Violinguy

I've previously read that these are great places to fish, but I'm pretty sure they are on private property now. Both lakes are within a failed housing development, and the access roads are gated off. I went over there about 7 years ago and I remember seeing some no trespassing signage. Has anyone fished over there in the last few years? Looks like a great place to fish but I don't want to get in trouble...

My PB until recently was caught on a Texas rigged tube bait with a 1/4 oz bullet weight. Since I moved to GA, I haven't had much luck with tubes no matter how I rigged them. I buy some every year though just in case.

I'm in Douglas county and the park ponds always have fish. Some are rumored to have fish in the 4-5 pound range but I've never caught anything over 2. Any place where there are baseball/soccer fields usually has a small lake. I've never had much luck at the bigger lakes like Sweetwater from shore. On the big lakes, anywhere that is accessible is usually overfished.

This is the same type of discussion as with photography (another hobby of mine). A $5000 camera with a $3000 lens does not make anyone a better photographer - just as a $400+ rig doesn't make anyone a better angler. I take and sell some great photos with my consumer model DSLR, and I catch lots of fish with my $150-and-under combos. The best advice I ever heard when it comes to gear (for whatever hobby) is, buy the best gear you can afford. If you can afford top dollar gear, then go for it. If not, you'll catch tons of fish with the less expensive stuff. Either way, if fished properly, anyone can catch all the fish they want with anything on the shelf or in the catalog.

Yes, that's it. I was a lot more into golfing than fishing back then, and there was only time for one hobby.

I used to play golf there a lot when I was at KU. Great course. Never did fish it though. I used to catch loads of crappie in the reservoir in town (the name escapes me).

Like many here, I also grew up with spinning equipment. I used exclusively spinning for years, all the way into my 30s, then bought a couple of casting outfits for a big trip I took. It was trial and error to learn them, but now I use both. Spinning is still my default, mostly because I fish almost exclusively from shore and there just isn't room for my big casting rigs. Also, I do a lot of finesse fishing with weightless senkos and lightly weighted tubes and such which just don't work as well with a casting setup. This debate really doesn't seem like something that should have the venom that it does. Casting rigs don't catch more fish than spinning. Spinning rigs don't catch more fish than casting. If you like one or the other, great. Anyone who would look down on another angler because of his equipment isn't worth arguing with anyhow. We're all out there to catch fish. Save the histrionics for poachers and jet skiers.

I don't get up that way too often (about 40 minutes away). I keep hearing how awesome the hootch is for fishing, but haven't experienced that myself. And not for lack of trying. I haven't found any local ponds with big fish yet, but if you want to know where I fish down here in Douglas county, send me a message. Like I said, tomorrow I'm headed out west a bit. Can't wait.

Small ponds always have some fish bigger than you might think in them. The trick is getting to where they are. When I was in college, my roommates and I would fish at a small lake near campus that was virtually unknown to other CT anglers. It was (what we thought) an unnamed lake next to a nice trout river (after some rigorous research, we found out the name of the lake - Spring Lake - kinda like the Springfield of lake names lol). Anyways, shore fishing always brought a bunch of small bass with a 2 pounder mixed in every now and then. Then one day, we happened to have waders (we had been fly fishing in the river nearby) so we put 'em on and found a flat area to wade out a bit. On different occaisions, we all caught bass in excess of 6 pounds there (my PB of 7 lb 4 oz on a tube bait). As it happened, since we had waded about 15-20 feet from shore, we now had access to a nice drop-off with enormous fish nearby. Years later, one of the guys went back with a john boat and pulled out several 5-7 pounders. So, yeah, there are big fish in small lakes, but sometimes you gotta have a boat to get to them. For me, my favorite lakes nearby are no-boat lakes.

I respectfully agree. I'm always afraid to start a new thread with the deal I just got at Academy or Wally World because there are always a bunch. At the same time, ressurecting old threads is not good etiquette either. A dedicated forum would be great for those of us who like to see possible deals, as well as those of us who hate seeing the "Hey, look what I just bought at Cabela's" threads all over the rest of the forums.

Jigs seem to bring out larger fish. Stop using Senkos as any bass from 8 inches and up will eat those things. A large jig/pig combo or large swimbait should get the larger fish. Like was said above, there just might not be any big fish alive in that pond anymore. I fish a small pond (couple acres) near my house and while I wouldn't say I catch "tons" of bass, I usually pull 4-6 fish in a 3 hour outing. All under 2 pounds and most around 10-12 inches. I enjoy it because I almost always catch some fish, and it's a good place to take the kids because they always catch something. The park employees have told me there are some 4 pound+ bass in there, but after 2 years of trying, I don't know if I believe them. Of course, there are no boats allowed so getting to the deepest water to throw a jig/pig or other deep/slow presentation is out of the question...

Disclaimer: I'm not asking for anyone's prime fishing spots. There just hasn't been any talk about north Georgia lately so.... So I've been hitting the small county park ponds recently with mixed success. My normal go-to spot (a Douglas county park pond) has changed a lot since last year. I haven't had so much as a bite where I caught tons of fish last year, but I've been catching them like mad in other spots around the lake that never had any fish before. Tomorrow I'm headed out to a couple new ponds I found on google maps so we'll see what's what out there. I'm venturing a bit west of Douglasville so any folks out that way will get a nice fishing report. Any other good fishing going on besides the monster lakes (Alatoona, Lanier)? Anyone catching anything at Sweetwater state park or Dog River lately. I haven't been to Dog River this year, but I've struck out a couple of times at George Sparks Reservoir (Sweetwater Park).

I respectively disagree. Any day fishing, when you go home at the end, is a good day of fishing. If you don't make it home, then I'm afraid I can't consider that a good day.

THIS I live in Douglas county and there are dozens of small ponds near me that I found with Google Maps/Earth. Not all are accessible or even public, but I've found a couple of nice fishing alternatives that way. The Hooch has good fishing, but I wouldn't eat anything taken south of the city. I haven't fished the big lakes because I don't own a boat and it's more fun to fish small lakes that way. I find the larger lakes are tougher to fish without a boat. If you can access the water by walking to it, so can anyone else, thus overfished. I stick to park ponds mostly. Easy public parking, and they are usually fished only by kids and bucket folk with live worms on tiny hooks. I had a guy start talking to me yesterday at my favorite little pond about how he was dropping live worms right in front of big bass and they weren't biting. The biggest bass in that lake is probably 3 pounds (I've been told by some admin people there), but he instisted there were bigger ones (he probably meant the carp I've seen in there). He looked at me funny when I said I was using plastic worms. I pulled out fish after fish with my little spinning rig and 6lb line, while he stood there with a really huge/heavy rig and bobber catching nothing. Made my day. I try to fish water that better anglers might not bother with. From what I saw on the water yesterday, spawn is over in GA and the water is heating up. Get 'em shallow now, because summer is on the way.

Yep. Geese crap everywhere. That and Red Bull cans. Lazy, inconsiderate @#$%!holes leave everything behind when they go. My fiancee asked me the other day why I have Red Bull cans in my car because I don't drink that #$!#!. I told her, because I picked them up at the lake.