Angler Completes Georgia Bass Slam From Kayak

Georgia is home 10 species of black bass. The two most common, which most anglers are familiar with, are the largemouth and spotted species. The remaining eight are smallmouth, shoal, Suwannee, redeye, Chattahoochee, Tallapoosa, Altamaha and the Bartram’s.

If you catch five of the 10 in one calendar year, you have become eligible to be recognized as completing DNR’s Georgia Bass Slam. In order to be officially recognized on Georgia’s DNR website, you need to submit photos. Each fish must be legal length, or at least 8 inches if there is no length minimum.

Successful Slam Anglers are listed on Georgia’s DNR website and receive stickers, decals, certificate and passes to Georgia’s Go Fish Education Center.

John Harper recently achieved Georgia Bass Slam status using his kayak.

If you are looking to change it up or looking for a challenge, I encourage you to try to catch different species of black bass. Until recently I mainly targeted largemouth. When I targeted and caught my first smallmouth, I was ecstatic, even though it was probably less than 12 inches.

I recently made a trip to the Flint River with a buddy so we could both attempt to catch our first shoal bass. You should have seen the smile on my face after I caught my first shoalie. It likely weighed under a pound, but with my smile, you would have thought it was a 10-lb. largemouth.

Want extra bragging rights? There are only a couple of anglers who have credit for catching all 10. I like to brag a little bit. I recently achieved the Slam using only my kayak, which has no electronics or any propulsion other than my paddle.

For full details about the Georgia Bass Slam and to view a list of all anglers who have achieved it, go to www.georgiawildlife.com/fishing/angler-resources/GeorgiaBassSlam.