Advertisement

Bass Fishing

Lake Chatuge Mountain Bass In February

It seems counterintuitive to go north in the winter to catch bass, but Lake Chatuge largemouth and spots are moving from winter holes to prespawn structure and cover, and they offer great catching opportunities. February is a good month to land your personal best largemouth or spot on Chatuge. Chatuge is a 7,000-acre, 13-mile-long TVA…

Bucks, Ducks, And… Big Bass? You Bet

I totally get it—it’s tough to get motivated to hook up the bass boat this time of year. It’s cold, the water likely looks like ketchup, and those runs across the lake can inject a chill into your bones that only a steaming-hot shower and maybe a bowl of Brunswick stew can fix. But I…

Lake Seminole Bass Early To Bed

The typical Georgia bass angler isn’t thinking about prespawn patterns for January fishing. But Lake Seminole bass are well ahead of other Georgia lakes, and as the New Year begins, they are already in a hungry, prespawn mood. You can take advantage of this early prespawn mode to catch numbers and quality bass on Georgia’s…

Lake Blackshear Dependable December Bass Bite

Except for the die-hards, bass fishing might not be on the top of the outdoors to-do list in December. But Lake Blackshear might change that focus back to the water. Due to low water levels, shad migrations and cooler water temperatures, Lake Blackshear bass are stacking up on predictable structure and cover. You can catch…

Bassmaster Elites No Longer Pay To Play

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Professional bass fishing will never be the same. Ever. That’s a huge statement. In this case, it’s true. B.A.S.S. just announced that the Bassmaster Elite Series, heading into its 20th season, will no longer require entry fees. Yes, you heard that correctly. In 2025, competitors of the most prestigious tournament trail on…

A.H. Stephens State Park Lake Buncombe Topwater Bass

Back in the day, before internet search engines were around to give anglers instant information, we relied on word of mouth—or we hoped GON might send a writer—when looking for information on small lakes open to public fishing. It’s surprising how many small public lakes there still are where there’s simply no information about the…

Lake Russell November Bass Hotspots

November can be a spot-fest at Lake Russell as spotted bass move into coves and ditches feeding on shad. You can load the boat with spots—and a few largemouth, too—by fishing ledges in ditches and coves. Typically in November, the bass will be from the mouths of coves to halfway back. As the days shorten…

Guest Editorial-Opinion: Forward-Facing Sonar

I’ve worked in the fishing industry for 18 years, and I cannot remember a time when the bass-fishing world was more divided than now. New technology, “forward-facing sonar,” has anglers at odds with each other. Essentially, with an expensive screen unit and a trolling motor-mounted transducer, anglers are able to see, in live time, fish…

Alapaha River Bass & Bream

Almost every GON fishing story involves a local expert, most often it’s someone with hundreds, if not thousands, of hours spent on the subject body of water. I’ve worked on many such stories through the years with GON, and it amazes me how much you can learn through the experience of others. I’ll go ahead…

Lake Hartwell Topwater Collision

If you’ve ever come out of the canal in Mexico Beach, Fla. and run 3 miles south into the Gulf of Mexico along the buoy line and experienced fish busting on top as far as you could see, that’s what it reminded me of—even if I was hundreds of miles from the salt. The scene…