Friday, December 21, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Guide Service Fishing Report: 12/21/2012

Hey Everyone - We had another great week on the pond as my customers were blessed with some more monster spots as you see above. Despite the inconsistent weather, the big fish really bit well this week. Fish it and they will come. Rain, Shine, or Build-An-Ark type floods, catch monsters with Jimbo on Lanier! LOL. I want to start by sharing this video below with everyone. Just cut and paste this link into your browser to play the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9nSwyRPOHQ My customers Michael Eaton and Jeff Kelley put this awesome video together from our day on the water. This was filmed the day before Thanksgiving this year. As I watched and enjoyed this video, I came to grips with three things: 1. Michael is an incredible video guy - what a fun video and a great memory from an awesome day on our beautiful lake. Thanks Michael - Outstanding job!! 2. I am fat and I need to lose weight! I always knew I was "heavy" like Private Pyle from Full Metal Jacket, but this is out of control! I have already started my lifestyle change in what and how I eat. If you are on my boat, make sure to hold me accountable! My goal is a 50 pound weight loss by my birthday in 2013 - June 10. I am looking forward to getting healthier and will soon start an exercise routine to go along with my changed eating habits. 3. I need to stop dipping. I look like an idiot with that stuff in my mouth - and maybe even without it - LOL. Goal for that is to be done by March 1, 2013. Again, feel free to hold me accountable. Now onto fishing this week. With the current weather and water temperatures, my focus area this week was 30 feet or less. There were plenty of big ones in that range to be had. The Fish Head Spin worked in the ditches produced a lot of very good fish for us and some big ones as well. These fish came in 10 feet or less in most cases. A big thanks to the Vision 110 Jerkbait for a few good ones too, including the one that Scott is holding above left. Other than that, the jig and worm worked out to 30 feet or so was the ticket for our bites. Creek Ditches mainly, but a few main lake points worked in there as well. I filled up for this week and next - thanks to everyone that called. I postponed today due to the high winds. My family and I are headed to Indy for Christmas this weekend, but I am back on the water with trips starting December 27th. My next open dates are January 1, 2, 4, and 5. Give me a ring if you would like to get out on any of those days. Lastly, I would request that each and every one of us keep the entire Hammond's Family in our prayers each day. They are going through some very difficult times right now and need our support. May God Bless them and keep them. I wish everyone of you a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and I look forward to another awesome and incredible 2013 with everyone on our beautiful and bountiful Lake Lanier! For fishing reports on other Georgia Lakes, please visit: www.havefunfishing.com May God Bless! Jimbo

Jimbo Mathley on Lanier

Monday, December 3, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Guide Service Fishing Report: December 3, 2012

Hello Friends and Sponsors - We have had an awesome 2 weeks on Lake Lanier. Plenty of monster spots and lots of big sacks!! Our best bag of 5 fish was this past Monday when we had a five fish limit of spots that weighed 23 1/2 pounds!! Incredible! For the most part, we have been focusing on the creek ditches for our fish. The bait and fish both use these ditches as highways to travel. Sometimes the fish will be deep in these ditches around the timber, and sometimes they will be shallower on the lips of the ditches or simply in the middle. Find the bait and the fish will be somewhere close. A jerkbait and crankbait have been great weapons for us this week for some of these big fish. When the fish are not as active, we have been using the jig and worm at different depths in those ditches to catch them. We have caught fish this week from 4 feet of water all the way out to 45 feet. The spoon bite has been coming on for us as well out and around the timber in 30-40 feet. We have been catching a few almost every day on it, and some good ones are in the mix for sure. Don't commit yourself deep yet, because the fish are not committed there yet. Stay flexible on your locations and depths. Also, when the wind is up and blowing from a good direction like the South or the West, make sure to check shallow on some main lake points. We had a great double this past week on a main lake point in the wind - it is the two fish I am holding in the attached montage of pictures. Those 2 fish came on a spinnerbait and a jerkbait. For this week, I have Wednesday morning, all day Thursday, and Friday afternoon available. Obviously I have some half day trips booked and looking to fill a few holes. The week of December 9th, I have most of those week days open. If you want to learn to catch fish like the ones attached, give me a call and let's go bust some hammers! Thanks to all, and May God Bless. Jimbo

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Guide Service Fishing Report: 11/22/2012

Hey Gang - Just a quick mid-week report and some pics from a stellar day on Big Sid. I had Jeff and Dennis out with me today for a morning trip. Our first stop was money and it never stopped. We caught monsters all day on a mixed bag of lures and ended up with a 22 lbs sack and 2 spots right at 6 pounds. It doesn't get much better than that folks... We worked jerkbaits and crankbaits shallow first thing for some big fish right off the bat. We should have had 20 lbs at our first stop if not for some long-distance releases LOL. After that, we hit some of my favorite creek channel bends and they were on fire also. We fished 30-35 feet of water in those bends and caught around 25 total for the morning. We caught fish in the creek channel bends on: Davis Shaky Head worms, jigs, speed craws, spoons, drop shot, and a cigar on a treble hook...LOL. Just a great morning and a ton of fun with Jeff and Dennis. Jeff is bringing another buddy out for a full day trip tomorrow. It should be fun and hoping to match the results. But you know how that goes... An update on my Deerapalooza experience from Saturday: I am taking the truck to Nick Nichols over in Flowery Branch this weekend for a fix 'er up. Nick reached out to me and I am always happy to support a local businessman - I hear he is awesome at what he does...let's see if he can take deer out of a Chevy LOL. I still have Monday November 26 open if anyone is interested. I am also booking for December - give me a call and let's go catch some toads! Happy Thanksgiving to all, and May God Bless - Jimbo

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Guide Service Fishing Report: 11/17/2012

Hey Everyone - So I headed North on GA 400 at about 5:15 AM this morning on my way to meet my customer Ron Clark to fish the second of the Hammond's Winter Trail tournaments. Apparently, even though I didn't know it, I was going deer hunting this morning. LOL. I T-Boned a big ole' buck between exit 12 and 13 - great way to start the day. LOL. Chevy Trucks are truly like a rock - given the fact I whacked a 170 lbs deer, she is still drive-able. Love my Bowtie. Besides being a little sore, I am fine physically. I spent the day talking to insurance companies and getting estimates. So, no tournament for me today. Heard it was tough - we had been on 'em all week though and I was really looking forward it. A HUGE congratulations to my good buddies David Blue and Daniel Truitt for their victory with 16.18 lbs. Awesome work guys. Also on the tournament front, I would like to congratulate Paul Watson for his great finish in the Federation State Qualifying Tournament held Friday and Saturday this week out of Laurel Park. Paul finished 2nd in a field of 112 anglers with a 2 day total of 24.75 lbs. Paul hired me on Tuesday of this past week and we went out together from Daylight to Dark and developed a game plan to suit his strengths. Paul spent his tournament hours in a special ditch of mine that is not often fished, and he almost won the whole thing right there. Paul is pictured above with a couple of nice ones we caught during our trip this week. I also must congratulate another one of my buddies who won the whole shootin' match with 25 lbs and change for the 2 days - David Morton. Great job David and congratulations!! We have been catching some big fish all week long. My best weapon for these fish has been a jig. We have been focusing on pockets and ditches in the 18-30 foot range most of the week. Monday offered a great crankbait bite on the main lake in the pre-front conditions, but after that, a worm or jig put in the right places was the way to go for the bigger fish. We have had to work the baits very slow to get bit. Hopefully things will change up a bit and we will get back on a consistent crankbait or Fish Head Spin bite. On my Wednesday trip, we had a 20 lbs sack by 10 AM on a jig. Our first 3 bites were all 5 pound + spots. That is the way to start the day! I am full this coming week as I have trips all week through Saturday, except Thursday. My wife still won't let me fish on major holidays. LOL. The following week I have the 26th and 29th open. I still have some dates for December, but those have been going fast lately too. Give me a ring ASAP if you would like to get out and enjoy some great fall fishing. I look for the deep bite to get stronger and stronger. This is a great time to learn to fish deep on Lanier! 770-542-7764 Thanks to all and May God Bless - Jimbo

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report: 11/10/2012

Hey Gang - We have had another good week on Lanier. Lot's of big fish and lot's of happy customers! I had trips all week and we enjoyed variety every day. The ditch bite is starting to come in nicely as it should this time of year. We have been starting shallow early in creek ditches for some big bites with a Fish Head Spin. As the sun gets up, we have been moving out further in those ditches in the 35-45 feet range and working the timber lines for some big bites. Some days it has been the jig, other days the drop shot. The best bite in these areas seems to change day to day, so stay flexible in your approach. We also had a good day with Jerkbaits on the main lake when the wind got up in the afternoon. We focused on windblown rock and got some of those fun aggressive bites. There is still some variety to be had out there as well. One day we had been working a creek ditch with a DS where we had caught 5 good ones, then went to a brush pile in 15 feet and popped a 4+ spot on a Redfin in the middle of the day. Pretty cool. I look for the ditch bite to continue to get stronger. Where these fish will be positioned and how active they will be will vary day to day. On days they are active, the jerkbait, crankbait, and the fish head should work well. When they are less aggressive, look for the jig and drop shot to be the way to go. I am happy to report that the Good Lord Blessed my customer, Ron Clark, and I with a 2nd place finish in the first Hammond's Winter Trail Tournament last Saturday. We weighed 16.34 against a strong local field of 47 boats. Congrats to Dan Roberts and Mike Fraker for the win with a sack of 17.02. I nailed our biggest fish on a spinnerbait on our first stop, then we worked a jig around brush on steep breaks the remainder of the day for our sack. The next event is on November 17th - these are great tournaments and well run by Tim and JJ - come out and enjoy us for some fun! I am almost booked for November. I only have the following dates left this month: 23, 26, 27, 29, and 30. Give me a ring and let's get out and enjoy the beautiful weather and the awesome fall fishing! Thanks to all, and May God Bless - Jimbo

Monday, October 29, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Guide Service Fishing Report: 10/29/2012

Hey Everyone - I was out every day last week on trips, and then took the weekend off for some family events, and then a trip to "Perry's Pond" on Sunday. One of many big results of the trip to Perry's is shown above right. Thanks for the invite Perry - what a blast! Last week was the a classic junk fishing week on Lanier. We caught fish from 5 feet to 50 feet and on almost any lure you can think of - topwater, swimbait, jig, shaky head, and drop shot seemed to be the most consistent of all the choices. As far as what type of stuff we fished, there was almost as much variety there as well. We fished deep in timber around creek ditches, pockets, points, humps...the bait and fish were spread out last week and you could go from shallow to deep on alternate casts and catch fish on both presentations. Things changed from day to day. Most of the spots we fished were either in deep water or had deep water close by however, which was a key. We found some good schooling activity early in mornings last week, and then randomly through the days with some days being better than others. I fished North a good bit last week, as the south end is turning which contributed to the inconsistent bite down there. When conditions were right, however, those fish did bite. Once the wind gets out of here, I expect the fishing to be little more predictable over the next few weeks. The cooler weather should concentrate the bait a little better and make the fishing more consistent. I heard the weekend fishing out there was great with the pre-front conditions. Look for the jerkbait bite to really pick up in the near future. I postponed my early week trips due to the high winds. I am full the rest of this week and then have Mon, Tues, and Friday(Nov 5, 6, 9) open next week. The week following, I have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (Nov 14, 15, 16) open. Give me a ring if you would like to get out. Should be alot of fun and good fishing in the weeks ahead. Thanks to all and may God Bless! Jimbo

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Guide Service Fishing Report: 9/30/2012

Hello Everyone! I had trips almost every day over the past 14 days and what a great time we have had. We continue to pursue the topwater and swimbait bite and my customers continue to whack some big sacks of monster spotted bass! We are still having success over brush in 18-25 feet on humps and points on the main lake and in the mouths of creeks as well as timber edges in 35-40 with the topwater and swimbait bite. We slow down every now and then and get some fish on a Davis Shaky Head or Jig, we have found some of these fish as shallow as 10-15 feet. We have also caught some fish on a straight retrieve jerkbait as well as burning a spinnerbait, but most of the time we are running and gunning with topwater and swimbaits. What a blast! Yesterday, I had the pleasure of guiding 11-year old Aidan. Aidan, for his age, is quite the young stick. It was quickly evident that this kid has spent countless HOURS out in his back yard practicing the use of a bait caster, and yesterday, it paid off. We fished topwater and swimbaits all day long, and Aiden put a hurtin' on 'em! I often just lined him up on a spot and let him go to work. His grandfather and I didn't fish much. This kid did not need any help! A great sack for him on a day with a bunch of tournaments out there. Great work Aidan, I am proud of you brother! I am filling up quickly for October. I have the following dates left for October: 4, 5, 15, 16, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 29. Give me a call if you would like to reserve a day and go bust on some Toads!!! 770-542-7764 For fishing reports on other Georgia lakes, please visit: www.havefunfishing.com Thanks to everyone! May God Bless! Jimbo

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Guide Fishing Report: 9/23/2012

Hello Friends and Sponsors! The fishing out on Big Sid has been great for us all week, and we have been busting some big sacks. We have stayed with the topwater and swimbait bite and ran it each day. By far, those baits have accounted for most of the big fish in our sacks this week and last. We have also picked up a few good fish on a jerkbait fished with a steady retrieve as well as a jig when the fish are not as active, but the swimbait/topwater was the way to go this week for big fish in general. That being said, we did lose an absolute donkey on Friday with a jig early in the morning, that would have pushed our sack of spots to the 24+ pound mark that day. Some pics of that day are attached as well as pictures from all of my trips these past few days. As far as baits, we have been using the Blue Back Painted Farley Bait a good bit this week, as well as the Daniel Truitt Custom Painted Sebiles in blue back color. The spook has been good to us on top this week. The Spro jerkbaits have produced on a steady retrieve, and a brown jig with a cinnamon pepper trailer gave us some nice fish in the slower periods. We have focused on fishing the brush in 18-25 feet of water on both humps and points, with a concentration on the humps. Things are starting to shift however with the weather change, and I expect some tactic and location tweaking will be necessary to stay on them in the coming days. More to come on that as the week progresses. I am back on the water this coming Monday for another 6 day week starting with 2 half day trips tomorrow and then full days the rest of the week through Saturday. I do have most of the first week of October open, so give me a ring and let's go bust some toads!!! I then have scattered days through October open as well. This is a great time to fish, so call me today to book your trip! 770-542-7764 For fishing reports on other Georgia Lakes, make sure to check out: www.havefunfishing.com A SPECIAL NOTE: My good buddy Kurt Dove, who is a Professional Tournament Angler and Guide on Lake Amistead in Texas, also produces a talk show for Bass Edge (www.bassedge.com). On his September show, Kurt talks with the top two finishers in the FLW Cup on Lake Lanier, Jacob Wheeler and Scott Canterbury. They discuss some great tips and tactics regarding how they approached fishing our pond here in Georgia, and they offer some very interesting insights. Make sure to check out the Podcast on iTunes under the following address: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bass-edges-the-edge/id214330677 Thanks to all and May God Bless - Jimbo

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Lake Lanier Fishing Report from Jimbo: 9/8/2012

Hello Friends! The fishing on Big Sid has been awesome the last few days! We really got on a FUN bite with Swimbaits and Topwater this past week and my clients had a blast! We worked Topwater baits and Swimbaits over brush in the 18-25 foot range daily for some violent strikes. We fished both humps and points in the lower lake throughout the week. We have focused on mostly main-lake features as well as a few areas inside the mouths of creeks. A gunfish and a Sebile have been our most effective baits in their respective categories. We also got a few good bites on a spinnerbait this week, especially when the wind was up. We did not drop shot much, but when we did, we used the Wackem Big Sissies in the Bruised Tomato color. A jig also got us some strikes fished in and around the brush. The above pattern seems to really kick-in around 10 AM in the morning. Prior to that, I think your time will be best spent looking shallow for a big Largemouth bite. Focus around docks in the back of creeks as well as pockets off of the main lake for your best chance at a big lip. Also, start throwing a buzzbait around rock bluffs first thing in the morning for some good bites from both spots and largemouth as well. A special shout out to Noah and Will who came out with me on separate trips this week and both did very well. Will and Noah are in the same photo montage sporting some of their big catches. Both of these young men are outstanding young anglers and I am honored to be a mentor for them both. Their fathers are joining forces to start a Youth Bass Club in the Lake Lanier area and have already made some great progress. If you are interested in getting your young men or women into this club, please let me know and I will get you in touch with Steve or Richard. I expect this great topwater bite and swimbait bite to continue for a few weeks. With that being said, I only have a few dates left for the month of September. The soonest I have availability is this coming Monday and Tuesday, September 10 and 11. After that, I only have the following dates available in September: 15,17, 22, 25, 26, and 27. Call me today to book your trip and get in on this great fall surface action!! 770-542-7764 For reports on other GA Lakes, please visit: www.havefunfishing.com Thanks to all and may God Bless! Jimbo

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Service Report: 8/29/2012

Hello Everyone - Hope y'all are doing well and enjoying what is hopefully the last few weeks of the Cruiser wakes - LOL! It shouldn't be long until that traffic diminishes... We have had some average and above average days on the water over the last week or so. When the topwater/swimbait bite is there, we chase it and have caught some good ones doing that over the past few days. If the fish are not coming up, we have been using a 1/2 oz Fish Head Spin with a prototype trailer from the Davis Bait Company over the brush that has proven to work very well. More info on that as we get closer to launch. Stay tuned, you are going to like it! We have been dropping when the fish won't hit the moving stuff. We have had great success with a new color that Wackem will soon have out in stores - Bruised Tomato. The deep fish really seem to like this color and we have had some great success with it. I got my hands on a few this week and they were gone in about 15 minutes. I did manage to find a few more though. LOL. As far as locations, we have been working the 18-30 foot range with the top water and fish head spin, and the better dropshot fish seem to be in the 25-32 foot range for the most part, with some deeper around the timber lines. Some days the fish are in the brush, and some days just around it - look for the sunshine to dictate the position of the fish as usual. The higher and brighter the sun, the tighter to brush you should find them. Work with the Fish Head Spin in terms of the depth at which you present it. Some days, we have found they like it near the bottom, and on other days, it seems just a 10 count down or so works best. Work your topwater baits fast and sloppy to bring the fish up. Once they are up, have a big swimbait handy to throw into the wolf pack for a great chance at catching a big one!! In terms of the topwater, we have had our best success of late on either a Gunfish 95 or a Repo Man. For the swimbait, try a Bull Shad or a Farley Swim Bait. The First Annual Wackem College Open was held this past weekend out of Laurel Park. The guys from Wackem Crazy Bait did an outstanding job in putting this event together. It was very well ran and attended. A big congratulations to Bryant Corral and Alex Posey from Kennesaw State for bringing home the Gold with a little over 24 lbs for 2 days of competition. Also, congrats to Brad Rutherford and his team from Young Harris who came in a close second. Look for this event to be even bigger and better next year with even more national attention. Way to go Wackem!! I have Friday open this week if anyone would like to get out. Next week, I have Thursday morning Sept 6th, and all day Friday and Saturday, Sept 7th and 8th, available for trips. Give me a ring or drop me a note if you would like to go fish! 770-542-7764 For Fishing Reports on other lakes, make sure to check out: www.havefunfishing.com Thanks to all, and May God Bless! Jimbo

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Lake Lanier Spotted Bass Fishing Report: 8/19/2012

Hello Friends and Sponsors- Thanks to everyone that visited our booth at the FLW Expo this past weekend. It was great to see y'all out there and I enjoyed speaking with each of you. Our booth stayed very busy with traffic, and I was able to get my sponsors products in the hands of 17 new customers that booked trips with me during the show. A big thanks to Davis Shaky Heads, Wackem Crazy Baits, Daniel Truitt Hand Painted Custom Baits, Sworming Hornet Lures, and JJ's Magic for their contributions and support this weekend. It was a team effort, and we had a blast together - what a fun show! Also, a special thanks to Mr. Will Hankins for all of his help at the Jimbo booth during the show - couldn't have done it without ya bud!! STAY TUNED FOR AN EMAIL ANNOUNCING THE WINNER OF THE 1/2 DAY TRIP with JIMBO!! As I mentioned in a previous post, I had the pleasure of taking out 3 young men in the younger age bracket preparing for the National Guard Tournament in Wahoo/Little River that took place in conjunction with the FLW Cup. Matt Christopulos and Ryan Mikels both won their divisions in the 14 and under class on Friday, and then Matt went on to place 2nd in the finals on Saturday. He had a solid 4 lbs, 12 oz bag on Saturday, which is awesome for up there. During our time together, I found that Matt was very talented at skipping and pitching around docks, so that is the game-plan we prepared him for and he did very well. A big congratulations to Matt, Ryan, and all the youth that participated in this great tournament. Well done gentleman! Now onto fishing this week. It has been good for us out on the pond as the cooler weather seemed to help. The lake did not fish like August for us this week. We found a good topwater and big swimbait bite and stayed with it for some solid August sacks. We found often that the bigger, more active fish pulled shallower and were relating to brush in 20 feet or so (and even shallower) and would come up with a fury in wolf-packs similar to the May and June bite. Friday's bite was really good as we had action on almost every hole with some big ones caught, and some really big ones lost, LOL. The Sworming Hornet Dude also produced for us this week, as well as the drop-shot of course. The drop shot bite is getting tougher. Experiment with turning off your electronics once you have positioned over the fish. Also experiment more with casting your dropshot at known piles rather than sitting on top of the brush and dropping straight down. The fish often get very finicky in August, so remain stealthy in your approach. I even ran a spot-tail trip for a half day earlier this week after a morning of artificials, and surprisingly enough, the artificials out-performed the spot-tails. It seems the cloudy weather had the fish scattered out and tougher to target with the spot-tails. I have Wednesday AM, and full days on Thursday and Friday open this week if anyone would like to get out. The cooler weather is forecast to remain, so the fun-stuff bite should continue. Give me a call if you would like to get out and throw the fun stuff! 770-542-7764 For fishing reports on other Georgia Lakes, please check out: www.havefunfishing.com Finally, if you do not wish to receive my fishing reports via email in the future, please respond with "REMOVE" and I will take you off my distribution list. Thanks to all, and may God Bless - Jimbo

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Spotted Bass Guide Service Fishing Report: 8/8/2012

Hey Gang - I hope everyone is well and planning to come to the FLW Expo at the Gwinnett Center this weekend. It is going to be a fantastic show with many great vendors, guest speakers, and of course, the weigh-in show daily at 5 PM in the arena. The Expo goes from 10 AM to 5 PM daily Fri-Sun. Make sure to come by my booth located in the Hammond's Block of booths and say hello. I have several great promotions and giveaways in store for everyone, in addition to a few cool surprises! We are making the booth very fun this year, and as part of the many promotions we have going, I am giving away a free tackle pack, a $75 value, to each person that books a trip with me at the show. This tackle pack will include items from many of my great sponsors, to include: Wackem Crazy Baits, Sworming Hornet Lures, Daniel Truitt's Custom Painted Baits, Davis Shaky Heads, and JJ's Magic. This is a great tackle pack and comes in a very nice Jimbo's Insulated Tote, perfect for carrying your lunch to the lake. More to come tomorrow on the our promotions including some special stuff for the kids - stay tuned!! Over a 5 day period, I guided 3 of the competitors preparing for the National Guard Jr. World Championship being held in Little River and Wahoo Creek. I was able to work with each of them to come up with a pattern that allowed them to fish their strengths. I really enjoyed these days of working with these aspiring young anglers. I am honored that they chose me to assist them prepare for the biggest tournament of their life. I took the job seriously and spent alot of time in preparation for these trips. While the fishing in Wahoo and Little River was tough, we managed some good fish each day. We almost always had at least one LM over 3 each day, and on our best day last week, we had 20 fish and about an 11 pound sack, which is gold up there right now during the day. Out of respect for these young anglers, no pics of the competitors and their daily catches or any info on our techniques, but it is safe to say each one has their own pattern and a solid game-plan for their time in the boat. One of the contestant's uncles is pictured above (2nd from right) with a nice spot from up there last week. Also, a big thanks to Phil Johnson for running some trips up there for me as well. I had many calls, but elected to only help 3 total to prevent overlap of information and locations. I deferred to Phil on the remainder of the trips. Down-lake has been up and down over the last week. I have been out 4 of the past 5 days, and we have had some good days and mediocre days. Saturday was one of the good days, and James is pictured above with a couple from his bag that day. I had a mother/son trip today with Sharon and her son Landon who came from WVA to watch the Cup and attend the expo. With the Pro Tournament starting tomorrow, I am going to refrain from specifics for the time being. Given the rule changes this year, the FLW Pro's were not allowed to hire guides during the pre-practice period for the Cup. As a favor to one of my sponsors, I did spend a bunch of time on the phone with 2 of the anglers competing this year. I provided insight and direction on approaches, techniques, along with specific hole information. I hope the information proves helpful for them both. Good luck to all the competitors in the Cup - I wish everyone a successful and SAFE tournament. I hope to see you all at the Expo, and stay tuned for more information on the Jimbo booth coming tomorrow! May God Bless - Jimbo

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report: 7/28/2012

Hey Everyone - I was on trips all week this week and it has been good out there. We have had success on both artificials and crack this week. (Crack = Spot tails!) The crack is easy and fun - drop them on fish and they eat them! 'Nuff said on that end. For the artificial bite, our best presentations have been topwater, drop shot, and the Fish Head Spin. Our best artificial fish through the week came on the FHS. We worked all three presentations around humps and deeper points in the lake. Many of the bigger fish are out in the 30 feet and deeper range. Although, on the days we had a good predominant wind, the leeward side of humps were holding some big fish shallow. I caught the one I am pictured with above on a FHS in about 12 feet of water. You could also get bit on the FHS by running the bait above and around the deeper brush in the 25 feet + range. It was fun to see the topwater bite return strong this week. Often, our best topwater times were dead in the heat of the day with very little wind. A gunfish seemed to be our best bait - working the bait very fast was the key to enticing strikes. Of course the drop shot was productive as well. We worked a variety of Wackem Hand-pours out deep for some good fish. Many of the better fish were just relating to breaks/drops in the 30 foot range and beyond. They did not seem to be in brush for the most part. Our best Wackem offerings were LJ's Passion, LJ's Obsession, as well as the cotton candy colors. I wanted to give a quick shout out to one of my good customers and friends, Ed Hall. Strangely enough, I saw Ed in the airport yesterday here in Indianapolis as I stepped off my plane. I flew up for the Brickyard 400 on Sunday. He runs Kinetic Motorsports, a race team based in Gainesville and was in Indy to run the Grand Am Continental Tire Series race being held here at the track yesterday. His drivers finished 7th and 10th in the race and had a shot to win in the rain-marred event. Congrats to Ed on a great race and good to see you buddy. I am looking forward to the Sprint Cup race tomorrow. I am back in town next week and will be out on trips most of the week. I still have Tuesday, July 31 open, but then I am booked up through Saturday. I can do August 6,7, and 8th for trips as well, then I will be at the FLW Expo the remainder of that week. I have a booth in the Hammond's block, and I have many exciting promotions occurring in conjunction with the event. Stay tuned for more info and keep a watch on my Facebook Fan Page as well as my website for more information. My Facebook Fan page is "Jimbo's Lake Lanier Spotted Bass Guide Service". Make sure to check it out and become a fan for daily updates from the water and on my FLW Expo promotions. These updates also appear real-time on the home page of my website. One last note on booking, my September is filling up fast as I have nearly 2 weeks of the month fully booked already. I still have some dates open at the front and back end of the month, so give me a ring or drop me a line if you would like to get out. Should be some great schooling starting then... For fishing reports on other Georgia Lakes, make sure to check out: www.havefunfishing.com Thanks to all and May God Bless - Jimbo

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Spotted Bass Guide Service Fishing Report: 7/14/2012

Hey Everyone - It was great to be back on the water again this week after being sick for so long. Man that stunk! The water temps have cooled slightly and the water has also came up an inch or so with all the rain and cloudy weather this week. We had a good bite all week on a number of different techniques. When the sun is out, a Fish Head Spin over the the brush has worked well. When it has been overcast, the Sworming Hornet Dude has been the ticket over the brush. We caught some very nice fish this week on the Dude as you can see from the pic above top right - the Dude is still hanging from her face! We have also caught some nice fish on a jig around sharp, rocky drops this week. When I was out with Stanley on Thursday, he got on a great bite with his newly acquired Bull Shad, not to mention the rod and reel he bought to throw it! He caught several nice fish on the Bull Shad, often on the first cast after we pulled up on a spot. Of course we fished the drop shot a bunch this week as well. It was not as effective in the cloudy weather. We caught plenty of fish up to 3.5 lbs on it from 20 to 40 feet, but never found a school of grown'uns willing to play. As the water continues to heat up, look for the spots to get tighter and tighter to the brush, especially on sunny days. Look for the bigger fish to be relating to drops and ledges in the 30-45 feet range. These fish will not necessarily be around cover or in great numbers - you may just see 3-5 fish on your graph on a drop off on the back side of a hump or on a flat spot at the end of a point near a break. Reading and understanding your electronics is always important, but it is especially critical this time of year. I am dialed into the Lowrance HDS electronics with Structure Scan and can help you read/understand what you are seeing in order to help you maximize your catch. Also, we went shallow this week a couple of mornings after the rains came through. We found some active fish up shallow that we caught on top-water plugs, which was a bunch of fun. Stanley from trip on Thursday was the king of that action! Way to go Stanley!! I have not ran any spot tail trips yet this summer (just one demonstration) but I have one coming up this week. I understand they are chomping those little critters and that some big stringers have been caught this week on them. I look forward to having some fun with the "crack" this week as well. I don't have any dates open this coming week, but I do have some dates open the week of July 23rd. Give me a call if you would like to work on reading your electronics, drop-shotting, or the Fish Head Spin/Lil' Dude - this is a good time to be focusing on all the above!! It is also a great time to have fun with the spot tails. If you have never spot tail fished, this is the time. It turns fishing into catching!! My forecast for the FLW Cup is that it will be won on one of the above techniques. (not the spot tails though!) For fishing reports on other Georgia Lakes, please visit the site of my good friend Ken Sturdivant: www.havefunfishing.com Thanks to all and May God Bless - Jimbo

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Guide Service Fishing Report: 7/4/2012

Hello Friends and Sponsors - Happy Independence Day!! A BIG thank you to all of our service men and women who fight to keep our country free!! Let's all remember them today as we celebrate this country's Independence and remain cognizant of what it took to get here. A lot of selfless sacrifice is the bottom line. Thank you! It has been a little while since my last report. My apologies! I was very busy with trips through last week and then I got a nasty para flu virus this week that I am still fighting. (Got it from my kids - thanks girls!! LOL) Thanks to Phil Johnson for covering my guide trips this week - he did a great job with my customers and I certainly appreciate his support. Today, I finally feel well enough to get out a report and share some of the awesome pictures of the fish my customers have been catching out on Lanier! We have stayed with the topwater and swimbait bite as long as it would last. When its on, we have been using: spooks, gunfish, chug bugs, poppers, Farley Baits, Sebiles, and the Bull Shad. Often, we are placing a front runner on our topwater rig. The topwater is still there, but the bite has transitioned where that is not the best bite going every day. Some days it still is, however, on other days it has been something different. In addition to the topwater, we have been doing well on: drop-shotting Wackem Hand Pours and minnow imitations, the Sworming Hornet Little Dude tipped with a Fluke Jr., a PB&J jig tipped with a twin-tail trailer, as well as a 3/16 Davis Shakey Head tipped with a variety of different soft plastics. We have fished very shallow to very deep water each day and caught fish everywhere in between. When we are fishing brush, we have focused on the 15-30 foot range, but I sense things are changing and feel some of the big girls may be getting out even deeper. While there are a great many fun stories to tell regarding all the pictures attached, I am only going to highlight one as my energy levels are starting to wane again already as I type. Young Noah P and his father, Steve, have been out with me a couple of times already with more to come. Noah is an aspiring young angler with an extremely supportive father who is committed to getting his son up to speed in the sport of bass fishing. Noah is a quick study, and during our trip last week, we focused on the drop shot. Noah picked it up quickly, and I do mean quickly, as he caught a fish on his first drop! After that, he went on to catch several more and really cement the technique in his arsenal. Reports from Steve indicate that he has also been able to apply the technique to recent trips on his own and has done well. Congratulations Noah - great work brother! I am already looking forward to our next trip! You can see pictures of Noah on the BHFP 742012 slide attached. I still have some dates open next week - Wed, Thur, and Fri - July 11, 12, and 13th. Give me a call or drop me a note if you would like to get out there and have some fun! I am also running spot-tail trips as well if anyone is interested in learning/enjoying that technique. In addition, I would like to note that I have been promoted to a National Monthly Contributor for the Coastal Angler Magazine. My articles, which always focus on some aspect of Lake Lanier, will now be published nationally (530,000 copies) around the country. Make sure to check out the publication and my July submission online at: http://coastalanglermag.com/blog/category/fishing/ Enjoy and thanks to John!! I have also added some great new sponsors in the recent weeks and months and I want to take a moment to recognize the new additions as well as all of my existing sponsors and partners. The current list is below - please check out their websites as I have hot-linked all of their sites to the listings below. Thank you to all of these great people and companies for your support!! I am working to get my website updated with all this information very soon! For fishing reports on other GA Lakes, please check out: www.havefunfishing.com Thanks to all - enjoy the holiday and be safe!! God Bless - Jimbo -- Jim "JIMBO" Mathley Spotted Bass Fishing Guide - Lake Lanier jim@laniermapped.com Mobile - 770-542-7764 www.jimboonlanier.com Proudly Sponored By: St. Croix - Best Rods on Earth Lowrance Sworming Hornet Lures (The Original Fish Head Spin) Wackem Crazy Baits Seaguar - Always the Best Solar Bat Sunglasses JJ's Magic Attractant Hammond's Fishing Line and Lure Davis Bait Company LanierMAPPED.com

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Guide Service Fishing Report: 6/17/2012

Hello Friends and Sponsors - No surprises in this report - as usual we chased the topwater and swimbait bite all week. My clients have had a ball with all the great action on top. When the wind was up in the mornings, we fished windblown rocky points and humps with a swimbait and a big spook for some big bites. If the wind calmed down through the day, we would look for areas with at least a ripple on the water to get bit. We experimented with smaller topwaters and swimbaits as the wind died down and kept our success rolling. A Gunfish as well as a Sammy were both successful when the wind laid. On Wednesday, I had out David and his father Lanier. Yes, his first name is Lanier. And rightly so. Step over Sid, Lanier is here! We had a really good day that day, including a fantastic double that David and I had over a hump - for reference his fish in the picture attached is a solid 2.75...I wish those hook-ups would have been reversed - both fish struck at the same time on casts 20 feet apart. It was awesome. We had several doubles throughout the week on the same lure, front runners, as well as two people hooking up at the same time. On Tuesday I had out Jim, who was in learning mode and a bit camera shy, so I had him snap a couple of my good ones from that day - they are pictured above right. A very fun day and I know Jim learned alot about fishing Lanier. On Thursday, I enjoyed a day with 2 gentleman from Kentucky who were here on vacation and staying on the lake. They had been coming here in past years without much success on the fishing front, so they decided to hire a guide. I was delighted to have not disappointed them! These guys had a great day with some nice doubles along with some great fish. They had a great time and are already looking forward to another trip on their return visit next year. Friday I was out with Scott. Scott had been with me before and wanted to get on some wolf-packs - and that is just what we did! We took the run and gun approach and it payed off in a very nice sack, some doubles, and of course, big fish topwater action. Thanks Scott - great day sir!! I have Tuesday this upcoming week available, and then the 28th and 29th open the following week. I also have July 5th available the first week of July, and then I have some more availability the second week of July. I have not ran a spot-tail trip yet this year given the strength of the topwater bite, but I will begin this week as I have 2 scheduled. This technique represents a great opportunity for kids as well as experienced or inexperienced anglers alike. Dropping spot tails into brush turns fishing into catching my friends. Give me a call to book your trip!! 770-542-7764 For fishing reports on other Georgia Lakes, make sure to check out: www.havefunfishing.com Thanks, and may God Bless - Jimbo

Monday, June 11, 2012

Hello Friends and Sponsors - I want to start by sharing a video that one of my customers put together for me last week. Young Will Hankins, who is an outstanding young angler, came out with me recently and his dad was kind enough to shoot some video that Will edited and put together. What a great day we had together - thanks Will and great job!! Click on the link attached to enjoy the show! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_21fMxBh9w&feature=plcp We have had another incredible week on topwater at Lake Lanier this past week. I have continued to chase the topwater/swimbait bite all week and it has not failed to produce some monster fish and big stringers every day. We have not fooled with the DS, a worm, or any of that other stuff. Topwater and Swimbaits have been the order of the day every day for the last month. It is just too much fun. The active topwater fish are still positioned around brush in the the 15-20 foot range on most days with points and humps being the structure targets. When the wind is blowing, especially early in the AM, the fish are often positioned very shallow around rocky and clay points and are very susceptible to the swimbait. Experiment with different presentations and even smaller lures - pay attention to what the fish are eating - often it is a contingency of smaller bait such as the threadfins, so make sure to adjust your bait offerings accordingly. This past Monday, I had the pleasure of taking out James from the Dugout and his 17 year old son Evan for some fishing on our great pond. These guys absolutely whacked them on topwater all day long. I didn't have nearly enough room for all the pictures of the big fish they caught yesterday, so I included the best 6 pics above. They had several doubles, and the best shot of one of those doubles is also posted on the attached. We have been chasing this bite and have found it every day. A good majority of the fish were hanging around very shallow brush yesterday, especially when the wind was really pushing. Our better bite was definitely after lunch, although when we stopped for lunch, we had already had a good day. It turned great after lunch. LOL. James and Evan - you guys did great - awesome work! Thanks so much and I am already looking forward to the next time!! I also want to shout out a special thank-you to Bruce and all the guys that fish with the 6 Mile Bass Club. Bruce invited me to join their meeting on Sunday night at Hammond's Fishing. I was able to share some insights regarding summer fishing on Lanier, and got to meet all the great anglers in the club. These are a super bunch of folks that offer a very-well managed bass club. If you are looking for a club to join, this is certainly one to consider. Thanks again guys for inviting me - I really enjoyed our time together. And to Russell/Craig - thanks for dinner! On Wednesday, I had out the brothers Springer. Jerry and Jim (AKA Smoke and Samurai...LOL) came with me to enjoy a super day of topwater action. These guys hammered some big fish that day, including a whopper double they landed together on their spooks. They were blown away with the wolf-packs and the top water chasing that went on that day - just unreal. Excellent job guys - well done! I had out the "unknowns" with me on Thursday. One of the unknowns seemed to have all the mojo... "Jebediah" banged on those topwater and swimbait fish all day long! One of the keys to the topwater bite is finding the bait they want each day. Each day seems to be different. Sometimes poppers are preferred, sometimes walkers, and sometimes a combo. Experiment each day to find what is producing the best bite. The swimbait has really been an increased factor each day in catching these bigger fish. Particularly in the mornings of late. For the swimbaits, we have been using: Sebiles, Farley Baits, and the Bull Shad. For Topwaters, we have been using: Spooks, Sammy's, Gunfish, and Chugbugs. The fluke and Truit Jerkbaits have been working well as a follow-up bait once you have pulled up the wolf-pack from a brush pile. I finished with week on Friday with Cory and Grant. These gents were looking to get out of the shaky head rut. The triple we had on top at our third hole got them out of that rut quickly!! They went on to hammer a big sack of spots through the afternoon - Cory & Grant left very happy campers! We fished over brush on points and humps throughout the mid and lower lake and caught fish everywhere we went. A gunfish was the ticket for the day. Great job guys - really nice work out there! Enjoy yourself out on our pond. This rainy, cool weather should help extend this bite well into June as it will keep the water temps from sky-rocketing. What a great weather year we have had - it has really been spectacular for the fishing! For fishing reports on other Georgia Lakes, make sure to check out: www.havefunfishing.com I am booked this coming week, but I still have the following dates open in June: 18, 19, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29. Give me a call or shoot me an email if you would like to get out one of those days! 770-542-7764 Thanks to all, and May God Bless - Jimbo

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report: 6/2/2012

Hello Friends and Sponsors - I got back from Indy very early on Wed AM and ran trips on Thursday and Friday of this week. Indy was awesome and the race was great - thanks to all that have inquired as to my trip - the last 30 laps were unreal - lead changes almost every lap - can't beat that for some great racing. Onto fishing. The top-water pork roast is still in full swing! We had great days on both Thursday and Friday. I had a tournament angler out with me on Thursday AM, so no pictures of him, but I am holding one of his good ones from that day in the pic above. We worked topwater most of the morning - the bite really turned on for us in the late AM. I am still fishing over brush on points and humps for the most part. However, with the cloud cover this week, we found alot of fish shallow - particularly in the early mornings. There were several roamers up on rocky and clay points that can be picked off with a chug bug or a fluke. On both Thursday afternoon and all day Friday, I had some aspiring young anglers along with their fathers out with me on trips. I was honored to be able to help these young men grow as anglers and was thoroughly impressed with the dedication their respective fathers had in taking the time and effort necessary to grow their talents. Be thankful for your fathers boys!! Thursday was fun with Steve and Noah - Noah loves to bass fish and is quite talented with a rod and reel. We worked on some of the basics of fishing Lanier this time of year, along with strategies and tactics to find the fish and consistently catch them. We also reviewed the use of the Lowrance HDS units of which Steve now has on order. We have some more work to do, but they are well on their way. Look forward to the next time guys! Friday was equally fun, as I had out Richard and his son Will. The fish ate topwater and swimbaits through the day, and particularly after the brief shower we had early yesterday afternoon. We did work on the drop shot as well - it didn't take Will long to pick that up. I caught one and demonstrated the particulars, and then he caught one about 5 minutes later. Lesson learned! Will is a true student of the sport - he is very well studied and well read on the latest tactics, equipment, and lures. He had several questions that were very pointed, thus showing his in-depth knowledge. Very impressive for a 12 year old young man! We caught some tanks that day too - Will is pictured with 3 of our pigs from that day above. Will also maintains a very active YouTube channel, and I understand a video is being edited right now of yesterday's events - I will share it with you all when I get a copy. Should be great. Thanks Will and Richard - awesome day. I have also attached pictures from a couple of my trips last week. Stanley and J&J had great trips with me as well - awesome work out there on the topwater! A special thanks to all of my generous and trusting friends who helped me out with boat loans this week and last while mine was in the shop. I was able to treat my customers to fishing from some very nice rigs thanks to Phil, Jeff, and David. I am headed to pick my boat up from Perry over at Hi-Tech later this afternoon and should be back in the Skeeter saddle next week. I still have Tuesday and Wednesday open this coming week if someone would like to get out. I am booked the other days through Saturday - let me know if you would like to smoke some topwater toads. I expect the cooler weather to keep the topwater/swimbait bite strong through the week. And I'm sure Monday's full moon won't hurt anything this week either! Call me at: 770-542-7764!! Thanks to all - its great to be back and on the water again - I missed this place!! Remember, for reports on other Georgia Lakes, please visit: www.havefunfishing.com May God Bless -

Monday, May 21, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report: 5/21/2012

Hello Friends and Sponsors - My customers and I have had a very good week. We have focused on topwater most of the week, along with a few alternates included that I have noted below. Enjoy the awesome pictures from this week and the reports below. I am filling up fast for June - I still have a few days open the week of June 4 and the week's following - give me a call and lets get out and enjoy some of this great fishing!!
We have continued to work brush located on off-shore structure for our fish. We have had good success with a wake bait in the mornings, followed by topwater, fluke, and Fish Head Spin action the remainder of the day. We have experienced some lulls through the day, but if you stay with it and continue running holes, you will find the active fish, and some good ones at that. I had Steve out with me Monday. For a guy that was not familiar with bait-casting equipment and was limited to spinning gear all day, he did very well. We kept running into stripers yesterday, and Steve handled them well. He simply tapped into his rugby experience and manhandled those beasts! Nice work Steve! On Tuesday, I had a couple of brothers out with me - Jeff and Jeremy. We had a great time on the water and really put together a very nice bag of fish. Had I not jumped off a 4.5 today at the boat on a FHS, we would have been at 19 lbs easy. We still ended up with around 17 lbs and alot of fish to boot. J&J did very well out there today - nice work guys! On Wednesday I had out one of my repeat customers, Ron D. Ron brought along his Director of Marketing from work - Mark. Mark came prepared with a sign based on what Ron had told him of his experiences on my boat - very funny that he thought this up in advance! They are posing above with the sign and one of the nice fish Mark caught that day. Lot's of fun guys!! On Thursday, I took out Tracy and his son Ben. Ben is an aspiring professional angler. This young man eats, sleeps, and breathes bass fishing, and he is quite the young talent. Dad is not so bad himself and has clearly set his son on the right path with some solid direction and coaching. We worked on some of the finer points that day with regard to the post-spawn topwater bite on Lanier. Tracy and Ben picked it up quickly and caught a nice sack of fish in the process. I look forward to more trips with Tracy and Ben - look out guys, Ben is on his way up! We caught fish on Wednesday and Thursday with a fluke and a spook over brush on points and humps. That was all we really threw and therefore what we caught our fish on - these fish were coming up and we just kept running and gunning. Too much fun! Friday was a special day. I had Bo and his Uncle Ricky out for some fun on the pond. Our day started off well as we had accumulated a nice sack of fish through mid-trip - probably around a 14 lbs sack with our best 5. Then the fun started. In about 2 hours, we drilled a 20+ pound sack of spots on topwater and a fluke over brush on points and humps. It was awesome! Bo and Ricky caught big fish after big fish. One of the most exciting flurries we have had in awhile. One of the attached pictures shows a double that Bo and Ricky caught on top in addition to the other beasts they caught that day. They were blown away and we all had an incredible time. I was too busy netting big spots to get a video, but I wish I would have shot some for this trip. I know these guys are coming back soon, and I look forward to it. Bo - make sure to wear that lucky shirt of yours again! I had out David and his son Michael for a mid-day trip on Saturday. They had been out with me on a trip back in the fall, and came back for some post-spawn action. Given the boat traffic and tough fishing conditions, we did pretty well yesterday. David and Michael worked hard to catch a solid bag of fish. Most of our fish came on a Sworming Hornet Lil' Dude fished over brush on points and humps. We did get one nice fish to come up on a spook, which Michael is pictured with above middle. Overall though, the fish were not in a "come up" mood yesterday, at least not through 3 PM. The later afternoon may have been different, and I hope it was for all those that had the opportunity to get out. Thanks again everyone - I will be heading North on Friday for my annual pilgrimage to the Indy 500. I will be back in town on Wednesday, 5/30/2012 with trips scheduled on Thursday and Friday of next week. I am now booking for the week of June 4 - I still have some open days that week. Give me a call or drop me a line to book your trip - I am filling up fast for June! 770-542-7764 For fishing reports on other Georgia Lakes, make sure to check out www.havefunfishing.com May God Bless!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report: May 13, 2012

Hello Friends and Sponsors - It has been awhile since my last report, so I have some catching up to do today! I have had 9 trips over the past 6 days, including a 2 boater on Saturday. Let's start with a wrap up of the week of May 4th. If y'all remember, I had Steve S. from Richmond, VA out with me for a few days last week. I have included one pic I did not have room for last week of him - I expect him back from VA very soon. He had a super visit and we caught some great fish. On Friday, I had a couple of tournament guys out, so no pictures of them. But, I will say that last Friday was an amazing day. We pulled up on our first stop, in the pouring rain, and I was teaching them the wake bait and how to present it appropriately. I made 2 casts trying to explain and demonstrate how to work the bait, and I had a 4 and a 3.5 on those 2 casts. The fish were on fire! They were just getting used to the wake baits so we lost some fish, but we could have easily had a 20 lbs sack on that one stop. We then caught fish the entire day long on topwater and had an absolute blast. I have included some pics of the fish I caught that day after the rain stopped, but these are far from representing the day we had - it was just awesome. Now onto Monday - Wednesday of this past week: I had one of my best customers, Johnny R, and his dad Bill out twice last week for half day trips on Monday and Wednesday. His dad came down from PA for the week and John took some time off work to make the most of his visit. I was successful in getting him to put his phone away long enough to get him catching fish - LOL! Both days were very productive and John caught some very big spots - the biggest he has ever caught I might add! We fished topwater and wakebaits over brush located on off-shore structure for the majority of our fish. I know it sounds like a broken record, but the topwater bite is just too fun, and we chase it every day this time of year. On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of taking out Brent and his buddy Kevin from AL who came over to enjoy some spotted bass fishing. We caught a good mix of spots and stripes through the day on top, and didn't lose any of our plugs! That the first thing I think when I see one of those stripers hit is "I want my plug back"! Especially when I am using the custom-painted Daniel Truit specials! Man I hate losing those things. On Thursday, I started the day with Jimmy V - we had a blast out there that morning. This was the AM after the cold front blew in, and the topwater action was on fire that morning. We started with a wake bait, and then switched to a spook after the sun got up and we hammered some good fish. If not for a fish that got off due to a straightened split ring, we would have been knocking on the door for 20 pounds that morning... In the afternoon, I connected with Seth. We were out through the afternoon and towards the end of the day, the topwater bite got going again very strong. We caught some great fish, and missed some donkeys as well. Always fun to see them come up. The shallow brush was also our pattern in the afternoon - some good fish have been coming off the old stuff out there that you can sometimes see just under the water. Yesterday, I had Jeff out with me. He lives up in the Chestatee River, so we started around Vann's, then headed north the rest of the day. Most of our fish came on topwater through the day over shallow brush in 18 feet or less. It seemed the further North we got, the tougher the bite got. Although, from the reports I heard from folks, perhaps we should have started up the Chestatee! Jeff had fun and learned alot - he is pictured with a nice double we had together. Phil Johnson also ran a trip for me yesterday with Kirk and his son Ellis. Phil has a boy Ellis' age, so Phil was able to connect with him quickly and get him catching fish. They also threw topwater through the day for most of their fish. On Friday, I had a good customer out with me who's gig is in security, so no pictures of him. However, his buddy, Roy, came down from Virginia to catch some spots, which he had never done before. He is pictured with a nice one from that day - a 4.4 spot. We caught some good fish through the day and also missed some super opportunities on some tanks, but got to see alot of action and caught several fish. We through wake baits in the morning, and the spook the rest of the afternoon for our fish. We had to run alot of piles to find ones that wanted to come up, but we stayed with it and found them! Overall, it was just a great week for us last week - lots of fun and lots of topwater action - hard to beat it. I am open Wednesday and Thursday this week, and then I have Mon-Wed (May 21, 22, &23) & open the following week. Give me a ring or drop me a note if you would like to get out! 770-542-7764 Thanks again to everyone. Best of Luck out there - it is too fun right now. For Fishing reports on other Georgia Lakes, be sure to check out www.havefunfishing.com May God Bless - Jimbo

Monday, April 23, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report: 4/23/2012

Hey Everyone - I was out every day this past week except for Wednesday, and the fishing was super. In addition to the report below, I wanted to share that I just completed and submitted my article for the May publication of Coastal Angler Magazine - make sure to check it out when it hits the stands in a couple of weeks. A great read on Lanier topwater fishing to include tactics, locations, and specific baits. We have been focusing on the post-spawn fish on the main lake and major creek mouths this week with very good success. The active females are relating to the summer brush in 18-30 feet and will come up for a bait. We have had to alter our presentations and our baits considerably to get them to eat, but we have figured out how to get those tentative post-spawn females to commit. We have been throwing walking baits and wake baits for our big fish. You definitely have to run and gun to get these big ones - not all fish are active at the same time and those big females are finicky right now. Persistence pays - we had a 19 pound stringer on Monday and 18 lbs on Thursday and solid bags of around 16 pounds of these post spawn females on Tuesday and Friday. On Thursday and Friday, my guests and I continued to run the post-spawn pattern and focused on brush in 18-30 feet of water on humps and long running points. We had great catches on both Thursday and Friday with Jim B. getting his personal best spot with me on Thursday- just under 5 pounds. He ran into one of our striped friends (LOL) as well as some other very nice spots. On Friday, I took out Pete, one of our good friends from Hammond's Fishing. We had a little Hammond's "show-down" against some other Hammond's employees on other boats...we won't discuss the losers, LOL, but our 16 lbs won it going away. We had several fish in the 3.5 range that day - shot out of the same mold. We probably hit 35 holes to get those fish. Nice work Pete! We have not been getting a ton of bites running this pattern but it seems to be the best pattern by far for the better fish. Topwater, wakebaits, jerkbaits and spinnerbaits have been our main weapons. I have seen signs of the blue back spawn over the past couple of weeks, but the water temp seems to be holding them back a bit. They are in some of the normal places, but not in full swing yet by any means. For fishing reports on other Georgia Lakes, make sure to check out havefunfishing.com I have a full day on Thursday and Friday morning open this coming week, and then only Tuesday May 1 open the following week. Give me a call or drop me a note - the post-spawn big fish bite should continue to get better and better. Thanks, and may God Bless - Jimbo -- Jim "JIMBO" Mathley Spotted Bass Fishing Guide - Lake Lanier jim@laniermapped.com Mobile - 770-542-7764 www.jimboonlanier.com

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report: 4/12/2012

Hey Everyone -

I hope everyone is doing well and fishing a bunch!

It has been a very busy week so far, and it will continue through Saturday this week for me. I had 2 boats out on Monday all day, and full day trips the past 3 days.

On Monday, I had Gerald and Henry out, and Phil Johnson, who is also starting his own bass guide service on Lanier and guides for me as well, took out Steve and Hunter. Steve and Hunter came down from Richmond, VA for a 3 day trip. I worked with them on Tuesday and Wednesday and Phil took great care of them on Monday.

Monday was a very good day for both my boats. We caught fish all through the day. Topwater was the deal in the AM, and then in the afternoon, the spinnerbait took over as top dog. We still caught some good fish on the Davis Shaky Head and Wackem worms in green pumpkin and ice as well. We focused on rock points and shoals most of the day for our fish with many of our bites coming in 15 feet of water or less.

Steve, Hunter, and I were out on Tuesday as well as today. We focused deeper both days, especially in the morning. Steve started our day by loosing an absolute horse at the boat. One of the biggest spots I have ever watched hit a spook. I got a great view of it as I was just watching. Steve made a cast up past the front of the boat and I got to see the whole show from the start. It was a heartbreak for everyone, but better to have fought and lost rather than not to have fought at all - LOL!

We stayed with the topwater for awhile and caught some good fish. Later in the day, after the storm, we went on a tear with the worm and caught 18 fish in 90 minutes. It was awesome as Hunter's father and I worked together to teach Hunter how to worm fish. He didn't get it at first, but after a few minutes, he had it down and was catching them left and right. Hunter had not fished much previous to this trip, but he made dramatic improvements through the week and left for Richmond today a much better angler. He worked hard, and it payed off. Congrats to Hunter and Steve on a great week on Lake Lanier - well done guys.

Our topwater fish on Tuesday came from the 20 foot range and less. Today,the cold front seemed to knock down the topwater fish a bit, so we worked jerkbaits as well as the Fish Head Spin in the 25 foot range on rocky points for most of our better fish. They really bit well this morning. After the sun got up, we went back and let Hunter practice on the worm fish again - he caught several including one around 3 pounds to end the day. He loves to worm fish now :o)

I had Ricky and "John" out today. We stone cold whacked 'em! We had a big sack by 11 AM and still caught fish the rest of the day.

We fished topwater and the Fish Head Spin in 15-25 feet of water on the main lake and mouths of creeks for our fish. These are post-spawners, so we did not keep them in the livewell long.

"John" missed a trophy on the FHS on our second stop. Me: "John - looks like a big fish, do you need the net?" John: "No, not that big" Just a few seconds later an absolute tank jumps right at the boat and spits the fish-head...heartbreak! But, John recovered nicely and really smoked them on the FHS throuh the day and Ricky certainly held his own...Nice work guys!!

I am booked this week, but have Tuesday and Friday open next week if anyone would like to get out. With the anticipated warming trend and more and more of the females in the post-spawn phase, the bite next week should be AWESOME! Give me a call and lets go fish!!

Thanks to everyone, and may God Bless!

Jimbo

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report: 4/5/2012

Hey Gang -

It has been fantastic out on the water this week as well as last. I took the weekend off as my in-laws were in town. It provided a great opportunity for me to re-introduce myself to my family as well! They had forgotten who I was! So, after recharging the batteries over the weekend, I was back in the saddle on Monday.

I have alot of pictures to catch up on from last week and this week as well - they are attached - check them out!

A highlight from last week - I had Marty out with me for our second trip together. I was honored to guide Marty to his biggest spot ever that day. Marty caught his big fish on a topwater first thing that morning. We hammered fish through the day and ended with a really nice stringer and around 40 fish for the day.

Congrats to Marty on an awesome day throwing topwater and spinnerbaits - it was a blast!!

Now on to Monday. I had a "4 ball" that day (golf reference)as Rick Steckleberg of Sworming Hornet Lures and I guided four anglers on separate boats. We hammered good fish all day long - Monday was a special day. We had about 75 fish between the 2 boats and many of them very solid fish. I don't have pictures from Rick's boat, but Brad and Bart from my boat are included in the pictures attached. Its the Ohio State guy!

Rick and I fished in the same areas and split up holes through the day so the guys could taunt each other with their catches. We met up several times through the day to share stories and break bread...and let the guys in my boat load up on the suds! LOL! These guys had a blast with Rick and I - they are in a hurry to come back and do that again. What a great day.

On Monday, we focused on rocky points and islands with topwater in the morning, then a Wackem ice worm dipped in JJ's Magic chartreuse on a Davis Shaky Head through the remainder of the day. The better fish seemed to be in the 12-15 foot range on the rock. A big thanks to Rick for his help on Monday!

On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of taking out Ron and his neighbor's son, Wihan, for a morning trip. Ron and Wihan both are fairly new to bass fishing. I had Ron out one day last fall, and he had been away from fishing for a bit, but came back with a vengeance on Tuesday!

I was so proud of these guys. We caught some very nice fish through the day, and young Wihan had big fish for the day which is also included in the attached pictures. Wihan is also pictured with a nice double that Ron and I actually had - Wihan was happy to volunteer to hold the fish for a pic! We worked Wackem worms on Davis Shaky Heads in 6-14 feet of water on rocky points and islands for all of our fish that day.

Our most exciting moment came when Wihan hooked an absolute beast of a spot. I knew he had a monster as soon as he hooked it, and the battle was on. Unfortunately sports fans, Wihan lost that battle in the end. I watched his spot come to the surface about 10 feet from the boat...and folks it was every bit of 6 pounds and more...a true trophy. When the fish surfaced, the game ended as the hook popped right out and came flying back at Wihan. The great thing was watching his face in that moment...I can assure you that kid will fish the rest of his life. That was a special moment for me - I knew we had successfully introduced another person to a lifetime of enjoyment and reward.

I am booked the rest of this week as well as all of next week. My open dates left in April: 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 30. Be sure to give me a call and let's go fish!! April and May are shaping up to be outstanding - don't miss out on this exciting time! The topwater bite should continue to get better and better.

Lastly, please make sure to check out my full page article in this month's edition of Coastal Angler Magazine. It is a good read on post-spawn fishing. I hope it helps y'all catch more fish! I will be back soon with pictures and reports! For fishing reports on other Georgia lakes, check out www.havefunfishing.com

Thanks to all, and May God Bless!

Jimbo

Monday, March 26, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report: 3/26/2012


Hey Gang -

Wow. What a week on the pond this week! I have to begin by apologizing for not getting a report up here sooner. I have gotten "the business" from a bunch of you for not keeping up on my reports! I have been on trips every single day this past week with another one coming up this afternoon. So, after sleeping in a bit and spending some family time this morning, I am finally catching up on my reports!

The fishing has been fantastic. There are many different things working right now in a number of different places. You can throw a Davis Shaky head/worm combo dipped in JJ's Magic along with a trick worm or fluke around rocky pockets/banks/docks and catch as many as you want to right now. We did that some this week and had between 30-50 fish a day doing that. However, we have found a much more active bite on the main lake and mouths of creeks with topwater, swimbaits, jerkbaits, and spinnerbaits. That was the real fun this week and this pattern definitely produced some consistently bigger fish and more action. We focused on rocky points and shoals for this pattern, as well as some rocky pockets.

There are also some early post-spawn females showing up under very shallow docks. Throw a fluke or trick worm around these shallow docks for some very nice surprises in the form of largemouth and spots.

I had a great group of clients this week, some long-time customers and some new ones along with some tournament anglers. Thanks to everyone for coming out with me - a great time was had by all! I have included some pics of this week's action - no shots of the tournament guys but plenty of nice fish! My regular main man Johnny Pond is pictured with a double above - he also had a nice largemouth that day that did not make the photo cut - not enough space for quality photos of everything. Also of note, Scott and Jimmy from NC were out with me this week - they come down every year and we always have an excellent time together - this week was no exception - thanks guys! Lastly, a call out to Richard who is pictured above in the white shirt. Richard had never bass fished before in his life, and this guy came out with me and put it on them! He is a champion skeet shooter, and was able to translate his excellent hand-eye coordination into the use of a rod and reel quite quickly. It was a real treat to see him pick it up so quick and catch some great fish!

I have Thursday and Saturday (3/29 and 3/31) open this coming week. I am booked the first week of April, but I have Mon, April 9th and Thur, April 12th open the following week.

Call me or drop me a line if you would like to get out - it is an absolute blast out there now!

Thanks to everyone and may God Bless! Jimbo

Saturday, March 10, 2012


Hey Everyone -

We have had a very fun week this week and have caught some monster largemouth all week long. Our week culminated with a 3rd place finish in today's Hammond's Winter Trail Classic. My customer and now very good friend, Jimmy Cagle, came to me last fall and asked me to fish the Hammond's Winter trail with him. He hired me to learn the finer points of tournament fishing, as well as specific techniques and approaches to finding and catching fish in a tournament situation. We worked on many different things through the season and I was able to provide Jimmy some insights and really help him grow as an angler - so says Jim anyway. It was awesome to see us really gel today as a team and to see him really put it on them. He has worked hard all season, and he is a tremendous partner. I personally have never met a finer person - Jimmy is just good people and I am proud to know him - thanks Jim and excellent work this year!! I am proud of you brother!

Our day started with me popping two pigs on a jig up shallow early, and then Jim took over and caught 5 fish in 7 casts with a crankbait and we were culling by 8:36 AM. We caught 3 limits through the day, then I popped one more pig at 2 PM, and we finished with 18.10 and 3rd place in the Classic. We weighed a bag of 4 heads and 1 spot. Congrats to Matt Willbanks and Travis Clark for yet another victory with a 22 + pound bag of largemouth. Matt is absolutely on fire. My good buddies Steve Gerbig and Matt Springer edged us out by a couple ounces for second - well done guys. Just a great day and a great end to a super season. A big thanks to Tim at Hammond's for all his hard work in putting together a super tournament trail - the Hammond's tournaments are always professionally ran and attract the lake's best sticks - very nice job to Tim and the gang at Hammond's.

As you can see from the pictures, the heads have been our focus this week. It is so awesome to see these fish making such a strong comeback on Lanier, and as I predicted, these fish have been ruling the tournament scene of late, and today was no different. My clients had an absolute blast catching the lips this week - I offered them all the choice of what to do, and they wanted to catch LM on Lanier - so that's what we did!

We have been working shallow pockets and the backs of creeks for most of our fish. Jigs, jerkbaits, crankbaits, and the FHS have all been producing well for these big fish. It just depends on the day which one is best - today, it was the jig and crankbait.

We will see what next week brings - it should be good! I have Wednesday and Friday open if anyone would like to get out. Give me a ring or drop me a note.

Thanks, and May God Bless -

Jimbo

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report: 3/6/2012


Hey Everyone -

I am finally back again with more information and pictures.

You guys have been keeping me very busy out there - thank you!! I have had trips every day over the last 10 days including a guide trip I did on Hartwell yesterday for a good customer of mine who lives up there and has fished down here with me several times. I went up and we launched from his dock (man that's nice). We fished with all the FLW pros up there prepping for their upcoming tournament. We stayed out of their way, but we still managed a good day in the wind. Crankbaits, Jerkbaits and worms all produced fish for us yesterday - that is a fun lake and I look forward to fishing it more in the future. I also helped set up Paul's new Lowrance HDS electronics and structure scan - he is set to go and will continue catching them good up on Hartwell - thanks Paul!

I have had some great trips on Lanier over the past week. We have caught several big Largemouth and Spots over the week - the fish are biting and it has been fun out there. It was different every day, but with some work, we got on good fish each day. I had some tournament anglers out last week, so no pics of them, but I will say I was out with one on Saturday, which was one of our better days, and we absolutely whacked fish all day in the creeks - just a blast.

It is tough to claim a "best bait" over the last week - some days it was the jerkbait, and some it was the fish head spin. The cranks have also made a comeback over the last week or so. We have been focusing on creek pockets mostly and our fish have been shallow for the most part - 10 feet of water or less. On sunny days, many fish have been around the docks as well as other shore-line cover. In cloudy weather they are roaming much more and the bites are a bit more random. The spots are mixed in with the LM in the creeks right now. Friday, we caught almost all LM, but Saturday, the spots ruled in the same type of places - very cool to have that mix and see the LM coming back so well. The LM will continue to play a big part in the tournament scene out there this spring. They are up and active and it makes sense to target them in many scenarios - again, it's just great to see. For fishing reports on other Georgia lakes, make sure to check out: www.havefunfishing.com

I am booked the rest of this week - again, thank you to everyone. I have had so many new customers of late, and I truly appreciate your business!

I do have some open dates the week of March 12th - give me a ring if you would like to get out and have some fun out there - what a great spring we are having! Give me a call and let's go fish!! 770-542-7764

Thanks to all, and may God Bless -

Jimbo

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Jimbo's Lake Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report: 2/28/2012


Hello Friends -

It has been awhile since my last report. I have been on the water with trips for the past 10 days or so and took today off to recharge the batteries a bit. It has been awesome out there with many big fish being caught and I have had the pleasure of hosting several new clients in the last week or so - thank you all so much for your business and for keeping me so busy!!

The predominant pattern for us over the past week has been focusing on pockets both off of the main lake and in creeks. There are still several fish in the creek ditches as well. During times when they are active, they can be found shallow in those creek ditches - the average depth we have caught them in is 8-12 feet. There are still fish deeper in the creek ditches as well and can be caught there. Look for these fish to continue to move up and appear in wolf packs during high activity periods as the water continues to warm.

We have also tracked down some big largemouth over the past week. Most have came off of docks or in the very back of creeks - the skinny water! Make casts to water so shallow you can't believe it would hold a fish and you may get your arm broke! The sunny pockets work best for the lips - with the full moon coming on March 8, the next few days can be a great time to pop a huge largemouth.

The tactics we have used to maximize our catch during the past week have varied based on the weather and water conditions. I prefer the sunny weather this time of year, but they can still be caught in the cloudy weather too. The Fish Head Spin has been our most consistent bait daily, with the jerkbait coming in a close second. Davis Shaky Head worms, jigs, and swimbaits on a Swarm have also produced good results.

I only have Thursday open this week, and then only Friday next week. Give me a ring or drop me a note if you would like to get out one of those days and catch some pigs!

Thanks to everyone for your support and kind words when I see you around the lake. Good luck to all and may God Bless!!

Jimbo