagles.
Thursday, Feb. 27, was all about the
Tigers against the Johnson Knights. Each
team won in straight sets, giving the Tigers
the 5-0 sweep.
With Monday’s match against White
County getting cancelled due to rain, the
Tigers tennis team will battle the Pickens
High School Dragons in Pickens on
Wednesday, March 4 , and begin region
play on Thursday at East Hall High School
against the Vikings.
