About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2020)
SPORTS Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com Unties gainesvilletimes.com Friday, March 20, 2020 LB\KE LANIER FISHING REPORT HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND HELD Bass biting shallow in die morning BY ERIC ALDRICH For The Times Lake Lanier’s water level is up slightly at 1,072.70 or 1.70 feet above our normal full pool of 1,071. Surface temperatures are in the mid-50s. The main lake and creeks mouths are clear. The creeks, pockets and rivers are slightly to very stained. The Chattahoochee River is clear. Check generation schedules before heading out to the river at 770-945-1466. Bass fishing has been fair to good. Anglers are catching bass both shallow and deep. There has been a dock bite and the bass are starting to move shallower, where they are easier to catch on the docks. We have had some great fishing days and some tough fish ing days, as is normal during early spring. Fishing docks are a time-tested pattern from late winter through late spring on Lake Lanier. Anglers should look at the first and the last docks in the coves and target the ones that have deeper creek channels running close to them for the best results. These bass high ways allow bass an easy path from shallow to deep water. You should be able to find bass that will bite your lures somewhere along the depressions or “bass highways”. Early in the day, start out with your boat just a cast and a half away from the shallow mouth of the ditch. Early in the day, crank baits and jerk baits like a SPRO McRip or RkCrawler are great choices for picking off some bigger bass. Allow your lure to deflect or bounce off bottom features to entice the fish to bite. Keep your lures moving slow and steady. Don’t spend too much time on one point, hump or ditch because if the fish are pres ent, they will let you know within the first few casts. As a general rule, the bass will be shallow early in the day and will move to the docks as the sun gets high in the sky. Always check the shallow part of the ditches first, then move to the docks. The fish may be shallow or deeper on the docks so experiment with different depths as the day progresses. We have caught some bass, working a SPRO McStick 110 jerk bait or Alabama Rig along sides of the dock floats as well as skip ping and casting shaky heads. Keep an open mind and let the fish that bite teach you the pattern that works best on any giving day. Stripers: The birds continue to be a great give away for the most productive areas so watch the gulls, loons and your Lowrance electronics to find the baits and stripers. Pulling live herring, trout or medium-sized shiners on down lines will continue to work all over Lake Lanier. Use your Lowrance electronics to dial in the proper depth and once you get a bite, make adjustments and set your other rods to a similar depth. It pays to pick up a coupe of different sizes of live bait. The stripers have preferred herring this week, but a large trout or gizzard shad can also coax a big bite. Late last winter and early spring, the stripers seemed to prefer medium-sized shiners, but herring seem to be working the best this year with the higher water levels. Crappie fishing has been good and the fish are definably moving shallower in schools. This week, you can will find crappie around cover like docks and brush piles in under 15 feet of water. Crappie seem to be preferring water with a slight stain so look for water color changes to signal your most productive areas. Bank Fishing: The bass are moving shal lower. Get out and beat the banks with crank baits or finesse worms on a shaky head around the rocks or shallower docks at your local parks. Eric Aldrich is an outdoor writer, marketing specialist, guide and bass angler. He is currently booking teaching trips for Lake Lanier’s spotted and largemouth bass. Reports are based on personal experience and permission from a close network of friends. He would love to hear from readers, so please email him at esaldrich@yahoo.com Remember to take a kid fishing! NFL Los Angeles releases former Georgia running back Gurley The Los Angeles Rams have released Todd Gurley, their superstar running back with a massive contract and a troubling injury history. The Rams made the move Thursday, several minutes before $10.5 mil lion in the three-time Pro Bowl selection’s contract became fully guaranteed. The Rams also cut vet eran linebacker Clay Mat thews after just one season with his hometown club. Matthews was due a $2 million roster bonus, among other guarantees. Gurley will consume a whopping $20.15 million in dead salary cap space this season for the Rams, who signed the 2015 first-round pick to a four-year, $60 million contract with $45 million guaranteed in June 2018. Associated Press Gurley Aiming for the record ZACH GARRETT I For The Times Riverside Military’s Lamar Gordon throws the shot put during the Riverside Rust Buster meet March 11 in Gainesville Eagles’ Gordon wants chance to make state-record in discus BY NATHAN BERG nberg@gainesvilletimes.com Lamar Gordon wasn’t quite sure what to expect last Wednesday on his first try at the discus throw of the out door season, but he was cer tainly not disappointed with the results. After a shorter than expected first attempt, the Riverside Military Academy senior and defending Class A private schools state cham pion launched the discus 172 feet and 6 inches to claim first at the Riverside Rust Buster by more than 50 feet. The mark also surpassed the official Class A discus throw record for the state of Geor gia — an important goal for Gordon. “I was really excited, espe cially with the crowd around me,” he said. “It was very electric for me personally. A couple years ago, I would never have seen myself here.” But Gordon’s mark will not be added to the GHSA record book, and he may never have a chance to get there. Due to concerns over inac curate reporting, the GHSA only accepts records set at state meets. With all Georgia high school sports canceled until further notice, there’s no tell ing whether or not state meets will happen this year at all. Gordon’s ability is unquestion able, but lack of opportunity still stands in his way. “He was on course to be just a great, great thrower,” Riv erside Military track and field coach Tim Cummings said. “And he was going to break the existing state record. It’s a pace that Gordon had never seen coming for him self a couple years prior. Track and field was more of a hobby for him until he started building up a friendly rivalry with former teammate Harry Kim. The competition helped Gordon to take his high school throwing career to a place he never thought he would reach. “We both pushed each other, first to break a school record,” Gordon said. “That was our motivation for the year, and after we accom plished it, it was like the sky’s the limit now.” Gordon set the Riverside Military discus record last year, winning a Class A cham pionship on his way. Coming into the offseason, he set his sight on defending his state crown, while also reaching a new all-time mark for his classification. Rainy weather to start this spring made training difficult, but Gordon began to draw energy from the downpours as he steadily improved. “It was just me and the rain,” he said. “I wasn’t wor ried about anybody else or anything. I was just focusing on getting better.” The work paid off for Gor don, who was well on his way to repeating as state cham pion as he continued to push his limits in the discus throw in his final year of high school. Things have slowed down now for Gordon, and even col lege recruiting has reached what he referred to as “a dead period.” But the work hasn’t stopped for Gordon. Whether the season resumes in time for sectional and state meets, or not, Gor don has redoubled his efforts and will be staying ready for his chance to ink a permanent spot in GHSA record books. “My first reaction (after hearing the season was post poned) was to take home some implements that I’ve arranged at my house and just start working right away,” Gordon said. “It never stops.” COLLEGE BASKCTBALL Georgia hoping to build off poor finish Athens Banner Herald Remember one week ago? The Georgia men’s basketball team came off an 81-63 win over Ole Miss in the SEC tournament flying high with con fidence. Tough matchups loomed, but the Bulldogs looked like a team that could cause some problems. Then the impact of the coronavirus swept across the sports landscape. It forced the cancellation of virtually every event on the calendar, SEC tournament included. That brought an abrupt end to what was an up-and-down year for Georgia. An even 16-16 final record doesn’t quite do justice to how much this season swung from one extreme to the other. Now there’s nothing for the Bulldogs to do but look ahead to the 2020-21 campaign. Here’s a look back at some major take aways from this season, as well as some questions Georgia will have to answer the next time it takes the court. Three takeaways from this season 1. EXPECTATIONS MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BIT UNFAIR: This statement applies both to the team as a whole and spe cifically to superstar freshman Anthony Edwards. People who thought Edwards would swoop in, cape fluttering behind him, and lead the Bulldogs to the NCAA tourna ment ended up being sorely mistaken. Edwards was fantastic, no doubt about it. He earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors by averaging 19.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in the regular season. But he also had his ups and downs, strug gling with his shooting and shot selection at times and going through the growing pains every freshman deals with. Edwards is just one of 10 newcomers — nine freshmen and graduate transfer Don nell Gresham — on a team that entered the season as one of the youngest in the coun try. That youth showed up as immaturity throughout the year in blown leads, defen sive lapses, communication breakdowns and struggles with awareness. Head coach Tom Crean said his team might have been too quick to adopt a “defeatist mindset” at times this year, get ting discouraged on the court and hurting performance. That’s just another part of building the program. 2. WHEELER AND HAMMONDS ARE GOOD FOUNDATION PIECES FOR 2020- 21: When next season tips off, the Bulldogs will have one of the best inside-outside tan dems in the SEC. Inside will be Rayshaun Hammonds. Barring an incoming transfer, Hammonds will be the lone senior on next year’s team. He dealt with inconsistency just like his teammates but still averaged career highs in points (12.6) and rebounds (7.3). Wheeler, on the other hand, is the diminutive point guard who turned heads with his ability to get to the rim and make plays for his teammates. He earned a start ing spot midway through the year and fin ished the season with 139 assists, a Georgia freshman record. 3. THE SHOOTING JUST ISN’T THERE FOR CREAN’S SYSTEM — YET: Crean’s offensive system is built on pace, space and shooting the ball at will. So far in his tenure, the Bulldogs have not been able to shoot the ball well enough to have the system operate at full operation. The overall field goal percentage in the 2019-20 regular season was mediocre — 43.1 percent, good for eighth in the SEC. The 3-point percentage, however, sat at 28.8 percent, tied for last in the conference with Auburn.
