Jimbo's Lake Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report: 1/20/2012

Hey Everyone -

It has been a phenomenal week on Lanier this week for us - we have had some outstanding success with big fish and big sacks. We have caught some TRUCKS this week, including a trophy spot that weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces and a LM that weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces. Both of these big fish, caught on Wednesday and Thursday, anchored 19-20 pound + sacks.

You can fish deep if you want, but these monsters have came in 18 feet of water or less, and many from 1-6 feet of water. Given the long range forecast with highs in the 50's and 60's, I don't expect this to change. Based on the LM catches that we have experienced plus what has been reported to me, I believe the largemouth are in pre-spawn mode already. Lot's of big lips were caught this week, including an 8.3 that I know of on Sunday, a 26.5 sack of lips to win a tournament on Sunday, as well as 34.43 lbs sack of heads up North on Tuesday (Here's to you Joe - nice catch, beautiful sack brother!)

Our main weapon this week for the big fish has been the Fish Head Spin and a crankbait. The 6.5 spot came on a FHS, and the 8.2 LM came on a crankbait. When the moving bait bite has slowed down, we have been using a trick worm on a Davis Shaky Head to get bit up shallow. We have been focusing on points at the mouths of creeks and the shallow portion of ditches for our fish.

I had some great customers this week including Justin and his Dad and Person X. Justin, his dad and I had a great day on Wednesday and caught several very nice fish. Person X was with me on Thursday when I caught the big spot, and he is sporting some 4 pounders of his own - nice work X!!

I will be at the Great Southern Fishing Show on Saturday and Sunday and will be discussing how I use the FHS to catch monster spots. I have a seminar at 10 AM on Saturday, and 10:30 AM on Sunday in the Trout room. Hope to see you there.

I still have some days open next week, so please give me a ring and let's go catch some MONSTERS!!

Thanks to all, and May God Bless!

Jimbo

Jimbo at Bass Pro and Atlanta Boat Show

Hey Everyone -
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who took the opportunity to come see me this weekend at either the Atlanta Boat Show or Bass Pro Shops. It was a great weekend of teaching and I enjoyed meeting everyone.
I have since seen some very kind comments on this board and GON from those who visited. Thank you very much - I appreciate the feedback and your support! Hopefully, the information that I shared on the Fish Head Spin will help your fishing.
I focus my efforts with my customers on teaching. I want them to walk away with knowledge that will lead them to improved success on the water. I recently received a couple of emails from my customers that I wanted to share with everyone.
The first is from a customer of mine who fishes with me regularly on Lanier, and then takes the information/training and applies it to his home lake, Lake Hartwell:
"Hey Jim, Happy New Year! Some mighty big toads you be showing off. I just wanted to take a moment to share with you that your help and instruction with me has produced some fabulous results. I have had absolutely the best 3 months of fishing in all my time up on Hartwell. I mean it has simply been outragous. I have caught way more fish and much, much better fish than ever before. Some of my success has been due to the shakey head and drop shot techniques you taught me. Much of it has also come by fishing smarter, better locations and not working extended areas, but fishing quality spots and moving on quicker. I have gone blank in a number of locations and then pull up on one and whack 'em so hard I just get giddy. For me, its just been amazing. I will be checking in with you in mid to late Feburary as I would like to develop a better arsenal for the pre spawn and spawning periods. Hopefully by then I will have acquired a Lowrance sonar unit and we can review its operational functions to help me maximize the investment. Sincerely, thanks so much for helping me dramatically improve this past season's time on my home waters"
Shortly after this email, I received another one from a recent customer regarding the Sworming Hornet Video I shot recently with Rick Steckleberg in addition to our fishing day in November:
"AWESOME stuff is the norm when i open your weekly emails. Only problem is I want to go fishing at the end of each email. But God has blessed us with lots of work, so I'll keep working and re-filling the coffers and I'll see ya soon. You are a great pitch man. Im going to buy 100's of dollars worth of fish head spins so i can win....good video. By the way when I fished with you in November I watched you drag the fish head spin in ditches. So I was at lake Jackson for our first tourney of the year(past sunday), and I dragged the fish head spin across points on the lower end of lake and caught 3 nice spots!!! - thanks to your demo. great reports man, thank you for all of them"
Gang - this is why I do what I do! I love to help people, and I love to fish. If you haven't yet, come with me and try a different guide experience than you have had before - I look forward to hearing from you and thank you to all who have been out with me so far - there are many, many great trips to come!
I have Thursday and Friday open this week - give me a ring or drop me a note if you would like to get out. It's a great time to learn the FHS and other valuable techniques for winter fishing. The forecast looks good!! We can throw a FHS or worm shallow, or a jig, worm, and spoon out deep to catch good fish. Let's go fish!! 770-542-7764
Finally, a quick reminder: I will be at the Great Southern Fishing Show this Saturday and Sunday, which will be held at the North Atlanta Trade Center. You can click this link in your browser for more information: http://www.northatlantatradecenter.com/fishing.html
Thanks to all, and may God Bless -
Jimbo
Jimbo On Lanier - Jimbo's Spotted Bass Guide Service
Call: 770-542-7764
Website: www.jimboonlanier.com

Jimbo's Lake Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report: 1/9/2012

Hello Everyone -

Fishing on the pond has been great over the past few days. I had trips Friday - Sunday this past weekend. Most of my clients requested to remain "incognito" and not be plastered all over the BFHP - a request which I certainly understand and respect. So, the only pictures you get are mostly of my ugly mug with some pigs. LOL!

On Friday, we fished ditches shallow out to about 20 feet for most of our fish. We had a great sack of fish on a FHS as well as a Shaky Head worm. On Saturday and Sunday, the clouds and rainy weather moved in, so we shifted out deep for most of our fish. We worked jigs and spoons in timber around creek ditches through the day for some great catches. On Sunday, we started shallow and whacked a great sack in about 30 minutes on a Fish Head Spin. When that stopped, we switched to the timber with a jig and a spoon and went to work. Lots of action through the day and some really nice spots. There are some big ones out deep, but don't discount the shallow bite, even in the cloudy weather. If you have a "5 bite" mindset, you can still go shallow and hammer a big sack if you are in the right places. I know of some 20 pound + sacks that were caught over the weekend in local tournaments that came very shallow - most competitors only got 5 bites through the day though. Just depends on what you want to do. Out deep we are catching 12-18 fish a day - not all are studs out there though.

On to other news. The Sworming Hornet Video Promo I filmed with Rick Steckelberg is up and ready to view on my YouTube Channel. Rick will be taking this to ICast this coming weekend in Las Vegas and I will have it up on my website shortly. Check it out by clicking on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evXNn1uwCMo&feature=g-upl&context=G2045600AUAAAAAAAAAA

Also, I will be appearing at Bass Pro Shops this Saturday morning with deep water expert Phil Johnson. Phil and I will we working over the tank to demonstrate some winter tactics for spotted bass. I will be focusing on the Fish Head Spin and Phil will be talking about the drop shot and deep water spooning. After that, Phil and I are headed down to Atlanta to speak at the boat show. We have teamed up with Ken Sturdivant and will be doing presentations at the "Let's Go Fishing" Center presented by Allstate - Building C, Booth 632. Phil and I are speaking on Friday and Saturday afternoon. We start Friday at 5:30 PM and Saturday at 3:30 PM - hope to see everyone down there or out at Bass Pro Shops.

Lastly, next weekend, Jan 21 & 22, I will be at the Great Southern Fishing Show which will be held at the North Atlanta Trade Center. I will have a booth and will be giving presentations at the event. You can catch me at the Trout Theater at 10 AM on Saturday and 10:30 AM on Sunday. Click the following link for more information: http://www.northatlantatradecenter.com/fishing.html

If you would like to go fish, I have Thursday afternoon, Friday Morning, and Sunday available for trips. Just give me a call or drop me a note.

Thanks to everyone and may God Bless -

Jimbo

Jimbo's Lake Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report: 1/3/2012

Hey Everybody - Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday. I had some great trips over the weekend with several new customers and we had great results. Thanks to everyone who came out with me!! I appreciate your business!!

On Friday, I had out Roger who was looking to get the feel of places to fish during the winter. We mainly worked on the shaky head and the presentation of the bait during this time of year. The bite has been very light and it requires some focus to detect a strike. We worked on this together through the afternoon and Roger picked it up well. I am honored to say that Roger caught the biggest spot he has ever caught with me that day - the 4 lbs, 8 oz Toad pictured above - great catch Roger!!

I started Saturday morning off shooting a video with Rick Steckelberg (Owner of Sworming Hornet Lures) and his partner Kevin Stowers. Richy Rich from LanierMAPPED.com was our video man, and he made us look good (tougher job for him with me involved! LOL). We caught some good fish on the Fish Head Spin that morning, and demonstrated the use of the new Fish Head Swarm, and we also spent time with the Fish Head Dude, the Fish Head Shaker, and the Fish Head Drop Shot bait. I think the highlight of the video is the conversation that Rick and I have regarding the history of the baits to include their creation, as well as inside tips and tricks to catch more fish while using Sworming Hornet Lures. Rick will be taking the video out to I-Cast in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks, and I will have it posted on my site upon its publishing. Should be out soon - I will keep you all posted - I think you will enjoy the information and find it very beneficial!!

On Saturday afternoon, I had a half-day trip with Joey and his pal Kenny who was down from Ohio visiting. We took out Kenny's boat and worked on ditch fishing. We had a nice sack on a shaky head worm - Kenny turned out to be the star of the day as he stuck several good fish including a pig that was right at 5 pounds. Nice work to you both - great fishing!

On Sunday, I had the pleasure of taking out James and Coach. These guys were a lot of fun and the fish cooperated nicely for us. They bagged a 17 pound sack on Sunday. Ol' Coach took big fish honors for the day with a 4 pound spot - James was close with a 3 lbs, 12 oz spot, but he still had to buy dinner that night! LOL! We caught our fish Sunday in and around ditches, with fish coming anywhere from 4 feet to 30 feet deep. Overall, it was a great day. Coach and James - Great job out there!!

I have Thursday, Friday, and Saturday open this week if anyone would like to get out. The weather will be warming up by then and the fish should be more concentrated with the colder weather. It should be on like Donkey Kong! Give me a call or shoot me a note if you would like to get out! 770-542-7764

Thanks to all and May God Bless -

Jimbo

Jimbo's Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report - December 23, 2011

Hello Friends and Sponsors -

Happy Holidays to all and I hope this note finds you all well and enjoying the season with family and friends!

We have had an outstanding couple of weeks on Lake Lanier with some excellent success and some great trips!

I have been blessed in that I have had experienced anglers all the way to folks new to bass fishing over the past couple of weeks, and all have been successful. I always enjoy teaching and providing insights on bass fishing and see it manifest immediately in the results.

We have been focusing our efforts shallow for the most part, but have seen a greater progression of the larger spots out to deeper water over the past week or so. This past week, we had an outstanding week for numbers, but not as many big fish as the week before. I was out with Sam from Flowery Branch on one day of note, and together we caught 37 bass in a four hour period! In December! Great stuff. We also had several days with catches numbering from 15-25 a day with most fish being in the 2-3 pound range.

We have been catching the bigger fish shallow on a crankbait and jerkbait, particularly in the early AM and late afternoon, and a jig and worm have been very productive through the day. We have also been targeting some fish in the creek ditches in 18-25 feet of water. These fish have been eating a spoon and a shaky head worm very well. A Fish Head Spin is also working on these fish, as well as a jerkbait and crankbait at times.

I have included some pictures from the action over the last couple of weeks. Thanks to everyone that was out with me!!

I am currently in Indiana visiting family for the holidays, but will be back in town by December 27th.

I currently have a trip booked on Dec 28th, but I have the 29th, 30th, and 31st open if you would like to get out. The weather looks great for next week - give me a call and let's catch some fish!! 770-542-7764

Thanks, and may God Bless.

Jimbo

Jimbo's Lake Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report: 12/12/2011

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Hey Gang -

I was back out on a mid-day trip with David and his son Michael yesterday. They had fished Lanier several times before without much success, and wanted a little help.

I was happy to provide just that, a little help, because they didn't need much! This was an experienced father/son duo - these guys could flat fish!! They were great with a rod and reel and really made it happen on the water, and they were a blast to be with!!

They bagged a 17 lbs, 3 oz sack in about 4 hours of fishing yesterday. Michael took big fish honors with a 4 lbs, 5 oz chunk on his third cast of the day. Dad won the numbers battle, but he was never far behind on the size - he just never quite made it over 4 lbs. I think location adjustments were all that was required for these two. They too thought you had to go deep to catch fish this time of year. Not the case as they learned. All fish were caught on a crankbait in 12 feet of water or less. We stayed in the creeks yesterday due to the high winds on the main lake. If we could of hit a couple of my main lake hot spots, I think we would have made 20 pounds easily.

Great job David and Michael - looking forward to our Spring trip!

I have Wed, Thursday, and Fri open this week if you would like to catch some studs up shallow. The weather is warming again and it should be an awesome big-fish bite! Give me a ring to book your trip!! 770-542-7764

Thanks to all, and may God Bless -

Jimbo

Jimbo On Lanier - Jimbo's Spotted Bass Guide Service
Call: 770-542-7764
Website: www.jimboonlanier.com

Jimbo's Lake Lake Lanier Fishing Guide Report: 12/2/2011

Hey Everyone -

I was back out on the pond today after a couple of days off. It was nice to catch up on some stuff around the house and get ready for Christmas. My "honey do" list was long and past due!

Anyway, I went out with my good buddy Phil Johnson today to prep for my weekend trips. We had an awesome day and was glad to find out the cold front did not change my fish at all. We caught fish through the day on worms, jigs, crankbaits, and even played in the timber a little with a spoon and dropshot. All of our good fish came in 12 feet of water or less as has been the case for a month or more now.

We caught fish back in creeks as well as out on the main lake. We focused on pockets for the most part as well as main lake and secondary points. Our best 5 went 18.2 pounds today - the 2 above weighed 4.9 and 4.3.

A special thanks to Bryan over at Hinkle Marine Parts for the awesome shirt I am sporting in the picture. As I mentioned before, I go to Mashburn for all my service needs, and Bryan handles my parts - he does an awesome job. Keep those guys in mind for your part needs.

I have some days open next week if you would like to get out and experience some awesome late fall fishing. What a fishery we have here to be able to go out and catch an 18 lbs sack on a blue-bird day of high pressure in December - shallow. We are blessed!

Thanks to all, and may God Bless.

Jimbo