# Tussahaw Reservoir



## SpeedCrawlSlick (May 4, 2011)

Just curious to see if or how folks been doin down at Tussahaw. Been goin pretty regularly myself for the past few weeks but its been off and on with some decent stringers and a real nice one, like in my pic, thrown every once in a while. Caught that one last week bout 830 with a bubblegum trick worm.


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## spud (May 4, 2011)

I went about a month ago and had a great trip, caught 3 over 5lbs and one over 4lbs all on a pig and jig. we plan on going this Saturday so I hope it is on for the large lips


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## THEBUCKETMOUTH (May 5, 2011)

*Heavy pressure*

There have been a lot of boats and bank fishermen. Most of the donkeys that fish out there keep the big bass and are killing the lake. I have seen a steady decline in the size of the bass in the past year. Also numbers have been way down as 10 fish is a good trip now where in the last two years it wasn't uncommon to catch 40 to 60 bass in a day. Way to ruin a good thing hcwsa. Letting anyone fish the lake. Look at the tags on the trucks. Henry county residents only??? You will see 20 to 30 trucks everyday from surrounding counties.


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## SpeedCrawlSlick (May 5, 2011)

Yeah, I'm not positive but when I got my permit I think I seen something stating that they were openin up to pretty much anyone who would pay. For a lot of people nowadays its all about the money. And your right its rediculous the way the fish have dropped since that first year they opened. Hopefully it can only get better from here but I'm not so sure.


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## spud (May 5, 2011)

Saturday I will check the tags on the trucks, I betcha one thing if I see some tags from other county's the HCWSA will here from me!!
That is what everyone needs to do.


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## SpeedCrawlSlick (May 5, 2011)

I'm with ya on that. Be there bright and early Friday mornin. Ill let ya know how we did and what we seen.


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## jerry russell (May 5, 2011)

We fished it last Sunday an it was VERY slow. The gate keeper said it was the slowest he had ever seen it. I guess the bass are in transition from the spawn. Believe it or not we caught 3 fish and the depths were 7, 20 and 26 feet of water. Caught them all on deep crankbaits.


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## G111 (May 5, 2011)

I am going Friday. I have not been there this year. I will let yall know how we do. aint skeered to share information


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## Cricket Chunker (May 5, 2011)

When I renewed my permit this year, I had to show proof of Henry Co residency.  And up through last year every time I went to the lake, the guy at the shack near the launch ramp kept my permit until we left.  

Are they not doing this anymore?  If they are, I don't see how anybody without a permit is getting a boat in (not sure about bank fishing). It could also be one of the persons in the boat has the permit and the other (a non-henry county resident) owns the boat.


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## snake bite (May 5, 2011)

You still have to be a henry co. resident to get a permit....at least you did when I got mine.  You can bring a guest and the boat does not have to belong to the permit holder.  I agree with the fish declining.  They say you cant keep but 5 bass per person but out of all the times I have been there, I have never had anyone check my livewell.  Not that I keep any bass but if one wanted to, no one is enforcing the rules.  They were going to close tussahaw this yr and open talawaga back up for a few years and let t-haw recoup but talawaga was completly full of hydrilla and they decided to wait till next yr to open it.  That lake is going to be LOADED with big bass.


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## THEBUCKETMOUTH (May 6, 2011)

I know Henry county water authority employees can fish even if they live in another county. I think I have seen clayton county employees there also. I wish they were following the rules but they are not.


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## SpeedCrawlSlick (May 6, 2011)

*results of friday am*

What a bust. Me and the wife fished from 8-12 and came out empty handed. Talked to guy at check in station, said about 10-15 boats had left already with only one bass caught out of all of em. Just one of those days I guess. Oh and for who was askin they do keep your permit while fishin. Just make sure you check it when you leave, he's gave me and a few other folks the wrong card when checkin out. Sucks especially when the guy he gave your card to has already left and it takes a couple days to get it back.


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## Randall (May 6, 2011)

You will see me there from time to time and I am from out of county. I get calls all the time from both people I know and people I don't know asking me if I would provide the boat and they would have the permit. Some of my buddys have a boat but we have used mine because it is larger and can go all over the lake. I am sure that is what you are seeing there because the guy always checks for the permit and drivers license. 

On the other hand there are more people keeping big bass out of that lake than any I have seen. I have had people show me the bass in coolers as I passed by and they are throwing back the smaller fish and culling up to the biggest limit they can get in many cases. Can't be good for the lake.


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## Cletus T. (May 6, 2011)

I haven’t fished the T-Haw since last summer on a blistering HOT day with my buddy Chris S. and we actually had a pretty solid day out there.  Caught a good many bass and most of them were healthy footballs in the 3-4 pound range.

I love the T-Haw and wished I could fish it more and that I lived closer but it sounds like it may be going downhill just a little……hopefully people will start keeping the smaller fish and letting the trophies become super trophies!!!

I hate to hear about it declining like that!!!!


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## Cricket Chunker (May 6, 2011)

THEBUCKETMOUTH said:


> I know Henry county water authority employees can fish even if they live in another county. I think I have seen clayton county employees there also. I wish they were following the rules but they are not.



Yes, I'm 99% sure they offer the benefit to each others employees.  I forgot about that too.

And since there are reports of boats blanking out on bass this week, how are the other species biting?  And what ever happened to the plan to stock stripers/hybrids in the Haw?


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## G111 (May 6, 2011)

we caught nine fish today on a variety. The first fish was big fish 61/2 lbs on a fluke after that is was all down hill on size. We caught a couple on pop r and a few on spinnerbait and 1 on trickworm. tough day of fishing all fish came off of brush fairly shallow


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## SpeedCrawlSlick (May 7, 2011)

Hey Cricket, like I said Friday was a bust for most people and the bass but there were some guys pullin out decent stringers of crappie. I see folks tied up to to the peeksville bridge a lot but I'm not sure if that's where they're really layn in to them or not.


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## THEBUCKETMOUTH (May 7, 2011)

Just talked to a buddy that has been fishing since daylight and caught nothing. I guess these idiots are really taking all the big fish home. You people should be . SERIOUSLY: If you keep the m'fing fish they wont be there next time. It really makes me angry to hear what Randall wrote. I wish there was something I could do to change 1 person's mind on catch and release. For the 1st year there were hardly any fish leaving the lake and the fishing was incredible. As more people found out about the lake the fish quality just keeps going down. Think about it 100 boats taking 10 fish each every day. How would there be any fish left? Seriously guys  LET THEM SWIM and you will see more and bigger catches.


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## spud (May 7, 2011)

Just left the t-haw ad fishing was REAL SLOW, caught 4 peanuts on a  zoom speed craw. everybody I talked to today said it was slow. One guy caught one that went 6.5lbs. Kinda to be expected though cause there was not a cloud in the sky and the water is real clear. Sometimes ya get um, some times ya don't


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## Money man (May 7, 2011)

THEBUCKETMOUTH said:


> Just talked to a buddy that has been fishing since daylight and caught nothing. I guess these idiots are really taking all the big fish home. You people should be . SERIOUSLY: If you keep the m'fing fish they wont be there next time. It really makes me angry to hear what Randall wrote. I wish there was something I could do to change 1 person's mind on catch and release. For the 1st year there were hardly any fish leaving the lake and the fishing was incredible. As more people found out about the lake the fish quality just keeps going down. Think about it 100 boats taking 10 fish each every day. How would there be any fish left? Seriously guys  LET THEM SWIM and you will see more and bigger catches.



Might wanna consider an edit here before the mods have their way with ya.


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## SpeedCrawlSlick (May 7, 2011)

Say Bucket, you wish u could do something to change folks minds about keepin so much weight? Sad thing is I don't think you'll have to, they're doin somethin themselves. Sooner or later they gotta be like "Hmm, where'd all the fish go? Oh yeah we killed em all!" All I can say is enjoy it while ya can cause I don't think anyones gonna do somethin to make it change.


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## dcrail (May 11, 2011)

Fishing has been a little tough out there due to the post spawn conditions and the fact that the lake level has recently(And suddenly) dropped about a foot,normally a foot drop in the lake level wouldn't have much effect but it does in certain areas where the fish like to congregate this time of year before going deep,especially when this lakes level rarely changes at all,even in the heat of summer when others have dropped significantly!!!!

I do agree that the lake is losing fish (some big,some small) to people that want some for dinner,which is fine,but also needs to be kept in check to ensure a good population in the future!!

Check your sonars on the way to your favorite spot and you'll see where the fish have moved,they're still in the lake,just not where we tend to like to fish for them!!!!Good luck!!!


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## Cletus T. (May 11, 2011)

I’d like to go to the T-Haw to see for myself…….the 2 times I’ve fished it…I’ve loved it and both times it was face melting hot and we still had a ball.

It’s about that time of year again to go get my face melted on the T-Haw….just got to find the time to hit and someone willing to take me!!!!


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## KLPAUL (May 11, 2011)

Just got off the Lake about an hour ago.  We caught 8 and I think 3 of them were smaller than my plastic worm.  None over a pound.  When we got off one boat had caught seventeen and then our eight was next highest.  The seventeen fished the dam area for most of the morning so we were told and that is where we caught 5 but it was already noon and getting hot.


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## THEBUCKETMOUTH (May 13, 2011)

I fished today and caught 3 small bass. I heard it was slow all day today.


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## SpeedCrawlSlick (May 14, 2011)

*it can only get better?*

It's good to see you folks are still catchin something. Even though we all know a dead day on the water is better than a day not on the water at all. Hopefully the optimistic guys are right and it will get better. I'm glad to hear from other folks goin down to Tussahaw and hope you will continue to give reports on how your doin from time to time as will I.


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## PANICFAN (Aug 18, 2014)

Just curious how the luck has been lately on this lake?


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## StudDog18 (Jun 22, 2015)

*Update*

I just started fishing the reservoir and was looking for an update as to how everyone was doing/what the large mouth seem to be hitting on. Noticed this thread hadn't been updated in a while. Also looking to hook a few crappie.


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