Savannah River Fall Season!!!

[JayLaw]

Ok folks we did a decent job with the summer thread let's see about helping each other out with the fall season as well, the water should start cooling off some and the baitfish should start becoming very active. If the river stays this way for some time, there will be some excellent fishing in the next few months. I will be fishing the ABA trail up in calrsk hill as well as the open tourneys down here in the savannah area when time and monewy permit. I believe there is a local bass club open tourney the third sat in Oct. out of port wentworth if anyone has more details please post about this. There is a ABA tourney on Nov 12 going out of port wentworth, hopefully there is a good turnout for that. Well hope to see you all out on the water.

JayLaw
2001 BassCat Sabre

[JayLaw]

Just an idea who on here in this area would be interested in just having an ole fashioned winner take all friendly event nothing organized just meet at a ramp do some fishin and come back in and winner takes all. Just a small friendly wager to make it competitive. Doesnt have to be an 8 hour slugfest, it could be from safe light till noon or noon till dark(days are getting shorter) hours could be worked around the tides for those of you who like to fish tidewater. We did this at work with 8 guys (four boats "pond prowlers") in a local pond and it was alot of fun. So if you all can go fishin and maybe walk away with some gas money then i think it would be worth it. Anyone think its a good idea????? It could be team or single format, if single and you take a non boater then they are fishing against you! Fun Huh?
I would say at least four to six boats would make this fun and small and its a good way to meet some folks that would be fishing anyway. And I would even be entitled to have y'all over for some cold beverages afterwards to tell some fishin stories!!!

JayLaw
2001 BassCat Sabre

[Javelin409FS]

Hey... I could use some pointers on catching Bass in the Savannah River. I live in Waynesboro, Ga., but we have a small home on the river about 10 or 12 miles north of 301 Bridge. I practically grew up there but always fished for Bream. My dad always said Bass fishing was a pain. Lately I've thrown a few lizards/worms here and there but no luck. I can load a boat with Bream, but really want to fight some big ones.

Any tips would be helpful!

[JayLaw]

Javelin- Right now the river is very low which makes for some excellent bass fishin. You have the right idea as far as some soft plastics go. If you are fishing in the main river you want to be able to find eddy's (place where the current swirls around in the opposite direction of the main river and it generally does not move as fast. You can usually locate these on the "S" turns in the river, look for the "whirlpool" action near the shore. I would get some spinner baaits in 3/8 ounce, generally white and chartruses seem to work well, and vary your retrieve to see what is working- you can't retrieve it too slow(slow-rollin) keep that it mind! Bass will be holding on near cover generally wood or laydowns and also any concrete chunks(riprap). In some of the oxbows or lakes and even in the eddys first thing in the am, there is usually a good top water bite, most people have good sucess with fishing a buzzbait again in white, white/green/chartruse, and if dark enough try a black buzzbait. You want to be able to throw these a good distance and then work them back fast enough(hold rod tip high till it's on top of water then lower tip and reel fast enough to keep it afloat) just to keep the lure afloat "buzzing". If no takers alter you retrieve by speeding it up to
see if that works. Working lizards and worms have enough weight to get it down to the bottom and work it slowly bouncing it up and down off the bottom during your retrieve. Sometime the bite will be very light and you wont know it is there till you bounce it again. They will start moving around alot more whith the cooler temperatures as they begin to chase baitfish, so dont rule out crankbaits now and through late december. Well hopefully some of this will help you catch some fish. Your are in a great area north of the 301 bridge to land some really big fish! Good luck.

JayLaw
2001 BassCat Sabre

[Javelin409FS]

Eddy's have produced lots of Bream over the years... Generally, though, I fish in cutoffs just to get away from the current. Plans are to fish Wednesday and I'll try what you suggested and let you know what happens.

BTW, if you are familiar with that area at all, we are just downstream from Stoney Bluff Landing on the Georgia side and Little Hale Landing on the Carolina side about midway from Plant Vogtle and 301

[Javelin409FS]

OK... Tried the fishing in the river today. No luck with the bass. My novice status shines through I guess. Tried for about 1 1/2 hrs in different locations. Finally went to pitching crickets and caught a bunch of bream.

Maybe next week...

[JayLaw]

Got out on the river last Tuesday(by myself) and also again on Friday morning with Rich. On Tuesday i got out about 430 in the afternoon and fished till about dark. I managed to catch 4 with the biggest going just over 3lbs. The smallest was a bout 10 inches. Then while heading in to fish some new water ran across a guy that was broke down and at the purrysburg landing ramp, but his truck was Ebenezer ramp, so i gave him a ride up there to get his truck. I would have towed his boat up there but that would have ment running home on the river in the dark, and i am not a big fan of that! So even thought i didnt get to fish the last hourt out i did help out a local boater.

Got out friday morning for about 3.5 hours with rich, fished all new water, with not soo great results. Rich did manage a very nice size striper on a spinnerbait. It was a nice day out on the water as the front that pushed thru made it very comfortable and there was a slight breeze. I got off the water at 1100 to make my way down to Tallahassee for the FSU game.Rich stayed out till about 3 while catching a few small keepers and some very large mudfish!! Good job Rich!! One day there maybe a Mudfish tourney you and I could fish, I am sure we could win that one!!!!

Well till next time, good luck!

JayLaw
2001 BassCat Sabre

[rlb8s]

Jason: As luck would have it, we would catch good quality bass all day if we were in a mudfish tournament. They have mudfish Ts in Mobile should you ever get stationed there. I'm sliding on Friday, want to hit the river?

[JayLaw]

Got out today, left the dock at 0730. The was a pretty decent topwater bite this morning. Actually I caught fish on a Buzz bait, a Pop R, and an excalibur (the one you let me borrow rich) caught two on that! Then switched over to soft plastics and spinner baits and caught fish on them too! Total for the day was around 14 bass +- 1, 5 heaviest would have been just over 8lbs. The fish looked really good, they all looked like they are getting ready for winter even the 12-13 inch fish had a decent belly on them. I fished in the main river for the morning topwater bite then hit a few area's that i have previously tried along with some new one's close to the old ones. Water level is slighty high right now but still below the banks. Water temp has cooled off very nice the main river this AM was reading 64.8 and by 1330 it was at 70. Supposed to get cooler through the weekend at night. It was an absoultey perfect day to be out on the water. I am probably going to head out in the AM for a few hours.

JayLaw
2001 BassCat Sabre

[JayLaw]

Got out again on Saturday morning, I was thinking about fishing one of the local clubs open tourneys but talked my self out of it, due to fishing two ABA tourneys this coming weekend in Augusta. I got on the water around 0730 and first stop i had four fish that would have kept, and i missed four blow-ups, all on topwater bait, the keepers averaged around 1.0-1.5 lbs. I move to another spot that i have tried before and the river is too low to get into the entrance, so I fish the eddies around it, nothing, couldn't lcoate a bite. So off to find a new spot, locate a small eddy coming off a small feeder creek and decide to fish that while heading to a different spot. On my fourth or fifth cast I nailed a 3.5 lber on soft plastics. That was a good looking fish. Fished there for 30 more minutes with no more takers. Went on and fished about four more areas, in the first two i pulled in two or three small keepers each then my last two stops i didnt find anything. Sort of like yesterday, great morning bite then it slowly started to taper off.

These past two days has offerd some really fun fishing. Oh yeah winning weight for the tourney was 13.11 oz 2nd place was around 10 or 11 and i think third was around 6 or 7, so had I entered and fished the same spots i did today, i probably would have taken third with around 8.5-9 lbs and would have missed big fish by 5 ounces. Oh well, I had a great day on the water.

JayLaw
2001 BassCat Sabre

[Javelin409FS]

Wednesday... Hit the river again today (15 miles North of 301). Fished for Bass and Bream. Caught 1 bass on a cricket while trying for bream. No luck on the bass. Tried everything. I'm no good at it but the blind squirrel saying keeps coming to mind when I throw plastics and spinner baits. Oh well... I'll keep trying. I'd rather fish and catch nothing than work!

[JayLaw]

Anyone been out lately? I have not been out in about two weeks. Just wondering if the fishing is picking up a little with the cooler weather. Them green fish should be chasing some bait a little more. 2 weeks ago there was a very good morning bite and i was just wondering if that bite is still going on. Rich I am off going duty on Saturday morning, i can meet you at the ramp @ 0845 if you are going out.

JayLaw
2001 BassCat Sabre

[Javelin409FS]

Going out Wednesday morning... I may not have a clue what I'm doing but I'm going to try anyway. Will let you know how I make out.

[JayLaw]

Javelin- Start out in the AM with a Black buzzbait(if you get out at first light,from 8-9 switch over to a white one) and see if you can get anything on topwater, might want to have a Pop-R ready to go also. Now it is going to be very cold on Wed morning, but water temps should still be around 66-70, fish should start chasing baitfish and may possibly move into some of the lakes now with the cooler temps, after that switch over to a spinner bait, white and chartruse, use a small colorado blade up front and a willowleaf or indiana blade in the back. You may also want to see if you can get a crankbait bite going, try firetiger, or a birght yellow/flourescent green crank bait that runs down 4-6 feet. If none of that works, try some soft plastics pitched up next to some cover (any branches hanging in the water should have one or two fish tucked up in there). Also maybe FishB8s (rich) can give you some suggestions, or bassinBilly or glenn, Also ACbass(lots of knowledge just hasnt been on this river yet) they all have good experiences here on the river and may be able to help you land your first Savannah River Bass(at least while tryin for bass )! Good Luck let us know how you do. Also dress warm it is going to be a cold day on wednesday.

JayLaw
2001 BassCat Sabre

[Bassin Billy]

Javelin - sorry I missed this post. How did you do? The river should be ready to turn on pretty good. I really prefer fishing in the tidal areas below Clyo, Ga myself. Lots of good river banks and plenty of oxbow lakes to go along with it. Buzzbait is always a good choice 1st thing in the am. The crankbait bite will be picking up also. The local Top 8 tournament will be this Saturday out of Houlihan Bridge in Port Wentworth. This is an invitation tournament for ALL local clubs. If you are in a club in the surrounding lowcountry (GA or SC) and didn't get an invite it is because we didn't know you are out there. The winning club always hosts the next years event and its always out of Houlihan. If you aren't in a club and are interested we can hook you up!! Good luck on the river guys!!

[Javelin409FS]

Got started about 0845... The river was rising so I headed for my favorite cut-offs. Started out just as directed in previous post. Went through just about everything in my box. But still nothing. However, I refuse to give up. It has become more of a quest than anything now. I WILL succeed.

On a positive note (?). We have a pond at our river house and you could see the bass. Once I got the boat loaded, I hit it. The fish would look at the bait and then turn and rush off. I kept telling myself thats what the ones in the river were doing. It made me feel better. Calender showed fishing as "poor" today so I rationalized that the elements were simply against me!

[JayLaw]

I will be heading out this comin sunday, monday,and next thurs and friday, for some prefishing for the ABA tourney on Sat. Good luck to anyone else fishin. I know there are 3 tounreys next weekend. One out of clyo, one out of Millstone and one out of Pt wentworth. It would be nice if all these clubs could actually talk to each other and decide when they are having tourneys and try and not conflict with each other. Or a better idea, have one big tournament each month with all the clubs, pay outs would be better! And if you finish 5th in the tourney but were the highest in your club you could get first place points for your club! But that would never work, too many people want too many different things and none could agree on anything. Well thats enough it's just me against the fish anyways, block evryone/thing else out and concentrate! Ahhh just shut up and fish!!! Great concept!
Damn I shouldn't have had all that sugar this morning it's got me all jacked up!

Cya

JayLaw
2001 BassCat Sabre

[JayLaw]

I got out on sunday and monday and plan on going out this thurs, fri, and fish a tourney on sat. Fishin has been pretty decent with where the river stage has been. I have yet to put together any type of specific pattern for my tournamnet. I think I have a good plan on what I am going to do, i just need them little (not too little) green friends of my to help out on sat. Normally i would post what is working and in what regions of the river, but being that there is a butt load of tourneys going out this weekend i need to try and save some of the things for myself. I will post after the tourney on how I did. Good luck to anyone fishin. We will be going out of Pt Wentworth, with the ABA.

JayLaw
2001 Basscat Sabre