Randall

The blade is too far up being above the head causing the bait to roll on the spinnnerbait wire since the head is so far forward. If you lower the blade closer to the head and bend the wire to make the front of the blade point upward some it will lessen the roll over but don't know if it will be a complete fix just because it is on the spinnerbait wire.

Congrats! That looks like a great lake with all that wood in the water behind you.

Here are a couple videos from last week. This is what I love about surface swimbait fishing I can see the fish and then trigger the stike by the way I move the bait.

Thanks. In this case we have a situation that you will probably face too. This lake is a water supply reservoir. The managers of the lake have wanted the grass gone for a few years. They have found help in getting it removed since a lady studing eagle deaths at the University of Georgia has decided the grass is responsible for the death of Bald Eagles. http://www.lincolnjournalonline.com/news/2009-10-29/front_page/001.html They have already wiped out the grass at Santee Cooper in SC with grass carp and Lake Varner and Clarks Hill are thier next targets. Once they show a reduction in Eagle deaths on these lakes no doubt they will be coming after grass on all other lakes in the South in the name of saving the eagles. Here we have a propaganda campaign started with the lake managers going to media outlets and telling them things like they have seen 1000's of dying birds in the lake and that the lake is 70% covered in grass. I am on the lake this time of year more than they are and have seen only a few dead birds (some had been shot) over the past three years and the lake is more along the lines of 10%-20% at the very most covererd in grass. My guess is more like 5%. Add on top of that that the one pair of resident eagles are doing fine. Looking in to see what can be done but it being a being a smaller reservoir makes it an easy target.

I will stop now and that is probably less than 1/4 of what was caught and almost everything we caught was three pounds plus. Theres even a couple big fish I didn't photograph because we got them on video. Most of the strikes on the swimbait were on or near the surface where you could often see the fish coming and the strikes. One of the guys fishing with me had to stop a couple times because he was hurting from reeling in fish. ;D

A few more

A few more

Fishing has been great at Lake Varner this year. Sadly this may be the last year we will experience this. Plans are to add 4000 grass carp this coming spring. The grass had alot to do with the lake coming back after a couple down years to probably be the best public big bass lake per acre in the Southeast. Most of these photos are from just two days of fishing and there were plenty of fish we didn't photograph. Most of the fish were caught on a High Power Herring swimbait and different flipping tubes.

They made a pop-R type bait that wasn't bad. It was in the Frenzy line up also.

Congrats!

Just wait for those winky dinky spots to get bigger. Might change your mind. I freakin love spots. They are superior to the largemouth in every way. I'm a Lanier boy and it has really shown me how fun it is to be on a spot lake Only problem is in most lakes they never get bigger. Before the herring Lanier, Burton and Chatuge were full of tiny spots. We got lucky and ended up with great lakes but most don't. Most get big largemouth and smallmouth replaced by dink spots.

Congrats. Great photos.

Cow runoff can grow giant bass. When looking for lakes that grow big bass one of the first things I look for is cattle farms on the shoreline or upstream. The lakes I fish that grow the most big bass all have cattle farms both on the shoreline and upstream.

Slowing down for me is usually getting the anchors out because I know the fish are there and we are going to force feed them.

One guy lost his job as a police officer but I never did hear of any official charges filed against them. We always seem to have hoaxes going on here all the time in GA. Maybe I can find someone to claim he caught dozer show you a photo of him and swindle you out of some money. ;D

I may be mistaken but looks like the same photo that has been passed around with different storys attached for a long while.

Thanks for the comments. The hook is no problem. We are throwing it over grass beds that are under the surface. We are mostly using a floating bait and a slow sinker that sinks so slow it almost suspends. Since the baits are not all that heavy you can cast them without fear that they are going to go deep in the grass even as they hit the water at the end of the cast. If a little grass gets on the hook a hard rip with the rod will clean the bait off.

Great Photo. I have a two year old thats been asking to go fishing. I might take her out soon and hope she enjoys it as much.

That's a healthy one.

7'10" Okuma Reflections rated for 1/4-1oz baits. Reel is a BPS extreme wide spool model. Line changes depending on conditions. I use 20-25lb fluro most of the time since it sinks and keeps me in contact with the bait better on the fall. Only problem I have with the rod is on the rod with braid I had grooves that developed on the tip guide.

Here are two days (WED/FRI) of fishing at Lake Varner last week. The fish were all caught on worms and High Power Herring swimbaits. I said it in my last post but it's just fun right now. I am having a blast. I have a bunch of spots right now where I know there are big fish. It's just a matter of getting them to bite. There were a lot of other good four and five pounders as well along with some small fish. We lost a few big ones as well.

Good review. First thing I noticed in looking at the Pinnacle reels was that there was not a wide spool model and all my baitcasters have to have more line capacity.

They do hybridize here in the lakes of GA and I know there have been potential state records for spotted bass that were found to be hybrids after genetic testing in Tennessee. So the simple answer is yes.

Somehow that doesn't really surprise me. : Remember that just because a person has good "people skills" doesn't always mean they are a good person. The world is full of people who are "nice" when they are trying to get money from you but will lie, cheat, and steal when they think nobody is looking.

I had to edit out the last part since the boat swings around and I raise the camera up. I know it kind of ruins the video but someone could get on the spot we are on real easy with one more angle. The happy ending is in the third photo.