SPORTS
Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com
Unties
gainesvilletimes.com
Friday, November 23, 2018
LT\KE LANIER
FISHING REPORT
Bass biting
at varying
water levels
BY ERIC ALDRICH
For The Times
The CORP continues to pull water in an
attempt to keep up with inflow and to get
the lake down to winter pool. Lake Lanier’s
water level is at 1,070.51 or .49 below the nor
mal full pool of 1,071. Lake surface tempera
tures are hovering around 60 degrees.
The main lake and lower lake creeks are
slightly stained to stained from recent rains
and lake turnover. The upper lake and rivers
are stained to muddy from lake turnover and
last week’s rain inflow. The Chattahoochee
below Buford Dam remains very stained.
Check generation schedules before head
ing out to the river below Buford Dam at
770-945-1466.
It’s the time of year for us all to count our
blessings. Most people have turmoil in their
life and our family is not immune. Sickness,
injuries, money problems and other troubles
exist for many people. Hard times are when
we need God the most. When I count my
blessings and they far outweigh my troubles.
I am thankful the most for my family and
friends and the blessings to be able to do
what I love for a living. I wish our readers a
very blessed Thanksgiving!
Bass fishing is good. Because the thermo-
cline has broken up, the fish can be caught
anywhere from a one-foot deep on down to
50 feet as we are in full lake turnover. Usu
ally, lake turnover produces a tough bite but
if you keep several different baits on deck
and move around, you should get decent
results.
We had started to concentrate on the ditch
bite before the rain last week changed things
up. This bite is still OK, but it should resume
and get better as water levels stabilize and
the lake water gets colder. Study your maps
and make sure you still keep a few ditches in
your rotation.
We have basically been “junk fishing” as
we run and gun our most productive areas.
The term junk fishing refers to when anglers
can fish several different lures in differ
ent locations and catch fish on just about
anything.
I had a couple of trips this past week and
everyone caught bass. Still, start your day
around the ditches as that is where the fish
have been. Usually, the fish will be in the
shallow gut where the ditch channel meets
the bank but look for other productive areas
close to these bass highways. We have been
casting SPRO Crank Baits, spinner baits and
jigs while we stay on the trolling motor and
watch our Lowrance Electronics. The fish
can be just about anywhere that brush, rock
and clay banks transit into deeper water.
Concentrate on the steeper banks because
these areas are where bass can move deep
without expending much energy.
I love to fish crank baits because they
catch both numbers and quality. You want
to have a sensitive rod. They don’t get much
better than my Kissel Kraft Custom Rods.
Spooling your reels with quality line, like the
new Sniper FC Crank, will increase the sen
sitivity so that you can feel your crank baits
digging into the bottom.
Use a deep diver like a SPRO Fat Papa or
Little John DD and cast the lures shallow,
then slow roll them along the bottom. Bites
will occur both when your baits deflect off
of objects under water and also when your
lures dive deep enough to break away from
the bottom.
You can also catch some good fish on
spinner baits by running and gunning rocky
banks out in the wind. You can get some qual
ity bites by simply staying out in the wind as
you move from spot to spot. Fish the lures at
a medium speed and keep moving.
The jig bite has also been working well
around these same steep, rocky banks. Lake
Lanier’s bass love crawdads and a jig is the
perfect match to mimic these tasty bass
treats. Cast your jigs to the bank on out deep
and pay attention to the depth where you get
bites then concentrate on that same depth as
you move down the bank.
Striper fishing has been hit and miss.
The secret seems to be fishing around
areas where stripers are feeding on shad.
The stripers will bite larger offerings, but
medium shiners seem to be working best.
Casting a SPRO Buck Tail front the front of
the boat while you pull baits has also been
producing a few fish.
There is a saying in the Air Force that
says “Trust your instruments” and that also
applies to our fishing electronics. My new
Lowrance units have made finding the pro
ductive areas a lot easier. My eyesight is not
what it used to be and the Lowrance Car
bon 16 really makes it easy to detect what’s
under the water.
Run flat lines and down lines around the
depth where you mark fish. Trust your elec
tronics and when you see bait and fish then
that’s the area to target. If you utilize planner
boards that will greatly increase your odds
as you can a wide spread of shallow baits
near the bank on one side with some deeper
baits on the other.
The more lines that you can fish effec
tively, the better the odds are that you will
connect with fish.
There is still some good schooling action
early and this can also occur through out
the day so keep a buck tail at the ready at all
times. The night Bomber and McStick bite is
■ Please see LANIER, 4B
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Putting the defenses to the test
JOHN BAZEM0RE I Associated Press
Georgia running back Brian Herrien (35) fights his
way into the end zone for a touchdown against
Massachusetts on Nov. 17 in Athens.
Jackets, Bulldogs
both can score
points in a hurry
Associated Press
Defense may be in short supply
when No. 5 Georgia, coming off its
second-most total yards in school his
tory, plays Georgia Tech, which has its
triple-option offense on a roll.
Neither coach seems to think it’ll be
possible to slow down the other team in
Saturday’s state rivalry game.
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson
shook his head when reviewing the
Georgia vs.
Georgia Tech
When: Noon Saturday
Where: Athens
TV: SEC Network
Bulldogs’ 701 total yards in their 66-27
win over UMass last week.
“Watching that tape from a week
ago, I’m not sure we could do that to
our scout team,” Johnson said. “They
looked unstoppable. Maybe they’ll let
us play with 12 on defense.”
Georgia (10-1) is averaging almost
40 points per game , and a larger role
for dual-threat backup quarterback
■ Please see GEORGIA, 3B
NFL I New Orleans 31, Atlanta 17
Falcons in fast decline
Photos by BUTCH DILL I The Associated Press
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) fumbles in the first half against the New Orleans Saints on Thursday in New Orleans.
Atlanta has lost three straight, now out of the playoff picture
Associated Press
Drew Brees threw four touch
down passes to inexperienced
receivers and the New Orleans
Saints won their 10th straight game
Thursday night with a 31-17 victory
over Atlanta that eliminated the
Falcons from contention in the NFC
South. Tommylee Lewis and Aus
tin Carr each caught their second
career touchdown pass, and rookie
tight end Dan Arnold grabbed his
first, as did rookie receiver Keith
Kirkwood. All four entered the NFL
as undrafted free agents within the
past three years and had combined
for zero touchdowns this season
before Carr caught the first of his
career last Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Falcons (4-7) lost
three fumbles inside the Saints 20
— something no team facing streak
ing New Orleans (10-1) can afford
this season.
Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan
was stripped by safety Marcus Wil
liams on a third-and-2 from the
Saints 3 and Williams recovered to
end Atlanta’s opening drive. Julio
Jones was stripped by linebacker
Alex Anzalone after a catch on the
New Orleans 17, and safety Vonn
Bell recovered in the final minute
of the second quarter to preserve a
17-3 lead going into halftime. The
Saints’ defense, which had a season-
high six sacks, continued to come
up with big plays in the second half,
with Anzalone breaking up a fourth-
down pass in the third quarter and
linebacker A.J. Klein intercepting
a pass tipped by defensive tackle
Tyeler Davison in the fourth.
The interception gave the Saints
possession on the Atlanta 22, setting
up Kirkwood’s diving 4-yard TD
catch. Just for good measure, Latti-
more stripped Calvin Ridley on the
Saints 1 after a 29-yard completion
that looked as though it would end
with a touchdown with about four
minutes to go.
Defensive back Eli Apple recov
ered that one.
Ryan was under pressure all
night from a Saints defense that
was bolstered by the return of first-
round draft choice Marcus Daven
port from a toe injury that sidelined
him for three games. Cameron Jor
dan had two sacks, while Williams,
P.J. Williams, Sheldon Rankins and
Demario Davis each had one.
New Orleans Saints cornerback RJ. Williams
(26) tries to tackle Atlanta Falcons wide receiver
Mohamed Sanu (12) in the first half of Thursday’s
game in New Orleans.
Successful onside kicks disappearing
Associated Press
Onside kicks have always
been a bad bet, just not like this.
Thanks to the NFL’s rules
changes on kickoffs that were
designed to reduce the risk of
concussions, successful onside
kicks have almost disappeared
entirely from the game.
Kicking teams have recov
ered three of 34 onside attempts
this season, an 8 percent suc
cess rate that pales in compari
son to last year’s 23 percent
conversion rate when 13 of 55
onside kicks were recovered by
the kicking team.
Over the last decade, that suc
cess rate has hovered around 15
percent.
That’s because teams can no
longer overload to the left or
right of the kicker, what special
teams coaches used to call a
“see-saw” formation.
They must have five players
on each side now — two inside
the hashmarks, two outside and
one rover — and they can’t be
bunched up or get a running
start anymore, either.
“You used to have six guys
on one side, four on the other,
and all kinds of formations and
movement,” McMahon said.
“Can’t have any movement
anymore. So, you know you’re
going to get a stagnant, five by
five. Everything’s balanced.
And, not only is it balanced,
(coverage players) have to be
1 yard away and can’t even
move, even if they time it per
fectly, they can’t move until the
ball’s kicked.”
With six weeks left in the
season, the NFL is on pace for
the fewest onside recoveries
(five) since 2009, when six of 41
onside kicks were recovered by
the kicking team.
Yet, it’s hard to imagine the
league going back and tweaking
the new rules to give the kicking
team more of a shot.
