# Lake blue ridge



## jeremyledford (Apr 14, 2016)

I fished blueridge yesterday. Water temp varied from about 55-58degrees. I didn't put in till about 8:30 am but the bite was on with the sun. The spots were eating well from 6fow-15. Also caught a few on a fluke chasing bait about 10 feet down over a 130ft bottom. Fished from the dam to the river mouth and caught fish all over. No smallies on this trip, but did catch a new species by accident. Also made the spots pay for ruining my smallmouth fishery. This lakes' decline is sad. If it weren't for the view of the mountains and watching fish follow a swimbait back to the boat(and not eating) I wouldn't even drive 150miles to go up there anymore.


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## jeremyledford (Apr 14, 2016)

One of the spots I'm eating tonight. Why there's a 10 fish limit on this lake still I'll never understand...


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## KKrueger (Apr 14, 2016)

Heck yeah dude.


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## Kestas69 (Apr 14, 2016)

How  did you catch that walleye ?


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## riceburner (Apr 14, 2016)

Make'em pay !! I've had the pleasure of catching and releasing many smallmouth in that lake and its heart breaking to hear about the changes there. It was also an outstanding bluegill/bream fishery before spots also.


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## Fishlipps Revisited (Apr 14, 2016)

that's what happens when some ignorant, jackleg "bucket biologists" mess with things they have no knowledge of...


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## jeremyledford (Apr 14, 2016)

Both fish pictured were caught on a 5in swimbait. As far as the bream go, I'm still seeing a bunch of massive ones, although I have never targeted them specifically.


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## jeremyledford (Apr 14, 2016)

Fishlipps Revisited said:


> that's what happens when some ignorant, jackleg "bucket biologists" mess with things they have no knowledge of...



You're exactly right. A few idiots ruined my favorite  fishery in the state.


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## Fishlipps Revisited (Apr 14, 2016)

jeremyledford said:


> You're exactly right. A few idiots ruined my favorite  fishery in the state.



sadly, it's not the only one they've ruined....


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## Mr. P (Apr 15, 2016)

Years back there were signs at the ramps on BR to keep and remove all spotted bass caught regardless of size. Did the DNR change their position on this?

This lake is another prime example of what happens when people introduce non native species to a lake. BR used to be one of the best walleye and SM fisheries in the state and now it's just another spot lake with not enough "groceries" to support all the fish. Same thing happened with Chatuge, smallies just about gone.


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## lampern (Apr 15, 2016)

Nice walleye.

The DNR is interested in returning muskellunge to the lake.

They could eat some of the spotted bass and herring.

Do the walleye and white bass even reproduce there anymore?


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## jeremyledford (Apr 15, 2016)

There are still signs stating that spots are not native and anglers are "encouraged" to keep their limit. Why in the heck there is a limit still frustrates me!
I caught a decent white bass on this trip also. I'm sure they still reproduce but it's probably all but a lost cause.


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## jeremyledford (Apr 15, 2016)

As far as white bass go I never catch them busting bait nor have I seen a river run while spawning. The one I did catch was fat and happy, though. 

Lampern, I appreciate your knowledge and continued work to get DNR to actually do their job. 
Will musky do well in the lake without any abundance of grass? Won't the regular draw down hurt them? I'm pretty uneducated as far as their specific needs.


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## lampern (Apr 15, 2016)

In NC where I have fished for them they rarely reproduce.

They used to be in Blue Ridge many years ago apparently.

I guess they could not reproduce? 

The state record fish is from 1957 and there is no way to know if the lake can support these fish again habitat wise.

Glad to see some white bass and walleye still hanging on.

All is not lost.


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## jeremyledford (Apr 15, 2016)

I hear ya. Without any natural predators I guess there is not a huge need for them to reproduce anyway. All is not lost, but there sure weren't any smallies biting where there should have been. My holes of the past are full of spots.


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## lampern (Apr 15, 2016)

Its a shame whats happening to the smallies for sure.

So try something different.

Tiger muskellunge are a good species to control other species:

http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/dow...-water/Tiger-Muskie-Management-Brief-2014.pdf



> The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has used tiger muskies (Esox
> masquinongy X Esox lucius) as a biological control tool against undesirable
> fish species for the past ten years in Bluewater and Quemado Reservoirs.


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## The mtn man (Apr 17, 2016)

Those that say the folks that stocked the spots and herring didn't know what they were doing, I have to say they knew exactly what they were doing. There are some that could care less about other species in a fishery, some want to have the luxery of catching fish after fish, culling as they go to have a big weigh in.


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## NCHillbilly (Apr 17, 2016)

jeremyledford said:


> Will musky do well in the lake without any abundance of grass? Won't the regular draw down hurt them? I'm pretty uneducated as far as their specific needs.



Musky are in several lakes and rivers in western NC, and we don't have grass. They are native here. They do just fine in Fontana with sometimes 100' winter drawdowns. They reproduce, too.



cklem said:


> Those that say the folks that stocked the spots and herring didn't know what they were doing, I have to say they knew exactly what they were doing. There are some that could care less about other species in a fishery, some want to have the luxery of catching fish after fish, culling as they go to have a big weigh in.



Absolutely. It doesn't matter to them if they screw up a lake, as long as they can get that bass tournament money. I'd like to sink some folks in a couple of the lakes here they've ruined.


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## spencer12 (Apr 17, 2016)

Im a little new to this Blue Ridge Discussion, as Im a long ways away, but what happened to the lake exactly? When were the spots introduced and the herring and by whom? Just curious as to what happened to this beautiful lake.


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## Tigerbass (Apr 17, 2016)

spencer12 said:


> Im a little new to this Blue Ridge Discussion, as Im a long ways away, but what happened to the lake exactly? When were the spots introduced and the herring and by whom? Just curious as to what happened to this beautiful lake.



Interested as well as to who "stocks" spotted bass, or how they are getting, in so many lakes in the southeast.


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## Browning Slayer (Apr 17, 2016)

spencer12 said:


> Just curious as to what happened to this beautiful lake.



Tournament fisherman...


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## jeremyledford (Apr 17, 2016)

Same as what happened to Jackson lake....


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## spencer12 (Apr 17, 2016)

I'm assuming the spots must out compete the smallmouths or inhabit a similar range? I apologize if this is common knowledge but I'm genuinely curious I'm almost in Fla so I've never had the pleasure of fishing for smallmouths or spots.


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## Fishlipps Revisited (Apr 17, 2016)

spots and smallmouths will interbreed......then, you lose the pure strain of smallies....


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## lampern (Apr 17, 2016)

Fishlipps Revisited said:


> spots and smallmouths will interbreed......then, you lose the pure strain of smallies....



Alabama spots (Alabama bass) will interbreed with smallies.


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## Cashvaluerecovery (Apr 18, 2016)

lampern said:


> Nice walleye.
> 
> The DNR is interested in returning muskellunge to the lake.
> 
> ...



100% for sure both species reproduce successfully in this lake. They havent stocked either here for some time now. I have watched the white bass spawn along the river bank 2 years in a row. There werent but a few dozen i saw but they were all 3lbs +. I have also seen them under dock lights in the dozens.

As for the walleye.........I still have very limited luck catching them on this lake but I did prove last summer they reproduce here. I dont know how well but no doubt about it as I caught a total of 13 baby walleye from 5 inches to 12 inches on my sabiki rig at night while trying to catch herring for trolling.


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## ShoalBandit (Apr 18, 2016)

spencer12 said:


> I'm assuming the spots must out compete the smallmouths or inhabit a similar range? I apologize if this is common knowledge but I'm genuinely curious I'm almost in Fla so I've never had the pleasure of fishing for smallmouths or spots.



These are actually Alabama bass (_Micropterus henshalli_) not spotted bass (_Micropterus punctulatus_) in Blue Ridge. The Alabama bass was considered a subspecies of spotted bass until 2008 when it was formally described as a separate species. Most anglers still call both species 'spotted bass' but it's important to make this distinction because spotted bass and smallmouth bass are both native to the Mississippi/Tennessee drainage. While introgressive hybridization between native smallmouth and spotted bass does happen ('meanmouth') it's kind of rare compared to what happens when Alabama bass are introduced. 

Several studies have shown black bass readily hybridize with other species when humans introduce them outside their native range. Alabama bass for example hybridize extensively with all native species (including largemouth) so the problem at Blue Ridge and many other lakes is two-fold. Invasive Alabama bass thrive in deep manmade impoundments which allows the species to proliferate rapidly so they not only outcompete native species for habitats and resources but as their numbers increase native species are more likely to spawn with nonnative Alabama bass. The smallmouth at Lake Blue Ridge are slowly being wiped out through introgressive hybridization.

Alabama bass, (_Micropterus henshalli_) native to the Mobile Bay drainage basin






Spotted bass, (_Micropterus punctulatus_) native to the Mississippi drainage basin





Alabama bass are native ONLY to the Mobile Bay drainage basin. This is a crude map I made so you can see the extent of this range. Carters Lake, Lake Allatoona, Lake Weiss, Neely Henry, Logan Martin, Lay, Mitchell, Jordan, Wedowee, Martin, Lewis Smith, etc... all have native populations of Alabama bass. 






This map shows all (major) drainages Alabama bass have been illegally introduced (BY ANGLERS). This includes: Lake Lanier, Lake Jackson, Lake Sinclair, Lake Oconee, Lake Blue Ridge, Lake Nottely, Lake Chatuge, Parksville Lake, Fontana Lake, Lakes Burton, Seed, Rabun, Yonah and Tugalo, Lake Keowee, Lake Jocassee, Lake Hartwell, Lake Russell, Clarks Hill, Lake Wylie, and Lake Norman. Alabama bass have also been illegally introduced to Claytor Lake in Virginia which is on the New River (off the map).


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## Andy O (Apr 18, 2016)

It's the Law of Unintended Consequences, that always rears its ugly head when people do things without sound science backing them up. Anglers introducing fish into a system where they are not native can ( and usually does) have devastating effects on native species. Even the introduction of sterile species such as triploid grass carp to "control" vegetation can have damaging effects.


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## NCHillbilly (Apr 18, 2016)

Fontana is scary, as it is one of the best smallmouth lakes left in the area. I first started catching a few spots (Alabama bass) in there about fifteen years or so ago, now they are more common than smallmouth or largemouth in many areas of the lake. There are a couple small lakes in western NC that used to be great smallmouth fisheries, that are now choked out with scads of stunted spots that are mostly too small to legally keep.


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## spencer12 (Apr 18, 2016)

Good info shoal interesting stuff.


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## lampern (Apr 18, 2016)

Alabama bass are now in the Broad River drainage of NC and SC.


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## toyota4x4h (Apr 20, 2016)

A friend told me they are letting ppl keep any and all sizes of the bama bass that have taken over Parksville lake up here near me.


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## lampern (Apr 21, 2016)

toyota4x4h said:


> A friend told me they are letting ppl keep any and all sizes of the bama bass that have taken over Parksville lake up here near me.



TN is much more liberal with their bass harvest

GA even protects spotted bass in Lanier


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## Mtn. Hunter (Apr 21, 2016)

Fishlipps Revisited, jeremyledford,   Here is what you get when idiots fool with something they should never touch. Here is a 4 lb.+ meanmouth that I recently caught at Blue Ridge. For those of you that don't know-this is a cross between a smallmouth and a spotted bass.  Im mad and have been for over 20 years about the folks that jacked up Blue Ridge Lake. It used to be nothing for me to catch 25-30 walleye on the full moon periods. I used to catch bukoos of smallmouth; also.Blue Ridge was a good lake before the spotted bass and bluebacks; but you had to know how to fish the lake. the lake was tough for most folks. I have had to completely re-learn how to fish the lake after the bluebacks. This lake does'nt even seem like the same lake. Sure, I can catch the spotted bass and some magnums; but the lake is'nt the same. I have fished the lake for over 35 yrs. I keep every spotted bass I catch up to the limit- from 8 in. to 6 lbs and hope everyone else does. This is just a classic example of our all about me world today.


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## jeremyledford (Apr 22, 2016)

Mtn. Hunter said:


> Fishlipps Revisited, jeremyledford,   Here is what you get when idiots fool with something they should never touch. Here is a 4 lb.+ meanmouth that I recently caught at Blue Ridge. For those of you that don't know-this is a cross between a smallmouth and a spotted bass.  Im mad and have been for over 20 years about the folks that jacked up Blue Ridge Lake. It used to be nothing for me to catch 25-30 walleye on the full moon periods. I used to catch bukoos of smallmouth; also.Blue Ridge was a good lake before the spotted bass and bluebacks; but you had to know how to fish the lake. the lake was tough for most folks. I have had to completely re-learn how to fish the lake after the bluebacks. This lake does'nt even seem like the same lake. Sure, I can catch the spotted bass and some magnums; but the lake is'nt the same. I have fished the lake for over 35 yrs. I keep every spotted bass I catch up to the limit- from 8 in. to 6 lbs and hope everyone else does. This is just a classic example of our all about me world today.



That's a beast of a meanmouth. 

I wish I was able to call this my home lake while it was in it's prime. Would have loved to have fished it with you back in its' day!

Seems like it's all over but the crying for lake blue ridge.


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## gsueagles12 (Apr 22, 2016)

Seems like we should just poison the lake and start over or dump stripers in it and make it like every other lake in georgia.... 

That's a great fish though. Bet it was a good fight!


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## Cashvaluerecovery (Apr 23, 2016)

gsueagles12 said:


> Seems like we should just poison the lake and start over or dump stripers in it and make it like every other lake in georgia....
> 
> That's a great fish though. Bet it was a good fight!



Starting over means bluebacks and spots within the first year. Its just to easy to get it started again.


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## spencer12 (Apr 23, 2016)

As a georgia resident I feel a bit discouraged reading all these replies, again as I mentioned above I've never fished the north Ga lakes but to see such a unique lake fall to something like this is disheartening.


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## jeremyledford (Apr 23, 2016)

Cashvaluerecovery said:


> Starting over means bluebacks and spots within the first year. Its just to easy to get it started again.



Sad, but true. I'm rarely for more regulations, but I wouldn't be sad at all if it were illegal to possess a live spot on the lake. That would fix the tournament problem and still allow me to throw em in the cooler. It won't happen and it's not that practical... But something needs to be done. GA DNR needs to step up.


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## lampern (Apr 23, 2016)

gsueagles12 said:


> Seems like we should just poison the lake and start over or dump stripers in it and make it like every other lake in georgia....
> 
> That's a great fish though. Bet it was a good fight!



Stripers and tiger muskies!


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## jeremyledford (Apr 23, 2016)

lampern said:


> Stripers and tiger muskies!



Anything but the heartbreak it is right now. If it were only a Muskie lake then it would at least be known for something again!!


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## Cashvaluerecovery (Apr 23, 2016)

jeremyledford said:


> Sad, but true. I'm rarely for more regulations, but I wouldn't be sad at all if it were illegal to possess a live spot on the lake. That would fix the tournament problem and still allow me to throw em in the cooler. It won't happen and it's not that practical... But something needs to be done. GA DNR needs to step up.



 Im not sure something has changed limit wise but the one and only time I have ever been checked on blue ridge for license the warden/dnr guy reminded me to keep/kill every spotted bass i caught little or big.

 So im not quite sure they enforce any state creel or size limit there in regards to spots.


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## jeremyledford (Apr 24, 2016)

Cashvaluerecovery said:


> Im not sure something has changed limit wise but the one and only time I have ever been checked on blue ridge for license the warden/dnr guy reminded me to keep/kill every spotted bass i caught little or big.
> 
> So im not quite sure they enforce any state creel or size limit there in regards to spots.



The signs at the ramp still say the limit is 10. Whether or not this is enforced is beyond me. We are protecting an invasive species on this lake. Makes crazy sense...


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## ShoalBandit (Apr 25, 2016)

Here's a couple smallmouth from the Toccoa River (a few years ago) just for comparison.











BTW no amount of money can fix this problem and even if it could the science doesn't exist. If they built a low-head dam today above the lake on the Toccoa River you could restore and maintain a smallmouth population in the river through saturation stocking. Texas Parks & Wildlife did the same thing with Guadalupe bass in the South Llano river a few years ago but they didn't have to build a dam it was already there (near Junction, TX).


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## jeremyledford (Apr 25, 2016)

Pretty cool bandit!
Question: is there any way to run up above lake blue ridge in a 1648 and trout fish? I've been up a little ways but never to any shoals of sort. Anybody do any other fishing up there minus the walleye run? It's pretty up that way.


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## lampern (Apr 25, 2016)

Do you really think the Alabama bass will take over the river above the lake?


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## ShoalBandit (Apr 26, 2016)

jeremyledford said:


> Pretty cool bandit!
> Question: is there any way to run up above lake blue ridge in a 1648 and trout fish? I've been up a little ways but never to any shoals of sort. Anybody do any other fishing up there minus the walleye run? It's pretty up that way.


Thanks! I don't think so due of the channel gradient in some areas. Water flowing downhill at a high rate of speed around bedrock outcrops...it's really canoe/kayak water. I know some people say they can go anywhere a kayak can go but I wouldn't try it. lol


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## deermaster13 (Apr 26, 2016)

Very good thread guys. Some interesting info here.


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## ShoalBandit (Apr 26, 2016)

lampern said:


> Do you really think the Alabama bass will take over the river above the lake?


It's just a matter of time because it's happening everywhere they've been introduced. I really need to start another thread using the last 25+ years at Lanier as an example but at Blue Ridge you have (or will soon have) a 3,300 acre reservoir of Alabama bass genetics. Up the Toccoa River you still have a catchable population of native smallmouth bass (for now). Somewhere between the lake and the river there's a section where these two populations mix. This contact zone is probably several miles long and contains mostly Smallmouth x Alabama hybrids. Hybrid individuals on the Toccoa River side of this contact zone are obviously more likely to encounter native smallmouth so every year this zone advances farther up the river. Some years a drought or some other condition may slow the erosion of native smallmouth genetics but the reservoir is like a base camp for Alabama bass. Sooner or later they will take over the river. This is just my opinion but they'll take over the Toccoa a lot faster because it's a relatively small river and it doesn't have any major drops or waterfalls that might act as a barrier to slow the advance of nonnative genetics like the Chestatee, Chattahoochee, Chattooga, etc...


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## lampern (Apr 26, 2016)

I was just assuming the river was too cold for alabama bass.

I guess not.


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## Cashvaluerecovery (Apr 27, 2016)

lampern said:


> I was just assuming the river was too cold for alabama bass.
> 
> I guess not.



There is a certain point up rivers where spots dont do as well as smallmouth or shoal bass. Like on lanier when I walleye fish up the hooch. Once I get past so many shoals and into clearer colder water it seems to turn to shoal bass only for me as oppose to the slower slightly warmer water ya find almost only spots. I dont know the reasons be it colder or water flow but the brown fish seem to like it better.


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## ripplerider (Apr 28, 2016)

jeremyledford said:


> Pretty cool bandit!
> Question: is there any way to run up above lake blue ridge in a 1648 and trout fish? I've been up a little ways but never to any shoals of sort. Anybody do any other fishing up there minus the walleye run? It's pretty up that way.



You might run a very short distance up and catch a few trout during the winter but the lower end quickly gets too warm for trout in pretty weather you will destroy your boat trying to get to trout water right now. They will migrate downstream a certain amount in the cold months but they have to head upstream when the temps rise.


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## jeremyledford (Apr 28, 2016)

ripplerider said:


> You might run a very short distance up and catch a few trout during the winter but the lower end quickly gets too warm for trout in pretty weather you will destroy your boat trying to get to trout water right now. They will migrate downstream a certain amount in the cold months but they have to head upstream when the temps rise.



Thanks a lot for that info. I've only once ever seen another boat up there. I'm tempted to take my cast net and net some bait and just let it sit in one of the deep holes of the river and see what bites. I see cats swimming often and sometimes even catch them on a fluke just messing around. Good info in this thread y'all. Thanks for learnin' me something!


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## lampern (Apr 28, 2016)

http://www.georgiawildlife.org/node/2603

Drop the WRD an email to improve fishing at Blue Ridge


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## lazaruslong (May 2, 2016)

You should be required to keep or bash every spot you catch on the head before throwing it back in. Those things have ruined many a prime largemouth and smallmouth fishery.


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## jeremyledford (May 2, 2016)

lazaruslong said:


> You should be required to keep or bash every spot you catch on the head before throwing it back in. Those things have ruined many a prime largemouth and smallmouth fishery.



Some will disagree but this is why I am for making it illegal to possess a live spot on the lake. If we can do it with baitfish, why can't we with a bass? Kill them and put them in a cooler. Don't make them legal to weigh in during tournaments. Why is there a limit on these fish still? DNR is doing nothing more than "encouraging" anglers to keep their limit. It's pitiful. 

Please consider contacting GA WRD like lampern posted above.


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## Fishlipps Revisited (May 2, 2016)

as long as you have these moronic "bucket biologists" running around screwing things up, there's not much the DNR can do......

even if they could snap their fingers and remove them all today, some jackleg clown would put them right back in.....

also, if you catch them, and quietly dispatch/dispose of them, who's gonna know?....


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## gsueagles12 (May 2, 2016)

Maybe someone should host a tournament just for spots/alabama bass and make it mandatory to keep and release them in grease! Use some of the money to fund stocking the lake with smallmouth or musky  or whatever else besides 10 inch spots/alabama bass. In the meantime, i will be dropping dynamite in the lake and doing my part.


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## jeremyledford (May 2, 2016)

Fishlipps Revisited said:


> as long as you have these moronic "bucket biologists" running around screwing things up, there's not much the DNR can do......
> 
> even if they could snap their fingers and remove them all today, some jackleg clown would put them right back in.....
> 
> also, if you catch them, and quietly dispatch/dispose of them, who's gonna know?....



It's a loss. I accept it as so, but I have a tough time with the fact that I would have to break the law in order to do a common sense deed.


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## jeremyledford (May 2, 2016)

gsueagles12 said:


> Maybe someone should host a tournament just for spots/alabama bass and make it mandatory to keep and release them in grease! Use some of the money to fund stocking the lake with smallmouth or musky  or whatever else besides 10 inch spots/alabama bass. In the meantime, i will be dropping dynamite in the lake and doing my part.



We really should get a GON get together going and have a little safelight to 5pm tourney and have the grease at the ramp and cook some dinner. Get some hushpuppies and spots going for dinner!


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## NGPhoenix (Jun 16, 2016)

Me and a friend are making our first trip up there Saturday.  We want to catch fish.....largemouth, Spots, smallies, white bass....whatever.  We just want to reel them in.  Can someone give us advice on where might be the most productive area and what to fish with (we fish artificial).  We'd love to cull some of those Spots for you.


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## jeremyledford (Jun 16, 2016)

NGPhoenix said:


> Me and a friend are making our first trip up there Saturday.  We want to catch fish.....largemouth, Spots, smallies, white bass....whatever.  We just want to reel them in.  Can someone give us advice on where might be the most productive area and what to fish with (we fish artificial).  We'd love to cull some of those Spots for you.



Replied via your other thread. Good luck!


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## ripplerider (Jun 18, 2016)

I caught a 3 lb. channel cat all the way up at Deep Hole last week. Water is warming very fast this year. I realize cats are present in our rivers naturally, I've seen a similar sized one caught above the 180 bridge a few years ago, but it was a disappointment to me. For a minute I thought I had a nice brown trout on the way it was boring deep.


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