The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current, December 07, 2018, Image 12

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The times., December 07, 2018, Image 12

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Newspaper Page Text2B Friday, December 7, 2018 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com SPORTS FISHING ■ Continued from 1B to deep waters along these bass highways. The best ditch dropoffs can be found anywhere along the way as the ditches bend and wind out deeper and intersect with the timberlines. One of my favorite tools to use when targeting the sides of the ditches is the old reliable jig ‘n pig combo. I like to use a heavy enough jig so that I can feel the bot tom rigged with a Big Bites Fighting Frog trailer with the craws dipped in Red JJs Magic. A sensitive rod like my Kissel Krafts Medium Heavy Rod and a bait-cast ing reel equipped with 14 to 17-pound test Sunline Sniper Fluorocarbon. I just love the feel of that “chomp” as the bass sucks in a jig into its crusher plates. My dad always told me that fish don’t have hands, so when you feel a bite, give the fish a little slack, then set the hook hard! We have had our best luck stair step ping jigs down the dropoffs out far from the bank. The most consistent locations have been where the top of the ditches start in 10-to-20 feet deep and drop off into 25-to-50 feet at the bottom. Although I prefer to use a jig, you may also want to try fish ing a drop shot rig, casting it and stair steeping it down the drops instead of fishing them with the more popular vertical presentation that most anglers incorporate. A strong secondary pat tern has been to work a jerk bait out along wind blown bluff walls, points and deeper banks out in the wind. Cast a SPRO McStick 110 to the bank and use a random jerk, jerk, pause retrieve. The bass will come up from deeper water to strike these lures that imitate wounded shad or herring. When water temperatures are in the mid 50’s, you can usually use shorter pauses. But when we drop into the 40’s a longer pause may be needed to temp colder fish. I use fluorocarbon for jerk bait fishing because it has more feel and it gets the lure to dive a little deeper. That being said, the designer of the SPRO McStick, Mike McClelland prefers to use 10 to 12-pound monofilament. Always keep an eye on your electronics for when you see arcs or “spaghetti’ that indicate fish directly under the boat. My Low- rance Carbon HDS units have the best 2D mode avail able and this is the mode that I leave on at all times on the bow of my boat. When you see fish on your electron ics, drop down a drop shot or spoon to pick up a few extra bonus fish throughout the day. Spoon fishing in the middle of the ditches can still be very good and when you find one fish then there will probably be many more in the area. Striper fishing has been up and down and the fish can be hard to target some times. There have been some decent congregations of stripers from Flat Creek on up to Holly Park, but don’t discount the lower lake creeks or the upper lake creeks and rivers. Striper fishing is very sim ilar to bass fishing right now. Start your days out early in the backs of the creeks, ditches and pockets. Put out flat lines and planner boards baited with medium shiners, herring, trout or even a giz zard shad. Set your offerings so that you can be fished close to the banks. The strip ers feed shallow early in the day and they may stay shal low for a while, especially if it is cloudy or raining. If you are fishing on a sunny day, stay shallow until the fish leave then follow them out into deeper water. Stripers will relate to these fish highways but they will more often be found follow ing bait. Use your Lowrance Electronics to find both bait and stripers. The gulls and loons are also dead giveaways for where baitfish and often stripers are feeding. Many anglers discount an area when they see that the gulls are diving on loons. Don’t make this same mistake. Loons are very people shy so if they are staying put in an area then you can bank that the bait and stripers will be close by. Trolling an Umbrella Rig is still a viable technique for both locating and catching fish all day long. Follow the same examples as above. Start out shallow early and move out towards the creek and river channels. As long as the fish are biting your rig keep on trolling until that bite slows or until you find a deeper concentration of bait and stripers where down lines are more effective. The down line bite has been working well but you need to locate the fish before dropping your lines. This is the time that quality electronics can make your day and it doesn’t get any better than the Lowrance Carbon 16-inch unit located on the helm of my Nitro Z8. Look for not only arcs that indicate fish but also the larger concentrations of bait. I am seeing some good concentrations of fish in the 25-to-50 foot zone but note that these fish are relating to bait so they are often on the move so don’t get tied up fishing the same areas. Be willing to move. Trout Fishing: Trout fish ing has been good during slack water periods below Buford Dam. The fish are feeding well early in the day, but the bite may occur all day long. The old reliable Rooster Tail on light line has been producing some good catches. Keep things simple and use either bright colors, white or silver. These inline spinners mimic the shad that get was through Buford Dam. Bank fishing: Bank anglers can catch a variety of species of fish with a bot tom rig. A bottom rig is basi cally a Carolina Rig (a 1 to 2-once egg sinker tied above a swivel with a 2 to 3-foot leader) that an angler can cast out from the shore. Cut bait is hard to beat, but anglers can also use live shad, herring or shin ers too. In fact, both stripers and catfish can be caught on chicken livers. Make sure you use heavy equipment that can handle a big bite and secure your rods well with either commercial rod holders or homemade PVC pipe that you can pound into the clay or sand. Locate banks that have deep water close by. Chan nels swings in the creeks or rivers will often hold con centrations of stripers, bass, catfish and even the occa sional tasty walleye. 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, so please email him at esaldrich@yahoo.com Remember to take a kid fishing! Football/NFL AMERICAN CONFERENCE East W L T Pet PF PA New England 9 3 0 .750 331 259 Miami 6 6 0 .500 244 300 Buffalo 4 8 0 .333 178 293 N.Y. Jets 3 9 South 0 .250 243 307 W L T Pet PF PA Houston 9 3 0 .750 302 235 Indianapolis 6 6 0 .500 325 279 Tennessee 6 6 0 .500 221 245 Jacksonville 4 8 North 0 .333 203 243 W L T Pet PF PA Pittsburgh 7 4 1 .625 346 282 Baltimore 7 5 0 .583 297 214 Cincinnati 5 7 0 .417 286 371 Cleveland 4 7 West 1 .375 266 312 W L T Pet PF PA Kansas City 10 2 0 .833 444 327 L.A. Chargers 9 3 0 .750 340 249 Denver 6 6 0 .500 276 262 Oakland 2 10 0 .167 220 367 NATIONAL CONFERENCE East W L T Pet PF PA Dallas 7 5 0 .583 247 223 Philadelphia 6 6 0 .500 258 266 Washington 6 6 0 .500 233 257 N.Y. Giants 4 8 South 0 .333 267 315 W L T Pet PF PA New Orleans 10 2 0 .833 419 269 Carolina 6 6 0 .500 304 306 Tampa Bay 5 7 0 .417 318 355 Atlanta 4 8 North 0 .333 296 333 W L T Pet PF PA Chicago 8 4 0 .667 344 241 Minnesota 6 5 1 .542 275 270 Green Bay 4 7 1 .375 281 287 Detroit 4 8 West 0 .333 254 316 W L T Pet PF PA y-L.A. Rams 11 1 0 .917 419 298 Seattle 7 5 0 .583 319 259 Arizona 3 9 0 .250 175 310 San Francisco y-clinched division 2 10 0 .167 255 336 Monday’s Games Philadelphia 28, Washington 13 Today’s game Jacksonville at Tennessee, late Sunday’s games New Orleans at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m. N.Y. Giants at Washington, 1 p.m. Atlanta at Green Bay, 1 p.m. Indianapolis at Houston, 1 p.m. N.Y. Jets at Buffalo, 1 p.m. Carolina at Cleveland, 1 p.m. New England at Miami, 1 p.m. Baltimore at Kansas City, 1 p.m. Cincinnati at L.A. Chargers, 4:05 p.m. Denver at San Francisco, 4:05 p.m. Detroit at Arizona, 4:25 p.m. Philadelphia at Dallas, 4:25 p.m. Pittsburgh at Oakland, 4:25 p.m. L.A. Rams at Chicago, 8:20 p.m. Transactions BASEBALL American League CLEVELAND INDIANS — Agreed to terms with RHP Carlos Carrasco on a four-year contract. MINNESOTA TWINS — Signed INF Ronald Tor- reyes to a one-year contact. National League ATLANTA BRAVES — Named Rick Kranitz pitching coach. CHICAGO CUBS — Named Tommy Hottovy pitching coach, Terrmel Sledge assistant hitting coach and Chris Denorfia quality assurance coach. BASKETBALL National Basketball Association NBA — Fined Cleveland C Tristan Thompson $15,000 for making an “inappropriate gesture” to a spectator during a Dec. 3 game at Brooklyn. ATLANTA HAWKS — Assigned G-F Daniel Hamilton to Erie (NBAGL). LOS ANGELES LAKERS — Recalled G Isaac Bonga from South Bay (NBAGL). WASHINGTON WIZARDS — Assigned Fs Troy Brown Jr. and Okaro White to Capital City (NBAGL). FOOTBALL National Football League NFL — Named Christopher Halpin executive vice president and chief strategy & growth officer. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS — Signed TE Billy Brown to the practice squad. Placed TE Je’Ron Hamm on the practice squad injured list. NEW YORK GIANTS — Placed S Landon Collins on injured reserve. Signed DB Kenny Ladler from the practice squad. Signed P Brock Miller to the practice squad. Canadian Football League CALGARY STAMPEDERS — Re-signed P Rob Maver, K Rene Paredes, LS Pierre-Luc Caron and FBs Ante Milanovic-Litre and Charlie Powe. HOCKEY National Hockey League DETROIT RED WINGS — Recalled D Brian Lashoff from Grand Rapids (AHL). COLLEGE CALIFORNIA — Signed football coach Justin Wilcox to a five-year contract extension through the 2023 season. STOCKTON — Named Dave Lorber baseball coach. Football/college FCS playoffs schedule Quarterfinals Today’s games Maine (9-3) vs. Weber State (10-2), 8 p.m. Saturday’s games Colgate (10-1) at North Dakota State (12-0), Noon South Dakota State (9-2) at Kennesaw State (11-1), 2 p.m. UC Davis (10-2) at Eastern Washington (10-2), 4 p.m. Semifinals Friday, Dec. 14 or Saturday, Dec. 15 Basketball/NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L Pet GB Toronto 21 5 .808 — Philadelphia 17 9 .654 4 Boston 14 10 .583 6 Brooklyn 8 18 .308 13 New York 8 18 .308 13 Southeast Division W L Pet GB Orlando 12 13 .480 — Charlotte 11 13 .458 Vz Washington 11 14 .440 1 Miami 9 14 .391 2 Atlanta 5 20 .200 7 Central Division W L Pet GB Milwaukee 16 7 .696 — Detroit 13 9 .591 2 1 /z Indiana 14 10 .583 2/z Cleveland 5 19 .208 11 1 / 2 Chicago 5 20 .200 12 WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division W L Pet GB Memphis 14 9 .609 — Dallas 12 11 .522 2 New Orleans 13 13 .500 2/2 Houston 11 12 .478 3 San Antonio 11 14 .440 4 Northwest Division W L Pet GB Denver 17 7 .708 — Oklahoma City 16 7 .696 1 /2 Portland 13 11 .542 4 Minnesota 13 12 .520 4 1 /2 Utah 12 13 .480 5 1 /2 Pacific Division W L Pet GB L.A. Clippers 16 8 .667 — Golden State 17 9 .654 — L.A. Lakers 15 9 .625 1 Sacramento 12 11 .522 3 1 /2 Phoenix 4 20 .167 12 Wednesday’s Games Denver 124, Orlando 118,0T Golden State 129, Cleveland 105 Oklahoma City 114, Brooklyn 112 Washington 131, Atlanta 117 Memphis 96, L.A. Clippers 86 Milwaukee 115, Detroit 92 Minnesota 121, Charlotte 104 New Orleans 132, Dallas 106 Toronto 113, Philadelphia 102 L.A. Lakers 121, San Antonio 113 Thursday’s Games Boston 128, New York 100 Phoenix at Portland, late Houston at Utah, late Today’s Games Denver at Charlotte, 7 p.m. Indiana at Orlando, 7 p.m. Philadelphia at Detroit, 7 p.m. Sacramento at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m. Toronto at Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m. Memphis at New Orleans, 8 p.m. Oklahoma City at Chicago, 8 p.m. L.A. Lakers at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m. Miami at Phoenix, 9 p.m. Golden State at Milwaukee, 9:30 p.m. TODAY ON TV BASKETBALL FOOTBALL ■ NBA: 76ers at Pistons, 7 p.m., ESPN ■ Maine at Weber State, ■ Massachusetts at Providence, 7 p.m., FS1 8 p.m., ESPN2 ■ NBA: Warriors at Bucks, 9:30 p.m., ESPN ■ TCU vs. Southern California, 9:30 p.m., FS1 GOLF ■ European Tour: South African Open, 5 a.m., GOLF ■ PGA Tour: QBE Shootout, 1:30 p.m., GOLF MLS Martino thrilled with support from the fans JOHN BAZEMORE I Associated Press Atlanta United head coach Gerardo Tata Martino directs his players in a MLS soccer playoff game against the New York Red Bulls on Nov. 25 in Atlanta. Atlanta coach eager to see finals crowd BY CHARLES ODUM Associated Press Tata Martino’s love affair with Atlanta’s soccer fans didn’t have to last long to have meaning. On Thursday, Atlanta United’s coach expressed his appreciation for the fans’ record-breaking support as his team prepared for Satur day’s MLS Cup final against the Portland Timbers. “First I just want to say thank you to Atlanta for let ting me participate from the very beginning in the birth of this new club,” Martino said through a translator. Martino’s leadership played a lead role in Atlan ta’s meteoric rise as a MLS power. Led by MLS MVP Josef Martinez , Atlanta United is trying to win the MLS title in only its second season as an expansion franchise. Along the way, Atlanta has set MLS attendance records for a single game and season. Another record is expected Saturday when a crowd of more than 70,000 is expected to pack Mercedes- Benz Stadium. Atlanta United set a sin gle-game attendance record of 72,243 against Seattle on July 15. Martino was voted MLS coach of the year after announcing this would be his final season. Satur day will be his farewell to Atlanta fans, leaving behind a legacy that will be difficult for his successor to match. The former Barce lona and Argentina national coach reportedly is headed to Mexico’s national team. Veteran midfielder Jeff Larentowicz said Martino has been the foundation of the new franchise. “He’s the leader, he’s the pillar in the middle,” Laren towicz said Thursday. “His message from Day 1 has been the same. When he speaks, we listen. That’s really it. Without getting too technical, he’s the boss. What he says goes, and we’ve all bought in.” Larentowicz said Martino won instant respect, even as a newcomer to the MLS, through his “knowledge of the game.” “His management and style is at times uncompro mising but I think it’s always best for the team,” Laren towicz said. “His ability to sit down after having never coached in the MLS and to break down a team you’ve played against a million times, and he tells you some thing you’ve never seen before.” Atlanta United vs. Portland Timbers When: 8 p.m. Saturday Where: Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta TV: Fox Atlanta fans honored Mar tino with a towering, statue like tribute that showed the coach in his trademark pose, his arms crossed and a sweater tied over his shoul ders. “El Tata” was written on the base. “My first reaction was to smile because I thought it was very nice and affection ate,” Martino said Thursday, smiling. “I’m always someone to highlight respect. Aside from the amount of affec tion I’ve been shown from the fans, the amount of affection they have shown me and continue to show, that they always will show me, that feeling is mutual. Aside from that affection, I value respect a lot and it has always been a mutual respect ever since I came to Atlanta between myself and the fan base.” Players say Martino has not made this Cup final about him. There is ample incentive without challeng ing players to win one for the coach. CHIEFS ■ Continued from 1B “Let me put it this way,” says John Cocking, a Chiefs defender who left his native England to take a chance on something new. “As an athlete, performing in a league with players from all over the world, to go through and end up winning it all, whether you’re play ing in front of one specta tor or 100,000 spectators, a player’s feeling is very much the same. You had success against your peers. That’s what the game is all about.” It’s certainly worth not ing the seed planted by the Chiefs all those years ago. It wasn’t readily apparent in the stands — the team, in two different incarnations covering a total of 10 years, never averaged as many as 8,000 fans per game — but it took root in all the high schools that added soccer as a varsity sport, all the youth leagues that sprouted up around metro Atlanta. “Suddenly, you would drive around Atlanta, par ticularly in the suburbs, and see soccer games cropping up,” Hope recalled. “None of that existed before.” Still, the second version of the Chiefs folded after the 1981 season, followed just a few years later by the demise of the entire NASL. After that, Atlanta went without a big-time soccer team for more than three- and-half decades. Then, Atlanta United joined Major League Soc cer in 2017 as an expan sion team — and quickly became its greatest success story. United has shattered basically every MLS atten dance record, averaging more than 53,000 per game this season to rank as one of the best-supported clubs in the world. A crowd of more than 70,000 is expected for the title game against the Portland Timbers. The fans are young, hip and extremely diverse, turning Mercedes-Benz Stadium into a singing, chanting, flag-waving spectacle that wouldn’t look out of place in the Premier League or La Liga. “We went to one of the first home games this year,” said Jane Cocking, John’s wife. “When we came up the stadium escalators into the plaza area around the stadium, there were thousands of fans. The sup porters’ band, they were playing. Everyone was cheering. I just started boo- hooing. .. This is what we dreamt of.” Cecil was an executive in the Braves front office when the baseball team moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966, giv ing the city its first major league team (the Falcons would make it two later that year, joining the NFL as an expansion team). The Chiefs were hastily launched in 1967, joining one of two new leagues that were founded in North America to cash in on soccer’s rising popularity after England captured the World Cup. Of course, it didn’t take long to realize just how tough it would be to sell the sport on this side of the Atlantic. Five franchises folded, several moved to new cities and the two leagues merged into the 17-team NASL. After a mediocre debut, the Chiefs blossomed into one of the better teams in Year 2. They even gained a bit of worldwide notoriety by winning a pair of exhibi tion games with Manchester City, which was coming off a championship in Eng land’s top division. Cecil gleefully pulls out a book about the history of the NASL. “Look at the title of the first chapter,” he says. I thumb quickly to the table of contents. “Atlanta, Champions of England,” it says. “I love that!” Cecil says, erupting in a laugh pulled straight from the belly. More than 23,000 turned out for the first match, a 3-2 victory for the Chiefs. In all fairness, Man City was com ing off a long season and didn’t bring along many of its top players. Still, the loss was clearly galling for Man City, which quickly adjusted its schedule to set up a rematch in Atlanta about three weeks later while on the way back to England. The team even sent for some additional players to bolster the roster. But the Chiefs prevailed again, 2-1, to the delight of nearly 26,000 fans who watched a game that was played on a pitch that included part of the dirt infield required by the Braves. There won’t be any dirt infields when Atlanta United goes for a title at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. But John and Jane Cocking will be there. Their sons purchased tickets as an early Christ mas present. The city plans to hold a parade if United wins Satur day night. Maybe the Chiefs can come along for the ride. “I feel very proud of the job we did,” John Cocking said. “When I see what’s happening today, it makes me even more proud. We were the pioneers. Even though it was small com pared to what it is now, it was a beginning.” Paul Newberry is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry@ap.org or at www.twitter.com/ pnewberryl 963.