3/13/08
Fishing excellent for bass and catfish
By Terry Madewell

The largemouth bass fishermen have begun to get out in big numbers on area lakes and the results have been excellent. Good catches of quality largemouth have been reported by numerous anglers. The productive lures are as about as varied as the anglers, so whatever your personal bass fishing lure of choice is, it will probably catch fish right now. The trick is to get out and start fishing.

The big front and high winds that blew through last weekend put a short-term damper on success. The frontal system slowed things down a bit, but the high winds made it hazardous to fish in some areas too. These are simply spring issues we deal with every year. When the winds subside, go fishing and odds are good the bass will still be there.

Several big fish in the 5-7 pound class have been reported caught. Odds are good some larger than that have been taken as well. We’re coming up on the March full moon, so big sows will be moving to the shallow water to spawn. Some good numbers of largemouth are also being caught throughout lakes Marion and Moultrie.

In addition to largemouth bass, fishing news remains very good to excellent for a number of species on lakes Marion and Moultrie for other species as well. The catfish and crappie fishing are both excellent with several good reports received. Plus, a few catches of shellcracker have been reported. If we get the predicted string of good weather conditions over a week or two time period, everything in the lake with a mouth will want to bite something.

The crappie are being caught in different depths throughout the lakes based on various reports, with some caught as shallow as 6-8 feet of water. Some anglers are making good catches in the shallows, while others are doing well fishing over deeper brush piles. Both minnows and jigs are producing good results.

The catfish action is best in water from 10-24 feet deep but some action is occurring in shallow water, especially for blue catfish. The blue catfish action is best using herring, cut perch and shad. For channel catfish, night crawlers have produced some good catches. Live bait is the best bet for big flatheads, although some are being caught on fresh cut bait as well.

The shellcracker fishing is fair. Often we’ll get a good bit of March shellcracker bedding action … the water temperature will determine how good it will get. But some are being taken on red worms right now.

Fishing along the coast continues to be good for redfish using mud minnows as bait. In addition, very good reports of bottom fishing action continue to be received on black sea bass, snapper and grouper further offshore.