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

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

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

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

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

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

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