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Lake Oconee Get First Striped Bass Stockings

The first batch of tiny, fingernail-sized stripers from this year’s stocking program went to their new home last week, and how well they do there will be of great interest to biologists and anglers alike. The first stocking of the season took place May 18, 2005 at Lake Oconee, one of five middle Georgia lakes…

Bird Poisoning Case Finally Settled

When folks near White, Ga. reported dead birds falling from the sky in late January, 2003, wildlife officials scrambled to the area and searched for the cause of a significant bird kill. They found the answer in poison-laced corn on the property of Roger Kahn, a two-time candidate for U.S. Congress. In January 2005, Kahn,…

After Lake Jackson Boating Accident, Jody Williams Ready To Fish Again

Jody Williams, a 34-year-old Pike County man, and his dad, Ed Darden, were fishing out of a Bomber boat with a 150 h.p. Yamaha outboard on Lake Jackson on March 19, 2004. Jody’s brother was down the lake in a jonboat. The two had been talking by cell phone, giving each other accounts of a…

New Flat Creek PFA Coming To Houston County

Georgia anglers will have a new Public Fishing Area (PFA) in a few years, this one south of Perry. The lake will be built on an 860-acre tract purchased for the development of Houston County State Park. Fortunately for those of you who like to fish, WRD Fisheries will manage the future fishery on the newly…

Sudden Oak Death Threat

Georgia received more nursery plants potentially infected with sudden oak death than any Eastern state, and a large number of those plants were bought by the public and likely planted around homes across Georgia. Monrovia Nurseries in California shipped about 28,000 plants to Georgia from January of 2003 to March of 2004 that could have…

Fishing Legend Tom Mann Dies

William Thomas “Tom” Mann, 72, a legendary tournament fisherman, lure-maker, and television personality, passed away in Birmingham on Friday, February 11, 2005 from complications from his second heart surgery. Tom Mann started Mann’s bait company in 1958 with $5, and later he became one of the most popular personalities in the fishing industry. He won…

Ocmulgee WMA Loses 8,200 Acres

During last year’s 2004 turkey season, 487 Ocmulgee WMA turkey hunters killed 46 gobblers for a hunter-success rate of 9.5 percent. Those impressive figures likely won’t be matched this season, since St. Regis Paper Co. has decided not to renew a land-lease agreement of 8,263 acres to the state. St. Regis is one of the timber…

Baiting Bill Introduced In 2005 Legislative Session

In a few weeks, you’ll be chasing a big gobbler around the woods, filling a cooler with slab crappie or scouting your property in anticipation of next deer season. While you go through the routines of your hunting and fishing interests, there are things going on at the state capitol that can seriously impact sportsmen.…

Middle Georgia Lakes To Get Stripers Instead Of Hybrids

Lineside fishermen on several middle Georgia lakes will see a change in future years. A plan to begin phasing in the stocking of stripers and phasing out the stocking of hybrids was introduced by WRD Fisheries biologists at a public meeting in Milledgeville last month. Lakes feeding the Altamaha River basin that over the past…

Hunting Regs Meetings Top Topic Is Deer Bag Limit

At the Turner Lakes Community Center in Covington, hunters of all ages came and went. They were there to voice their opinions to Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) personnel on a wide variety of issues, including deer bag limits, baiting, dog hunting and others. The meeting, which happened on Tuesday, February 15, was one of a…