March 12th-16th Electroshock Recap

Shock season is beginning to gain momentum even with the temperamental Georgia weather. This week the boys were everywhere from Aiken, South Carolina to Newnan, Georgia. Although every pond is different the one theme of this week was pre-spawn. The warm spell we experienced a few weeks ago got the fish in the mood but didn’t last long enough for most fish to finish business. The largest fish that were shocked came about ten to fifteen feet off the shore line. If you are fishing this week think staging areas. Save your bed fishing baits for another two weeks.

Capt. Matt looking for a place to launch. We don’t need a boat ramp just a gentle bank slope.
She was about five minutes from being post-spawn.
First generation bass will always be the best year class. They are surrounded by forage and have little competition.
Cutting it close.
Healthy bass look like footballs.
One day I’ll find a dog that likes me more than Capt. Matt.
Another benefit of getting us to shock your lake is you get to pick the brain of a seasoned biologist that has seen it all.
This big girl came out of a severely out of balanced fishery. This shows us as a biologist that at one time the lake was in balance and producing trophy fish.
Cold launch in Newnan, Georgia but at least we had ramp.
Busted a large number of pre-spawn fish in shallow flats.
On the road a lot this time of year but there are some things you can’t skimp on. Say no to hotel sludge(coffee)!
According to the owner this old mill pond has been around since the late 1880s. Can thank Georgia’s old agriculture industry for this gem.
Old mill ponds might look swampy and uninviting but they can produce.
Aging bass gives us insight into how fast the fish grow thus showing us the overall health of the fishery.
Aging some fish from the old mill pond.
The mill pond was so far south some of the bass had already spawned. These are baby bass fry.
Swampy ponds always hold some unusual fish we don’t see in North Georgia or the Metro Atlanta area. This is a chain pickerel.
The mighty bowfin is one of the oldest fish we run into. In low water conditions they can breath air. They will make a mess of your spinnerbait and compete with bass so it’s best to remove them.