Lake Varner Report with pics

[Randall]

Here are a few pics of some fish in the seven pound range caught the last part of October while fishing with Doghouse along with a report for Black Shoals  and Lake Varner. The two I am holding hit the new hard Mattlures Bluegill fished over shallow grass. One of the ones Doghouse is holding hit a tube while punching through a grass mat. I can't remember what the other one hit  :-/ but all of them were in the seven pound range.  

I am guessing both Varner and Black Shoals are somewhere around six feet down. Both ramps are still open and there is no problem at all launching a boat. The fishing is somewhat the same on both lakes right now with some fish remaining very shallow while others have already moved to deep structure. Some bass are being caught as deep as thirty feet deep around bait schools while some are right on the bank. Depth isn't as important as finding bait and active fish right now.

The shallow bass are very scattered at both lakes so I have been covering a lot of water to find active fish. Best bait for me at both lakes to find fish has been a buzzbait burned as fast as you can reel it. I have been keeping a split shot rigged worm rigged up as a follow up bait and it will catch some of the missed fish. On days they will not come up for the buzzbait a lipless crankbait fished three to eight feet deep will catch fish but so far these fish have been smaller fish up to three pounds. I have also caught a couple fish at Varner on swimbaits but look for a good swimbait/big bass bite to pick up as more of the big fish get back on some deeper structure as they leave the shallow grassbeds where they have been for the past couple of months. It was last year about this time that I started seeing the big fish show up on deep structure and caught a ten pounder, eleven pounder and twelve pounder in about a weeks time.

The best bite by far on both lakes right now is spoon fishing for hybrids around open water bait fish. Most of the hybrids right now are holding in the 20-30 foot range and will hit a 3/4 oz jigging spoon if you just get it near them on most days. We have had a couple of days with over twenty hybrids in just a few hours of fishing and one day with around fifty hybrids in six hours. Most of the Hybrids have been in the three to five pound range but we have had a few in the eight to ten pound range . If you get into the big ones they will hit a Mattlures shad swimbait better than the spoon and it's much easier to keep them on with the one jig hook rather than the small trebles on the spoon. Also with the spoon and swimbait you will get a few bass and big crappie mixed in.

Only bite that is a little different on Varner is that there is a frog bite in the afternoon on some of the grass mats that are warming up on calm sunny days and starting to break up at Varner. Just look for the mats with activity around and in them and throw the frog. In some of the deeper mats you can catch some big fish by flipping a tube with a heavy weight but the bites are few and far between but worth it when a big one hits.

Here is the first photo with two that hit Mattlures new hard bluegill bait on a bright sunny high pressure day when the big ones weren't susposed to bite. Our best five that day went around thirty pounds.

[roadwarrior]

Great post, nice fish!

8-)

[Randall]

This one hit a tube.

[Randall]

Here is the last photo.

[Captain Rhino]

Those are some big boys... (yes, I'm talking about the fish.) Sounds like an awesome time!

[Grey Wolf]

Great looking bass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[32251]

Randall.  What happened to lake Varner with all this grass you are talking about.  Did this grass growth come about in the last year or so. I don't remember that lake being so grass infested.  

Are they planning on doing any kind of grass control there?

[Randall]

Randall. What happened to lake Varner with all this grass you are talking about. Did this grass growth come about in the last year or so. I don't remember that lake being so grass infested.

Are they planning on doing any kind of grass control there?

Varner, has had hydrilla for about three years but in the last two years the grass has spread all over the lake. The lake has changed a bunch over the past couple of years because of the grass, a big stocking of hybrids and some grass carp being stocked.

The hydrilla has done nothing but helped the late summer and fall bass fishing. It now fishes like Guntersville in the late summer-fall only with bigger fish. We had the best August-early October fishing ever on the lake for those who knew how to fish the grass. There were a lot of good fishermen who didn't like all the grass but I think it had a lot to do with them not having enough experience fishing it.

On the downside the grass carp that were added to control the grass combined with a lot of hybrids in the three to four pound range being in the lake hurt fishing in the Feb -July period. The grass carp took out a lot of the shallow pond weed that grows only during the cooler months and forced many of the bass deeper where there was a lot of competition for a limited supply of shad and bait. Also many of the prime trophy bass locations were taken over by hybrids. We had very skinny bass and many bass never spawned. My theory is that most of the larger bass never spawned and absorbed thier eggs to survive with the lack of food in prime areas where they have to live to survive.

The county wants to add more grass carp to rid the lake of grass but they are expensive and as of now the state has only put in 1000 carp. If the current rates of hybrids continue to be stocked it will not be good for the trophy bass. The DNR from what I can tell does not have the knowledge that I do about how the hybrids can damage the bass population in Varner over eight pounds. They shock up a few shallow fish and see that they are healthy and are happy with what they see. The very largest bass in Varner or any other GA lake are in the same water as the hybrids in many cases and will not survive when forced to compete with hybrids.

Bottom line is the hydrilla in the amount that is in the lake now is good for the bass. The hybrids and grass carp are not. I just did a seminar a couple weeks ago that included info on where trophy bass live and how they have to feed to survive in GA. I have thought about inviting some folks from the DNR to the next one I do so they can see how they damage our trophy bass population in the ways they manage our lakes. Don't know if they would listen or care or not.

[32251]

Thank you for that info.

Too bad they did not promote that lake to be a dedicated trophy bass lake.  Why introduce the hybrids in a lake that was already such a good bass lake?

Also, was the hydrilla just an accidental occurance or was it also introduced?

[Randall]

Thank you for that info.

Too bad they did not promote that lake to be a dedicated trophy bass lake. Why introduce the hybrids in a lake that was already such a good bass lake?

Also, was the hydrilla just an accidental occurance or was it also introduced?

The hydrilla started at the ramp so I guess it came in on a boat or trailer. They hybrids were put into the lake to control the gizzard shad population.

[Tokyo Tony]

Great report, beautiful fish. That sucks about the hybrids, and good luck with the DNR.

[secretlakes]

randall , if that is your real name, you look alot like this guy troy...? nice fish.

[senile1]

Randall, as always, you provide a great report, awesome fish, and knowledgeable information about Lake Varner.  I hope the DNR doesn't allow this wonderful bass lake to be ruined.

[Randall]

randall , if that is your real name, you look alot like this guy troy...? nice fish.

;D No that's not me.  I hear he can catch a fish or two though.

[DADto4]

Nice pics,Looks like a great day on the water