About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 2018)
2B Friday, November 2, 2018 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com ★SPORTS FISHING ■ Continued from 1B pick up a drop shot rig. My Lowrance Carbon 12-inch unit has become a valuable tool for drop shot fishing in the brush. This unit will allow you to actually see your drop shot rig and the fish that you are targeting. If you are not getting bites but you are seeing fish, try shortening your leader to 6 or 8 inches or try a shaky head rigged worm instead. A lot of these bass are trap ping the worm directly on the bottom. If the wind is up, fish a spinner bait around brush and rocky banks out in the wind. This pattern can be extremely strong and some anglers are slinging a spin ner bait and catching qual ity bass on this technique all day long. Begin by reeling your spinner bait just fast enough to see it running a few feet deep. If this retrieve is not producing, try slowing your spinner bait down and slow roll it over the top of brush and over rocky drop offs. Another approach is to target feeding fish located in the pockets and creeks up and down the lake. These shallow fish are suckers for the McStick, a small top water Chug Bug, a finesse worm, a jig head or a Texas Rig. Work these lures over flats and around docks. These fish are feeding on small threadfin shad, so try downsizing your lures accordingly. Night fishing for bass has been very good. Cast a McStick, Little John DD or a large black and blue Spin ner bait with a single Colo rado blade. Work these lures around rocky points just inside of the creek mouths. Reel them, just fast enough to feel your lure wobble and keep it in contact with the bottom as most of your bites will occur very shallow as your lure deflects off of bot tom structure. Striper fishing rates from fair to very good depending on conditions. The ability to keep an open mind and make changes will make the difference between just fish ing and actually catching. My electronics have been key tools for finding fish. Keep an eye on your graphs and also keep an eye peeled for any surface activity. We encountered several schools of stripers thrash ing on the surface close to the river channel, from River Forks all the way on down to the dam. These fish appeared to be staying around 60 feet and then they were surfacing to attack schools of threadfin and blue back herring. Your electronics are your eyes under water. One of the most common things I encounter when fishing with other anglers is that they do not trust what they see on their electronics. My Low rance Carbon 12 and 16 units clearly show me a picture of what is occurring under water. As my best friend used to say, the fish may be fighting World War III under the surface when all we see is clam on the surface. Because the fish can be both shallow and deep, make sure to keep a casting rod at the ready along with both flat lines and down lines. As mentioned above, I have seen a lot of fish in the 40 to 60-foot range as well as some good schools bust ing shad and herring on the surface. You should keep a combination of down lines, flat lines and casting lures ready so as to make changes as needed. The fish schooling on the surface have been fin icky when it comes to hit ting lures. Because there is so much bait, your lures may go unnoticed as the fish school on the surface. Try stowing the top water plugs and cast subsurface lures like a one-half ounce silver and white Rooster Tail, a SPRO McStickllO, Magic Swimmer or a buck tail worked slow and steady around these schoolers. I have seen several fly anglers who had hooked up casting small streamers. Use a small Clowser Minnow on an 8-weight fly rod for your best results. If the fish are hanging around deeper in the water column, a down line with a small herring or medium store-bought minnows have been working best. Change your baits out frequently and use a smaller 10 to 12-pound leader of Sunline Fluorocarbon. The night Bomber and McStick bite has been very good in the right locations after dark. Main lake islands from Lake Lanier Islands on up to the islands around River Forks are the best areas to target. We have had the best success targeting islands below Browns Bridge that are located out near the river channel. Just cast these lures to the banks and reel them just fast enough to feel them wobble. This is an awesome way to fish and you will get a lot of hits, so it keeps things interesting! Crappie fishing is slow, but things are changing along with the weather. As the lake continues to cool, look for crappie to relate to docks and brush. As winter approaches and the water cools down, these fish will move a little shallower. When fishing from a boat or from your own docks, play around with the depth and let the fish that bite tell if you’re at the best depth. As the lake turnover con tinues the fish may be shal low, deep of anywhere in between. Trout fishing is good and the Department of Natural Resources has been stock ing trout in North Georgia. These fish are stupid and hungry which makes fishing a lot easier! Cast a white and silver or a gold and green Rooster Tail around any trout water you fish. Downsize your line to 2 or 4-pound test. The lighter line will really help in the clear streams up north. Bank fishing: A slip bob ber is a great tool when fish ing from the shores of Lake Lanier or deeper pools in subdivision and farm ponds. These lures are usually weighted so they cast very well. You can cast these bob bers from the bank and change depths by adjusting the bobber stop. This allows you to cover depths from shallow to deep. Rig your setup with as light a line as possible and add a Gamak- atsu Aberdeen hook tied directly to your line. Hook a live shiner or night crawler on the hook and you are ready! 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. He would love to hear from his readers. Football/NFL AMERICAN CONFERENCE East W L T Pet PF PA New England 6 2 0 .750 239 185 Miami 4 4 0 .500 174 219 N.Y Jets 3 5 0 .375 192 200 Buffalo 2 6 0 South .250 87 200 W L T Pet PF PA Houston 5 3 0 .625 197 167 Tennessee 3 4 0 .429 106 127 Jacksonville 3 5 0 .375 134 170 Indianapolis 3 5 0 North .375 231 213 W L T Pet PF PA Pittsburgh 4 2 1 .643 204 172 Cincinnati 5 3 0 .625 221 237 Baltimore 4 4 0 .500 197 137 Cleveland 2 5 1 West .313 169 210 W L T Pet PF PA Kansas City 7 1 0 .875 290 205 L.A. Chargers 5 2 0 .714 195 163 Denver 3 5 0 .375 188 194 Oakland 1 6 0 .143 138 218 NATIONAL CONFERENCE East W L T Pet PF PA Washington 5 2 0 .714 146 134 Philadelphia 4 4 0 .500 178 156 Dallas 3 4 0 .429 140 123 N.Y. Giants 1 7 0 South .125 150 205 W L T Pet PF PA New Orleans 6 1 0 .857 234 183 Carolina 5 2 0 .714 178 152 Atlanta 3 4 0 .429 190 212 Tampa Bay 3 4 0 North .429 201 233 W L T Pet PF PA Chicago 4 3 0 .571 194 144 Minnesota 4 3 1 .563 197 195 Green Bay 3 3 1 .500 175 173 Detroit 3 4 0 West .429 171 186 W L T Pet PF PA L.A. Rams 8 0 0 1.000 264 155 Seattle 4 3 0 .571 171 131 Arizona 2 6 0 .250 110 199 San Francisco 1 7 0 .125 173 236 Thursday’s Games Oakland at San Francisco, late Sunday’s Games N.Y. Jets at Miami, 1 p.m. Atlanta at Washington, 1 p.m. Detroit at Minnesota, 1 p.m. Kansas City at Cleveland, 1 p.m. Tampa Bay at Carolina, 1 p.m. Pittsburgh at Baltimore, 1 p.m. Chicago at Buffalo, 1 p.m. L.A. Chargers at Seattle, 4:05 p.m. Houston at Denver, 4:05 p.m. L.A. Rams at New Orleans, 4:25 p.m. Green Bay at New England, 8:20 p.m. Open: Indianapolis, Arizona, N.Y. Giants, Jack sonville, Philadelphia, Cincinnati Football/college Schedule Today’s games EAST Penn (5-2) at Cornell (3-4), 6 p.m. SOUTH Pittsburgh (4-4) at Virginia (6-2), 7:30 p.m. W. Kentucky (1-7) at Middle Tennessee (5-3), 8 p.m. FAR WEST Colorado (5-3) at Arizona (4-5), 10:30 p.m. Saturday’s games EAST Air Force (3-5) at Army (6-2), Noon Columbia (4-3) at Harvard (3-4), Noon Robert Morris (1-6) at Sacred Heart (5-3), Noon Bryant (5-3) at St. Francis (Pa.) (3-5), Noon Valparaiso (1-7) at Marist (4-4), Noon Duquesne (5-3) at Wagner (2-6), Noon Holy Cross (2-6) at Lafayette (3-5), 12:30 p.m. Bucknell (1-7) at Lehigh (1-7), 12:30 p.m. Colgate (7-0) at Fordham (1-7), 1 p.m. Charleston Southern (3-4) at Monmouth (NJ) (6-2), 1 p.m. Hampton (4-3) at NY Maritime (6-2), 1 p.m. James Madison (6-2) at New Hampshire (2-6), 1 p.m. Dartmouth (7-0) at Princeton (7-0), 1 p.m. Brown (1-6) at Yale (4-3), 1 p.m. Delaware (6-2) at Albany (NY) (2-6), 3:30 p.m. Liberty (4-3) at UMass (3-6), 3:30 p.m. Maine (5-3) at Towson (6-2), 4 p.m. SOUTH Texas A&M (5-3) at Auburn (5-3), Noon Louisville (2-6) at Clemson (8-0), Noon Memphis (4-4) at East Carolina (2-5), Noon Butler (3-5) at Jacksonville (1-6), Noon Michigan St. (5-3) at Maryland (5-3), Noon South Carolina (4-3) at Mississippi (5-3), Noon Syracuse (6-2) at Wake Forest (4-4), Noon Georgia Tech (4-4) at North Carolina (1-6), 12:15 p.m. Chattanooga (6-2) at Furman (3-4), 1 p.m. Florida A&M (6-2) at Howard (3-4), 1 p.m. Norfolk St. (3-4) at NC A&T (6-2), 1 p.m. Morehead St. (3-5) at Stetson (6-1), 1 p.m. Rhode Island (5-3) at Elon (5-2), 1:30 p.m. Presbyterian (2-5) at Gardner-Webb (2-6), 1:30 p.m. Tusculum (5-3) at VMI (0-8), 1:30 p.m. Savannah St. (2-5) at Delaware St. (1-7), 2 p.m. Texas St. (2-6) at Georgia St. (2-6), 2 p.m. UT Martin (1-7) at Jacksonville St. (6-2), 2 p.m. Campbell (5-3) at Kennesaw St. (7-1), 2 p.m. Edward Waters (4-4) at NC Central (3-4), 2 p.m. Shorter (0-9) at North Alabama (5-3), 2:30 p.m. Murray St. (4-4) at Tennessee Tech (0-8), 2:30 p.m. Texas Southern (2-6) at Alabama St. (2-5), 3 p.m. MVSU (1-6) at Grambling St. (4-4), 3 p.m. Prairie View (3-5) at Jackson St. (3-4), 3 p.m. Georgia Southern (7-1) at Louisiana-Monroe (4-4), 3 p.m. ETSU (7-2) at Mercer (4-4), 3 p.m. Villanova (3-5) at Richmond (3-5), 3 p.m. Wofford (6-2) at Samford (4-4), 3 p.m. Marshall (5-2) at Southern Miss. (3-4), 3 p.m. Georgia (7-1) at Kentucky (7-1), 3:30 p.m. Florida St. (4-4) at NC State (5-2), 3:30 p.m. McNeese St. (6-2) at SE Louisiana (3-6), 3:30 p.m. Tulane (3-5) at South Florida (7-1), 3:30 p.m. Louisiana-Lafayette (4-5) at Troy (6-2), 3:30 p.m. The Citadel (2-5) at W. Carolina (3-5), 3:30 p.m. Boston College (6-2) at Virginia Tech (4-3), 3:45 p.m. Missouri (4-4) at Florida (6-2), 4 p.m. Bethune-Cookman (4-5) at Morgan St. (2-6), 4 p.m. Charlotte (4-4) at Tennessee (3-5), 4 p.m. E. Kentucky (4-4) at Austin Peay (4-4), 5 p.m. Appalachian St. (5-2) at Coastal Carolina (5-3), 5 p.m. Duke (5-3) at Miami (5-3), 7 p.m. FAU (3-5) at FIU (6-2), 7:30 p.m. Louisiana Tech (6-2) at Mississippi St. (5-3), 7:30 p.m. Alabama (8-0) at LSU (7-1), 8 p.m. Transactions BASEBALL American League BALTIMORE ORIOLES — Assigned LHP Sean Gilmartin, 3B Jace Peterson, 2B Corban Joseph and RHP Gabriel Ynoa outright to Norfolk (IL). BOSTON RED SOX — Reinstated 2B Dustin Pedroia, INF Marco Hernandez and RHP Austin Maddox from the 60-day DL. Assigned INF Tony Renda and RHP Justin Haley outright. Reinstated RHP Carson Smith from the 60-day DL, who declined outright assignment and elected free agency. LOS ANGELES ANGELS — Assigned C Joe Hudson outright to Salt Lake (PCL). OAKLAND ATHLETICS — Reinstated RHP Kendall Graveman from the 60-day DL. SEATTLE MARINERS — Promoted Justin Hollander to assistant general manager and Leslie Manning to director of professional development and assistant director, player development. National League ATLANTA BRAVES — Reinstated RHPs Darren O’Day and Mike Soroka and LHPs Grant Dayton and Luiz Gohara from the 60-day DL. CHICAGO CUBS — Claimed OF Johnny Field off waivers from Minnesota. Exercised their 2019 option on RHP Pedro Strop and RHP Brandon Kintzler exercised his 2019 option. LOS ANGELES DODGERS — Traded LHP Manny Banuelos to the Chicago White Sox for INF Justin Yurchak. Signed RHP Jesen Therrien to a minor league contract. MIAMI MARLINS — Reinstated OF Garrett Cooper, RHP Pablo Lopez, 3B Martin Prado and LHP Caleb Smith from the 60-day DL. MILWAUKEE BREWERS — Reinstated C Stephen Vogt from the 60-day DL. SAN DIEGO PADRES — Traded C Raffy Lopez to Atlanta for cash. WASHINGTON NATIONALS — Announced C Jhonatan Solano declined outright assignment to Fresno (PCL) and elected free agency. TODAY ON TV FOOTBALL BASKETBALL ■ Pittsburgh vs. Virginia, 7:30 p.m., ESPN 2 ■ High-School Football: IMG Academy (Fla.) vs. Hoover (Ala.), 9 p.m., ESPNU ■ Colorado vs. Arizona, 10:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1 ■ Thunder vs. Wizards, 8 p.m., ESPN ■ Timberwolves vs. Warriors, 10:30 p.m., ESPN RACING ■ Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series: Fort Worth Practice, 2 p.m., NBC Sports ■ Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series: Fort Worth Qualifying, 7 p.m., NBC Sports ■ NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: JAG Metals 350, 8:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1 GOLF ■ PGA Tour Golf: Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, 4:30 p.m., Golf Channel ■ LPGA Tour Golf: TOTO Japan Classic, 11:30 p.m., Golf Channel ATU\NTA FALCONS Focus on running well CURTIS COMPTON I The Associated Press Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, left, and head coach Dan Quinn, right, celebrate with running back Tevin Coleman after his touchdown run during the fourth quarter against the New York Giants on Oct. 22 in Atlanta. Sarkisian looking to make the offense more balanced Associated Press Falcons offensive coor dinator Steve Sarkisian is preparing for what could be his toughest challenge this season. If he thought it was tough scoring on goal-to-go in the season-opening loss at Phila delphia, Sarkisian knows this week might be more difficult as Atlanta tries to avoid becoming a one dimensional passing attack at Washington. Quarterback Matt Ryan needs a play-action threat to keep the Redskins (5-2) from locking down all afternoon on his receivers, so the Falcons (3-4) must find a way to establish the ground game against a tough defensive front. The outlook does not look promising. The Falcons rank 30th in yards rushing. The Redskins rank second in defending the run. Devonta Freeman, Atlan ta’s top running back, was lost to groin surgery earlier this month. Starting guards Andy Levitre and Brandon Fusco are out for the season with injuries. “Each game takes on its own personality in essence,” Sarkisian said Thursday. “So it is beneficial when you can hang with it and stick with it, but there are times when we’ve got to do what is best for us right now. You just try to figure it out as it goes, and it’s all part of making those decisions at those moments when they come and try to do what’s best for the team. ” Sarkisian insists he won’t press if Atlanta struggles to run the ball early in the game. He plans to keep trying to mix it in on later drives. The Falcons have one of the NFL’s premier passing games with Ryan throwing to Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, Mohamed Sanu and Austin Hooper, so the team will stick with what it does best. “Sometimes to run the football you have to establish it at times and then finally something does pop, but there’s other times that this drive is so important right now, let’s do what is best for us at this moment right now,” Sarkisian said. “And that may be to run it more and that may be throw it more.” The Redskins are loaded up front. Ends Matt Ioannidis and Jonathan Allen and linebacker Ryan Kerrigan have com bined for 14 sacks and 22 quarterback hits. Nose tackle Da’Ron Payne fig ures to make it a long day for guards Wes Schweitzer and Ben Garland. “There are a lot of twists and stunts and games that they do up front that make it challenging on your guys up front,” Sarkisian said. “It’s not always just the one-on-one rush. They start pairing two guys, three guys together, sometimes even all four of them together, so they really do it cohesively. The challenge for us is to make sure we’re protecting cohesively.” Sarkisian likes how third- year veteran Tevin Coleman and Ito Smith have com bined to fill Freeman’s spot. Falcons at Redskins When: 1 p.m. Saturday Where: Washington TV: Fox He thinks that Schweitzer has done a respectable job in five games for Levitre, and Garland, who started the final five games last season, has plenty of experience as he prepares to take over for Fusco. Sarkisian was pleased with how Coleman responded on a third-and-1 run early in the fourth quar ter of Atlanta’s previous game, a narrow win over the New York Giants. Run ning off right tackle, Cole man sprinted for a 30-yard touchdown that’s one of the few rushing highlights for Atlanta this season. “That type of explosive ness we know is there in our run game,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve just to keep hunting and pecking until it comes. ” Jones sees no reason to worry. He believes Atlanta will find ways to score regardless. “The Redskins haven’t played the 2018 Atlanta Fal cons, so we’re going in there and we’re going to try to run the ball,” Jones said. “We’re going to run. We’re going to pass. They’ve got to stop us on Sunday.” Notes: Sanu (hip) was held out of practice a day after being a limited participant. .. CB Robert Alford (ankle) missed practice for the sec ond straight day. Coach Dan Quinn said he was injured against the Giants but didn’t want to come out. Isaiah Oliver will start if Alford can’t play. .. PK Matt Bry ant did not participate, and it appears likely that Gior gio Tavecchio will replace him for the second straight game. Ryan Mahomes and Mayfield are meeting for first time as NFL quarterbacks Associated Press Back when their chances of playing quarterback in the NFL were still in the dream stages, Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield sat in an apartment near Texas Tech’s campus and played video games. It was 2013. Three years later, they appeared to do the same thing on the field. “It was a basket ball score,” May- field recalled. “That game was crazy," Mahomes said, remember ing the October night in 2016 when he and May- field re-wrote the NCAA record book. The quarter backs and friends will renew their old rivalry — and perhaps embark on a new one as pros — Sunday when Mahomes leads Kansas City and the Chiefs’ high-flying, high- octane offense, into Cleve land to play Mayfield and the Browns, who are again in disarray following the firings this week of coach Hue Jackson and coordina tor Todd Haley. The previous time they met between the hash marks, Mahomes and May- field put on a stun ning statistical show unlike anything col lege football had seen before. They combined for 12 touchdown passes, 1,279 yards passing and broke the total yardage mark with 1,708 yards — 854 for each school. Looking back, Mayfield, who threw seven TD passes to Mahomes’ five and led the Sooners to a 66-59 win, still can’t fathom what happened. “That was my ‘Welcome back to Lubbock’ moment,” said Mayfield, who began his college career as a walk- on at Texas Tech before transferring. “Weird things happen in Lubbock, Texas, on Satur day nights. It is pretty funny, Oklahoma goes back to Lub bock this weekend and then I am playing Pat on Sunday. ” Browns defensive coor dinator Gregg Williams, who has replaced Jack- son as Cleveland’s interim coach, shook his head in disbelief when given details of the Mahomes-Mayfield shootout. “Oh, my gosh,” he said. “Setting defenses back a thousand years.” No one — not even the quarterbacks themselves — could have envisioned their first meeting five years ago when Mayfield hosted Mahomes on his recruiting trip to Texas Tech would blossom into a friendship and maybe the NFL’s next great QB duel. Mayfield was aware of Mahomes’ background and talent — son of a major league baseball player, bazooka-like arm — but then got to know him per sonally during that weekend visit. What Mayfield quickly learned was that, like him, Mahomes is a natural leader. “Patrick has always been an easygoing guy,” Mayfield said. “That is why those team mates he has always had play for him so hard.” Mahomes Mayfield
