Briery Creek Lake...

[IMPY03]

IMPY03, good catch, that group of 3#-7# bass I had located must have dispersed or just were not biting. My total catch for yesterday was 24 less than the two weeks ago. It looks like the tropical storm is going to stay South.

Thanks!

That was the very first fish of the day and after that the biggest might have been close to 3lbs. I dont know if we were getting winds from the storm already or what but it was a constant 6/7 MPH winds the whole day and I actually think that was keeping most of the decent size bass more active. I think I'll be heading back up there sunday or monday if weather permits.

[IMPY03]

Anyone going to be heading out wednesday morning? Sounds like some decent weather that day and not too hot.

[johnkook73]

Nice fish!! I am going to try and hit Briery or Sandy River here soon!!

[IMPY03]

Nice fish!! I am going to try and hit Briery or Sandy River here soon!!

Where abouts do you fish sandy creek?

[Wayne P.]

Sandy River Lake: I rarely fish the part of the lake near the dam or the arm with the bridge crossing it. I have the most success fishing the man made drop offs at various places about the lake.  Most of those can be identified by the cypress trees growing along the top of the dropoffs. Also the creek channels at the upper end of the main lake and the one at the back of the major feeder creek cove about 2/3 uplake on the left that has the standing timber at its end. Its an easier lake to fish than Briery. Crankbaits can be utilized for some pretty good action.

[Nottoway]

Hey Wayne P.

     You are missing some of the best fishing in Sandy.  Most guys run to the back, and never hit the dam, just sit and watch.  

[johnkook73]

Nice fish!! I am going to try and hit Briery or Sandy River here soon!!

Where abouts do you fish sandy creek?

Actually I have never been to Sandy, a buddy of mine fishes alot and loves it there!!

[IMPY03]

Oh I gotcha!

Well I went out to briery again this morning and boy was I in for a suprise...I got out on the lake around 6:30 AM and noticed that bait fish were busting the top of the water almost every where I could see! I just happend to have brought my spinner bait set up along with me and decided to throw a white/chartuese a few times just to see what happend. Boom! 3rd cast I catch a decent size LM that was #1 1/2. So I move on up a bit to some flooded timber and start throwing and boy oh boy FISH ON!!! I fight this guy for over 2 minutes (atleast it seemed like it) on 12# test and finally he jumps not once but twice and I get to see this amazing fish! I'm guessing he was anywhere between 8 - 12 pounds, this dude was a hawg and in all the excitement I drag him up to the boat and didnt leave any slack in my line and as he takes one more dive he goes directly under the boat and I get to watch as my line just "pops" and the biggest bass of my life swims off with my lure, go figure right? :'(I felt like leaving the lake after that...I was so down. Oh well guess I'll find him again another day and I did manage to catch 4 more bass all being a pound or less.

I'm going to buy 50lb braid tomorrow lol

[johnkook73]

I hate when they go underneath the boat. Looks like you had another good time though, cannot wait to head out there again.

[Wayne P.]

IMPY03, I use 30# braid for finesse presentations. I'm glad to see that the schooling action has picked up. My best producing presentations for those fish are a 1/2 oz Rat-L-Trap and a Super Fluke. I always have those tied on a few rods when I am there. This rain from Hanna will drop the water temp and increase the schooling action.

[IMPY03]

Went out again today and the water level is up a good 4 - 8 inches. Me and my friend fished from 6:30 AM til 12PM and they were loving white 1/2 oz spinners, I caught 12 all together between 1lb and 3lbs. 9 on spinners and 3 on wacky rigged trick sticks. The fish were scattered as for the most part, I caught most of the fish around standing timber in different parts of the lake and a few around weed cover.

Very productive day for me but still no master like WayneP. lol  ;D

[slomoe]

Nice job, glad to hear they're starting to chase the spinnerbaits.

[Wayne P.]

Thanks for the report, I can't decide whether to fish Briery or Hunting Run tomorrow. Did you check the water temp?

[Nottoway]

Hey guys, try a spook jr. over the weed bed that run along the old creek bed.  Last week caught a 8 lber, it came 2-3 ft out the water went she hit.  She jumped 4x , with 3x grip hooks, she only had one way to go, to the boat.  

  Had 3 over 5, several at 3, caught in an area where the old creek turns back across the lake.  Looks to be an old sand bar in the bend, that loads up with bass, hourly. And the lure, I have found a new hand poured worm that works at several lake.   And sorry, but I will pass on more infor, about this new find,  after my tournaments this month.  

[IMPY03]

So after some motor trouble and a long wait, I finally have my outboard back in business(and it was a very expensive business to get into) and I should be heading out in the morning to try briery again. Has anyone been out there lately? Does anyone know if the topwater bite is good?

I'm planning on throwing buzzbaits, spinners, and ratltraps to start the day off so hopefully I'll have some luck there. Wayne P. I know you know whats going on, lol so let me know whats up!

[Wayne P.]

I haven't been there since Sept 23 just before I went to Lake Guntersville for a week. I fished Hunting Run yesterday and today which were the last two days the lake was going to opened for fishing this year. My total bass caught there this year is 1,989. I'll start picking on the Briery bass now.

[IMPY03]

I haven't been there since Sept 23 just before I went to Lake Guntersville for a week. I fished Hunting Run yesterday and today which were the last two days the lake was going to opened for fishing this year. My total bass caught there this year is 1,989. I'll start picking on the Briery bass now.

Thats great! thanks anyway! Tomorrow will be a little cool early in the AM so hopefully I can catch some fish schooling. I'm also going to hit some other spots on the lake to expand my range of finding fish. I definently want to hit up a couple of the sand bars. 8-)

[IMPY03]

Very rough day of fishing for me. Out of 5 hours of fishing, I missed 3 small dinks and caught a pickeral. I used spinnerbaits, trick sticks, and ratLtraps all day. There is still a good amount of vegetation on 0-8ft of water and the water temperature was between 68-69 degrees.

Where are the fish!?  

[osbornj2]

Thanks for posting all these reports and keeping this thread alive!  

Glad we didn't make the trip down to Briery today (Stu and I were thinking of fishing either Briery or Sandy Run today, but decided to stay a little closer to home instead due to some work stuff), as it sounds like the fish are a little "off".  We certainly didn't have much luck at all today, here at a local lake...I'm guessing it's because of the cold front that's getting ready to push through???

Wayne - how is Briery ?  What's the current water temp?  Are the baitfish back in the coves yet?  Are you still throwing wacky-rigs and flukes?

We want to make the trip down there maybe next week, and I'd love to know where to find them.  You mentioned to someone that if they sent you their email address, then you'd send a satellite photo with the spots marked.  Are you still willing to do the same?  If so, just mark a couple of indications about where you think that they may be by next week (meaning - don't reveal all of your hotspots...just a little hint about where they MAY be ).  My email addy is:  osbornj2@comcast.net.

Thanks again for all of your willingness to assist all of us "newbies"  :

[IMPY03]

No problem, Briery is my new favorite lake(as I'm not a fan of big water since I'm pushing a 12ft jon lol) but yeah be glad you didn't make the trip today. Me and my friend went down again today and fished sandy river for the first time and had no idea it seemed like on what we were doing fishing wise. Needless to say we left around 11am without boating a single fish and headed up to briery for a few hours and it was the same there. No fish until the last 20 minutes and they came on a june bug color trick stick wacky rigged. My buddy just decied to drop it straight off the side of the boat in about 10-12ft of water and caught a dink and then he did the same thing again and catches a pickeral, very surprising catches to both of us.

As for the water temperature, it started around 68 at sandy and ended up being between 72-73 by 1:30 PM before we left Briery.

[Wayne P.]

osbornj2, e-mail sent. Thanks for asking

[osbornj2]

Wayne - got your email...it was FANTASTIC !! Thanks so much for sending that over..it is greatly appreciated!

With this cold front pushing through, we are thinking about trying to head up there later in the wee next week (probably on Thur., weather and work permitting, of course!)  Don't know if anyone else is planning on being there then, but, if so...maybe we could hook up and say hello!

When we do go, I'll be sure to post a report on this thread (and hopefully be able to add a decent photo too )

[Wayne P.]

osbornj2, when you are ready for some early pre-spawn fishing, I have another one.

[Wayne P.]

I fished Briery today. The water in mid lake area was brown tinted, I assume from turnover since the last few nights have been close to freezing and the surface temp was 59-60. I didn't see the thermocline with my electronics. I fished the upper end where the water was clear. Didn't catch any big ones, just 28 bass under 3# and 5 pickerel. The 10-30 mph winds made finesse presentations difficult. I didn't see any bass chasing shad or any shad schools on my sonar units.

[osbornj2]

Wow...sounds like the water turned over pretty quickly and cooled down significantly.

Stu and I are still planning on heading down on Thur am.  Weather.com says low 60's and sunny.

So, no baitfish or shad balls yet??  We'll still probably start off with atleast a little bit of topwater just after daybreak...just because why not?!?! Wayne - do you have any particular thoughts about this?  Since Stu has never fished Briery before,I told him that we could launch the boat and not even lower the gas motor and just troll back into the cove there at the ramp.  I noticed that you had the opposite bank marked on your map...isn't there a "mini-cove" there with lots of lily pads and laydowns?

Also, is this cove productive,since it was essentially closed to fishing for, what, like 2 years I believe?

We are thinking Flukes, spinnerbaits, and maybe jerkbaits. Anything that you could add that we're overlooking?

Again,I appreciate all of your help, and I hope to be able to post a report here after Thursday's adventure!