Lurechucker

I made 10 trips in my lifetime. Hoping to do more as the kids get a little older.

Yes, most of my area is trout water high up so in the summer the fishes are munching. It’s a great time to be on the river but not so much the lake.

You can catch them all year but my favorite time is late summer just before fall.

Flint is the Mecca. I’m above Lanier on the Upper Chattahoochee. We have them up to say 20-22”, Flint has 23-24”. I can help you shuttle or fish with you anytime if you want to give it a try. Unicoi Outfitters runs guide trips. If I were on the Flint I’d track down Allen Ragsdale.

They were stocked to control the other invasives and to provide recreation. Like the trout in lakes in my area used to “control” blueback herring. To me it was mostly an opportunity to develop a sport fishery where chaos had already made an ecological issue present itself.

Probably a good thing since most are invasives but some of the videos show some nice fishes floating.

You live in a beautiful place. I used to come to Fletcher for Apple & viticulture trainings. Also sampled fishes on the French Broad for a few years.

If you learn how to read relative weight on bass you learn you might be doing the population a favor by eating some bass, especially on private waters. Bass are not sacred. Balance is important. Sometimes fish need to be harvested to improve the forage availability for the remaining bass.

How far down did the freeze smoke all of the tropical fishes? I used to deliver them to 5-D and EkkWill in Plant City. I was thinking about hitting the top of the Everglades this spring for some canal fishing with my kids. I also loved fishing the forest lakes around Ocala and the Big Bend. Also spent a lot of time around Gulf Breeze with my major professor when he retired. Some great waters in FL.

Haven’t worked with crawfish except for educating both sides of the potential negative efffects of bringing in red swamp crawfish for trophy bass and aquaculture in GA. We have a lot of native species that could be negatively impacted. Consultants try to tell clients they fill an entirely different niche in the food web so they’ll be good for ponds. I don’t have any research to prove or disprove that claim. Maybe it makes sense, but the worry about them being invasive has real potential. Here’s an article from folks in VA that should give some good insight to your situation: Sustaining America's Aquatic Biodiversity - Crayfish Biod...Freshwater habitats throughout the United States harbor the richest diversity of crayfish in the world. These aquatic animals serve as important links in the food web, indicators of water quality, and

It’s fun to meet and learn from folks on the forums. Thanks for all the welcomes everyone.

I’ve worked as a biologist for over 30 years. Happy to try to help anyone who asks questions. If you’re ever in NE GA I can try to show you how to catch Bartrams, Shoal, Alabama, and Chattahoochee bass anytime. In GA you can pick up 8-10 bass species fairly easily.

I’ve used those slider heads for finesse worms since learning about them in the early 90’s. Dancing Eel guy needs to try the old Cackle Buzz.

Thank you

New SV3 single willows look like awesome baits for pond knocking.

Picked up a 10” WCZ tyrant and 3” Senkos. Guess I’m a man of extremes 😂😂😂😂

All quality advice, but for me I’ve learned it’s an opportunity to buy new baits and I enjoy how much distance I got on my “great cast” LOL. Last one was a burrito bait right after catching a nice 4lb largemouth on Taco Tuesday.

Crappie are nearly impossible to manage in small bodies of water. They impact balance and leave the pond in ruin 99.9% of the time. Yes, at some point in the cycle someone will catch a few huge bass to always remember and talk about, but long term it’s always a disaster. Be very thankful you didn’t find them and head to the river or local reservoir to enjoy them. If you like fishing ponds google relative weight calculators and learn the basics from Dr Swingle. He laid the foundations for how we manage ponds.

Nice work. Those reel seats are often difficult to set properly. Tag wraps look very clean, custom cork on point. Love that you chose one of my favorite all time blanks. ML St Croix are hard to beat. I just built a 7’10”MLXF.

I have a reel dedicated for each rod. Too OCD I guess to have a rod sitting in the rack without a reel. I try to cover all of my bases from UL to XXH.

Spunk Shad is hard to beat. Stroll Shad works well too for a more finesse presentation. Kamakazi Shad looks nice when it warms a little as does the zako for me.

It’s incredibly addictive and fun. I’ve enjoyed it for over 20 years. If you are in Northeast GA I’m happy to help show anyone how to get started.

I’m happy to join the group and look forward to contributing. I work for Uga Extension as a fisheries biologist where I help landowners with watershed restoration projects, Pond management recommendations, and native fishes work. Our most recent work has been cataloging genetics on the upper Chattahoochee basin for Shoal Bass and Chattahoochee Bass. This genetics work has leveraged a lot of money for watershed protection in the area. I am an avid custom Rod builder, Swimbait enthusiast, and I love fishing of all types. My favorite places to fish are on the river locally for shoal bass. I also love inshore salt and places like Quetico Park. I love Shimano reels and fatback hearing baits. I look forward to interacting with many of you. Don’t hesitate to send Pond management questions anytime. I can answer them free of charge. Also if you’re nearby, I’m happy to repair rods. One of the passion I have is youth fishing events. I used to coordinate the southeastern youth Kayak fishing platform on Facebook. We’re hoping to bring some of those competitive youth Kayak experiences back. If you’re in the northeast Georgia area hit me up and I’ll keep you posted these things develop. In the past, we offer free tournaments for kids and an effort to get them out on the water and to help them obtain free gear to encourage them to develop a love of fishing like we have. Have a good day. Thank you for reading.

Our genetics clips from the Chestattee may finally be coming back. We need to catch some fishes this summer.