Cold and rainy not your favorite fishing weather? No worries! Plan a day to organize that tackle box and re-line some fishing poles and make a note on the calendar for your next planned trip to the water. 

NEWS TO KNOW:

• Whitewater Bucket Brigade – Let’s Stock Some Trout! Come help stock some trout in the delayed harvest section of the Chattahoochee River on Dec. 22 – just in time for Christmas. You must register to participate! To register, visit https://gooutdoorsgeorgia.com/ and select “Events and Opportunities” and search the event calendar for Dec. 22. 
• Go Fish Education Center – Improvements: The outdoor aquariums at the Go Fish Education Center will be temporarily closed Oct. 31, 2025 – Jan. 8, 2026, to allow for exciting improvements. But, don’t worry, the rest of the Center and casting pond will remain open on weekends, with education programs continuing during the week. 
• NW GA: Support Fish Habitat with a Tree Donation: Your Christmas tree can have a second life, as fish habitat! Participate in the “Bring one for the Chipper” event on Sat. Jan. 3 (9am-12pm) by bringing your live, undecorated tree to the Home Depot at 103 Hicks Drive, Rome GA. This year, Keep Rome-Floyd Beautiful is partnering with Georgia DNR Fisheries to place recycled trees in nearby ponds and lakes, supporting fish and wildlife right here at home. As a thank-you, you will receive a White Oak or Bald Cypress seedling to plant and grow in your own space. Recycle your tree, support local ecosystems, and take home something new to grow!

This week, we have fishing reports from North, Central, Southeast, and Southwest Georgia. Whether you are on the water or making plans to be on the water, we love that you Go Fish Georgia!

NORTH GEORGIA

(Fishing report courtesy of Brent Hess, Fisheries Biologist, with help from Region Staff and Local Experts)

TROUT REPORT

Where to Go for Trout Info: To learn about Georgia’s diverse trout fishing opportunities including the latest stocking information, check out the Georgia DNR Trout Fishing page at GeorgiaWildlife.com/fishing/trout.

Supporting Trout Fishing: Want to do more to support trout fishing in Georgia?  Consider upgrading to a Trout Unlimited license plate this year. See more info at GeorgiaWildlife.com/licenseplates.  Aside from being a great looking tag, each purchase or renewal of a Trout Unlimited license plate directly supports Georgia’s trout conservation and management programs which can be found at GeorgiaWildlife.com/fishing/trout. Hatcheries and wild trout efforts both benefit from the trout tag.

RESERVOIR REPORT 

Allatoona Bass: (Report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant www.southernfishing.com) – Lake Allatoona is down 9 feet, and the water temperatures are in the 60s. Bass fishing is good. Spotted bass are in a variety of depths all over the lake as they try to figure out the falling waters. Fish the larger docks as they seem to be the places the better fish are relating to. The best pattern in the rivers is a small Bandit 200 root beer crank bait and a 1/8-ounce Shakey Head ad a finesse worm. If the sun is out use red bug and green pumpkin Zoom finesse worms. Any overcast conditions will dictate using the Zoom finesse worms in watermelon green and pumpkinseed on the same rig. Look in the ditches in the creeks and in the deep coves at 20 to 35 feet. The Zoom dark blue plastic pork trailer on the matching colors of ¼ ounce Stanley jig is a good choice for this deep structure. Be prepared to fish deep to 35 feet with these baits. Simply drop the lure right into the structure and vertically lift the lure making contact with the cover. Strikes might be light so a sensitive rod and lighter line will allow the angler to feel this slight movement. A Flex it 1/2-ounce white spoon can work in these areas with short lifts of the bait working it through the cover. Sharp drop offs are the best locations. 

Bartlett’s Ferry, Lake Harding: Georgia Power should begin refilling on Bartlett’s Ferry by Saturday, December 6, 2025, and anticipates refill to occur over the next week, depending on releases from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ upstream West Point Lake.  Daily Georgia Power Lake Water Levels can be found at GeorgiaPower.com/our-impact/lakes-rivers/water-levels.html.

Hartwell Bass: (Report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant www.southernfishing.com) – Lake Hartwell is down 6 feet and water temperatures are in the 60s. Bass fishing is good. There is a good drop shot rig bite. A few largemouth as well as spots while jigging. Crank baits are working along the banks and points especially in the morning hours. Rapala DT10, X Raps and Shad Raps are catching fish. The water temperatures are continuing to cool down with the cooler nights. Work the Tugaloo River area both north and south of the I-85 Bridge. In the first part of the mornings fish the back part of the creek arms and main lake pockets shallow with a buzz bait. Most of the river arm areas are clear and have a lot of bait in them. This has continued to be key as it always is during the fall so take the time to find the bait and fish these areas thoroughly. Use the jerk bait, square bill crank bait like the Rapala OG8 and a jig and a shaky head. As the sun gets up and slows down. Now this is the time to use the jig and shaky head worm in a green pumpkin color. Also try the Tugaloo River areas as the shallow water bite continues to get stronger with the cooler weather.

Lanier Bass (This Lake Lanier Bass fishing report is by Phil Johnson Pjohnson15@hotmail.com 770-366-8845). Lake Lanier is down 6.5 feet and water temperatures are in the 60s. Bass fishing on Lake Lanier is good. Look for the temperature to drop over the next week with the colder weather coming in. The fishing changed some over the last week as the water temperature came back up some, but it only meant a little change in techniques. With the wind, the spinnerbait and crankbait bite are still producing some good fish. For the spinnerbait we have been using a white spinnerbait with silver or white Colorado blades and for the crankbait we’re using either a DT10 or Spro 55 RKCrawler, The primary areas to target with both of these baits would be big chunky rocks areas either on windblown points or banks. Cast to the banks as many of the bass have been caught in less than ten feet of water. Another pattern that has produced good fish has been to target the balls of shad. The shad seem to have pulled out some in the pockets with the warm weather, and we are seeing a lot of balls on the edge of the river channel in the first tree line. Using FFS, work a three eights Spot Choker Pro Model with the new Colorado blade paired with a three-three Keitech around the bait targeting the bass that you see. A steady retrieve just above the bass will get their attention then speed up your retrieve to trigger the bite. For the shad you see close to the bottom either run the Spot Choker slowly along the bottom or get directly over the bass around the shad and drop a half ounce Georgia Blade spoon, either white or silver, directly on the bass. The worm bite has been a little slow, but it is still producing bass on the secondary points and around the docks in less than twenty feet of water. Either a green pumpkin or watermelon red Senko worms have been a good choice. Watch for the shad to make another move over the next week with the cooling water temperature. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and were able to Go Catch ‘Me! 

Lanier Crappie: (This Lake Lanier Crappie report is by Captain Josh Thornton 770 530 6493) — Lake Lanier crappie fishing is good the water temperature is in the 60s. The Crappie are all over open water brush at 15 to 25 feet deep and on deepwater docks.  Minnows are working well and the jig color of choice is d2d by ATX lures its 1.25-inch flat tail green color. For your best fishing experience consider using the following equipment: a one-piece ACC Crappie Stix rod and reel paired with 4- or 6-pound test K9 line with an Atx lure company jig. Further optimizing your efforts with a Garmin LiveScope.

Lanier Stripers: (Jack Becker, Aka Georgia Water Dog) — Watching the weather, I saw a forecast for warmer temperatures and more important, low wind in the forecast for Lake Lanier. I invited a friend to bring his grandson in hopes he would catch his first Lake Lanier Striper. The day started out slowly. We did manage a few spotted bass and a channel catfish but no Stripers. We were using medium shiners on downlines, free lines, and planer boards. Fishing Flat Creek, we found the bait relating to the river channel in 50 to 60 feet of water. I keep my Minithumper, Fish Attractor, running when on spot lock or moving under .5 mph. Late in the day I was using predator mode while on spot-lock and saw a school of Stripers on my Helix sonar screen. When we dropped a shiner to the bottom, came up 2 turns it was Game On. Conditions change fast. I was as excited as the young boy was when his grandfather boated the striper for him.  (Picture)

Weiss Lake: (Report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant www.southernfishing.com) — The lake is Full and water temperatures are in the 80’s:

• Weiss Bass: Bass fishing is good, and most fish are still shallow on the creek ledges, on secondary points, sand bars and humps, and they are being caught on Rat L Traps, shallow running flat side crank baits, spinner baits and jigs. The Spotted Bass are biting great in the upper Little River and Chattooga River.
• Weiss Crappie: Crappie fishing is great, and most fish are suspended in the main Coosa River, Little River and the Chattooga River channels, suspended 8 to 14 feet deep, over the main river channel and they can be caught, Long line trolling with Jiffy Jigs in 1/24th and 1/16 ounce in colors JJ12, JJ17, JJ20, JJ24 and JJ25. Spider rigging with live minnows, fished 6 to 12 feet deep is also producing well, a float and fly technique and minnows under a float is also producing well.

West Point Lake Bass (Report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant www.southernfishing.com) – West Point Lake is down 10 feet and water temperatures are in the 60s. Bass fishing is fair. The lake is still low. Up Yellow Jacket Creek and coves around Highland are producing nice fish on 3/8-ounce white Chatterbait. Follow up with a ¼ ounce Weedless Wonder head shaky rigged with a finesse worm in Bama Bug or any of the green colors. Look at 5 to 8 feet deep as still the most productive depths to start hunting those largemouth. Mid to down lake fish are biting on drop shots and Carolina rigged worms. Watch for the shad balls and brush close by as they will combine to produce some good bites. Creek ledges are producing some good fish on jigging spoons. Have the Rapala #5 Shad Rap ready all day and also fish any rip rap and long rocky clay points upriver.

West Point Lake Drawdown: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, has drawdown the water level at West Point Dam, to support scheduled maintenance on the concrete pier between spillway gates 5 and 6. The drawdown elevation is around 625 feet (10 feet below full pool), depending on weather conditions. Maintenance and repair work is scheduled through January 15, 2026.  However, the recent Government shutdown may affect the timeline for lake water levels to return to normal as conditions. For more information, contact the West Point Project Manager’s Office at 706-645-2937 or visit sam.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Recreation/West-Point-Lake/.

• West Point Lake Water Level Information can be found at Westpointlake.info/Level/.
• West Point Lake Fish Attractors: Find DNR fish attractors at West Point at https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories.

CENTRAL GEORGIA

(Fishing report courtesy of Hunter Roop, Region Supervisor, and Fisheries Biologist with the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division, with help from Region Staff and Local Experts)

It might seem counter intuitive, but December is actually a great month to get out on the water and go fishing in Central Georgia. Cool water temperatures have settled in now, and the fall transition is pretty much wrapped up, meaning that the popular pursuits like bass, crappie, and linesides can be located more reliably with a more consistent bite to follow. The general rule of thumb this time of year is patience and slow rolling your presentation to match the current conditions. Live bait is an excellent option to ensure success, but slowly retrieving shad-imitating lures like Sebiles and Spooks on top, downsized swimbaits and stickbaits within the water column, or fishing spoons and dropshots over ditches and brush are also go-to winter tactics depending on what you’re fishing for. The cold, overcast, and drizzly weather that has settled in this week is perfect for heating up the bite for hybrids and striper on reservoirs like Clarks Hill and Oconee. Some solid intel from the PFAs below can also lead you to freshly stocked whiskered fish, if that better suits your style. Whichever your fishing flavor, now that the Thanksgiving turkey has been carved, it’s time to carve out some time to go fishing in between now and the new year.

We’re happy to help provide the needed intel with this week’s Central Georgia fishing report, brought to you by Ken Sturdivant’s Southern Fishing Report, and contributions from Region 3 WRD Fisheries staff, local guides, and anglers.

RESERVOIR REPORT

LAKE RUSSELL IS DOWN 2 FEET, 60’S

Bass (courtesy of Ken Sturdivant’s Southern Fishing Report): Bass fishing is fair. A spinner bait with willow leaf and Colorado blades in silver and gold’s are fair and add a white and chartreuse skirt. Have a Storm Chug Bug ready and work the shallow points that hold a little mud line close to shore. Later in the day switch to a Texas rigged six inch Zoom green pumpkin u tail work or other green colors. Scan the areas with the Lowrance Structure Scan technology and find the bait schools as the key for finding the bass. The bass relate to two and almost any wood in the water can hold bass. Use the Zoom Super Flukes on main lake and secondary points up lake in the creeks. The bass after baits in a shad and all white so a Bandit is a good choice. Concentrate efforts on up lake points on any wood found along the shore line where deep water is present. Natural color or bone color Bomber 6A crank baits are working on the sides of points leading into shallow coves. Work the top water baits early and late and cover a lot of water and don’t waste too much time. Keep a spoon ready for the suspended fish on the points as they will relate to schools of shad. Keep the spoons to one ounce or smaller as the bait fish hatched recently are very small.

CLARKS HILL IS DOWN 5.5 FEET, 50’S

Bass (courtesy of Ken Sturdivant’s Southern Fishing Report): Bass fishing is good. The smaller fish are biting but the quality bass are still out suspended. Anglers can catch numbers right now but the big fish are out suspended with the stripers. They’ll move up with the cooler temperatures. The lake is extremely low. Concentrate on the outer edges of the grass lines. Start with crank baits spinnerbaits and jerk baits and if they’re not in the mood for chasing slow down with a jig or worm. Scan the areas with the Lowrance Structure Scan technology and find the bait schools as the key for finding the bass. The bait is holding about halfway back in the creeks from the main river. Toward the end of the month they’ll be farther back and they’ll stay back in the creeks until they move back out to the river. Also watch for schools of fish this time of year. Have a pearl Zoom Super fluke or top water Zara Spook in bone tied on and ready. Some anglers already use the spoons on the main lake and secondary coves and ditches.

LAKE OCONEE IS FULL, 60’S

Bass (courtesy of Ken Sturdivant’s Southern Fishing Report): Bass fishing is fair. Major schools of large threadfin shad have made their fall migration into the creeks, and the bass are with them. Covering water with moving baits to find these schools is the best way to load the boat. Use a 3/8 pounce Lucky Craft Redemption spinnerbait with silver and gold blades and the Rat L Traps and small Rapala Shad Rap crank baits. Bass are following the baitfish to the creeks. Fish will stay around the mouths of the creeks. Mid lake fish the docks with a green Zoom mini lizard with red flakes and use this on a light Weedless Wonder lead head. Cast the bait right next to the docks and let if fall with slack line. Scroungers and jigs will also work just work baits slower. Another productive way to catch good numbers of fish is to work a 1/8-ounce Net Boy Baits Screwball head with a Wackem Crazy Baits Big Sissy worm in shad colors like glimmer shad blue ice.

Hybrids: Hybrids have moved off shallow flats into the main lake/river channels and deeper schools of shad. Expect most fish suspended over 20–35 feet, with productive areas near river channels, creek mouths that feed the main channel, like Richland, and the dam. When threadfin shad are active, you’ll often see surface-feeding birds — “chasing the birds” is a reliable sign to cruise mid-lake and target whatever school the birds are working. If you can’t find birds, concentrate on creek-to-river channel breaks and deeper structure where bait concentrates. Vertical/slow jigging or down-line rigs over suspended schools; spoons, small swimbaits, and minnow-style plugs trolled or cast into buzzy birds or suspended schools; and live shad or free-lined live baits work best when you can keep them in the strike zone. Run presentations that keep your offering in the mid-water column. Bite windows are often strongest when bait is actively schooling, such as mid-morning through early afternoon on mild days. Overall outlook for hybrids in December is good when you locate bait and fish it deliberately.

LAKE SINCLAIR IS DOWN 4.0 FEET, 50’S

Bass (courtesy of Ken Sturdivant’s Southern Fishing Report): Bluegills are top forage species for a number of freshwater fish. In turn bluegill imitations and swimbaits in particular are a go to for catching quality fish. Try the Duckett bluegill as it has incredibly realistic detail and a paintbrush tail that flows as it swims. It has grade hardware a patented Tri Claw hook and a magnetic keeper that secures the hook. The BD Bluegill measures 3¾ inches and weighs 1.3 ounces. It’s available in a sunfish pattern as well as pumpkinseed. Square bill crank baits are now more of a niche bait. The square bill has been the fastest growing segment of the hard bait industry because they catch big bass. Square bills are the spinnerbaits of rip rap. The bill shape allows them to crawl over rocks effectively and deflect in a way that the big ones can’t resist. Scan the areas with the Lowrance Structure Scan technology and find the bait schools as the key for finding the bass.

Catfish: During December, expect most blue catfish to be holding in deeper water — deep holes, channel edges, or old creek-channel depressions, especially near river arms or the dam. Use heavy tackle — a stout rod, 20-50 lb braided or mono line, large circle hooks, and a strong sinker to keep bait on the bottom. Cut shad or large gizzard shad, live bream, or other sizeable natural baits are most effective — blues on Sinclair prey on gizzard shad, threadfin shad, crappie, and other fish species at this time of year when they aren’t gorging on Asian clams (Corbicula). Prior WRD-funded research on blue catfish from this Oconee system shows that fish are an important dietary component for blue catfish in the winter season. Fish slowly — anchor or slowly drift over deep structure, channel bends, submerged humps or holes, or near rip-rap banks where deeper water or slack current meets structure. On cold or calm days, midday may offer the best bite, though the bite can slower overall compared to the warmer months.

LAKE JACKSON IS DOWN 1.0 FEET, 50’S

Bass (courtesy of Ken Sturdivant’s Southern Fishing Report): Bass fishing is fair. The bait is moving shallow and a small crank bait such as an RC 1.5 or a Strike King square bill in some form of a shad pattern is a good choice. Use the 1/2-ounce Spro Aruku Shad in chartreuse shad for covering a lot of water. Pitch and flip a Net Boy Baits Flipp’N Jig under floating docks. The jig bite has not well but as the nights get colder get serious with the 7/16-ounce Net Boy Finesse Jig with a Zoom Pro Chunk on deeper chunk rock banks and use natural colors and anything with green in it. Spots are biting in the shallow to medium depth brush on this jig too. Another great tactic right now is a Lucky Craft jerk bait in chartreuse shad snatched on windy banks points and around boat docks. Go shallow for now anywhere from zero to 8 feet. Soon the fish will migrate to chunk rock as it gets colder. Good areas to look this time of year is the Alcovy river arm as well as the main lake down to where Tussahaw dumps in. When there are a few warm days in a row and the sun bakes on that rock. Now fish are following the bait into the creeks and pockets but they will migrate out to more open water and main lake areas as it gets colder.

Catfish: At Lake Jackson in December, most catfish — especially larger blues and flatheads — settle into deeper holes and bends near the main lake and dam. Expect fish tight to the bottom, with the best action around deep channel transitions such as the South River arm near the Hwy-36 Bridge or other creek-to-river breaks. Fish with heavy gear because Jackson has some large catfish roaming around! Flatheads have a preference for live bait (bream) while blues seem to be less selective and can be caught with cut bait. Anchor or slowly drift over deep structure and channel edges; bite windows often improve during low light or stable midday weather.

LAKE TOBESOFKEE

Crappie: WRD Fisheries staff from Perry recently conducted fall gillnet samples from Lake Tobesofkee, a 1,750-acre City of Macon-Bibb County-operated recreational reservoir just west of Macon. This lesser-known reservoir contains excellent fisheries for bass, crappie, and hybrids stocked by WRD Fisheries. It also contains a good population of hearty shellcracker popular among bank anglers. Recent surveys revealed a particularly abundant crappie population in Tobesofkee, which makes for great winter fishing on brush piles and in the creek arms and coves of the reservoir. Crappie in the 10” – 12” size range, weighing between 0.5 and 1.0 lb are common, but there are some larger crappie in the mix exceeding the 2-lb mark as well! Fishing pilings near deeper water can be an effective this time of year with either live minnows or jigs.

PUBLIC FISHING AREA REPORT

MCDUFFIE PUBLIC FISHING AREA (courtesy of Fisheries Technician Nick Brewer) —

• McDuffie PFA Information
• Water Level: Water Levels are fluctuating with rainfall, currently all fishing lakes water levels are down.
• Water Clarity: 24 inches
• McDuffie PFA Fishing Guide

With the drop in temperatures and recent catfish stockings, anglers are definitely reeling in the fish!  Anglers are catching bass, catfish and stripers frequently. On December 4th, more than 800 lbs of catfish were stocked into Rodbender and Jones Lake. Anglers will notice big differences in catfish bite in those ponds immediately.

Bass: As temperatures cool, bass should be feeding more to prepare for winter.  Anglers should use lures that mimic bait fish in shallows and deeper water right as first light hits the water.  Plastics on a Texas or Carolina rig are also producing catches and as always regulars swear by the black trick worms.

Striped and Hybrid Bass: Dropping temperatures are making Hybrid and Striped bass more active!  Anglers should use chicken livers in deeper water and near siphons if they are targeting stripers.  Fishing in Clubhouse from the dock this time of year consistently yields good stripers too.

Channel Catfish: Many anglers are catching Catfish! Use a chicken liver and fish off the bottom of the lakes for the best chance of success.  Other good options are artificial baits and stink baits also fished off the bottom of the lakes.

Bream:  Bream on the PFA are being frequently with worms in and around structure on the lakes.

Reminder: live fish/minnows are not allowed on our PFA. 

FLAT CREEK PUBLIC FISHING AREA (courtesy of Area Manager Amory Cook) —

• Flat Creek PFA
• Water Level: 56” below full pool 
• Water Temperature: Mid 50’s 
• Water Clarity: 20.5″  
• Flat Creek PFA Fishing Guide

Bass: Anglers are having continued success with shallow running jointed square-bill crankbait lures. Also try using chatterbait bladed jigs for an attention-grabber. 

Bream: Red Wigglers continue to produce Bream. Drop bait right next to the fishing pier instead of casting out. 

Crappie: An increase has been noted on the crappie bite. Target submerged treetops and use live minnows and jigs.  

Catfish: Catfish are being caught on nightcrawlers. Remember the PFA lake record for catfish is still open and the minimum requirement to qualify is 12 lb or 32 in long. You must have the catch weighed on a certified scale and properly documented.  Should you land a catfish that you believe to be at least 12 pounds (about 30 inches long), please notify DNR staff.

MARBEN PFA FISHING REPORT (courtesy of PFA Manager Jamie Dowd) –

• Marben Public Fishing Area
• Water level: All the ponds are full or nearly full.
• Water clarity:  Visibility in all of the ponds is over 36”.
• Surface temperature: 52-60 degrees and falling.
• Marben PFA Fishing Guide

Bass: The warmer fall has kept the bass in shallower than typical years.  The first part of the month, bass should be targeted in 6-10’ depth of water and moving deeper as temperatures cool throughout the month.  Plastic worms, swim baits, and crank baits should work well.  The trick this time of the year is determining what depth of water the bass prefer.  As water temperatures cool, the fish will move deeper; however, bass will feed on top water when shad school on the surface.  

Crappie: Crappie fishing should begin to pick up with the water temperatures finally dropping.  Fishing jigs, minnows, and even jigs tipped with minnows are the best bet for crappie.  Balsa style floats that attach on one end allow the bait to be “jigged” under the float as well as offering the angler the ability to easily adjust the depth of the bait.  

Bream: The shellcrackers and bluegill bite has slowed but a few are being caught on the bottom in deep water with worms.  

Hybrids: Bennett Lake offers a good opportunity to harvest a 5-lb hybrid.   Look for schooling shad during late afternoon.  Lures that mimic a shad are your best bet.  Crank baits and spinner baits are a good choice.

SOUTHEAST GEORGIA

(Fishing report courtesy of Capt. Bert Deener, Retired Georgia WRD Fisheries Supervisor, with help from Region Staff and Local Experts)

SPECIAL NOTE: This is the last week of reports from Capt. Bert Deener. We are so grateful for his continued great fishing information that he gave to our office (and to you), even after his retirement. Our office hopes to continue to offer Southeast Georgia reports, but we may have a period of time without one (starting next week). Please be patient with us as try to get someone new lined up. We will keep you posted! 

Well, I knew this day would come at some point and now is that time. I will need to spend the time I use on the report each week caring for my parents who both fell on Thanksgiving Day. I never thought when Dickie Winge talked me into doing the report back in March 2009 that I would be doing it for almost 17 years! But it’s been great getting folks fired up about going fishing! The report is only as good as the information I receive each week, and I thank you each for providing excellent information and photos. Also, thank you to each of you who shared words of encouragement that the report has helped you in your angling. Some of the kids in those early reports now have boats and take their own families fishing. What a neat cycle that I’ve been blessed to have been a part of! I pray that you each have a safe and fun angling life but more importantly have a very rich life in Jesus Christ. I’ll still be fishing, guiding, and making rods and fishing lures as much as I can, but I’ll be stopping with the weekly reports. You can see individual trip reports on my Facebook page at Bert’s Jigs and Things if you are interested.

River gages on December 4th were:

• Clyo on the Savannah River – 4.9 feet and rising
• Abbeville on the Ocmulgee – 3.4 feet and rising
• Doctortown on the Altamaha – 4.1 feet and rising
• Waycross on the Satilla – 4.8 feet and rising
• Atkinson on the Satilla – 3.3 feet and falling
• Statenville on the Alapaha – 1.6 feet and falling
• Macclenny on the St Marys – 2.0 feet and rising
• Fargo on the Suwannee – 1.4 feet and rising

Last quarter moon is December 11th. To monitor all the Georgia river levels, visit the USGS website (waterdata.usgs.gov/ga/nwis/rt). For the latest marine forecast, check out http://www.weather.gov/jax/.

ALTAMAHA/OCMULGEE RIVERS

Blake Yarbrough fished the middle Ocmulgee River on Friday for a few hours and caught a pair of 3-pound bass and a 12-incher. Plastic worms fooled them. John Hillis fished the lower Altamaha and caught a bunch of small bass and bluegills up in the oxbow lakes. I had another report of an angler in the upper Altamaha catching several quality bass on Chatterbaits and glide baits on Sunday. The rivers are probably going to rise with the forecasted rains late in the week and over the weekend.

SAVANNAH RIVER

Tyler Finch continued his wintertime onslaught on the panfish with a Perch Hounder Spinnerbait. He takes the small, white 3/16-oz. spinnerbait and tips it with a cricket then slow-rolls it for lots of panfish. In two days of fishing this week he caught 92 bluegills, 19 big crappie (averaging a pound apiece). He also went to a small tributary creek and caught some redfin pickerel.

OKEFENOKEE SWAMP

I had a great guide trip on Friday with David, Jacqueline, Otis, and Audria on the west side. The kids (Otis and Audria) each caught angler award-sized fliers in the boat basin before we headed out. They were pitching pink Okefenokee Swamp Sallies on Tenkara poles and bream busters. We did a bunch of sightseeing then trolled Dura-Spins for a bunch of bowfin and a pickerel. The best colors were jackfish, fire tiger – chartreuse blade, and crawfish-brass blade. After a quick break for lunch, David went out with me and flung one of my electric chicken bladed flies on his 8-weight fly rod. He fooled a pair of pickerel on the fly and had 3 other pickerel slash at it (and 2 barely hooked up) in an hour. The last hour, Audria joined her dad in the boat, and we returned to trolling. She picked right up where she left off with her favorite jackfish color, and she was able to catch a bowfin bigger than the minimum for a youth angler award. She also fooled a warmouth on the big spinner, and it earned her a THIRD youth angler award for the day. She was so excited! The best colors of Dura-Spins during the last hour were jackfish and lemon-lime. The family ended up catching 31 fish (3 fliers, a half-dozen pickerel, a warmouth, and the rest bowfin up to 3 1/2 pounds). Not much fishing effort happened on the east side, but Matthew Gobbi, who has taken to bowfin fishing since he started working at Okefenokee Adventures fished the docks in the boat basin. On Monday he fooled a 24-inch bowfin with a chartreuse spoon, and the rotund fish weighed around 6 pounds.  The water level on the west side Friday was 3.60 feet. The latest water level on the east side was 120.00 feet (that’s the lowest we’ve seen in a long time!).

HUGH M. GILLIS PUBLIC FISHING AREA (NEAR DUBLIN)

• Hugh Gillis PFA Information
• Hugh Gillis PFA Fishing Guide

DODGE COUNTY PUBLIC FISHING AREA (NEAR EASTMAN)

• Dodge County PFA Information  
• Dodge County Fishing Guide

OCMULGEE PUBLIC FISHING AREA (NEAR HAWKINSVILLE)

• Ocmulgee PFA Info
• Ocmulgee PFA Fishing Guide

PARADISE PUBLIC FISHING AREA (NEAR TIFTON)

• Paradise PFA Info
• Paradise PFA Fishing Guide

LOCAL PONDS

Jimmy Zinker fished some South Georgia, and north Florida ponds this week and caught a couple bass at night on a Jitterbug (this is a little late for good night fishing). During the daytime, he fooled them with broken-back Rapala minnows. His biggest bass was about 4 pounds. Joshua Barber fished a pond for a few hours and caught a couple bass up to 2 1/2 pounds. He fooled them with plastics. I got a good report for crappie. A couple Waycross anglers fooled 30 good-eating size fish this weekend with 2 and 3-inch Keitech swimbaits, and his wife fooled them with live minnows.

SALTWATER (GEORGIA COAST)

Scott Smith and a couple of friends fished in the Brunswick area on Saturday and caught 30 small trout and 7 keepers. They also had 13 redfish, 3 black drum, and a flounder. Their trout ate jigs and the other species inhaled live shrimp. Capt. Tim Cutting (fishthegeorgiacoast.com) had some great trips this week. Skip Vinton fished with him Monday and caught a limit of trout and redfish. That was the best numbers day of the week. All of their fish were on Fourseven plastics on Zombie Eye Jigheads and Berkley swimmers. He then fished 3 days with Todd Finnegan and caught reds and trout on plastics the first two days. The third day they looked for stripers the first part of the day and did not get on them. But, then they stopped on the way to the dock and got on a dozen big trout at the end. Todd caught and released everything during those 3 days. Capt. Greg Hildreth (georgiacharterfishing.com) had a great trip Saturday in the wind. They caught a bunch of trout on live shrimp fished under slip floats back in the creeks. Luana dos Santos, Rotary student from Brazil, fished with Johnny Evans and Capt. Duane Harris in the Brunswick area on Friday and had a blast. They caught 29 redfish and a black drum in just 2 hours of fishing. The water cooled 10 degrees in just 4 days, and the redfish were chewing! Will Ellis fished a dock in the Brunswick area for just a short time on Tuesday evening and caught a 24-inch redfish on a pink 5/16-oz. Wobble Head Jighead and pearl-colored fluke. After your next trip to the GA Wildlife Resources Division Waycross Fisheries Office at 108 Darling Avenue. The Coastal Resources Division collects most inshore saltwater species so that they can determine age and growth for each species. All the supplies and information cards are in the freezer. Filet your fish then drop off the carcasses in the freezer. Wat-a-melon Bait and Tackle in Brunswick is open Friday through Tuesday each week (closed Wednesday and Thursday). They have plenty of lively shrimp and also have live worms and crickets for freshwater. For the latest information and their hours, contact them at 912-223-1379.

Blog Contributor Capt. Bert Deener guides fishing trips in southeast Georgia and makes a variety of both fresh and saltwater fishing lures. Check his lures out at Bert’s Jigs and Things on Facebook. For a copy of his latest catalog, call or text him at 912-288-3022 or e-mail him (bertdeener@yahoo.com).

SOUTHWEST GEORGIA

No Southwest Georgia Fishing Report today. Please check out the Fishing Resources page for great information at GeorgiaWildlife.com/fishing/angler-resources.