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Fishing
Latest Fishing Articles
Scott Hayes holds the current Lake Jackson striped bass record with a 27-lb. fish he caught in June 1985. A few weeks earlier, Scott’s dad, Guy, caught a big striper in the same stretch of Lake Jackson that weighed 24 pounds. “They were both caught at the headwaters of Lake Jackson at the Alcovy River…
The official record bass from the Altamaha has stood the test of time, but it wasn’t recognized for most that time. Discovering a bucketmouth from the past is like finding an old Boone & Crockett buck, but it’s much more difficult. An old buck’s rack can be officially measured, but and old fish had to…
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Bass Fishing
Everyone has heard about the good winter ditch bite at Lake Lanier, but how do you locate those fish and catch them? James Harmon, known as “Lanier Jim,” or LJ for short, has spent years learning to read electronics and using them to catch Lanier bass, and his tips will help you. In 2012, I…
During the late fall and early winter, bass at Lake Jackson are feeding on seawalls early and then moving to deeper rocks when the sun gets bright. Follow them and fish with a variety of baits, from topwater to jigs, to catch numbers and quality of bass this month. Dammed in 1910, Jackson is one…
Another year comes to a close this month, as the dreaded month of January looms in the not-so-distant future. North to south, east to west, if you’re in the state of Georgia, you can look at December as a “last chance” kind of month. The hype of deer season has all but faded away, and…
Hybrid Fishing
With a hint of excitement in his voice, Lake Juliette fishing guide Jeff Mooney said, “Watch that pole, it’s going down!” He pointed at the rod next to Bob Turner and, as Jeff predicted, a slight bend in the rod became a deep arc toward the water as the striper pulled out line and the…
Live-bait fishing for hybrids and stripers can be crazy good this time of year on Clarks Hill, with limits in minutes when the fish are bunched on points and humps feeding on herring—if you’re there at the right time. If you’d like to see proof, take a look at fishing guide Eddie Mason’s Facebook page…
Josh McDonald, of Americus, caught a hybrid bass on April 4 that weighed 7-lbs., 11.84-ozs. that sets a benchmark for a brand-new river record on GON’s Georgia Lake and River Records list. He was spending the day with his older brother Jason and his twin brother Justin. “We are all baseball coaches, so we never…
Striper Fishing
The Georgia Chapter of Safari Club International (SCI) hosted 31 Purple Heart recipients during its annual Wounded Veterans Fishing Weekend at Lake Lanier July 7-9. Georgia SCI has hosted the event for more than a decade, providing a full weekend of fishing and fun on Lake Lanier for wounded veterans and their guests. The three-day event,…
With a hint of excitement in his voice, Lake Juliette fishing guide Jeff Mooney said, “Watch that pole, it’s going down!” He pointed at the rod next to Bob Turner and, as Jeff predicted, a slight bend in the rod became a deep arc toward the water as the striper pulled out line and the…
Live-bait fishing for hybrids and stripers can be crazy good this time of year on Clarks Hill, with limits in minutes when the fish are bunched on points and humps feeding on herring—if you’re there at the right time. If you’d like to see proof, take a look at fishing guide Eddie Mason’s Facebook page…
Catfish Fishing
The world moved slower a hundred years ago in south Georgia. Life was simpler; but, truly, times were hard. There was little industry. No “town” jobs to speak of in a spot as sparse as Soperton. Willie T. Barwick was struggling just to get by in the year 1920, at wit’s end. That’s when he…
A blue catfish tagging project on the Satilla River is underway, and Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) researchers need your help. Discovered in this waterway a few years ago, fisheries managers hope to use this study to learn more about this non-native species and better assess its impact. “As a large…
Dennis Johnson and his crew won first place and a check for $7,500 in the 100% payback Brandon Key Catfishing Tournament on Lake Sinclair June 10-11. The 8th annual tournament is a fundraiser for 30-30 Ministries, a 501c3 non-profit organization youth ministry whose mission is to use hunting and fishing as a platform to share…
Crappie Fishing
When crappie are stacked up over brush on the river channel ledges at Lake Blackshear, October is a great time to catch them. Find the right place, and you can catch a limit of good eating-size crappie. Crappie love wood cover like brushpiles and standing timber. And if that wood is on a channel drop,…
You can catch more than 200 crappie a day at West Point shooting docks in June. That may seem like an unachievable dream, but Payton Caldwell does it almost every trip. In the June 2003 issue, GON published an article on shooting docks at West Point with Payton’s grandfather, Joel Chambers (gon.com/fishing/run-run-and-gun-for-west-points-deep-shade-crappie). During the fishing…
A black crappie that weighed 2 pounds on the dot has set a new record for Lake Chatuge. Howard Stimis, of Hiwassee, was fishing on Chatuge April 6 when the big slab bit a 2-inch Hot Grub made by Crappie County Bait & Tackle that Howard purchased at Hammond’s Fishing Center near Lake Lanier. “I…
Bream Fishing
If anywhere is blessed with river fishing opportunities like that of south Georgia, I haven’t heard of the place, and if it does exist, I’m looking to buy property there. It’s true, no matter where you are in the southern portion of the state, some great river fishing is never far away. Altamaha, Ogeechee, Flint,…
Born and raised on the banks of the Satilla River, I will admit that I’m more than a little biased when it comes to my favorite river. Heck, a week ago I’d tell you another river couldn’t come close to the Satilla in terms of a redbreast fishery. All that changed last month on my…
By Craig James The Satilla River is and will forever be my favorite body of water to fish. I got my start fishing its white sand bars and towering bluff walls decades ago, and it’s just as magical a place to me now as it was the very first time I stepped into its tannic…
Saltwater Fishing
With deer season in full swing this month, many anglers trade rods for rifles in hopes of killing a big-horned buck… maybe even one that might end up getting them in the GON Truck-Buck Shoot-Out. However, when the crisp November fog clears each morning, you won’t find Tyler Bean in a deer stand. As a…
A Brunswick man has set a new Georgia state record for an almaco jack weighing in at 7 pounds, 0.7 ounces. The fish is a new species in the Georgia Saltwater Game Fish Program and no prior record existed. The records program committee, made of Department of Natural Resources (DNR) staff and biologists, approved the addition…
Shantel Curlett, 53, caught a 2-lb., 3.52-oz. pompano Oct. 8 on East Beach of St. Simons Island while participating in the Kids Can Fish Foundation’s Running of the Bulls Charity Redfish Tournament, setting a new Georgia women’s saltwater record. She beat the previous Florida pompano record of 1-lb., 7.68-ozs. held in a tie by Cathy…
Trout Fishing
“Bigger is better!” It’s a common phrase in many circles, and that turn of words might be heard most where fishing takes place… but maybe not in the circles of Georgia fly-fishermen who target trout on Peach State waters. When you join the fold of fly-fishermen who chase trout in Georgia, more often than not,…
If you were looking for a reason to go trout fishing, we have just the ticket. Beginning Nov. 1, trout fishing on Georgia’s delayed harvest trout streams will be in full swing, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD). While trout fishing can be found year-round in Georgia, there are…
Despite losing more than 17,000 trout in a Labor Day Weekend flood at its Summerville Trout Hatchery, WRD is making good on its promise that it will not let the near disaster affect trout stockings in 2023. The hatchery just received 220,000 rainbow trout eggs from Ennis, Montana. It is the first of four egg…
Other Georgia Fishing
Now that April Waldrop has been bitten by the record fish bug, the Hogansville woman has set her sights on something even bigger. April was fishing for gar with her husband, Larry, and her two sons on West Point Lake recently when she landed a lake-record longnose gar that weighed 23 pounds. The 52 1/2-inch…
The record for longnose gar on Lake Allatoona was smashed last week by angler Caleb McClure. The huge fish was just shy of 5 feet long and weighed 27.25 pounds. Caleb caught the gar while fishing with his friend Trent Hall. “We were fishing right next to Sweetwater Campground in an area that we knew…
Little more than a month after Seth Shoults, of Cartersville, set two Etowah River catfish records in one night, he guided his nephew into the Lake Allatoona waterbody record books. On the evening of April 21, Seth established the new blue catfish and channel catfish waterbody records on the Etowah River. He caught a 7-lb.…