Hometown Cherokee

LAKE LANIER IS FULL, THE MAIN LAKE IS CLEAR AND THE CREEKS AND RIVERS ARE STAINED and 84 DEGREES. LAKE LEVELS FROM http://lakes.southernco.com/

Ken Sturdivant will be hosting a “LURES FOR BASS” at The Dam Store on September 8, 2005 at 7pm for $20 per person. Call The Dam Store for details and to register at (770) 932-2031 or visit www.havefunfishing.com.

Largemouth bass fishing is slow. The Chug Bug or a Pop R will get a few strikes; crank baits in baby bass are working as well. Short run out points that drop off sharply into deep water are some of the key areas to look for. Do not overlook super shallow stumps that are popping up all over the upper lake. A submerged hump with wood or rock around the rowing club is an excellent area to fish the jointed Shad Rap or the suspending model.

There are a few fish moving early and even in the middle of the day looking for food as the water temperatures start to cool down. Good size spots are being taken on the upper end of the lake early in the morning with any top water bait. The best locations are the coves and pockets just south of the Wahoo Creek bridge. Work your way down the creek and then come back to the same locations with different lures. Start with black and silver or blue and silver and keep changing colors until you find what they want. With any off colored waters, go directly to the fire tiger color. Later in the day, use a u-tail worm on the Carolina rig and fish these same areas. Added garlic scent is a must when throwing worms or jigs this time of the year.

Spotted bass fishing is fair, and Texas rigs and drop shot rigs are best. There is little, if any, top water action, as all these fish are relating to the main lake reefs and deep man made brush piles. The Staysee 95 minnow and a small all white spinner bait will work and cover a LOT of water all day. The cooler nights and shorter days may soon get the fish active but right now, it’s just plain to hot for the fish to feed well.

There are pockets of air bubbles floating to the surface lake wide, and the bubbles will show up on the Lowrance, especially midway into the creeks. Turn up the sensitivity to 87%. During the major feeding periods midday this week, any point on the lake and man made brush piles are best. Use small all white buck tails and #7 Shad Raps. There is just no top water action anywhere on the lake north or south yet. For spots at 30 to 40 feet deep, get small finesse worms and drop shot mini worms all the way to the bottom and fish them very slowly. If the fish see the baitfish around brush piles, doodle the baits straight down. Night fishing is dead.

Stripers are still holding on the same patterns from last week. There has been no top water action yet so ride and look while trolling. Try the large blue silver Cisco Kid and a 2 ounce all white buck on lead core 6 colors back on a 17 pound test line 50 foot leader. Have a least 3 dozen blue back cooled down with ice and have rods ready in case you encounter schools or even singles. If you can see the dam, you are in the best location. Troll or search an area, especially in the mouths of the major creeks until the fish pop up on the screen. Try a bleeding shiner hook in small sizes and use from a one or two ounce sinker and a long 6 foot or longer leader so the sinker will not to spook the fish. Trolling deep to 40 feet will work but watch the trees to hold the fish right on and off the river tree lines.

Check out the special rod and reel striper combo and the spot tail minnows now available at The Dam Store, (770) 932-2031. We offer the Southern Fishing Schools Inc., 770-889-2654, and our six-hour Striper School, “On the Water,” to get you up to speed fast (www.havefunfishing.com).

Crappie have been slow with only a few fish coming in at night. Drop or shoot small tubes in to the docks up lake in the off colored waters and use small 1/24 ounce lead heads and 4 pound test. Then drift over creek beds and try following the baitfish that are moving into the creeks. Work from the mouth of the creeks and follow the channel.

Crappie are still in the lake but they are all in off-shore structure. We can see them mixed in with spots in deep brush piles. Live bait and tiny tubes will work.

We have three books for sale: “52 WEEKS ON LAKE ALLATOONA,“ “52 WEEKS ON LAKE LANIER,” and “52 WEEKS ON WEST POINT LAKE.” Each book is $23.95. Our mailing address is: Southern Fishing Schools Inc. 106 Hickory Ridge, Cumming Georgia, 30040.

The new book, “BASS FISHING LAKE HARTWELL,” is now on sale as well. Tim White and Ken Sturdivant have opened this lake up to avid bass anglers with over 100 key bass fishing holes.

We teach “ON THE WATER SCHOOLS”: Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass or Maps and Depth Finders and Stripers! Call (770) 889-2654 for details. Take a look at www.aquavu.com. You really need a camera. Copyright 2005, Southern Fishing Schools Inc.

LAKE ALLATOONA IS FULL, 82 DEGREES AND CLEAR

This fishing report has been brought to you exclusively by Mike Bucca, Triton Mike's Spot Country Guide Service, www.tritonmike.com, Lake Allatoona, Georgia, email: mbucca@comcast.net.

Fishing is still good, and nothing has changed pattern-wise since last week. There are lots of schoolers in and around the Victoria Kellogg Creek area and especially around the shallow flats just before dark and at sunrise. Definitely try to arrive early at the lake and take advantage of the schooling action. There are hybrids and spots mixed in and feeding on shad. I like the Sammy 115 in American Shad, primarily because it's heavier bait, and I can cast it long distances to the schooling fish once they surface. Fishing has been good, with Mini Me's Spinnerbaits burning it just under the surface. Be sure to use a good trailer hook, because those schoolers can be finicky and often short strike.

Once the sun gets up and the schooling comes to a halt, you have two options. The first option is to fish deep brush piles in the 25 foot range with a drop shot tipped with a Flat Tail worm in any natural color or a Robo Worm in Aaron's Magic and Green Weenie colors. Find the brush pile and put your boat right over the brush, and irritate the fish by keeping your bait in the vicinity of the brush and just shaking it. This pattern will also work with the weedless Spot Stalker Jig head. Another pattern that is doing well is working the very backs of the rivers and creeks. The BDS 3 and 4 bite is coming on strong and will continue to get better once the corps start dropping the water after the holiday. Those fish are seeking the cooler water in the back of those creeks. I like to work my way in with the BDS 3 and 4 crank by working the outside edges of the visible structure. On my way out of the creek, I fish with a Grass Stalker Jig by flipping it into the heavy cover.

"THERMAL REFUGE ARTICLE" link: This article appeared in the most recent Yamamoto's Inside Line Magazine. http://www.insideline.net/2005/bucca-thermal-refuge.htm In the present edition of Yamamoto's Inside Line edition, I have an article titled, SPOTSHOTTIN' WITH FLAT TAILS, which is a detailed article pertaining to how I go about dropshotting for fish, specifically on Allatoona. You can subscribe to the Inside Line by visiting http://www.insideline.net/ and hitting the subscribe link in the upper right-hand corner. FREE SEMINARS: If your bass club in the metro Atlanta area is interested in having me speak at your club meetings, shoot me an email at mbucca@comcast.net.

The line side report is bought to you by Robert Eidson of First Bite Guide Service, www.firstbiteguideservice.com, 770-827-6282

Line side fishing is great, and mid-lake is the place to be. Clear Creek down to Victoria Landing is loaded with fish. The live bait bite is hard to beat. Thread Fin shad are working the best. But medium shiners and bream will all so catch fish. There is a very good top water bite early in the morning for big hybrid and white bass. After the sun comes up, there is still a top water bite...but mostly white bass with a few hybrid and spots mixed in. Rooster Tails in all white are killing them. By midday, break out your Mack Farr u-rigs in all white and pull the river channel you want. I have been getting some big ones after 11am by doing this.

By the end of October, I hope to have a bait boat on the lake. I will keep you posted on this. Gizzard shad will be $10 a dozen when you mention Ken Sturdivant. Otherwise, the cost is $12 a dozen. And Thread fins will be $6 a dozen all the time.

There is still a good night bite going on with a mixed bag of hybrid and crappie under the Hydro Glow Light. Remember that the Dug Out has all your striper needs cover. Give them a call at (770) 428-7406. And we now offer a hydro glow night trip. Call for details at (770) 827-6282. The new boat is here and is rigged to the gills! From a T-top down to a C.D player, this boat has all state-of-the-art equipment and plenty of room, too.