The Great Outsmores

Lake Burton has been rumored to hold some giant spotted bass . I’ve seen them cruising the shallows around dusk and dawn, but until this spring I’ve had a terrible time hooking up with any of them. Lake Burton is a different sort of Georgia bass fishing with its clean, cold waters, and substantially different forage including blueback herring and stocked brown trout. I’m very accustomed to North and Middle Georgia’s ponds and reseviors, which are relatively shallow and certainly stained water conditions - so adjustments were cerntainly in order.

The Catch

I spent only three or four hours just after sunrise on Saturday and Monday, fishing wind blown points along Billy Goat Island’s South and Eastern shore, as well as weedlines with sandy bottoms near the mouth of Murray Cove (near the boat ramp!). I was able to land several decent spotted bass in the 1 pound range, and finally hooked up with my personal best (so far) weighing about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds before the fish went queit at about 9:00 AM.

The Lures & Rigs

A couple small spotted bass and a small largemouth took 3/16 oz. BlueFox Vibrax spinners near downed trees in 3-5 feet of water. However most of the action was with carolina rigged worms. Depending on shore angle and depth, I ran a split shot (3/16 - 1/4 oz) about 16 inches up the line with a size 2/0 straight shanked worm hook to allow some suspension inches off the bottom. Best worm type this weekend was a watermelon, tailess zoom worm with a 1/” cut off the front, however I got a couple bites and a fish off a light green, curly tailed zoom as well. Both a painfully slow retrieve, and a slow two foot by two foot jigging motion with 4-5 second pauses work well to pull these finicky fish off the bottom.

A Line Note

Lastly, I’m getting the distinct feeling that heavy line will not produce in Lake Burton’s clear waters, especially during heavy fishing pressure. Flourescent blue, six pound mono has done fine, but with green hued line suitable for Georgia’s stained waters has been less than stellar.

 My best spotted bass, so far…..

Thanks to everyone for stopping by my blog, and I always appreciate tips and suggestions from my cold water bass fishermen further North as I learn to master the art of fishing cold, deep, and clear waters - it’s certainly a challenge, and more certianly good fun.

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