OleTimer

Regardless of the time of year, it's always a good idea to have a Carolina Rig close to hand @ Lake Talquin. The larger fish are usually still hanging out deep in the old river channel bends during the coldest part of the new year, but @Talquin there are also always a few shallow fish, too. You can catch either with the C/Rig. If its been raining and the water is murky, they will bite black, black emerald, or green pumpkin soft plastics, but if the water is pretty clear they should go for watermelon red or junebug red when the sun is out. Lately the hot color has been Plum Apple or Plum Crazy, but the old standbys will usually come through for you. Our old friend Dewey swears by Bass Assassin Black/Blue Tail, Texas rigged. Square-billed crank baits in shallow water and jerkbaits will usually work in Jan/Feb, too, but you need to really slow them down. If the winter is mild, some of the little bucks will start beding toward the end of Feb, and a good many will be on beds in early March. Look to the azaleas - when they start blooming bass will be bedding on Talquin. At that point, forget the deep stuff and head for the backs of the creeks. Hope that helps.

If you consider "South GA" to be part of Florida, then I guess we Tallahassians are from Florida. Moved to "LA" (Lower Alabama - Ft. Walton Beach) in 1980 with no intention of staying, but moving to Tallahassee in '86 was as far as I ever got. Fishing is real spotty here right now - one day you'll stink it up, next you'll load the boat. But maybe that's just ME! :-?

There are some ponds (and small lakes, too) here that are loaded - but mostly they're private, for the use of the residents that live on the "pond front" property. Probably some of em are like Bill Dance's "trained bass" - big ole things that just come up and put the hook in the hole that's already in their lip, then put up a token fight for the cameras. ;D Reckon??

I hear ya! I spent 20 years in the USAF, so had lots of separations and "waiting for the family to get here" experiences. I'm not into hunting, but Dallas (at Ingram's Marina) is, so give him a call. He is much more likely to be able to fill you in and get you hooked up with the local guys you need to know. My wife and I have a little local tournament on Sat, but we'll be glad to take you out and introduce you to Talquin when you're ready. If you want to do that, email me - hchelette@gamil.com Herman

Welcome to town, Westpalmdude! Guess you'll have to change to TallyDude now. Lake Talquin is a great lake - wood, grass, rock, drops, you name it. And the Fish & Game guys have done a great job of building the fishery back up for the past ten years or so. There are LOTS of 10#+ fish coming out of there in spring & early summer, and this time of year you can get into schools of 3# fish late evenings in lots of places. Kinda crowded on Sat with tournaments most weekends, but otherwise nice. Jackson hasn't filled in 10 years now. You still can't access the water with most bass rigs. Every time one sinkhole fills up another opens. Maybe if we get a couple of tropical storms through here this year ... Would be nice to have it back. Seminole is 45 minutes away, but I do NOT enjoy fishing that lake. Not only is it low most of the time because Atlanta is hogging the Chattahoochee water, but it has too much hydrilla (IMHO). Grass is good up to a point, but when it takes over and chokes off whole sections of the lake it becomes problematic - not to mention the gnats it brings. Anyway, that's just my opinion. You may really enjoy it. There are sure lots of guys that can catch 20# sacks there on most any day. Guess you just gotta live there. The other good thing about living in Tally, though, is that it's only four or five hours to any of the Coosa/Tallapoosa lakes up in Alabama, and within an easy day's drive you can be up on the Tennessee River lakes. My wife and I fish our tournament trails up there, because we really enjoy the variety of deep/shallow, clear/stained, spot/LM that we find in those lakes. And Alabama is doing a great job with parks & facilities, too. Good ramps, marinas, etc. Dallas & Sarah Johnson at Ingram's Marina on Lake Talquin can fill you in on all the goings on in the bass fishing community around Tally. Sarah is president of the Talquin Hookers ladies club and Dallas knows pretty much everyone that fishes in these parts. Give them a call @ 850-627-2241 When will you be moving?

I'm still new enough at bass fishing that just being out on the water TRYING to catch fish is enough. But I don't get skunked very often anymore except for two times - tournament day, and anytime I fish Lake Seminole! This year I have only stunk it up once on tournament day (seven events), but I've fished Seminole five times and only caught twice. All that grass just baffles me. I do get frustrated though when I catch all over the lake during practice and then struggle to get a couple in the boat on tournament day. What's up with that?

Hey, Guys! I've been tournament fishing for about 5 years (5 yrs Couples trails, and 3rd year BFL) and am thoroughly addicted! I read the BFHP and the Yahoo SideImaging Forum daily and post occasionally, but just found this forum this morning. I'm 67, but still a full-time software developer (have to pay for my wife's new Ranger - ). My personal boat is an XPress 17' w/Yamaha 90 that we use for river fishing around here. C/Rig and shakeyhead are my strong suits, but I try just about every technique that comes along, and have WAY to much tackle! I'm partial to fast boats (ex-fighter jock), electronics and tackle stores (OK, well, addicted to those!). Guess that's about it. I'll be checking traffic for awhile before I jump in, but you will hear from me from time to time. BTW - I don't do IM, so don't have any of those kinds of ID or addresses.