Cooler mornings and changing leaves sound like a good excuse for some fishing to me. Happy Fall!

NEWS TO KNOW

Trade your sunscreen in for a (light) jacket and Go Fish Georgia!

CENTRAL GEORGIA

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

This week’s Central Georgia fishing report is brought to you by Ken Sturdivant’s Southern Fishing Report, and contributions from Region 3 WRD Fisheries staff, local guides, and anglers.

RESERVOIR REPORT

women holding fish

Staff Crappie Catch

CLARKS HILL LAKE

CLARKS HILL LAKE IS DOWN 9.3 FEET, 80’S – With shorter days and cooler weather on the horizon, expect fishing on the lake to be transitioning to fall patterns. Crappie are still in deep water hanging around timber. With the cooler mornings coming in, the crappie bite should be improving as they begin moving to shallower water. Focus fishing on submerged timber and creek mouths.

Largemouth and spots are being caught in 40-60 feet of water. The shallow bite is hard to come by and anglers are having more success fishing the main lake. They are not holding to structure as of right now, but expect them to begin moving to brush piles over the next couple of weeks. The early morning has been the best time of day to get on the fish. Spinner baits are good to have on hand during the first hour of the day. The fishing drops off after the morning and has been more challenging as the day wears on.

The oxygen line near Modoc is still the area for stripers. The lines typically run until the first few weeks of October. If you’re looking to go with artificials for bait, Sakamata shad have been the ticket the last few weeks.

LAKE SINCLAIR

photo shows fish being held

Angler Max Evans’ Lake Sinclair Bass

LAKE SINCLAIR IS DOWN 1.7 FEET, 80’S – Bass fishing is good. There is still a decent morning bite, but it just varies where it is. One day there is a good frog bite in the grass above Crooked Creek. The next day they disappear, so go down the lake and run seawalls near deep water with a buzz bait or other topwater lures. Get three to five bites in the first hour or two of daylight. After 9 a.m., the bite gets tough. The few fish that are biting are small. Find the fish and note where they are relative to. Now duplicate that pattern and find the bass in the same location in similar pockets. Topwater in the morning will still be the best bet for bigger fish. Also focus early in the morning near docks that have had a light on overnight to concentrate the bait and bass. After the sun is stronger, fish brush, docks, and laydowns. Look for the depth the bait is holding. Once that depth is established, work baits at that depth. Try the Berkley Stunna 112 in Northern Lights, Table Rock, and Hankie Pankie. This is a good all-day set of lures. If it is 6 feet, look for docks at that depth or fish the points with a crankbait that dives 8 to 10 feet to cover that depth. Pull off far enough so as not to drag the Carolina rig through the water column that is 4 to 10 feet deep.

LAKE RUSSELL

LAKE RUSSELL IS DOWN 1.1 FEET, 80’S – Bass fishing is fair. Fish early and late with a topwater lure like a Pop R or a Sammy. Try some braid on a spinning reel, and the casts can be a lot longer. Just be sure to tie the lures directly to the braid, no leader, with a double Palomar knot. Some of the smaller, more aggressive bass are chasing and striking the topwater Pop-R’s in the shallow water early in the day. The big fish are still sluggish, and a slower presentation in the baits will be necessary to get any reaction or bite from these fish. Continue cranking those Rapala DT6 and Rapala RS Shad Raps, and the white and green Rapala Ott’s Garage 8 on the sides of the main lake rocky points. The key to catching bass will be to find good current up in the rivers. Fish with the Carolina rigs, jigs, or even slow cranking a Rapala DT10 or Rapala DT14.

LAKE OCONEE

LAKE OCONEE IS FULL, 80’S – Bass fishing is fair. The lake is full. The main lake is clear and stained up the rivers. Start the day with a white or a white and chartreuse buzz bait. Fish it along the sea walls and rip rap. Strike King put a new spin on their Rattlin Thunder Cricket by swapping the all-metal blade for a metal/polycarbonate blade. That alone changed the flash and thump of the bait. After the topwater bite ends, move to the deep-water docks and start to work a Texas-rigged Zoom U tail worm in a dark green or pumpkin under the docks. Keep moving with a Shad Rap and when the bass hit back up with a Texas-rigged worm. Fish on the end of points using a crankbait that will run 10ft deep. Use a shad pattern in clear water and a fire tiger in stained water. The fish are starting to move into shallower water as the temperatures fall.

LAKE JACKSON

LAKE JACKSON IS 1.0 FOOT, 80’S – Bass fishing is fair. The bass are starting in the morning shallow and use Pop R a 1/2-ounce white buzz bait or a Zara Spook. Once the sun is up, concentrate on long points and deep docks. Flip docks near the river channel with a dark Zoom trick worm on a light Texas rig. The Davis Bait 3/16-ounce shaky head would also be a good setup for this rig. Also fish a Texas-rigged Zoom Natural blue U-tail worm. Dip the baits in JJ’s Magic chartreuse; the fish will hold on to the bait a few seconds longer. Try the Berkley Stunna 112 in Northern Lights, Table Rock, and Hankie Pankie. This is a good all-day set of lures. Also, a 1/2 ounce Dirty Jig in green pumpkin/orange around docks will produce a few fish. Concentrate on posts and brush, and find this structure with the Lowrance Side and Down Scan technology, and shoot the docks. The bite will get better as shad start migrating to the pockets. The bass will be more apt to chase baits down.

SAVANNAH RIVER

photo shows 3 children with fishing pole

Happy anglers with first bream catch

Savannah River fishing below Augusta has been somewhat more challenging lately with the heat we’ve been through. If you’re out on the river targeting bream, anglers have seen good success using live worms and crickets for bait. Finding structure in the river like stumps, logs, and bridges are good areas to start to find bream. Areas where the river bank drops off deep have been another good place for bream fishermen.

Bass in the river are biting better on offshore humps and on deep, isolated structure. Dropshot rigs have been a good bet fishing over these types of habitat. Topwater frogs have also been producing good bites. These have been especially effective on isolated grass beds that are near areas of deep water. Fishing over these grass beds early in the morning and late in the afternoon has been more promising times for anglers. River smallmouth are hanging out deeper too. Find them hanging out in rocky, deep-water pockets. Good bait choices for smallmouth are jerkbaits and imitation crawfish. The ultravibe speed craw in South Africa special color on a shaky head or Texas rig has been a good choice lately.

PUBLIC FISHING AREA REPORT 

MARABEN PUBLIC FISHING AREA (courtesy of PFA Manager Jamie Dowd)

  • Marben PFA Information
  • Marben PFA Fishing Guide
  • Water Level: All ponds are low. Otter, Upper Raleigh, and Little Raleigh are substantially low. Margery is under renovation and closed until further notice.
  • Water Clarity: Clarity varies per pond, but most water bodies have an average visibility of 24-48”.
  • Surface Temperature: upper 80’s

Largemouth: Bass are still in deeper water. Look for bass feeding early and late on threadfin shad. Crankbaits and spinnerbaits mimicking shad work well. Bass will begin to move shallower as the water cools in the coming weeks.

Crappie: The crappie are not up shallow yet. Fishing over suspended brush is your best bet. Use jigs tipped with minnows.

Bream: Bluegill and some shellcracker are being caught on or near the bottom. Wigglers and wax worms are a good choice for bait.

Channel Catfish: Catfish are being caught at Upper Raleigh and Fox on the bottom with night crawlers.

MCDUFFIE PUBLIC FISHING AREA (courtesy of Area Manager Chalisa Fabillar)photo shows caterpillars on leaf, photo shows women holding fish, photo sows 3 fish on string, Photo shows young man holding a fish, photo shows hand holding fish

The last weeks of summer around McDuffie PFA are always a great lesson in patience. Waiting around for summer to end, and just when you think fall might have forgotten you, that’s when it seems to show up. Fishing over the last several weeks at the PFA has been much the same: a good lesson in patience, with a reward for those who stick with the lesson.

Catfish bite has been hit or miss in the morning hours but has been picking up well in the last half hour before sunset. Local anglers at the PFA this past week caught nearly a limit of catfish, all of which were caught in the last 20 minutes before the PFA closed. Bridge Lake and Clubhouse Lake have been good lakes to target for catfish the last couple of weeks. Chicken liver and store-bought dough baits have been the most popular used by anglers. If targeting catfish and the bites aren’t coming, waiting out that last-minute bite has saved a few fishing trips lately.

Largemouth anglers have seen increased bites later in the evening as well. Bridge Lake has been producing nice bass. Green pumpkin swimbaits and senkos have been the baits of choice when landing the bass. As water temperatures begin to cool across the area, expect to see more success finding stripers. Clubhouse and Bridge are good lakes to begin with for stripers, especially the deeper channel that runs through Clubhouse, making a line between the siphon pipes on both dams. The bream bite across the area has been good across the area, mainly caught on live worms. If you are unsure of what bait to use, the catalpa trees on the PFA have catalpa worms on them right now, which make excellent bream bait. As we continue into fall, the bream fishing should be expected to become more challenging.

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

photo shows fish on hook with lure

A 2 to 3-pound bass caught on a tiny torpedo.

photo shows hand holding fish with hook and lure

A bass caught on a jerk bait.

September’s activity has been relatively the same as August’s, but we are expecting cooler temperatures very soon. The most activity has been early in the mornings and in the evenings. Anglers are having the most success catching fish from boats as they can reach cooler waters for longer periods of time. Fish have been in deeper water during the heat of the day near the dam and around the air diffusers but can be found in brush piles closer to shore in the overnight and early morning hours.

September has been hot with little rain. Visibility has fluctuated due to periods of “boom and bust” of the green algae bloom that feeds our primary consumers. Visibility will increase as the temperature decreases. Currently, there is no spawning activity.

Bass: Target bass in deeper water near aerators and brush piles near the dam. Many reports of 5-10 fish being caught during overnight and morning hours. Success has been reported on a variety of lures: black chatter baits, black prop baits, and green/watermelon soft plastic worms and flukes. As we move into October, expect the larger bass to be moving up into brush piles closer to shore.

Bream: Red Wigglers continue to produce Bream. Target the treetops next to the boat ramp in the early morning.

Crappie: We expect the Crappie bite to pick up by late October. Overnight anglers can still catch Crappie using a live minnow under a float.

Catfish: Use chicken livers or cut bait. Cast as far as you can from the dam or the point opposite the dam.