Sunday, December 14, 2014

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Guide Service Fishing Report, Pictures, and Fishing Training Class Announcement: 12/14/2014

Hey Gang - We have had some cold mornings and beautiful afternoons over the last week. I trust everyone is enjoying a great holiday season and hopefully you have had a chance to get out and enjoy the great December weather. Two Notes of Interest to Start: 1. Christmas is just around the corner. A guided trip makes a great gift. Consider the gift of Jimbo this year! I have already sold several gift certficates and would love to prepare one for you as well! Contact me directly for your professionally prepared certificate. 2. I will be running two classes next month, one on Saturday, January 17 and second on Saturday, January 31. The classes will be from 9 AM until 12:30 PM and will be held at at the Dekalb Office Conference Room, which is located off of Exit 12 on GA 400. 1320 Ridgeland Parkway in Alpharetta. This is a top end, state-of-the-art facility that Daniel W has helped me secure. Thanks Daniel! These trainings will be intensive, Lanier-focused sessions to include detailed information on some of the following popular topics: Winter fishing to include ditch and timber fishing - how to find the best areas and how to fish them and with what, identifying and fishing productive ledges, tournament fishing pointers to include developing a gameplan as well as managing the mental side of fishing, matching tackle to techniques, reading and understanding electronics and processing the information you see to make better fishing decisions, establishing seasonal patterns, and much more. There will be a generous time slot allowed for an open forum/question answer period, as well as time for one-on-one questions after the training ends. The first session will be more winter focused, and the second session will address prepping for the winter/spring transition which will start in February. Each class will have a short morning break as well to include refreshments. If you register and pay in advance, prior to January 14, 2015, the price structure will be as follows: $69 for one training, $99 for both training sessions. Day of/at the door price will be $85 for either session. Space is limited so I highly recommend making your reservations in advance ASAP. There has already been a great deal of interest expressed from many people, so spots will go fast. You can call me at 770-542-7764 or email me at jim@laniermapped.com. You can also send me a message through my website. Payment forms accepted include: cash, check, credit card, and paypal. Please note that all electronic transactions will have a $7 processing fee added. This is going to be a very detailed and information-filled training. Don't miss this opportunity to improve your fishing on Lake Lanier! I will have a flyer out soon with a specific agenda and course topics for each class. Now, on to fishing. The bite has been good through the week with several different options out there still. At daylight, we have been working a crankbait, jerkbait, and Fish Head in the backs of pockets and creek arms. There have been some big fish very shallow early back in those areas. In addition, rocky points and bank lines have been productive early in the day. A crankbait worked slowly in these areas has been good for some big bites as well. A deeper diving model works best - make sure you maintain contact with the bottom during your retrieve. A jig has worked well in these areas too at times. Stay flexible. As the day progresses, we have been moving out to the standing timber in the creek ditches. A jig, a Shaky Head worm, and a spoon have been our choices out deep. The spoon bite has been very good for numbers and an occasional big fish over the last week. The jig and Shaky Head has been a good producer as well. The timber edges in 40-55 feet have been our main target. Slow is often the key with the jig and worm. SLOW. This is very important. Keep it on the bottom and slow. This will be even more important as the water continues to get colder. Lastly, here are the dates I have left open in December: 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 28, 29, 30 and 31. This time offers a great opportunity to learn ditch and deep timber fishing. I would love to work with you and teach you. Give me a call and let's fish! Thanks to all and May God Bless! Jimbo For reports on other GA Lakes, please visit: www.southernfishing.com

Friday, December 5, 2014

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Spotted Bass Guide Service Fishing Report: 12/5/2014

Hey Gang - I hope everyone enjoyed a great holiday season and y'all are geared up and ready for Christmas. We have decorated outside and inside in super-duper Clark Griswold fashion, and we are ready. Not really ready but sort of ready. LOL Fishing has been good the last few days. The warm weather and warming water temps have got the fish spread out quite a bit. There are fish up very shallow, mid-depth, and deep right now. The shallow fish contingent seems to be getting stronger each day with the warm weather. We have been starting shallow each day on rocky points or in creek ditches, and then rotating all the depth ranges as we go through the day to look for the most productive bite. As long as the water temps stay in the mid 50's range, look for the spread of fish to continue. Each day brings different condtions and therefore different fishing situations and best approach, so stay flexible until you dial in the day. A crankbait worked up shallow early on windy rocky points and pockets has been hard to beat. These are often very good fish that are positioned very shallow and are agressive. Don't expect a ton of bites, but definitely some good ones. A Chattahoochee Jig worked up shallow on the rocks has been productive also. You can pick those jigs up around the lake at Hammonds Fishing, Oakwood Bait and Tackle, the Dugout, and soon the Bait and Tackle Store at Buford Damn Road. They are hand-tied jigs on the display racks at the front of the store, but packaging has arrived so look for them on the main racks soon. I trail these jigs with either a Yamamoto Twin Tail or a Zoom Twin Tail Grub. We have also found a good bite deeper on rock points around 30 feet with the Chattahoochee Jig. This has been consistent location and depth recently with the cloudy weather. Some days the brush is important to this bite and some days they are just sitting on the rocks. In addition, we have found a good spoon bite out in the timber on most days. 40-50 feet around the timber edges has been the target depth and location for these fish. A jig and a worm have worked well also at times out there as well. It all just depends on the day and the prevailing conditions. Overall, the more wind we have, the longer I am going to stay shallow, particularly when we are looking for the bigger bites. As we all know, and as I have already mentioned, Christmas is coming. A guided trip makes an excellent Christmas gift for the fisher man or woman in your life, in my humble opinion anyway. LOL. Consider the gift of Jimbo this year for Christmas! Call or email me and I will be happy to mail or deliver a professional and festive looking gift certificate promptly. Right now, I have Tuesday, Thursday and Friday open next week. This is a great time to learn how to pattern these unpredictable late autumn fish and maximize your catch in different conditions. Give me a call and let's fish! Also, as I mentioned in a previous post, I was very busy over Thanksgivng week. I ran 8 trips in 7 days, including Thanksgiving Day. I expect the same for the weeks around Christmas and New Years. If you are having family in or have some down time and want to fish, please call me early to reserve those dates as they will go fast! Thanks to all, and May God Bless! Jimbo