Hello Everyone –

I hope all of you are enjoying a relaxing and safe Labor Day Weekend!

I was out on trips most of the week this past week. There is definitely a change happening and it has been fun to follow – I will address that a little later in this post.

Most of my trips this week were “teaching” trips. Many folks wanted to learn the drop shot presentation and get the feel of catching fish so they could gain confidence in the technique. I enjoy these trips a great deal and love to watch people grow in their skill over a few short hours on the boat. There are plenty of smaller fish to be caught in the 20-30 ft. brush right now, with a few solid fish mixed in – no monsters though. These fish offer the perfect opportunity to learn the drop shot – they will bite!

I actually had the pleasure of taking one gentleman that fishes Hartwell rather than Lanier, but he wanted to learn techniques on Lanier that he could apply to fishing Hartwell. I was honored to work with him – we spent most of our day talking and teaching rather than fishing – I enjoy those days too.

With all that said, there are some big ones available right now. Some of these big fish are shallow, and some are out over deeper water. On my trip Friday, we lost 2 big fish first thing in the morning- one jumped and spit it at the boat, and one broke off during the fight on a strong surge – just bad luck. These fish were shallow over deep water.

During the afternoon, we found fish shallow on rocky points near deep water. I busted off a huge bass in 3 feet of water on topwater – couldn’t believe it. I guess it is time to re-spool some rods, although that one was on fresh line – maybe time to move up in line size – LOL!

There is alot of bait making a move back into the creeks right now – keep an eye on this as September progresses and the water cools with the upcoming weather. I am sure the lake will recover some water level, but my understanding is the corp is planning to continue the draw down through the fall through consistent water release. BTW, I have noticed a substantial improvement in the bite when they are pulling water – no surprise really, but it is something to keep in mind.

Through the past week, we have caught fish on: drop shot, topwater, jerkbaits, carolina rigs, spoons, crank baits, and jigs. I am sure other things will work too, but these have been my focus areas.

I have a full day trip on Monday, but have some dates open later in the week if you would like to get out – just give me a call or shoot me an email.

May God Bless –

Jimbo