What a wild couple of weeks it has been for fishing!
We experienced record warm temperatures over Christmas; record high lake levels at New Years; boat ramps and parks closed with barricades warning people not to enter; courtesy docks inaccessible because of high water; a week-long massive debris field of fence posts, 2x4s, sheets of plywood and 20-feet pine trees floating in the channel; and water so dirty you could track a rabbit across the surface.
Oh, and let’s not forget the fee increase effective January 1 to use USACE parks, beaches and boat ramps. Ramp fees for launching your boat are now $5.
I wrote a story on the increase…lest the unsuspecting find themselves a dollar-short the next time they go fishing. Corp officials explained that the increase was needed so they could be competitive in their pricing with similar non-Corp facilities.
I’ve heard of many businesses that lower their prices in order to be competitive, but I have never (until now) heard of an enterprise raising their prices to compete. What am I not seeing here?
The crazy conditions of the past three weeks have opened ways of catching bass heretofore unheard of on Lake Lanier.
According to one report a bass was caught under a flooded picnic table at a Corp park.
Another semi-trustworthy angler (is there any other kind?) told me he caught a fish out of a laydown tree. That’s not uncommon, except that the tree was 200-yards from the nearest shoreline and floating over 125-feet of water.
One guy boasted his best pattern was to look for a small pocket that had collected debris such as shopping carts and an old refrigerator. I didn’t asked if the ‘frig door was open or shut…drat!
As I write this blog the Corp is busily trying to lower the level to something a bit more manageable. That should ruin the “catch fish under flooded picnic tables” pattern, but it will help to flush some of the silt from the reservoir.
And the cold weather coming the first part of next week should help get the fish back into their normal wintertime haunts.
Here’s a link to the new 2016 Georgia fishing regulations. CLICK HERE.
There are a few changes from 2015, so take a moment and check them out. Oh, and peak at your fishing license and see when it expires, you can save a couple of bucks by renewing online.
