Georgia Fishing Report: May 6, 2022

What are you getting mom for Mother's Day? Flowers? Chocolates? Let's get real - is that what she really wants? I say plan a fun fishing trip instead! Whether she is an experienced angler or not, there are plenty of places to go that can provide for a great day of fishing and family time.

NEWS TO KNOW:

• Kids Fishing Events: Make plans now to attend one of the many upcoming scheduled kids fishing events this spring and summer. Find an event calendar HERE and check out these tips for fishing with kids.
• Georgia Bass Slam: Test those angling skills this year and grab yourself a Georgia Bass Slam! If you catch 5 of the 10 available black bass species in Georgia, you have a Slam.

This week, we have reports from Central, North and Southeast Georgia. Surprise mom this year and give her something that she will really love by taking her to Go Fish Georgia!

CENTRAL GEORGIA

(Fishing report courtesy of Steve Schleiger, Region Supervisor and fisheries biologist with Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division, with help from Region Staff and Local Experts)

Reservoir Fishing Reports Courtesy of Southern Fishing with Ken Sturdivant.

LAKE RUSSELL IS FULL 70'S

Bass fishing is good. Bass are biting on secondary creek points and creek ledges. Never overlook rocks on this lake. Use a Texas rigged lizard in pumpkinseed or watermelon and add some Real Craw scent. Skip a large watermelon green with red flake Zoom trick worm on the secondary points and let it sink. Make 10 casts with a white buzz bait on any area you stop to fish. Add a glass rattle in the worm and let it sink on a free line. Slowly work the worm right in the brush. Working floating worms on the grass beds can get a big fish but use a big worm. Crank baits in fire tiger and all white colors are working. Use shallow running lures around the wood and the #7 Shad Raps and Rat L Traps will attract a bass. Stay with smaller lures down lake but in the river use the next larger sizes. Have a Shad Rap and a top water Lucky Craft ready. A baby bass Zoom Super Fluke is also a real good choice and try both the larger Super Fluke and the Baby Fluke.

CLARKS HILL IS FULL, 70'S

Bass fishing is good. The upriver bass were biting but the muddy water slowed the action. Get off the river and work coves and creeks and use the larger spinner baits. Be sure to have a Zoom Super Fluke rigged all day and make 10 casts with it before leaving any area. Down lake the fish are on wood and grass lines and floating worms and lizards in pumpkinseed on light line will catch them. The river is clearing and use a bright Stanley spinner bait with hot pink or chartreuse blades in the willow leaf style. Make 10 casts with a white buzz bait on any place you stop to fish. Down lake use the large shallow running Rebel Wee R shad colored baits on docks and points. Cast a dark Texas rigged Berkley Power worm in the larger sizes worked slowly on the docks on the lower lake. Early and late use a Lunker Lure buzz bait on lower lake grass beds. Cast these baits right on the banks and pull them slowly over the grass. A larger dark worm over the grass and around docks can get a strike.

LAKE OCONEE IS ONCE FULL, 70'S (This Lake Oconee fishing report is by Captain Mark Smith, Reel Time Guide Service) - The temperature is 64-69 degrees. The main lake is muddy from I-20 to the 44 bridge; from the 44 bridge to Salem Campground is stained; from Lick Creek to the dam is mostly clear. Richland creek is clear to the dam.

Bass: Bass fishing is good. Fishing is good all over the lake. The Shad spawn is going on now. At first light fish a white spinner bait on sea walls and rip rap banks. This will last the first 2 hours of daylight. Then switch to a small crank bait in a shad pattern and fish the same areas. The Ned Rig fished around docks and wood structure will also produce good catches.

Striped Bass: Striper fishing is fair to good. Live bait, and trolling mini Mack's have all have been producing. Shad are the best producer. The fish have been from Long Shoals to the dam. If you are targeting big fish use plainer boards and bigger baits (gizzard shad).

Crappie: Crappie fishing is good. Use your Lowrance Active Target to locate the large schools of fish in the mouths of the coves and pockets all over the lake and then long lining (trolling). Double 1/16 oz. jigs have been the best producer. The fish will be starting to set up on the timber any day so be on the lookout for fish in the timber about 10 ft. deep.

LAKE SINCLAIR IS DOWN 1.3 FEET, 70'S

Bass fishing is good. The fish are biting but the lower lake is the better area. Look in the lower lake creeks and fish brush and wood. Windblown points are usually a good spring pattern for this lake. Fish are on the wood in the lower lake creeks and flipping a Berkley red or black and red ribbon tail worm will work. The bass are on the points close to the creeks, shallow docks, and ditches. Use the small Deep Wee R Rebel lures in bone, crawfish, and baby bass. Work creek's and cuts off the rivers. Look for old creek beds and follow them with spinner baits and plastic lizards. The fish are roaming these creeks in spawning locations and depths of less than 5 feet. On the main lake they are on the points and ledges right off the current flow. Use the short Carolina rig and use a big dark plastic lizard on the lower lake points. Down lake in the creeks, run a bright shallow running Mann's Baby Minus One on banks and around docks and grass beds. Make 10 casts with a white buzz bait on any area you stop to fish.

FLAT CREEK PUBLIC FISHING AREA (More Info HERE)

• Surface Temperature: 67˚ F (19.4˚ C)
• Water Level: 12" Below Full Pool
• Water Visibility: 30"
• Flat Creek PFA Fishing Guide

Largemouth bass are moving into deeper water after the spawning season. Take advantage of the brush piles and increased cover from higher water levels. Target bream on their beds as their spawning season is beginning. The crappie have moved into cooler, deeper water due to the rising surface temperature. Here's a list of what the anglers are reporting to have had good success using for each of the following:

Bass: Yum Dinger rubber worms and imitation shad baits are producing good catches.

Bream: Red wigglers continue to produce bream.

Channel Catfish: The last anglers that were catching catfish used the following: chicken livers and pinks on the dam.

Crappie: Use live minnows and target deeper, cooler water.

LAKE JACKSON IS 1.3 FEET OVER FULL, 70'S

Bass fishing is good. The rivers are stained but these up lake fish are super shallow. Look at depths of 4 to 7 feet on the lower lake coves and small points. Try to fish any windblown point or cove. Bass are biting in the shallows all week. Use dark Stanley jigs, Zoom u tail worms and bright fire tiger crank baits. The 3/8-ounce spinner baits are good. Work the cover in the backs of the creeks all over the lake. They are on the points in the backs of creeks as well as the hard clay banks. Use chrome and blue back Rat L Traps and the Fenwick red shad crank baits. Use the Carolina rigged Zoom pumpkinseed lizard on a shirt leader around the docks and up the rivers in the cuts. Flip the all-black or all-brown 3/8-ounce Stanley jig and add the #11 Uncle Josh pork trailer. Make 10 casts with a white buzz bait on any place you stop to fish. Work the backs of the creeks and fish the cuts and small coves just off the river. Be sure to have a Zoom Super Fluke rigged all day and make 10 casts with it before leaving any area.

MARBEN PUBLIC FISHING AREA (More Info HERE)

• Water level: All water bodies are full.
• Water clarity: Most ponds have a visibility of 18" to 26".
• Surface temperature: 68 to 80 degrees.
• Marben PFA Fishing Guide

Bass: As the water warms bass anglers will want to fish early morning and late evening. The bass will begin to move to deeper water as May progresses. Pumpkinseed and watermelon plastic worms fished adjacent to drop-offs and channels are a good go-to as the temperatures warm. Several nice hybrid bass have been landed at Bennett Lake.

Crappie: Crappie fishing has slowed down as the water has warmed up. A few crappie can still be caught in deeper water (>4') around structure.

Bream: Bluegill and shellcracker have been biting well in all the lakes. Most are caught on the bottom with red wigglers or wax worms, although anglers with fly tackle have been catching a few adjacent to floating vegetation. Crickets will work also.

Catfish: Channel catfish will spawn as the water temperatures reach the mid-80's. Often channel catfish will lay eggs in a stump or burrow into the bank. Rip rap banks have produced some nice catfish in the past.

NORTH GEORGIA

(Fishing report courtesy of Brent Hess, Fisheries Biologist with Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division, with help from WRD Staff and Local Experts)

RIVER REPORT

Striped Bass - Spawn Almost Over: This 30-pound female striped bass was captured and released this week during routine monitoring of the striper population in the Etowah River. This big girl was "spent", having already deposited her eggs during this year's spawn. Had she been captured just two weeks earlier she might have weighed another 3-5 pounds heavier. We are starting to see lots of spent females, indicating that this year's spawn may be just about over. Post-spawn fish will hang around for a few weeks in the Rivers of the Coosa Basin, including the Etowah, the Coosa itself, the Oostanaula, and the Coosawattee, as long as water temperatures remain cool. After that, many will head back downstream. Others will search for thermal refuge areas with cool water to survive the hot summer. Post-spawn fish can be very hungry, so now is a great time to target these monsters. Live shad are always the best bet, but respectable numbers of fish can also be landed on big shad-imitating lures.

Seeking Spotted Gar (Report courtesy of Jack Becker) - This week I ventured up to the Tugalo River to try sight fishing for Spotted Gar. It was a new experience for me. I heard about using nylon rope lures and made a few to give it a try. 8 inches of unraveled nylon rope with no hook for a lure makes it very challenging. When a fish bites into the rope the hardest part is waiting long enough to make sure theirs is teeth become tangled in the rope. I took a fly fishing friend in hopes of getting one on a hand tied streamer while I used 20lb. braid on a spinning combo. After seeing numerous females being followed by 1 or more males and having no less than a dozen follows each we both managed to catch our first gar. They are tremendous fighters. We will definitely be going back.

RESERVOIR REPORT

Hartwell Walleye Extraordinaire (Report courtesy of Bob Lux:) - Just when I was about to write off the walleye for the year, they totally redeem themselves. Tonight was one of those nights you make sure to write down, so you recount it 40 years from now. Tonight I headed back to my usual walleye Hartwell tributary haunt with not too much faith I'd catch any walleye. Last week's trip there was blank for walleye with the only fish being a 15" Bartram Bass. Not since I've started walleye fishing in Georgia have I seen so many walleye in one outing. The night started out pretty dead. Normally during the spawn run, they'll feed in that magical two-hour window of one hour either side of sunset. There was zero action tonight until 9:30. From then, it was near chaos with the numbers of walleye up feeding. The herring were in full force and the walleye were enjoying a night at the buffet. If you dared turn your headlamp on, you'd see walleye after walleye chasing your bait and the real bait down everywhere. Tonight yielded five walleye that I actual let all swim away with nothing more than a sore lip and an empty stomach. The hot lure for me lately has been the 3.5" soft swimbait in a blueback herring color on a 1/8 jig and tonight it was on fire. The fishing was still hot when I left, but there's work tomorrow, so I let them have the rest of the night off. If you want a walleye, now is the time as they are on that post spawn feeding binge.

Lake Hartwell: (Report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant www.southernfishing.com) - LAKE HARTWELL IS .8 FEET OVER FULL, 60's. Bass fishing is good. Bass are biting worms, crank baits and top water stick baits. In the lower lakes creeks, flip docks with a Texas rigged Culprit red shad worm. Use larger worms in dark colors and add the Real Craw scent. Make 10 casts with a white buzz bait on any area you stop to fish. Use a large dark Berkley Power worm in and around the docks. If the Carolina rig is your favorite get to the lake. Almost any color worm on a 24-inch leader will work. Work the backs of these docks as well as the bank cover and the sea walls on down lake. Later in the day, use a 7A Bomber in crawfish or fire tiger colors right on the docks and get the lures under these docks with accurate casts. This works best up the rivers in the off-colored waters. The upper rivers are off colored and use a larger Zoom Magnum lizard or a worm as well as a spinner bait around the banks and drop them into the cuts under the big trees right on the bank.

Carters Lake Spotted Bass (Report courtesy of John Damer, Fisheries Biologist with Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division): WRD staff from the Armuchee office were busy sampling Carters Lake this week. Carters is known for growing large spotted bass like the one pictured, and we captured and released plenty of them. Highest numbers of spots were found in the shallows on rocky banks and drop-offs on the main lake. We saw a few fish busting the surface early, so you might have good luck throwing a topwater plug in the mornings.

Allatoona Bass (Report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant www.southernfishing.com) - LAKE ALLATOONA IS FULL, 70S - Bass fishing is good. There is some debris in the lake. The bass are trying to spawn and they are roaming the banks. Look in the shallows in the creeks and on any kind of sand and wood close to the bank. The bass are trying to move shallow around any wood and cast baits to shadows all day. The crazy weather still slows any bite. Use a gourd green Berkley tail worms down lake on Texas rig, and use the brass and glass on the rig for more sound. Look in the mid lake in the backs of creeks and hit any dock or on points. Brush on the bank is worth at least 5 casts even in the stained water. Up the river the fishing is fair but use bright baits. Make 10 casts with a white buzz bait on any place you stop to fish. A 1/2-ounce Stanley spinner bait and a super bright set of blades and trailers can work. Berkley worms in the u tail style in red and green can be worked slowly on wood and docks. Use a Texas rig and fish all lures slowly and let them fall. Be sure to have a Zoom Super Fluke rigged all day and make 10 casts with it before leaving any area.

Allatoona Stripers (The Lake Allatoona Line Side report is from Robert Eidson) - Linesides fishing is good. The water temperature is starting to heat up and the bite is as well. The white bass have moved up both rivers and are being caught on white Rooster Tails and crappie jigs. We are just days away before the Hybrids and Stripers start their spawn run. Right now I am spending most of my time in the creeks. There are decent schools of fish in all the major creeks right now. Kellogg's Creek, Stamps Creek, Clark Creek, Tanyard Creek and Iron Hill have all produces for my boats in the last few outings. There is also another bite going on from Little River all the way up to Fields Landing. If you find the bait fish you'll find stripers and hybrids nearby. These fish are feeding up for the upcoming spawn run. Flat lines in the morning and afternoon and down lines mid-day is the way to go. The top water bite this week has been slow compared to last week. If you are lucky enough to come across breaking fish Rooster Tails, Flukes, Popping Corks, jerk baits and free lining shad will all catch you fish right now. Trolling is working really well right now. The 3-arm umbrella rig has been producing best. Colors do not seem to matter but speed is a factor. The best speed for me this week has been between 3.3 to 3.5 miles per hour.

Allatoona Bass and Bream (Report courtesy of Fisheries Biologist Jackson Sibley) - WRD staff completed the spring fisheries survey of Lake Allatoona. Bass were still spread from shallow to deep locations, often keying on downed trees and rocky points. Aside from collecting good numbers of spotted bass, the field crew encountered (and released) several quality largemouth bass. One was a nice 8.8-pound individual that had been stocked by DNR back in 2014! The bass was likely well under a pound when stocked, so that means the fish has grown about a pound a year since it was stocked. From big bass to big redear sunfish, many big shellcrackers were also encountered in the shallows. A 2.2-pound monster was the biggest observed during the entire survey. Crickets or worms and a little stealth in the clear shallows should be the ticket to catching quality Allatoona shellcrackers this weekend.

Lake Lanier Bass(Report from Phil Johnson.[email protected] 770 366-8845) - Bass fishing on Lake Lanier is very good. The bite has definitely gotten hot on the lake. The bite for the spots slowed down from Friday through Monday mostly because of the end of the herring spawn that was going on but it picked back up as the week went on. The largemouth bite stayed consistent with so many of the fish up bedding. The water temperature has finally gotten into the mid-sixties and staying there. With the water temperature up the topwater bite has gotten started. Walking baits, wake baits, Sebile and flukes seem to be the flavor of the week. The spots are oriented on the long main lake points and humps now. The bite is strongest the first couple of hours of the day but there will be some activity all day. Be prepared for some schooling activity also. There won't be many fish in the busting fish but they tend to be better fish. We have been throwing a Spotchoker three eights ounce head with a three/three Keitech at the fish since they always seem to be a long way from the boat. If the topwater bait slows too much for you then go to the wacky rig with a Senkos or a green pumpkin trick worm of a three sixteenths lead head around the same areas as well as blow downs and boat docks. There are plenty of fish in less than ten feet of water around the docks but they tend to be the smaller fish. While you are in the pockets you can also try throwing a jerkbait down the middle of the pockets while your boat is in twenty feet of water. There is still a good bedding largemouth bite reported but I don't fish for them on bed so I can't give an up to date report. The leaders of the Skeeter tournament this weekend were all weighing in bags of largemouth so check for those also. As you can see many patterns are working now due to the fish being in the shallower water. It's a great time to be out there so Go Catch 'Em!

Lanier Stripers (Report courtesy of Buck Cannon, Buck Tales charters 404 510 1778) - Lake Lanier stripers are hitting the flat lines and planer boards and always have one down line. The blue backs and gizzards are the best bait. Put a small split shot on the flat lines and let out 80 feet on one side and 100 feet on the other and 30 feet behind the planer boards. Water depth has been around 25 feet to 60 feet as we troll around points and humps. Once we mark fish, keep trolling that area .05 to 1.5 mph. Water temperature up lake is in the low 70S to mid-sixties and stained. Change bait often the livelier the bait the better action. Remember to wear your life jackets.

Lanier Crappie (Report courtesy of Call Captain Josh Thornton 770 530-6493) - The water temperatures are already in the upper 60's. I believe the spawn is over for the most part. I am finding crappie on the docks suspended 5 to 15 feet deep over a 20 to 45 foot bottom also finding crappie in shallow brush. If you are using jigs I would recommend starting with a pink and green small body or a hair jig with a dark body and a bright color tail. Remember to retrieve slow and give the jig time to sink to the level of the fish. 50% of this week's catch came on minnows I am setting minnows at 5 to 10 feet deep over schooling Crappie. Crappie love the shade so cast into the shadows. When dock shooting the biggest fish are usually the first to bite. I'm using the skippers jig moon jigs use (promo code heroes) when ordering. I use ATX Lure Company's jigs atxlures.com. I use 5 pound test high visibility yellow k9 braid for my line unless I am using a bobber then it's the k9 6 pound high vis line k9fishing.com and a Piscifun reel on a Act crappie Stix. I use Garmin Live Scope and the Navionics Boating app. Find me on Facebook and like my pages #crappieonlanier & #fishingwitheverydayheroes.

Weiss Lake(Report courtesy of Mark Collins www.markcollins service.com 256 779-3387):

• Bass Bass fishing is good. Our bass are shallow in the bays and creeks in the spawning areas, spinner baits and shallow running crank baits are catching a lot of fish.

• Crappie Crappie fishing is fair. They are suspended in the spawning bays at 8 to 20 feet deep. Anglers are long line trolling with Jiffy Jigs in colors JJ13 and JJ17 JiffyJigs.com. Some fish are starting to be caught in 4 8 feet of water. Look for them to spawn over the next few weeks. Some Crappie are being caught shooting docks with jigs.

• Catfish Catfish are biting in the bays and creeks in 8 to 15 feet of water and cut bait is working best.

West Point Winner:Eli Jamison caught a beautiful largemouth bass from the Maple Creek arm of West Point Lake. Picture credit Mr. Jay Jamison, West Point Reservoir Project, Army Corps of Engineers.

West Point Bass (Report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant www.southernfishing.com) - WEST POINT LAKE IS FULL, 70S. Bass fishing is good and there are lots of fish shallow all over the lake. The lake levels change almost weekly with the rains. Use the 3/8-ounce Stanley spinner bait in white or chartreuse and the Shad Raps right on the banks. Shad Raps in the #7 shad/black back on 10-pound test line are good choices. Work the lower lake creeks and ledges with a Berkley watermelon seed lizard or worm either on a Texas or Carolina rig. Use the longer leader on the Carolina rig and a full one-ounce weight. They are on the creek points, ledges and wood as well as shallow pond dams in the lower lake creeks. A chrome 1/2-ounce Rat L Trap on points can draw bass and cast the baits right on the bank. The river fish are biting bright Stanley spinner bait mid-day and work the wood. Black and blue jigs will work in New River and Wolf Creek on the wood. Some big spotted bass are biting the Shad Raps down lake on any rocky point or bank.

West Point Water Level: West Point Lake Water Level Information can be found HERE.

TROUT REPORT

Looking for Trout News? Unicoi Outfitters "Angler Management Blog" should do the trick!

SOUTHEAST GEORGIA

(Fishing report courtesy of Bert Deener, Region Supervisor and fisheries biologist with Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division, with help from Region Staff and Local Experts)

The fishing has been great this week with several new river records and angler awards being certified. The winds have been a little more manageable in saltwater this week. Look for the saltwater fishing to pick up significantly over the next month. The Okefenokee and ponds have both been producing good catches, as well.

River gages on May 5th were:

• Clyo on the Savannah River - 6.2 feet and steady
• Abbeville on the Ocmulgee - 4.7 feet and falling
• Doctortown on the Altamaha - 8.1 feet and falling
• Waycross on the Satilla - 6.3 feet and rising (76 degrees)
• Atkinson on the Satilla - 5.0 feet and steady
• Macclenny on the St Marys - 8.1 feet and rising fast

First quarter moon is May 9th. To monitor all the Georgia river levels, visit the USGS website HERE. For the latest marine forecast, click HERE.

ALTAMAHA RIVER

The river is still up, but it's getting in fishable shape. Dane Clements ran 2 trot lines over the weekend and baited it with shiners. He caught a bunch of catfish from 2 to 18 pounds. All but one of his fish were channel catfish, and the 18-pounder was a flathead. I received some reports of the bream fishing improving this week in the upper Altamaha as the river has dropped out. Most of the bluegills were caught in the backwaters.

OGEECHEE RIVER

The river has produced some great catches for anglers throwing spinnerbaits or pitching crickets, or even fishing worms on the bottom. The best report I heard of was from an angler throwing Satilla Spins in the middle part of the river. He and a friend caught 150 fish total (released many of them..).

SATILLA RIVER

The big redbreasts have still been biting on the Satilla. Will Steed only had his river record redbreast for 2 days before his son, Carter Steed, broke it. Carter has the current river record at 1-lb., 9.44-oz., and he caught it on Thursday. They fish bugs a lot for panfish, but that morning it was windy enough that they opted for spinnerbaits. Carter had been catching fish well that morning on a bruised banana gold Satilla Spin, but he broke it off. After retying another bruised banana gold one, a big fish bit and broke off that one also. It was their last one of that color, so he tied on a crawfish-colored Satilla Spin. His first fish on that one was the new river record. Steven Sweat of Patterson also caught a monster this week. While fishing in the Satilla River basin, he fooled an angler award-sized warmouth into eating a ZOOM crawfish. His warmouth weighed 1-lb., 2.5-oz. William Warner floated the upper Satilla for a short time on Saturday morning and caught 16 redbreasts, bluegill, and bass. He caught a giant redbreast on an orange beetlespin, and most of his fish were redbreasts. Ed Zmarzly and his friends Ashley Phillips and Calob Strickland floated the upper Satilla in kayaks on Saturday and caught a bunch of fish. Ashley had the hot hand with a stumpknocker Satilla Spin while the others tried lots of different colors with little success. The group ended up catching redbreasts, bluegill, bass, stumpknockers, and bowfin. Ashley's biggest bowfin - a 5-pounder - mangled her hot bait. Fortunately, they had another and she never missed a beat. The river was a little high and off-color still, but they managed 65 fish total (they released them all). On Tuesday, Don Harrison and I floated the upper river. Don stayed with an 1/8-oz. bruised banana gold Satilla Spins all day and caught fish all along the way. I was stubborn and tried to force-feed them at least a dozen other colors that usually produce, and I only caught a rare fish here and there. After his 4th or 5th photo shoot with monster fish, I had enough sense to switch to bruised banana gold, as well. The yellow hue was the ticket for me also, and it produced all of our "photo fish". I caught a dozen fish in the first hour of our float on a lime-colored bug, but they were dialed into the yellow spinnerbait exclusively after the sun got up on Tuesday. Don had a bluegill only 3 ounces off the river record (his was 1-lb., 3-oz on scales), and we had several other giant bluegills. The trophy redbreasts eluded us, but we had a couple 10-inchers. We caught and released a total of 123 fish. The thunderstorms camped over the entire Satilla basin that night, and the river is rising again at the time of writing this. That is good for boat anglers, as they will get another chance to fish the upper river without having to drag over sandbars.

SAVANNAH RIVER

Even though the river just dropped below flood stage over the last week, Tyler Finch and a buddy fished the river on Friday and Saturday and got on the fish. They caught mostly bream and crappie, and had some really nice fish mixed in. White Satilla Spins tipped with crickets produced 90 percent of their 140 fish over the 2 days. Minnows produced many of the crappie.

ST MARYS RIVER

Matt Rouse said that the fishing in the upper river picked up this week before the Tuesday evening rains. Most catches were panfish (redbreasts and bluegills), but some catfish were caught, also. Check out the Shady Bream Tournament trail on Facebookfor more information on their next tournament this Saturday (5/7).

OKEFENOKEE SWAMP

The bite has been very good on the swamp. Pete Dyess and his buddy Virg fished the east side this weekend and caught 17 jackfish, about a dozen bowfin, and about a dozen fliers. The bowfin and pickerel ate Dura-Spins (the best color was jackfish), and they caught the fliers on yellow sallies. Okefenokee Adventures staff said that the bite picked up on the East side with the warmer weather this week. The latest water level (Folkston side) was 121.04 feet.

LOCAL PONDS

Solomon fished a St. George area pond on Thursday and caught his first-ever fish. It was a hand-sized bluegill that he fooled with a worm. Way to go, Solomon! Teddy and Emma Elrod fished a Brunswick area pond on Sunday afternoon for a couple hours and caught 8 bass. Most of them ate moving baits (spinnerbaits and vibrating jigs). They fooled 2 of their bass with a junebug Food Chain Lures magnum stick worm. Lamar Christie of Waycross fished a pond during his lunch break on Tuesday and caught a big bluegill on a bruiser Satilla Spin.

SALTWATER (GA COAST)

I heard of a giant trout of 29 inches being caught early this week off one of the bridges in Brunswick. Greg Hildreth did well for trout this week. His charter on Thursday caught some nice fish in the Brunswick area. For guide trip information, call Capt. Greg Hildreth at (912) 617-1980 or check out his website (georgiacharterfishing.com). For the latest fishing information or live shrimp in the Brunswick area, check with J&P Bait and Tackle on Hwy 303 (912-282-9705).

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