# Morgan Falls Dam Chattahoochee River Striper 3-14-2012



## JLClark (Mar 15, 2012)

I got a chance to get out with my buddy yesterday afternoon to Morgan Falls Dam on the Chattahoochee River and managed to catch 10 striped bass within and hour or so. Like shooting fish in a barrel! Videos coming soon!

On another note 253 people have signed our petition to use live bait on the river something that was legal last year and for the past 20 years and was just changed at the beginning of this year without notice to serve the interests of a select few. If you would like to learn about the details visit www . StriperFishingAtlanta DOT COM Think of the children, the first timers, the fishing challenged, the cat fisherman, the crappie fisherman, and the old timers who physically can't cast over and over again. 

We were the only boat on the river yesterday and there were no more people fishing from the dock or shore than usual.

Below are a few pictures from yesterday. They are back! Go out and get you some!



















And by the way, until this live bait rule is changed, I'm not going to stop posting pictures, videos or threads about the fish we catch on the river.  It's a shame your secret fishing hole has become collateral damage for our cause but you made it that way. Some people don't respond well to bullies, me being one of them.


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## blink (Mar 15, 2012)

Judah, that looks like a smallmouth, or Schmoalmouth maybe in the second to last photo!


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## T.P. (Mar 15, 2012)

Freakin cool man.


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## JLClark (Mar 15, 2012)

Yeh, it was a nice little sholie and a yellow perch in the other picture. There is a wide variety of fish in that area of the river. You never know what you are going to catch! 





blink said:


> Judah, that looks like a smallmouth, or Schmoalmouth maybe in the second to last photo!


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## Randy (Mar 15, 2012)

Might as well use live bait there.  That river is messed up already.  In fact that "shoalie" you have appears to be a mixed breed "smoalie" (smallmouth shoal bass mix).  Nice stripers BtW.


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## Cletus T. (Mar 15, 2012)

Nice stripes as well as the other fishies too!!!


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## JimC (Mar 15, 2012)

Nice catch, Looks fun. Well so if I wanted to go there and catch some yellow perch I guess I can't use minnows or worms seeing how that those are considered live bait. 
WTH   is with that.... Or how does it pertain to them.
Is there a ramp right there close to that dam where you are fishing I have a 15 foot flat with small outboard I would love to come try my hand there. I haven't done it because wasn't sure about running my boat with small outboard in river. 
Give more info I am wanting to come use our resources.
 Oh by the way I signed that petition, no comments added though. But I do agree that the law is stupid trout or no trout.


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## JLClark (Mar 15, 2012)

The live bait ban hurts us all perch fisherman, crappie fisherman, bass, striper you name it. I think the ruling will get changed soon though so stay tuned and thanks for signing the petition. You should be able to get your boat in there just be careful and go slow. Stay away from the ripples! South of the ramp will be tough to get down but north to the dam you should be fine. I took my 18' fish and ski with a 125 hp motor without hitting anything. I wouldn't do it again though. That was just beofre I sold it and got my jet boat.



JimC said:


> Nice catch, Looks fun. Well so if I wanted to go there and catch some yellow perch I guess I can't use minnows or worms seeing how that those are considered live bait.
> WTH   is with that.... Or how does it pertain to them.
> Is there a ramp right there close to that dam where you are fishing I have a 15 foot flat with small outboard I would love to come try my hand there. I haven't done it because wasn't sure about running my boat with small outboard in river.
> Give more info I am wanting to come use our resources.
> Oh by the way I signed that petition, no comments added though. But I do agree that the law is stupid trout or no trout.


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## JLClark (Mar 15, 2012)

A few more pictures from the fish we caught down south of the dam a few days back. Still think the striper haven't come up into the river? We've caught around 25 or so within the past few trips. 











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## Randy (Mar 15, 2012)

You first have to understand the introduction of non-native species to understand the live bait issue.


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## BradMyers (Mar 15, 2012)

JimC said:


> Nice catch, Looks fun. Well so if I wanted to go there and catch some yellow perch I guess I can't use minnows or worms seeing how that those are considered live bait.
> :


Not true, the ban only pertains to live baitfish. Go wide open with the worms and dead minnows too since cut bait is still legal. Just no live baitfish.

BTW nice report Judah!


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## JimC (Mar 15, 2012)

OK so I can use worms or anything like that just no LIVE CRAPPIE MINNOWS.  I guess I  could still bring my crappie minnows ,I just have to kill them first before I put them on the hook??? ...Hit em in the head with a baseball bat


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## geaux-fish (Mar 15, 2012)

Beautiful stripers, never knew you could catch them that big there. Signing the petition, doesn't make sense to stop live bait fishing, what is there no live bait in the river?


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## HeavyNeck91 (Mar 15, 2012)

so if your cant use live bait, what are you using?? I assume cut bait??


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## T.P. (Mar 15, 2012)

Randy said:


> You first have to understand the introduction of non-native species to understand the live bait issue.



Explain?


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## Randy (Mar 16, 2012)

T.P. said:


> Explain?



Transfer of any non-native species into a river system has the real potential to mess up the native species in that system.  We are experiencing a real issue on our rivers with spots now competing with native bass for forage and even inbreeding.  For instance the "shoalie" in the OP.  it appears to be a crossbreed between a shoalie and a smallmouth which were illegally transferred into the system.  This can over time breed out the native shoal bass.


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## olcaptain (Mar 16, 2012)

Great fish !!


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## Nitram4891 (Mar 16, 2012)

You are so awesome!  Do you take a picture of every fish you catch?  Man that is so cool that it's spring time and the stripers are coming up the river, who woulda thunk it?    Wtg!


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## BSBrown12 (Mar 16, 2012)

Totally understand what Randy is trying to say about the risk of live bait throwing the river out of shorts, and plus by looking at the pictures it does not appear you need live bait those are some pretty good fish.


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## lewdogg (Mar 16, 2012)

JLClark said:


> Some people don't respond well to bullies, me being one of them.



You being a bully? Seems about right to me.


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## MagSPot (Mar 16, 2012)

judah if you have caught a few you know if i go i will straight kill them. last time i was in your boat it was like 23 to 2 i think. but u did get one big one.


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## Doog (Mar 16, 2012)

blink said:


> Judah, that looks like a smallmouth, or Schmoalmouth maybe in the second to last photo!



I'm inclined to call that a smallmouth too.


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## JLClark (Mar 16, 2012)

You are good. I've never seen anyone catch as many fish as you. To my defense catching one and catching it one on video takes allot of my time. If I wasn't messing with my gear I'd catch more fish. But, I did get the biggest fish of the day and the first fish of the day if I remember correctly. Below is a video of that biggest fish. I almost got spooled because I strung up my smaller reel with 30 to 40 pound mono, not much line and the fish was running for a shoal. When I remembered how heavy my line was I put the breaks on it just in time. Check out the color on this fish. It wasn't healthy looking at all but was beautiful with crazy yellow coloring. It was around 41" long and only 26 to 27 Pounds. 





MagSPot said:


> judah if you have caught a few you know if i go i will straight kill them. last time i was in your boat it was like 23 to 2 i think. but u did get one big one.


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## JLClark (Mar 16, 2012)

I'll post a short video tomorrow so you guys can see it better. What ever it was it was a feisty little fellow.


Doog said:


> I'm inclined to call that a smallmouth too.


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## Dirk (Mar 17, 2012)

Now that was an Awesome video. You did not show the exact river location you were at, but still great footage and great job on the release. I caught and released one that looked a lot like that fish (lots of yellow, especially fins) a couple years ago but probably not the same one unless it lost a few pound. Catch and release works though fellas. I broke of a 30 lber once and my buddy Chris Stockton fished where I was at and caught the same fish (and got my hook back) a few days later... 

Once again, well done Judah and that video was PERFECT in my opinion and no one should have a problem with it.







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## JLClark (Mar 17, 2012)

Thanks for the compliments Dirk. I'm almost positive that was the same fish. One thing I have noticed is that every striper has different patterns like a finger print and the markings on your fish in the picture and mine in the video is very similar. So is the yellow coloring and the foggy coloring in the eyes. That's really cool! You caught that fish in 2009 and I caught it in 2011. Catch and release does work and it works better in the river during the hot summer months. I caught that fish in August. That's one reason I film each fish close up to see all the stripes to possibly identify it in the future. 





Dirk said:


> Now that was an Awesome video. You did not show the exact river location you were at, but still great footage and great job on the release. I caught and released one that looked a lot like that fish (lots of yellow, especially fins) a couple years ago but probably not the same one unless it lost a few pound. Catch and release works though fellas. I broke of a 30 lber once and my buddy Chris Stockton fished where I was at and caught the same fish (and got my hook back) a few days later...
> 
> Once again, well done Judah and that video was PERFECT in my opinion and no one should have a problem with it.


[/QUOTE]


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## JLClark (Mar 17, 2012)

Dirk, Here is a picture of that fish.


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## T.P. (Mar 17, 2012)

I'm gonna say that is the same fish. The 9 dots are exactly the same......


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## shakey gizzard (Mar 17, 2012)

T.P. said:


> I'm gonna say that is the same fish. The 9 dots are exactly the same......



Its the same!Nice catches!


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## T.P. (Mar 17, 2012)

How far apart did each of you catch this fish? It's one thing for a fish to be caught twice or more, but another to have the it's picture taken twice in exactly the same pose with two different anglers 3 years apart and show up in the same thread in a fishing forum. That's pretty cool.


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## JLClark (Mar 17, 2012)

If Dirk was I think he was about 10 miles apart. 





T.P. said:


> How far apart did each of you catch this fish? It's one thing for a fish to be caught twice or more, but another to have the it's picture taken twice in exactly the same pose with two different anglers 3 years apart and show up in the same thread in a fishing forum. That's pretty cool.


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## JLClark (Mar 17, 2012)

By the way, my buddy stopped by Morgan falls and Jones Bride today to check on the water late afternoon and there was not one boat or trailer at either park. In fact, he said he only saw one lady fishing from shore with a zebco. This is despite all my videos and posts about the fish being there lately and for the past two years. Today was Saturday perfect weather around 70 to 80 degrees and the water was low. It's getting real crowded guys!


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## JLClark (Mar 17, 2012)

That is cool! 


T.P. said:


> How far apart did each of you catch this fish? It's one thing for a fish to be caught twice or more, but another to have the it's picture taken twice in exactly the same pose with two different anglers 3 years apart and show up in the same thread in a fishing forum. That's pretty cool.


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## Dirk (Mar 17, 2012)

We were about 10 river miles apart I think TP. I caught it back in 2009 with a live bait(gizzard shad I think) behind a planer board while anchored up (current kept planer out to the side).


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## JLClark (Mar 17, 2012)

So cool it's worthy of it's own thread!


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## Hookum (Mar 18, 2012)

JLClark said:


> So cool it's worthy of it's own thread!


Agreed!  Thats awesome guys!!!

I'd love to fish Morgan with you one time.


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## MTMiller (Mar 18, 2012)

cool man, would they bite dead shad, the ones you can buy from wal-mart in red or silver in the catfishing deptartment?  I gotta get back out there soon.


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## Sweetwater (Mar 25, 2012)

Lookee what I found sniffin around...

Seems there is this top secret striper fishin hole at a place called Morgan Falls.....and some other spots downstream.

I found out about it in this post...

FROM 1997...:lol:

http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/boards/ngto3/messages/616.html



> The Stripers below Morgan Falls are definitly a
> : big plus to the phenomenal "Hooch" fishery, although
> : many will not share that opinion. The fact is they haven't
> : had a hook in a 20 lb+ fish that is trying to rip
> ...


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## GARoughneck (Apr 5, 2012)

*Great Striper!*

Judah,

Great fish, Im thinking my avatar was the little teenage brother to yours and Dirk's fish.


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## JLClark (Apr 6, 2012)

Thanks a nice fish too! I love them all big and small!



GARoughneck said:


> Judah,
> 
> Great fish, Im thinking my avatar was the little teenage brother to yours and Dirk's fish.


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## torrente1 (Apr 7, 2012)

They're up already-holy smokes I'm going tomorrow!!


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## gatrout (Jun 6, 2012)

I thought these Stripers were sterile and were not reproducing in the river...


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## sburnette (Jun 6, 2012)

On another note Judah, what video camera are you using? I am trying to find one to mount in my boat to video the stripers. Thanks.. And great videos on youtube! Enjoy them!


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## darkstan (Jun 6, 2012)

Hey, congrats on those huge catches! I am curious bout conditions on that part of the Chattahoochee. About 8 years ago I made a run from farther down the river all the way to where Atlanta draws water out of the river. I recognize sections from your pics. Along the way I passed 7 or 8 sewage discharge pipes about 8 feet in diameter and each one had a white foamy liquid running out into the river. I knew I was getting close to one by the extreme chlorine smell and my eyes would begin to burn terribly. I guess I rode about 13 miles from put in to where the kayak run with the huge boulders are in place to block anyone from continuing upriver where the trout are and the million dollar homes are,lol. My question or thought is.....Is the pollution, trash, plastic sheeting, furniture, dead animals, bags of trash, tires, industrial junk, and just overall filth still present there. AND do most of the fish caught have sores all over them?


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## striper commander (Jun 6, 2012)

Yeah that stretch of river is super nasty. I have noticed sores on the spotted bass I have caught.


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## Dustin Pate (Jun 6, 2012)

gatrout said:


> I thought these Stripers were sterile and were not reproducing in the river...



Yes they are reproducing. Stripers are not sterile and even hybrids aren't to a very limited extent (less than 5%). The main thing involved is that the eggs must have a certain amount of float time or they will sink to the bottom and die.


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## bigfishheads (Jun 11, 2012)

sburnette said:


> On another note Judah, what video camera are you using? I am trying to find one to mount in my boat to video the stripers. Thanks.. And great videos on youtube! Enjoy them!



hey Burnette
Judah (and many of the rest of us) use the GoPro Cameras. They are really great for underwater and rough conditions. They are actually really affordable. I found that I get about 4 hours of recording on a 36 m card. So we just turn it on and don't worry about it. I would def recommend getting one, it is a great camera for outdoors.


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## krazywayne (Jun 11, 2012)

bigfishheads said:


> hey Burnette
> Judah (and many of the rest of us) use the GoPro Cameras. They are really great for underwater and rough conditions. They are actually really affordable. I found that I get about 4 hours of recording on a 36 m card. So we just turn it on and don't worry about it. I would def recommend getting one, it is a great camera for outdoors.



I have been shong for a good camera and this is the one I am leaning towards... You may have just made up my mind for me! Thanks! Photos and video to come soon!


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