Georgia game and fish [Vol. 4, no. 4 (Apr. 1969)]

3EORGIA

VUL. ll-, NU. q I At'lt<IL, l~t)~

... 'ERS/TY OF GEORGIA
APR 91963

..

~G'EORGIA
~GAME& FISH

Aprill969

Volume IV

Number 4

CONTENTS
White Bass ... Whoopee! Carporee Lunchtime Crappie An Old Dog Learns a New Trick Outdoor World Sportsmen Speak Sportsman's Calendar Tide Table

Jim Morrison 1
Marvin Tye 6
John Culler 9
Wilson Hall 12
15 16 16 17

Lester G. Maddox
Governor

George T. Bagby
Director, State Game & Fish Commission

COMMISSIONERS

James Darby Chairman
Vida Iia-lst District William Z. Camp, Sec. Newnan-6th District
Richard Tift Albany-2nd District
William E. Smith Americus-3rd District Charles L. Davidson, Jr. Avondale Estates-4th District

Clyde Dixon Vice Chairman Cleveland-9th District Rankin M. Smith Atlanta-5th District J. B. Langford Calhoun-7th District Judge Harley Langdale Valdosta-8th District Leonard Bassford Augusta-lOth District

Jimmie Williamson Darien-Coastal District
TECHNICAL SERVICES DIVISION Jack A. Crockford, Assistant Director
Leon Kirkland, Fisheries Chief Hubert Handy, Game Management Chief Charles M . Frisbe, Supervisor, Marine Fisheries Robe rt S. Baker, Specia I Services Coordinator
LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION Bill Cline
Deputy State Chief, Atlanta David Gould
Deputy State Chief, Brunswick
GE ORGIA GAME & FISH STAFF
Jim Morrison, Editor
Dea n Wo hl gemuth Staff Writer
Ma rvin Tye, Staff Writer John Culler, Staff Writer
J. Hall, Staff Writer Ted Borg, Photog rapher
Georgia Gom~ ond Fish is the officia l mon thly mogozine of the Georgio Game ond Fish Commission, published at th e Comm ission ' s offices , TrinityWashingto' Building, 270 Washingto n St ., At/o nto, Georgio 30334. No advertising accepted. Subscriptions ore $1 for one yea r o r $2.50 for three yeors. Printed by Stem Printing Campony, At/onto, Go. Notification of address change must include both old ond new oddress o nd ZIP code , with 30 doys notice. No subscription requests will be a ccepted witho ut ZIP code . Articles and photographs moy be reprinted. Proper credi t should b e giv e n . Contributions ore welcome, but the editors assume no res po nsibility or liability for loss or damoge of articles, photographs, or ill ustrations. S econd -closs postoge poid at At/onto, Go.

LAUGH (Before it's too late)
It's a discouraging time for conservationists in Georgia.
It's a close race between agencies of our own government, private industry, and individuals themselves to see who can ruin our state the fastest.
Sure, most people don't realize what they are doing. Even worse, some of them do, but they just don't care. Especially if they can make themselves a fortune by putting personal gain over public interest.
We won't argue that many governmental or industrial or private assaults on the environment we are living in may be justifiable in the public interest, at least right now. But when the long range view is considered, we may well be killing the goose that laid the golden egg by mining the only coast we will ever have, filling in seafood and recreation p roducting marshes to build new pulp mills or factories to further pollute the most fertile estuarine area in the world. Maybe we won't miss tourist dollars that would have been spent to see an area that wasn't all one honkytonk or factory after another, while enjoying the unspoiled beauties of nature ourselves.
Maybe it's a fine thing for a federal agency to spend millions of dollars of our tax money all over Georgia making permanent fishless, muddy ditches out of some of Georgia's once beautiful streams, whi le draining thousands of acres of wild swampland that once served as a home and refuge for thousa nds of ducks, squirrels, rabbits, deer, turkey, raccoon, and bear.
Maybe it's a good thing another federal agency has a plan for a big dam on every stream that's too large for a small dam or a ditching job. Maybe we don't need any beautiful flowing rivers, water rushing over the rocks of a shoal in the glistening sunlight. bordered by lush green forests, and nourishing all the wonderfully varied species of fish that disappear when the water stops flowing.
And maybe we need all those picnic tables and camp sites that federal and state agencies are putting up or planning at every once secluded beauty spot that once was reserved for the hardy hiker, the fisherman, the hunter, the deer, or the wild trout.
Maybe it's important that we have those "scenic roads" that state and federal agencies are building through the wilderness at every turn. so that people won't have to get out of their car to see nature at 60 miles per hour, or at least what's left of it after the construction work is done, the ugly cuts gouged out of the mountains. the eroding fills adding their muddy poison to the nearest stream.
Sure, we need all of those new subdivisions, apartments, and shopping centers where we used to raise corn and cattle , and shoot doves and quail. More people need a place to live, and a place to work. Who would argue that point?
But will our children, and their children, like the world they are living in better with more people crowded into the same area, but with more houses, stores, smoky factories, strip mines. highways, streets, automobile exhaust, parking lots. picnic areas. camp grounds, race tracks, ball fields, drainage ditches, little lakes, and big lakes. all of them polluted with sewage, industrial wastes, silt, pesticides, and radiation?
Laugh at the idea of conserving our natural resources, or at the enjoyment that we get out of our short existence on earth. Keep on laughing while you look at the way man has ruined his own habitat in Europe , how he is doing it now in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio. Indiana, and Illinois. to name only a few of our own states.
Laugh while you see the same thing happen to your state. But in the meantime, laugh with the men who have dollar signs for eyeballs. At least they know why they are laughing. It's only our world they're ruining.
J. M .
ON THE COVER: A north Georgia rainbow trout,
fresh from the water. Thousands of Georgia trout fisher-
men will be taking their first closeup look at a rainbow in
six months during April. l\1 any of them will be caught on the
durable Mepps spinner, most popular lure among moun-
tain trout fishermen in Georgia. This year's trout season
runs from April 5 to October 4. Color photo by Ted Borg.
ON THE BACK COVER: The beautiful and mysterious
Okefenokee Swamp, "Land of the Trembling Earth," and
Georgia's most famous fishing spot. April is one of the
best months for swamp fishing. Bream and chain pickerel
are waiting for the angler who's looking for something dif-
ferent. Color photo by J. Hall.
PHOTO CREDITS: Ted Borg I , 5, 9, I0, II; Dan Keever
2; Marvin Tye 6, 7 , 8.

WHITE
BASS
[L------1 .I._ _.1

0

The author and a healthy string of Al/atoona white bass
caught in the Etowah River.

If there is a fish that makes you feel like an expert fisherman, it's the white bass.
Maybe that's not saying much about your ability or the intelligence of a white bass, one or the other, but if the author can catch his limit of them, anyone can!
Never heard of white bass? Maybe you have, but you haven't ever caught one? If not, then you've really been missing a treat.
What's so great about the white bas~? Plent y . . . in fact , he's got just about all the arguments for a popular game fish in his favor. For most fi shermen, the primary requisite for a game fish is either that he is good to eat or th at he puts up a good fight. The white bass meets both requirements , in whatever order you prefer.
In fact , he's so accommodating to the amateur fisherman that he even securely hooks himself, in case you can't remember a little detail like seting the hook at the crucial momen t. And as long as you keep the line tight, he won't throw the hook at the last moment, as some of his notorious largemouth brothers do. If you're ca reful where you put your hand, you can

even land him without a net. Of course, like most fish, he still reserves his piscatorial constitutional right to fin you in the fingers at the last minute and escape!
If you are a purist who insists on using only artifical lures, you'll like white bass just as well as a live bait fisherman. The white bass likes them both.
How about size? Well, white bass aren't whoppers, compared to some of their cousins, but the average of from half a pound to two pounds or even more usually satisfi es most Izaak Waltons. White bass pull so hard, you never know how big they are unt:l you see them . Size doesn't seem to have much to do with their fight.
But the greatest thi ng about the white bass is the way he swells your ego up v. t1en you go around the neighborhood waking up your friends to show them what a big st ring you dug in!
Of course, by the time you finish
cleaning your limit of 30 by midnight,
you wond er why you were such a pig.
But do n't worry. tLe feeling won't last
until your next white ba:s fishing trip,

I L

Top: Landing a fighting white bass in swift water is a real fishing treat. The fish
pulls twice as hard by turning sideways against the current
Bottom: In areas that are too rocky, shallow, or swift tor a small boat or that
can't be reached from shore, wading is the answer when white bass
run the rivers above lakes to spawn, as in the Oconee River above
Lake Sinclair. A canvas seat built into an innertube cover is a good safety aid

when you'll do it all over again, if you can!
Where do you go to catch white bass? (Where there are some, naturally!) Puns aside, almost anyone who lives in Georgia is just a short drive away from good white bass fishing in one of 14 major reservoirs. Jn fact, white bass are plentiful in all of Georgia's big lakes, except Lake Jackson and the cold northern lakes like Blue Ridge. To a lesser extent, they are found in the rivers above and below the reservoirs, but the white bass is more of a lake fish than a stream dweller. He usually doesn't thrive in small lakes or ponds.
The major exception to the river rule, and it is only a partial exception, is during the spring spawning season. Usually for several days in March, April, or early May, depending on the weather, the spawning season causes males to move in to the major tributary streams above their lake home by the thousands, congregating below the first major shoal, dam. or other obstruction in the stream.
Within a few days, if river water temperatures move up, the females join the males for the brief spawning period, before retreating back into the lake. Not all of the fish spawn at once, so if weather conditions are right, several waves or schools arrive at the river at different times.
Many of the white bass never enter the tributary streams at all, but spawn instead in the lake itself, usually on shallow sand or gravel bars, frequently in casting distance of shores.
During this spawning period, it's not unusual for dozens, or even hundreds, of fishermen to catch thousands of white bass in a few days time. It has to be seen to be believed.
Unfortunately, catching the time of greatest concentration of fish in the river isn't easy, unless you can check on the fishing every day, or get a report from someone else who can. White bass fishermen have been known to forget their best friends' names on hearing th at white bass are running in the river! They might not even remember them until the time comes to pass on the old adage, "Boy, you should have been here last week!"
What makes hitting the run on the nose so difficult without a good reliable scout is that the run is directl y dependent on the temperature of the water and the amount of mud in the water. Males move into the river at about 55 degrees, females at 62. A sudden drop in the temperature or an April shower can halt fishing success for several days , maybe weeks.
The hard es t trick is trying to hit the first good run of fish , which could start any tim e from late F ebruary through Jun e, depending on the locati on, wcath-

2

er, etc. Anglers are especially anxious to get there "furstest wiff thu' mostest." because the biggest white bass generally spawn the earliest, while the spawning fish get smaller and smaller and less numerous as the spawning period goes on. At the same time, more and more fishermen arrive on the scene as the word leaks out to assorted relatives, bosom buddies, neighbors, and fellows that you owe a good turn.
In fact, there really isn't much point in fishing for whi te bass on the spawning run on weekends, unless you like company better than catching fish. Maybe just as many fish are caught each day on Saturday and Sunday as the rest of the days of the week, but more fishermen are dividing up the catch. Or maybe so many of them zeroing in on the target area at one time in motorboats, waders, etc., spooks the fish so badly that they go on the lam until Monday, or get an attack of weekend lockjaw. So if you can, take a day off during the week when you get the word. But don't wait - he who hesitates on the wh ite bass run is left saying "wait until next year."
What about lures? Well, it doesn't really seem to make much difference, on the run. Small leadheaded, hair jigs or bucktails like the Doll-Fly or Potgut in yellow or white are popular. along with small silver or flashing spoons like Little Cleo, and smaller plugs such as the green-backed Thinfin or Rapala.
Live bait? The small minnow is the best. In fact , minnows produce white bass when lures fail in badly overfished or muddy water. They also seem to work better fishing deep at the head of the lake for large females who are rarely caught in the shallow river area.
During the spawning run in the rivers. there are a few tips about where to cast, and how to work your lure. But like most rules, they are made to be broken, and spawning white bass sometimes break them all.
Generally speaking, you're m o r e likel y to catch white bass within a few feet of the river bank , sometimes only within a few inches and nowhere else. The fi sh seem to prefer resting there in th e slower current , rather than fighting the stronger current in the middle of the stream. Fishing is best behind some obstacle or cover that breaks or slows the current , like a rock or a log, or a fallen tree top. A pl ace where the current s swirl s backwa rd s behind a n outcropping that run s out into the riYcr is a prime congregating spot. But to be on the safe side , try casting ac ross eve n the swiftest current , and down stre am or up.
Usuall y, it isn't necessary to retrieve very fas t, althou gh sometimes vary in g the speed may help . Slow ret rieving with occasional short jerks usuall y

works well , but if white bass arc really biting, you can just make a stead y slow retrieve without any action at all , even using a jig, perhaps bumping the bottom. One important thing to remember: don't plan on getting by with two or three lures. You'll need two or three dozen, if you expect to catch any fish. White bass seem to prefer hanging around rock s, logs, roots, tree limbs, etc., that eat up your lures. You can't buy them on the river, and other fishermen won't be generous with their's!
Because of thick vegetation or steep, muddy banks, it's often best to fish the rivers from a boat. If the water is shallow enough, warm enough, and the current not too swift, wading is a good way to reach fish you'd miss in a boat, or might tear your prop up trying to reach. (Take extra shear pins, and a paddle with your anchor). The safest way to wade is using an inncrtube with a scat built into the middle of a canvas cover, allowing you to float over hidden holes in stained water deeper than the top of a pair of chestwaders. These usually have a pair of suspenders for picking up the tube when walking over shallow sand bars or rocks. As long as your feet reach the bottom, you have complete maneuverability. If they don't, you'll just have to go with the current. (And it's a long walk up stream, dragging your tube, rod and fi sh back through the jungle!)
For the even more hardy, fishing from the bank is the way to limit out when other fishermen are going home empty handed. The "catch" is that you frequently won't be able to do it by staying in the same spot with all the other bank fishermen in a nice level, grassy open place next to your car and your ice chest. The real expert takes his boat to a good area that can't be easily reached from an automobile, (or by lazier fish ermen) then ties up to th e shore and begins walking the bank and fi shing within a few feet of the bank .
Often, you don't even have to let out more line tha n the length of you r rod. Simpl y "jigging" or bouncing your jig up and down in a foot or two of wat er within inches of th e ba nk or just bes id e a fallen tree top 's bra nches will bring a mad whit e bass charg ing out to snatch your lure! Sometimes you can fill your strin ger in one such spot, if the fi ~ h keep stri ki ng every two or three casts. If not. then move on to another spot. since yo u may have caught all the fi sh in that particular spot, or spooked th e rL.,t. It's important to sneak up on each like ly spot as quietly as possible.
If th is sounds like a rough way to fish, you're right! Count on skinning your head on tree branches or briars severa l times , getting your feet muddy, falling in once or !'~ icc, snagging your lure. rod. or reel several million times in hushes. ge ttin g mosquito bit. threat -

ened hy a fe w snakes, a nd most importa nt , draggin g a strin ger o f 40 or 50 po unds of white bass hack to the boa t on your aching wri st! A nd unl ess yo u reach your limit first o r you're afraid of the dark , don't leave ea rl y. Whit e bass chara cteri sticall y go o n a striking spree at the la st li ght o f da y, hitting an ything in sight, cast after cas t. The same thin g h appens at th e first li ght o f day, if you're up that earl y. Result s drop off through the middle of th e day, then increase in the evening toward dark. Significantly, white bass bite better on cloud y da ys in the middl e of the day than sunny ones.
By now, if you've faced the prospec t of sta ying up all night cleaning th e limit of white bass that you and two or three generous but lazy compa ni ons caught, you've learned not to waste time gutting and scaling whit e bass . Like his largemo uth namesake, a white bass can be quickl y and easil y filctcd without gutting or scaling o r skinnin g. To do it , just take a long, slender bl aded knife , cut behind the gill to the backbone, then follow the backbone to the ta il. Without cutting off th e skin at the tail, lay the flap of mea t and skin you have just cut out flat , then run your knife back to th e head of the flap between the meat and the skin. If you wish , you can then trim o ut th e rib bones you have cut off and discard the m with the poor bell y meat, leaving a perfect boneless fil et! Turn the fish over and repeat the process, then throw awa y the intestines, head , a nd ski n, all in one piece
Fileting whit e bass not only saves time a nd freeze r space. but also seems to improve the flavo r of the fish when cooked by re movi ng the sli ght oi ly taste of the skin. T he filets can be fried, but baking bri ngs ou t their natural fl avor th e best, producing a delicious meal. Like all fis h, whi te bass is best fresh, but the flavor can be held very well by freezing in water. l\Ion th s after the wh ite bass ru n is over, you'll \vish you had caught more
But so much for the fab ul ous spring spawning fishing. What about the rest of the year? As you might suspect , the "stripers" as ~omc fishermen inaccurately call them, spread back out into the lake, where they prefer large open water areas. Since white bass mainl y feed on schools of small thrcadfin shad and other open water forage fish , they arc found in the same locations at the sa me time as their prey. Generally, this meam that in the middle of the day. they submerge to the lower levels of the open water in the lake, away from the light of day. Early in the morning. or late in the afternoon, they can sometimes be seen feeding in voracious sc hools on shad at the water\ surface.
During this schooling activity, which lasts from the end of the spawning run
3

Lake BlackshearA~;;:rc~~=~k ,...._. LakeWalt@rF' George
Lake Worth
Georgia's White Bass Hot Spots
until cold weather, shad can be caught "jump" fishing, which simply means sitting in a motorboat watching for the schools to break the surface. Naturally, this works best on a calm day. At the first sight of feeding activity, you race your boat over to the edge of the school and cast into the middle of it. If you are lucky, you may be able to hook and land several fish before the schools sounds. Then the waiting and watching begins again.
If you don't like just sitting around, you can try trolling, using a small wobbling spoon or a spinner lure such as a Shyster. This is an especially good technique for locating the larger spawning white bass that seem to stay back in the stiller impounded waters at the head of the lake. instead of bucking the swift river current like the smaller fish do. When you get a strike trolling, you attempt to find the same spot again while casting, usually close to the bank or over a shallow bar.
If you're after a trophy, it's worth noting that the largest white bass are always caught in the winter, usually December, January, February, or March. For instance, the two four-pound, 14ounce fish that share the state record honor we re both caught i1. Lake Lanier, one on January 11, 1966, and the other on March 26, 1968. The winner of the previous year's Georgia fishing contest was caught in Lake Hartwell on February 6, 1967.
Significantly, 10 out of 12 entries in the contest over three pounds in size during the last two years were caught in Lake Lanier. Wildlife ran gers and fishermen say that hundreds of three pound white bass were caught in Lanier and in tne Chattahoochee River above the lake the past two years. Of course, more people fish in Lanier than any '"'!her Georgia lake.
Where will the best white bass fis h-

ing be this year? Next year? Well, crystal balls sometimes get muddy water in them, but fish biologists of the Game and Fish Commission expect Clark Hill from the standpoint of both numbers and size to be one of the best lakes in the State for white bass in 1969, with a good year crop of fish up to three pounds in size. Lake Sinclair has a good year class of younger fish averaging a half a pound in size, which should provide much bigger fish next year and the year after. Results at Lake Lanier should continue to be good, with bigger than average white bass the rule. Allatoona white bass should hold up in size and numbers to last year.
A puzzling aspect of white bass fishing is that it usually flourishes for several years in a lake, then seems to drop off sharply for a couple of years before peaking again. This cyclic population tendency is common to several other types of fish which spawn only once a year, including crappie, but is most pronounced with white bass. Apparently in some years, spawning success is much greater, perhaps due to favorable water temperatures, lake currents, food supply, or some other unknown factor. Apparently, conditions must be almost perfect, since a good spawning year seems to occur only about once every three or four years in most lakes. The eggs are fertilized by one or more males gathered around the female , then settle to the bottom on gravel or debris where they remain attached for two or three days before hatching. During this time, the water temperature should remain at between 58 to 64 degrees for the best hatching success. As a result, millions of small white bass fry enter the lake. (One female can produce up to one million eggs.)
Want more specific information on where to fish for white bass in Georgia? There are only two places in northwest Georgia: Lake Weiss, mainly in Alabama, with a good spawning run into Georgia up Big Cedar Creek and up the Coosa River to the old Lock and Dam just below Rome; and Lake Allatoona, with good spawning runs up Stamp Creek and the Etowah River to Canton.
There ar'.! three locations in Northcast Georgia. There is a fair population in Lake Hartwell with a spawning run up the Tugaloo River to Yonah Dam. and a fair spawning run out of Lake Burton into the Tallulah River. The best white bass fishing in northeast Georgia almost year round is Lake Lanier, with good spring spawning runs up both the Chestatee and the Chattahoochee Rivers. For some reason, the larger fish seem to be caught in the Chattahoochee.
Middle Georgia is the prime white

bass area, from the South Carolina line to Alabama. On the east, Clark Hill has always been a good white bass lake since it was stocked by the Game and Fish Commission. There is an excellent spawning run in the Broad River at Anthony Shoals, and in Little River, where a majority of the spawning seems to be on shallow bars in the impounded water itself. Few fish are caught in the colder Savannah River discharge from upstream Lake Hartwell. Some white bass are also caught south of Augusta below the Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam, but not in great numbers since there is no downstream reservoir.
Farther west, Lake Sinclair is a good white bass lake, although fishing has been in a slump the past two seasons. There is normally an excellent spawning run out of Sinclair up the Oconee River into Long Shoals above the Georgia 16 bridge between Eatonton and Sparta. A good run also occurs on the Little River and sometimes in smaller creeks.
In spite of repeated stocking of hundreds of adult fish since the 1950's, there are no white bass in Lake Jackson, apparently because of illegal netting of game fish in Lake Jackson and the Alcovy River. As a result, the Game and Fish Commission has banned all commercial nets in Jackson in an effort to successfully introduce white bass there. This year, the Commission also banned all commercial netting in all of Georgia's streams including the Alcovy, except for commercial shad netting in coastal rivers.
Since it is three times as fertile as most Georgia reservbirs, Jackson should be an outstanding white bass lake in the future , unless threatening upstream developments ruin the Alcovy as a spawning stream.
Jackson only has three main tributaries: the South River, Yellow River, and Alcovy River. Heavy pollution from Atlanta eliminates the South River as a spawning stream. The Yellow River, as its name implies , is heavily silted, reducing its potential. Only the relatively clear Alcovy remains. But its future has been clouded by proposals by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service to dredge out and channel 80 miles of the Alcovy and two of its tributaries. Flat Creek and Cornish Creek, along with drainage of 4,000 acres of swamps along the river.
Channelization is usually accomplished with heavy machinery, primarily bulldozers and draglines (steam shovels to some). The bulldozers go down both sides of the river, clearing out a path for the draglines by knocking down all the trees on the riverbank for a distance of up to 90 feet from the bank. supposedly to keep any

trees from falling into the river in the future. Of course, removing the stabilizing influence of the tree roots on holding the river bank results in a lot of bank erosion into the stream. Although adjacent landowners are encouraged to plant the bulldozed areas to protective grasses or wild life foods, grasses can't compete with established trees for holding a stream bank. Even worse. many landowners never get around to doing the promised seed ing.
Even more damage occurs when the draglines work their way along the river banks, scooping mud and logs out of the river bed to deepen and straighten it. While this does allow flood waters to escape faster in a larger channel, the primary reason for it seems to be lowering the river bed so that adjacent swampy areas (important to wildlife) can be drained off into it with side ditches or culverts. This land is then available for planting to add to agricultural surpluses. Both the digging in the stream and the drainage of more water off the side, often through new accidental erosion gullies, results in a great deal more mud in the stream water. The construction of flood control dams upstream usually adds to the problem, especially if it is not carefully done.
The ironic thing about watershed projects that include destructive channelization and drainage is that their proponents claim the project is intended to eventually reduce siltation in streams, among other things. But the many critics of the technique say it often has produced the opposite result, especially so during the construction years and several years afterward, often permanently.
Interestingly, in a new large Soil Conservation Service watershed lake near Macon where there was no upstream channelization, Lake Tobosefkee, white bass succeeded quickly after being stocked there by the State Game and Fish Commission. Fair catches are already being made there by anglers.
Farther west in middle Georgia is the first home of white bass in the State: lakes Bartletts Ferry, Goat Rock, and Oli ver, all stocked by the Game and Fish Commission in the early 1950's. Brood stock for Georgia's other lakes were later captured from those lakes by Commission biologists. Thousands of white bass are caught each year in all three lakes, especially just below the dams on the heavy spring spawning runs in the lower two lakes, plus an upstream run in the Chattahoochee out of the upper lake of the chain, Bartletts Ferry.
Just below Columbus, white bass have thrived in Georgia's nevvest large reservoir, Walter F. George (Lake Eufaula, Fort Gaines, or Chattahoochee, take your pick). There is a good spawning run up the 85-mile long lake to

the Columbus city limits below the private Phenix Eagle Mill Dam on the C hattahoochee.
Downstream, wh ite bass have a fair population in Lake Seminole, fro m which they make an annual spawning run up th e Chattahoochee to the Walter F. George Lock and Dam, and up the Flint River to the Georgia Power Company's Lake Worth Dam, in the city limits of Albany.
There is a fair white bass population in Lake Worth itself, spawning in the Flint River, sometimes all the way up to the Blackshea r Dam at Warwick. Blackshear has a good population of wh ite bass in most years. Apparently, the bulk of the spawning there occurs in the relatively shallow lake itself, although some spawners are caught in Gum Creek, Cedar Creek, and the Flint River. Since white bass populations also tend to rise and fa ll with their main forage species, the threadfin shad, poorer fishing there last year coincided with a shortage of threadfins. This yea r may be a different story, at least for the shad, followed by better white bass fi shing in years ahead, with the other variable of spawning success.
As you probably can deduct from comparing the lakes in the list, white
The m ost popular wh i te bass lures are small lead headed wh i te or yellow jigs like the De 'I-Ffy or Potgut, sm all spoons like Little C1eo, spinners like the Shyster, and small plugs such as the Thinfin, Rapala, or Rebel.

bass thrive best in the middle G eorgia lakes, where year round temperatures are more favorable for growth and reproduction. Results aren't quite as good in the warmer. southeast Georgia reservoirs, or in the colder ones of extreme north Georgia. (There are no whi te bass to speak of in Blue Ridge, Seed, Tallulah, Tugaloo, or Yonah.) The unusual size, but not numbers, of wh ite bass reached in Lake Lanier can be attributed to the two-story temperature level in the lake during the summer, allowing the white bass and other species to seek out the temperature level they like best for fastest growth and clearness of lake. Only in the coldest months of December, January, and February does their growth stop. Although white bass occur in most Northern waters, where they are natives of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River drainage, they don't grow as fast or as large there as in their new Southern homes. (Can't beat that Southern food!)
Anyway, at this point, it's a sure
thing that you won't have to take a
vote among Georgia fishermen to know
they're glad the white bass is here to
stay!

Wayne Weaver waded s I ow I y through the muddy water, his bow held ready for action. Suddenly he spotted the outline of a hefty carp swimming by almost at his feet. Wa yne took careful aim and fired. As his shaft struck, the carp thrashed about violently. Wayne grabbed the line attached to the arrow and soon had the situation well under control.
This fish plus a stringerfull more taken during the one and one-half days of the first Seminole Carporee gave him a total weight of 124 V2 pounds of carp and first place in the contest. Did I say a day and a half? I'll have to modify that a bit. Actual fishing time was much less than that. Rain fell almost constantly. The contestants spent about half of their time drying their clothes or fleeing from the downpour. The rain roiled the water and made it difficult for the archers to spot carp beneath the surface. Despite these handicaps, the archers bagged a large number of carp and bowfin (mudfish) during the carporee. More than 1,000 pounds of rough fish were taken from the lake. Many more could have been bagged without damaging this fishing re so u r c e .
Winners of the contest were Wayne Weaver of Ocilla with 1241/z pounds, first; Ralph Smith of Valdosta with 80 pounds, second ; Bill Bradford of Ocilla with 52 pounds, third; Rodney Doss of Camilla with 52 pounds, fourth; and Frank Johnson of Valdosta with 481/z pounds, fifth. Only carp were scored

in the contest. As Doss and Bradford had an identical amount of fi sh, third and fourth place were decided by a toss of a coin. Each of the wmners received a handsome trophy.
The Seminole Carporee will be held Apri l 12 through April 13 this year. A ll contestants must register at Jack Wingate's Lodge and enter the lake from h is camp. Registration costs $4.00. This entitles the contestant to a barbecue dinner and a chance at one of five trophies to be presented to the archers who bag the most carp. First place will be awa rded to th e archer who bags the largest amount of carp, determined by weight. Second place wi ll go to the bowfisherman who bags the second largest amount of carp. T he same criteria wi ll be used for determining winners of the o th er trophies.
Bowfishing is a sport that is growing in popularity in Georgia . The archer who hunts carp, gar, and bowfin in shallow water will usually find a lot of action . He m ay get dozens of shots in a morning or afternoon outing.
Due to refraction, the bending of li ght rays as they enter the water, fish appea r to be nearer th e surface. To hit a submerged target, the archer must ai m beneath it. A target near the surface can be hit by aiming only slightly below it. A deeper target requires more allowance for refraction. The only way to learn how to hit underwater targets is by a lot of practice. Spawning carp schooling in the shallows are abundant and provide plenty of opportunity for

Far Lef t : Valdosta hunt1n~ a1,u f 1shing
outfitter Jack t'v1cKey draws d bead o, a
bowfu /urki'lg 1n t~c <,r,d >"vS d!on;;
the edge 0f Lakf' Scrr,,nc 'e

Left: Tne ~ t Cdy off,.., 1'1 a

seven ,:,nu JcJe 'I
adds tr r, s st n ,e

\11 key p

7

Jack Wingate, the man behind the Lake Seminole Carporee, bagged this
bowfin less than fifty yards from the spot where McKey scored. The bowfin is a living fossil that inhabited the earth when a/nosaurs ana orner pren1sron c
creatures roamed Georgia.
Winners of the Carporee last year are from lett: Wayne Weaver of Ocilla,
Ralph Smith of Valdosta, Bill Bradford of Ocilla and Rodney Doss of Camilla.
Frank Johnson ot Valdosta, fifth place winner, was seeking more carp when this
photo was made. This year's Lake Seminole Carporee will be April 12 and 13.
8

this practice. Carp spawn in April or

May in most Georgia lakes and rivers.

Carp, gar, bowfin, and similar rough

fish are the only fresh-water targets

l .:.H.

kg3.Uy. .ir~d-upon b;r-thc

bowfisherman. Game fish are strictly off

limits. Any bowfisherman found with

game fish in his possession is in vio-

lation of the law. For this reason, bow-

fishermen may not have conventional

sportfishing tackle in their possession

while fishing with archery gear. Arch-

ers may not shoot within 150 feet of

anglers using rod and reel or pole and

line, from any bridge, or from any

public road. Arrows must be equipped

with barbs or other devices to recover

the fish and must be attached by a

strong line or cord to the archer or to

his bow. Legal hours for bowfishing

are from sunup to sundown.

Rough fish are not generally prized

as table fare and are usually thought of

as a nuisance by the sport fisherman.

By adding a bowfishing outfit to his

equipment, the fisherman or the arch-

er can enjoy a bonus of exciting sport

from previously overlooked species.

The firsi. itern needed to start bow-

fishing is the bow. Many archers use

their hunting bow. This provides fa-

miliarity with the weapon that can later

prove beneficial during the fall hunting

season. A 40-pound bow is just about

ideal for this activity. It is light enough

to use for an extended period without

tiring, yet hefty enough to cast a heavy

fishing arrow. The archer must be

capable of using his own bow to shoot

an arrow more than I 00 yards.

Arrows for bowfishing are made of

solid fiberglass shafts which are quite

a bit heavier than arrows used for

ordinary hunting or target practice.

The additional weight enables the ar-

row to penetrate several feet of water

a..d then impak_.a._ lur-J<:--C.atp _ E th:CS-

are not used on fishing arrows. Instead

the arrows are fletched with plastic or

rubber vanes. Feathers would soon be

torn off the shaft in this rough and

tumble sport.

These arrows feature barbed points

that hold the fish after it is hit. When

he has landed his catch, the archer

can either reverse the barbs or remove

them. This way, the fish may be taken

from the shaft without having to untie

the line after each catch.

A bowfishing reel is attached to the

bow with tape or by clips made into

the more expensive models. The reel

is placed on the back of the bow, the

side away from the archer, either above

or below the handle. When an arrow

is fired, the line peels off the reel like

line from a spinning reel. Most archers

use I 00-pound test line. This line takes

plenty of abuse from a hard-fighting

carp, and also enables the archer to

retrieve his shaft from several inches

of mud when he misses a fish! The line

is attached to the rear of the arrow

through a small hole and helps to sta-

bilize the shaft on its flight.

A pair of Polaroid glasses helps the

bowfisherman to see fish and other

submerged objects. Waders protect his

feet and also keep out the cold water

usually found in Georgia in the early

spring. An arm guard and shooting

glove or tab and your regular fishing

license complete the list of items needed

for bowfishing.

~

LUNCHTIME
CRAPPIE
By John Culler
The cigar-shaped float nodded slightly twice, then began moving away, about an inch under the surface. Loy McNeal, my fishing partner who took time out from a busy schedule as Wildlife Ranger in Muscogee County, pointed the end of his fishing pole at the cork and began following it along. "Sock it to him," I said, unable to stand the suspense that had been building up since my last fishing trip six months ago.
"Wait until he gets it good- I hate to waste minnows," Loy said as he gave the pole a slight twitch, just enough to set the hook in the tender mouth of a Lake Walter F. George crappie. The fish made one strong run, then in typical crappie style allowed himself to be pulled almost to the boat before making another run, this time trying for a large stump near the back of the boat. Loy stopped him with a little more pressure, then brought the fish alongside and into the boat.
While he was stringing him up along with the two he already had on the stringer - I had to admit he was

Bartletts Ferry Res. Goat Rock Res.
Lake Oliver

Lake Walter F. George

ALA.

GA.

The author and his string of Walter F. George crappie, all caught on a light spinning rod using small minnows for bait. The crappie and bream limit in both Georgia and Alabama is 50.
10

doing something better than I was, be- T he first year or two after the lake lake, and eliminate the need of a con-

cause I hadn't had a nibble. "How was full it also had excel lent bream tinual stocking program.

deep you fishing?" I asked, trying to be fishing, but now the lake is so ove r- April has alwa ys been an excellent

casual. It didn't work. "About four populated, most of the bream caught hass month on the big lake, and its 600

feet." he laughed.

are small. Leon Kirkland, Chief of plus mil es of ~horelinc are a bass fish-

We were fishing in the upper end Fisheries of the State Game and Fish erman's delight. A ranger estimated the

of the lake, near Florence Landing, Co mmission , says he doesn't ever ex- ave rage weight of spring bass caught

about a 45-minute drive south from pect the lake to be a really good bream there at four pounds, which is as big as

Columbus. I stopped by Florence Land- lake, because middle Georgia Iahs they get in some lakes.

ing two weeks earlier to see how the have an extended spawning season for

We shouldn't blame the early-season

fish were biting, and had seen enough bream but not a year-ro und growing crappie for biting only in the warm

to give me a good case of "fishing season as do th e lakes farther sou th.

part of the day, because that's when

fever." Walter F . George has always been a good crappie lake, as well as offering outstanding bass fishing.
The crappie begin biting in February, with the best months perhaps March and April. There are few days in the spring when a hard-working fisherman can't catch his limit, and most fishermen catch their share of fish weighing over two pounds. Most are caught on minnows, fished from two to eight feet deep , and almost always around stumps, submerged tree-

"The bass in the lake prefer to eat th e shad instead o f the bream, and W alter F . Geo rge has a good shad population," Kirkland said . "The lake is also a good catfish lake, and catfish compete with bream for available food." However. help may be on th e way, because Kirkl and said the Game a nd Fish Commission pl ans to stock the lake with striped bas<;, "j ust as soon as the y are available, probably in 1970."

mo'i t of us wou ld rather fish anyway. 1t's those sneaky ones th at get my goat. Somehow or other they always seem to wait until a fe llow is fixing up another pole or rod before they bite. Th is little trick has caused hooks to be stuck in fingers, tackle boxes to be turned over, coffee to be spilled, and $40 rods to be dropped overboard. But I've got them figured. I throw out a line, watch it a minute to be sure one doesn't hit it immediately. then act like I'm tyi ng a hook on another rod. When

tops or bridge pilings.

A good population of striped bass he bites, I throw the hook over my

We were about a five-minute boat should help the bream fishing. because shoulder and reel him in. It works -

ride from the landing down the old st ripers will prey heavi ly on the shad, but after an hour or two you are ankle

river channel, in the mouth of Grass hopefull y forcing the bass to eat more deep in hooks and you have to be care-

Creek. We pulled up into a clump of dead trees, and tied both ends of the boat to keep the wind honest. After Loy boated his third fish, it was my turn. I caught three before he caught another, one a two-pound sneak-thief

bream. Kirkland said th ere was a pos- ful how you move around in the bo,a_t!
si bility the stripers could spawn in the
Hello there! Adding another fish to his stringer, a Walter F. George fisherman prove s again that crappie like to hang out in dead tree branches and stumps, as well as around bridge pilings and rock piles.

that almost pulled my spinning rod out

of the boat. We caught about 10 more

in as many minutes, then they quit

biting as suddenly as they started. After

a 15-minute wait, I started catching

them again. "How deep you fishing?"

Loy asked, and it was my turn to

laugh.

I had been worried earlier because

we got a late start, and didn't begin

fishing until about 10:30, but it seemed'

to work out fine, because we caught

most of our fi sh between 11 a.m. and

2 p .m. , the warmest part of the day.

Since neither Loy or I had ever fished

that pa rt of the lake before, we had to

rely on John Barfield , who operates the

Florence Marina, to tell us where the

fish were.

"Just go up in any of the creeks

along here and fi sh around the trees,

and I don't think you will have any

trouble finding the fish," John said.

He knew what he was talking about,

because he has operated the m arina

since it was built almost four years

ago. While there are several launchi ng

ramps along the lake, the Florence

Marina is the only marina on the Geor-

gia side of the 48,000-acre lake. Many

larger boats, including houseboats are

kept at the marina, from which a boat

can go to the Gulf of l\1 exico. John

also rents first rate cabins by the day or

week, and has boats, motors, bait and

anything a fisherman or boater may need.

- --.......

~-

11

AN OLD DOG LEARNS A NEW TRICI(
By Wilson Hall
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When I came east from Alabama to Georgia, a distance of only seventy miles, I assumed that I was trading bass water for bass water, and that Georgia, being much like Alabama, was not going to offer me anything new in the way of fishing. But that was where I was wrong, and wherein I underwent a conversion.
It all began one day in the faculty lounge of Shorter College at Rome, where I teach English. I encountered the Dean of Students, Bill Leach, whom I had met several times, but whom I had not talked to for any length of time. There was something about him that looked outdoorsy, and at first I thought it was because his study area was biology, and that this was what got him outside occasionally. But on a hunch, I asked, "Bill, do you fish?" And the bond was established. He did fish, and hunt, and hike, and camp, and collect snakes-he is a herptologist for fun.
"How are you on trout?" he asked. "Trout?'' I laughed. I knew as well as any deep south fisherman that trout belong to regions and waters farther toward the Mason-Dixon line than he and I lived.
And then he mentioned the magic words: "Cohutta Mountains," the foothills of the Appalachian Mountain chain, which extend down into the northern part of Georgia, and are part of the Chattahoochee National Forest. And in the same breath he said, "Rainbow, Browns, and Native Specks." This was in March. On the first day of April, the first day of Georgia's trout season, he and I were standing in the roaring white water of the spring swollen Conasauga River, and I was having trouble convincing myself that this was really Georgia.
On that day I began a summerlong odyssey that was almost an obsession, one that led me again and again to the mountains of north Georgia, and one that caused me to release every fish I caught that summer because it was not a trout. My odyssey did not end until late August, and the experiences which I accrued during that summer won me to a new kind of fishing.
The first time I saw a trout stream in seriousness was on that cold April morning with Bill. It was just at day break and we saw the upper reaches of the Conasauga River from the road, two hundred or more feet below us. It was almost directl y below us, the slope was so steep. Somehow, in the half light of dawn, we slipped, slid, and climbed down the slope to arrive at a rapids of swirling clear water that broke and roared into white water and eddies and pools. In the white roar I assembled my fl y rod and found in myself a wild desire to be in the water,

to be a part of it.

What little I know of trout fishing

now reveals to me how ignorant I was

then. So I do not wonder why I did not

catch a trout that day. But the experi-

ences of the day did not lessen my de-

sire to catch, or even see, a trout, for I

had never seen one, live and swim-

ming or even in a creel - oniy

pictures.

I had not been fishing for more than

fifteen minutes when I learned the first

lesson of stream fishing - care. As I

gave my fly line plenty of length and

felt the rod just right in my hand , I

got a mental picture of myself standing

in the fast water, fly line lashing out.

It was a very pretty picture, just like

on the tackle store calendar. As I con-

centrated on the image, I stepped over

a rock and found no bottom on the

other side. Too late, I felt the April

waters of the Conasauga River running

into my new waders. The shock was

fantastic. But later I built a fire,

stripped off my clothes and dried both

them and me.

I did not see a trout that day, but

for several nights after that, when I

closed my eyes to sleep, I saw swirling

water washing clear and sun brightened

over a kaleidoscopic pattern of multi-

colored rocks. I heard the water roar-

ing and rippling, and saw mountain

banks of white pines, mountain laurel

not yet bloomed

American

holly, and beneath them, deer tracks

and turkey tracks. And this was in the mountains of north Georgia - not the Rocky Mountains nor the fast water of Maine. I had to go back, and once I woke my wife to tell her I was glad we moved to Georgia.

An obsessed odyssey is probably the best way to describe that summer, for it was an odyssey in search of a trout and an obsession to the point that no amount of time, money or distance seemed too great. Many Friday afternoons after my last lecture I gassed up the car, packed a sandwich fo r supper, and drove some sixty-five miles to thrash trout waters for three or four hours and then drive home again in the

dark. Every Saturday morning as daylight came, I waded out into the

rising mist and rushing waters of the Conasauga River to try dry flies, wet flies , whole kernel corn, salmon eggs,

spoons, spin ners, crickets and worms,

releasing everything that was not a trout, regardless of size.

WI. 1t I realized later was that if I had gone to Holly Creek, which had been stocked before opening day, or one of the trout management streams such as the ones at Blue Ridge, Chattahoochee, Chestatee, Lake Burton or

Wamoman , I would probably have had much better luck much sooner.

But I did not realize it, and I worked

on the theory that if I fished one area long enough and tried enough bait, I would eve ntuall y learn the area well enough and the correct bait soon enough to eventually catch a trout. I chose th e Conasauga River, mainly because it was the first one I had fished, and I fished the lower end of it more than the upper section, which proved later to be better fishing.
I fished it in the gray light of early morning. I fished it when I was wet from head to toe, a condition brought on by slippery rocks and deep holes, and one which I finally came to accept as inevitable. I fished it until it was too dark to see a fly on the water and I had to find my way back to the car in the pitch black of night. I fished it in drenching downpours and sweltering heat and swarms of black flies and mosquitoes. And I fished it when I could see fish dimpling the surface of the water but could not get a taker.
Catching a trout then seemed to be the most impossible thing in the world. And what should have been trips of relaxation were, in reality, trips of "quiet desperation."
But while I did not catch a trout, I did improve my skills and my knowledge of fish and angling. Let me hasten to add that I am no fi shing novice by any means. I cut my fishing teeth on a bamboo fly rod and an old-fashioned tubular steel casting rod. In fact , when I was eleven years old, I won the local weekly bass-fishing contest with a solid five-pound large mouth bass. But in a trout stream, I was most certainly out of my element. What I had to do was adapt what I already knew to a completely different surroundings and a completel y different kind of fish.
On my home ground of Guntersville Lake in Alabama, I had been accustomed to miles of open water to accommodate my back cast. Forty feet of fl y line never required a backward glance or a glance upward out on the lake. I simply picked my target and flipped a fly to it. But I learned quickly that a stream fisherman's eye has got to be quick and that his hand has got to be as quick as his eye, that he must make split second judgments of distance, not only between himself and his target, but also between himself and the overhanging limbs and bushes behind him. and that he must watch behind him for outcropping rocks that will cut his line or break his hook.
The grandest trick of all was to learn to negotiate a rapids while keeping up a false cast, watching fore, aft, and aloft for limbs and branches, sizing up the water for likely trout holes, and feeling with the feet for a solid place to stand. 1\forc times than once I have wished for feet that could grasp rocks like eagles' claws.
13

Little tricks that I had once learned for fun I now practiced in earnest. The side cast, for example, is of little importance to a lake fisherman standing in the bow of a boat and dropping a popping bug into the lily pads. He may use it simply to vary the monotony. In the close quarters of a trout stream with a low over-head and wide water I was glad that I had learned it. The roll cast, which I learned in order to flip a popper under an overhanging bush where a bream was rising, I now learned to do in close places with a bush or rock at my back. The reverse cast I do not ever remember learning; it came almost as second nature. In fact, I was doing it with accuracy before I realized that I was doing it at all.
Little by little, I polished my technique and little by little I lost fewer and fewer flies. By trial and error I learned to mend my ca'it on fast moving water and as I got used to the fast water, I also learned to use it to my advantage.
The first time I stepped into a pool and saw the long dark shadow of a trout streak away to the other end, I realized that there was some benefit in reading water. By book and by experience I learned this too, to some degree. Writers on trout fishing got as much study, scrutiny, outline, and notation from me as Emerson or Kant ever got. By applying something new each time I went fishing, I arrived at last at a time when I could stand at the edge of a new water and, making mental notations, map my route and lay a plan of action before I began to play out line for my false casts. I could spot an undercut bank, determine the streams of current within the stream and find the quiet waters and the eddies.
I added new words to my vocabulary too, such words as hackle and spli t wing, hair wing and fanwing. I

added stone fly , brown quill and nymph. I learned the life cycles of the May fly , the caddis fly, the stone fly and dragon fly. Trout fishing was pretty educational, I told myself, and I even went so far as to buy a copy of Dame Juliana Berners' The Treatis of Fishing with an Angle and read it in the middle English in order to convince myself that I was not neglecting my study time.
There is a belief in this country that if you wait long enough and work hard enough, eventually you will succeed. And maybe there is something to it. Certainly an obsession will not let you rest, and the obsession coupled with the statistics on which that old saw must rest must eventually produce results, even a result as wily as a trout.
I actually caught my first trout in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. He was only seven inches long, and he was a very stupid trout, having taken a cigarette filter before I caught him, but he was mine and I felt as though I had not joined the tail end of the trout fisherman's ranks, that I also had rejoined the human race. And this one fish was the beginning of a new world of fishing for me, because after that I began to catch trout. Whether I learned something over the summer or broke a jinx or whether I found the right places to fish, I don't know, but I began to limit out rather frequ ently, a thing which, in July, I had come to expect never to do.
The days from September to midOctober were beautiful days in the Cohutta mountains. Every weekend I caught m y limit, and as the leaves turned in the mountain's early fall, I became aware of cardinal flowers and the blue of lobelia along the streams. There were pools where I floated a fly in the dark purple reflections of ironweed, the orange of jewelweeds and the yellow of wild sun flowers. And now I

became aware that during the summer I had fished in the over-hanging whites and pastels of mountain laurel and rhododendron. I also remembered orange banks of flame azaleas in the spring, but in my obsession I had not seen them. Now, in my more relaxed mood, my subconscious, which had stored these images for me, released them, and I remembered that there had been more to trout fishing than catching trout; there had been something besides the lures of rainbows and browns that kept calling me back.
And through it all, what kept amazing me was that all of this was in Georgia, a state that I had always associated with quail hunting, peaches and Junker bass. Later I learned of the work of such men as Claude Hastings, Northern Region Fisheries Supervisor, who have worked to make Georgia trout fishing what it is today. Their work of transplanting the rainbow from the west and the recent importation of the brown German trout, coupled with ideal trout waters natural to the mountains of Georgia, have brought far away fishing right to our door steps.
Thankful for it all, I went about my trout fishing. On the last day of the season in mid-October, Bill and I fished Holly Creek over most of its fishable length. It was a day that dawned cloudy, but in the banks of fall leaves, the reds and purples of sweet gums, the reds and yellows of maples and hickories, the gray sky was not important. The water swirled clear and cold around our waders and the outcropping rocks, and in the water, fall leaves came floating and tumbling along the fast water to eddy and float in still waters as montages of reds, greens, purples and yellows. I limited out that day and saw a doe cross the creek ahead of me. It was the end of a perfeet season.

The author spent a long hard summer in pursuit of his first Georgia trout.

14

the
outdoor world

Alcovy Project Costly To Game And Fish Channelization of the Alcovy River in Walton and Newton counties under a proposed Soil Conservation Service watershed project could be very costly to wildlife and fish in the river bottoms, the State Game and Fish Commission told landowners of the two counties, February 27. At a hearing for the project, held at Monroe, the Commission's coordinator of Information and Education, Jim Morrison, emphasized that the State Game and Fish Commission was not opposed to the entire project, but did feel that channeling and dredging of some 80 miles of stream would not only destroy habitat for both game animals and fish, but would jeopardize fishing in Lake Jackson. Morrison pointed out that studies of similar projects show that channelization of streams result in losses as high as 90 per cent of game fish. He added that draining the swamps would destroy habitat for deer, ducks, rabbits, raccoons, mink, otter, muskrat and beaver. "All of these species will virtually disappear from the area permanently if the planned modifications are maintained in future years," he said. "The State Game and Fish Commission is se riously concerned about the siltation that inevitably will occur in the Alcovy during the project work, which will last over a period of at least seve n years," said Morrison. "This is especially disturbing at a time when the State Game and Fish Commission is spending thousands of dollars on research and management programs in Lake Jackson designed to improve fishing there which arc dependent on a high water quality in the Alcovy River. "Only two weeks ago, the Commission stocked 150 adu lt white bass into Lake Jackson in an effort to establish this popular game fish there," he said. He cited a study of twenty-three similar projects in North Carolina which were highl y destructi ve to wetland wildli fe. In Mississippi , he said, one stream that had averaged 240 pounds of fi sh per acre had only five pounds of fi sh per acre after channelization.

As an alternate, he suggested that

deadfails, logs and similar obstructions

be removed from the river channel, to

open it to freer flow and to small boat

passage.

Deer populations have reached such

a high in the Alcovy swamps that for

the past two years, Newton County

has had a one-day doe season, he said.

"The largest Boone and Crockett Club

deer rack of the 1967 Georgia hunting

season was bagged by a hunter in

Newton County in the Alcovy River

Swamp," he pointed out.

Morrison said the Game and Fish

Commission was calling on the Soil

Conserv ation Service and the U.S.

Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife

to meet with them to resolve these

problems before proceeding with the

project.

Dean Wohlgemuth

Hunting on Cumberland? Hunting and fishing on portions of Georgia's 23,000-acre Cumberland Island will be allowed if the island becomes a national seashore, Vincent Ellis, representative of the National Park Service in Georgia, has revealed. Eighth District Representative W. S. Stuckey Jr. of Eastman, is considering introducing a bill which would make the island a national seashore. Described as a wildlife paradis~! , the island teems with deer, ducks, wild hogs and small game. Within its boundaries are some of the finest examples of un spoiled beaches, oak and pineland forests , and saltwater marshes in the United States. (See "An Island Called Cum berland," Sept. 1968). The island is now under private ownership, but Ellis said he believed several thousand acres could be purchased immediately. "Of course, hunting and fishing would not be allowed .:m all the island, or on all of the area," Ellis said. "But we would work with Georgia's Game and Fish Commission to set up hunting areas and schedules allowing as mu ch hunting as possible." Ellis explained there arc th ree categories of National Parks. natural areas such as Yellowstone ; historica l, as Georgia's Kennesaw Mountain Na tional Battlefield Park ; and recreational, suc h as Cape Cod, 1\lassachusetts ; H atteras. North Carolina; :.nd Padre Island.
Texas.

Larry Smith, project leader of the State Game and Fish Commission's striped bass study, presents a check to Marion Beckworth of Louisville, Georgia, for the tagged striped bass he caught out of the Altamaha River. More than 1,000 stripers have been tagged and released in the Altamaha, Savannah, and Ogeechee rivers. Each tag is worth $1 or fTrJO re to the angler who returns it to the State Game and Fish Commission, P. 0. Box 1097, Brunswick, Georgia 3 1520. Ea ch year the Commission draws a tag from those returned to the office and presents the lucky angler who returned that tag with an additional cash award. The striped bass study is supported by federal and state funds provided by the Andadromous Fisheries Act of 1965.

Hunting is only allowed in recreatio n-

al areas, which would include Cumber-

land Island, unless legislation estab-

lishin g the seashore specificall y pro-

hibits it. Ellis said.

The United States Park Service is

against building a causeway to Cum-

berland if it becomes a national park.

Instead, E llis said ferry service could

be provided from Cabin Bluff, in Cam-

den County.

"Private boats could dock at the is-

land, but the only ferry service would

be from Cabin Bluff. Visitors to the

island would not be ferried from Jekyll

Island or any other island or point on

the mainland," Ellis said.

Several conservation groups have en-

dorsed the proposal. The Sierra Club,

a nationwide conservation group, is

encouraging interested persons to write

Represent ative Stuckey and the Cam-

den County Commissioners urging es-

tablishment of the national seashore

without a causeway.

However, Stucke y has postponed in-

troduction of a Cumberland Seashore

Bill at the request of the Camden

Count y Commissioners, who voted five

to one to leave development of the

island to private interes ts. The Sea

Pines Corporation, developers of th e

excl usive Hilton Head Island Resort in

South Carolina have already announced

that th ey have purchased 3,000 acres

on C um berland , to be developed into a

private resort.

John Culler

15

JACKALOPE
Whe n sports writers (outdoor-pard on the pun) have nothing to do, we come up with most anything. . ..
I did a little playing with my camera and came up with this one, thought you might be interested.
Here is a picture of a 'Jackalope ' (Ananias Prevaricatus) reputed ly t he product of a mesalliance between a near sighted western jack rabbit and a small antelope.
Little is known abou t th is creature but it is said to be one of the fastest runners in th e world sinc e both antelopes an d rabbits don't l ike the sight of it and hope to do it bodily harm.
It feeds, exclusively, on bees and small birds, which it overtakes, f rom beh i nd while in full flight. The only known method of captu re is to shoot 50 feet ahead of a speeding roa d runner which has just been passed by a jackalope.
It breeds only once in a lifetime and t his in its 1st adul t year, since the young are born with horns and the mother doesn't want to go through that again.
The only portion of the jackalope that is of use is the horn which makes a fine can opener.
Maybe th e Georgia Game an d Fish Commission can do somet hi.rg wit h it. Here in Tennessee there is no interest as the jackalope is totally unmanagea ble.
Ken Wynn Outdoor Editor The Cha tta nooga Post Cha ttanooga, Tennessee
STEWART COU NTY
I read with much interest of the research that has been done about the effects of running deer with dogs.
Season before last, several of my friends and I hunted on a large tract of Georgia land in Stewart County, with about halt of us getting one buck apiece. There were a lot of deer in this area and plenty of signs. A large group of dog hunters fro m South Georgia started hunting in this area, and wou ld have run

after run all day long, practically every day during the season, in this area. One
of them told me they had killed 28 deer in this area in one season. This season there were no signs of any deer anywhere in this area.
These group of dog hunters, sometimes numbering 35 men and about 50 dogs, just take over the hunting areas; a deer can hardly escape this wholesale slaughtering. It is hard to tell what sex a deer is, running from dogs, so a lot of doe are killed. Also, sometimes the dogs come back bloody indicating they had caught and killed a fawn or doe or maybe even a buck.
We still hunters don't have a chance. I live in Muscogee County, where all the deer hunting is either on privately owned land or on the Ft. Benning Reservation, so I have to drive 35 miles to land owned by Georgia Kraft and St. Regis that is open to hunt. Now the dogs have done away with that. Several times this year my friends and I would go into the woods and get on a stand only to be interrupted by a large group of dogs and men a~d have to come home. These men hunt m the pubIic roads and shoot deer when they cross the roads. The roads are blocked with their vehicles and the local residents can hardly travel them. Also, there is a St. Regis Hunting Preserve near this area and the men put the dogs into it and kill the deer when they come out. Any posted land can be hunted in this manner.
One of the local residents told me the Sheriff of that County was considering asking the timber companies to close their lands for hunting, because he has had so much trouble this past season from hunters - mostly dog hunters hunting on posted land, shooting cattl e and hogs, breaking down fences and gates, and blocking up the public roads . If th is happens, a lot of us might as well not buy hunting licenses next season.
Because of it being legal to hunt with dogs and because of the large open hunting area s in Stewart County hunters come f rom all over Georgia. Some laws need to be passed, maybe to limit the amount of dogs and hunters together or restrict dog huntin g to one month, or preferably do away wi th dog hunting entirely while t here are some deer left. One Game Warden in a County of this size cannot possibly control the f ishing and hunting at the same time.
Pl ease print this letter or pass it along to anyone that would be interested and could possibly help this situation.
Yours truly, W. T. Womack, Jr. Midland, Georgia
DOGS AND DEER
I don't seem to have your Director's address. After reading this letter, w:ll you pl ease see that he reads it too, for I am not only writ ing th is for myself but for 15 or 20 more that feel the same way I do, an d probably hundreds of oth ers, I don't know.
We all buy hunting and fish ing licenses ea ch yea r, and it is ve ry disgust ing to go out to hunt and t here be no game to hunt, because of wild dogs brought out from the city to the woods. Fox hunters carry packs of 15 to 20 to the woods every night of the yea r and leave most of them to kill doe and yea rli ngs and destroy quail nests and kill you ng birds.
We were hoping that the State Game and Fish Com mission could get a $10 tax fee on every dog in Georgia with every dog having to wear a collar with a

state tag and rabies tag with the owner's name and address, with half the money going toward management of game and the other half to our schools.
To my knowledge, the fox hunters are training dogs to be deer dogs at other hunter's expense and loss, and then are selling them farther down in the state.
If there could be a law passed to the effect that all dogs without a collar in the woods be destroyed, we would have fewer dogs, and better dogs, a lot more game, and a better state to iive in.
I have written to the Governor. I am also going to get in touch with our county representative. If it will be of any help to the Commission, I can send a list of hunters' signatures that feel the way I do.
J. W. Todd Toccoa, Georgia
"CONTRADICTION"
I would like to congratulate you on a fine magazine that is experi encing deserved success. I feel that your stories, in the past, have been interesting and beneficial to the Georgia sportsman. An example of this is your article "Duck Hunting Georgia Style." This article is very informative and helpful to anyone who is interested in duck hunting in Georgia.
The only complaint I have with the January 1969 publication is that in t he article, "Duck Hunting Georgia Style," you stated: "Another asset to this hunting has been the creation of ponds by beavers in many areas of Georgia. These ponds afford excellent nesting habitat for the wood duck, as usually produce a food crop that is used extensively by wintering flocks of migratory birds."
The reader has only to turn eight pages and he would find the article entitled, "Tan Your Own Hide," in which you explain how beaver pelts can be sold to Out of State companies. I feel that your choice of articles, in this case, was very poor and contradictory. The sportsman of Georgia should be encouraged to protect the beaver rather than use it as a profit motive. I feel that this article also fell short in clarifying to the readers what restrictions are placed on t rapp ing by the State Game and Fish Commission. An article in the future explaining the trapping regulations of an imals and fish would be very helpful.
Charles Moseley Macon, Georgia
As brought out in the duck article, beavers are valuable for increasin~ wood duck nesting and feeding habitat. Like any wildlife species, when they become numerous enough, they should be harvested within reason. If they become a pest to a landowner, in many such instances they should be removed, in which case the removal is best done by a trapper or youngster who can benefit f rom it by selling the hides. Incidentally, we were unable to locate any fur companies in Georgia.
In Memoriam
Charles Mercer, 33, of M acon,
Wildl ife Ranger for Bibb County,
died Nov. 28, 1968, in a vehicle
accident while on duty. He had
been employed by the Game and
Fish Commission as a Wi ldlife
Ranger for nearly six years.

16

Sportsman's
Calendar
SEASONS OPEN TH IS MONTH
TURKEY
Seaso n- 1\l arch 15 -April 12. 1969 in Ben Hill, Coffee, Ch arlton, Dodge, Pierce, Stuart, Telfair, and Wilcox counties. Only that portion of C linch and Echol s counties ly ing East of U.S. 441 and South of Ga. 94. Bag limit one (I) turkey gobbler.
Seaso n- M arch 24-A pril 16, 1969 in Ca mde n, Chattahoochee, Columbia, Lincoln, M arion. McDuffi e, Muscogee, Talbot, Warren and Wilkes counties. Bag limit one ( I ) turkey gobbler.
Season-April 14, 1969 through April 19, 1969 on Blue Ridge, Chattahoochee, Johns Mountain, and Warwom an Wildlife Man agement Areas only. Bag Limit-O ne (I) turkey gobbler.
Season-April 19, 1969 throu gh M ay 3, 1969 in Banks, Chattooga, D awson, Fannin, F loyd, Franklin, Gilmer, Gordon, Habersham, Murray, R abun, Stephens, Towns, Union, Walker, White , and Whitfield Countie s. Bag Limit- One ( 1) turkey gobbler.

TROUT
Open Stream Season - April 5, 1969 through Oc tober 4, 1969.

Creel Limit- Eight ( 8) trout of all spe cies per day. Posse ssion limit-8.
( 1\1 anagement Area Strea ms-Open on scheduled days, May 3-Sept. 1, 1969).

Management Area
BLUE RIDGE
CHATTAHOOCHEE CHESTATEE
LAKE BURTON
LAKE RUSSELL WARWOMAN

Stream

May

June

July

Au gust

September

Jone s Cree k (Artifi cial Lures)

Sat. , Sun .

(Sun ., Jun e I ) (Fri. , Jul y 4) Wed., Thur s. Sa t. , Sun .

Wed., Thurs. (Mon., Sept. I) (Sa t ., Au g. 30) (Sun. , Aug. 3 1)

Montgom ery

We d., Thurs. Sa t. , Sun .

Wed., Thurs. Sat. , Sun .

(Clo sed May I ) (C lose d June I )

(Mon., Sept. I)

Nimbl ewill

Sa t. , Sun .

(Sun., June I ) (Fri. , Jul y 4) Wed. , Thurs. Sat. , Sun.

We d. , Thurs. (Mon., Sept. I) (Sat. , Aug. 30) (S un. , Au g. 31)

Noontootley

Wed., Thurs. Sa t. , Sun .

(Artificial Lure s) (Clo sed May I ) Wed., Thurs.

(Catch and Release ) Sat. , Sun.

Wed., Thurs. Sa t. , Sun. (Fri. , July 4)

Wed., Thu rs. Sat ., Sun.

(Mon., Sept. I)

Rock Creek Chattahooc hee

We d., Thurs. Sa t ., Sun .

(Fri., Ju ly 4) Wed., Thurs. (Mon., Sept. I)

(Cl osed May I ) Wed., Thu rs. Wed., Thurs. Sat. , Sun.

Sa t ., ~..u,n::----,;;:--:;------,-Sr:a't:-.,'---S:;-u':;n:..,--..----.~-.=---~-=--::-:-..,--,,.,--

Sa t. , Sun .

We d.

(Fro., Ju ly 4) Sat., Sun .

(Mon., Se pt. I)

Sa t. , Sun .

Sa t ., Sun .

Duke s

Wed., Thurs. Wed., Thurs. (Cl ose d May I )

Wed., Thurs.

Wed., Thurs.

(Mo n., Sept. I)

Bog gs

Wed ., Thurs. Sa t. , Sun.

We d. , Thurs. Sat. , Sun .

(Closed May I ) (Cl ose d June I )

(Mon., Sept. I )

Di cks

Sa t ., Sun .

(Sun ., June I ) (F ri. , July 4) Wed. , Thurs. Sa t. , Sun.

We d., Thur s. Sat. , Aug. 30 Sun ., Au g. 31

(Mo n., Se pt. I )

Wat er s (Artif rc ral Lures)

Sat., Sun .

(S un ., Jun e I ) (Fri., July 4 ) Wed., Thurs. Sat., Sun.

We d., Thurs. Sat ., Au g. 30 Sun ., Au g. 31

(Mon., Se pt. I )

Dicks

Wed., Thurs. We d., Thurs. (Closed May I )

We d., Thurs.

Wed., Thurs. Sa t ., Au g. 30 Sun. , Au g. 31

(Mon ., Sep t. I)

Mocc asin (Not stocked )

Sa t. , Sun .

Sa t. , Sun .

(Fri ., July 4) Sa t., Sun .

Sat. , Sun.

(Mo n., Se pt. I )

Wild ca t

Sat. , Sun.

Sa t ., Sun .

(F ri ., Jul y 4) Sat. , Sun .

Sa t. , Sun.

(Mo n., Sept . I)

Middle Bro ad

Wed. , Thurs. Sa t. , Sun . (Clo sed May I} Wed. , Thurs. Sat., Sun.

(Fri. , July 4) We d., Thurs. Sat., Sun.

Wed. , Thurs. Sat. , Sun.

(Mon., Sept. I)

Frnney (Not Stoc ked)

Wed. , Thur s. Sat ., Sun. (Closed May I )

We d., Thurs. Sat., Sun.

(Mo n., Sept. I )

Sarahs

Sat., Sun.

(Sun. , Jun e I ) (Fri ., July 4) Wed. , Thurs.

We d., Thurs. Sa t. , Sun.

(Sat., Aug. 30)

;-.,....-:------=-;---=-----;c--,---;c-------,:;--;~~----':(S:u-n., Au g. 31 )

Tuc kaluge

Wed. , Thurs. Sat. , Sun .

Wed. , Thurs. Sa t. , Sun .

(Closed May I ) (Cl osed June I )

(Mo n., Sept. I ) (Mon., Se pt. I )

walnut Fork

Sat. , Sun.

and Hoods Creek

(Sun. , June I ) (Fri ., July 4) Wed., Thurs. Sat ., Sun.

We d., Thurs. (Mon., Sept. I ) (Sat., Aug. 30 ) (Sun., Aug. 31 )

T IDE TABLE

APRIL, 1969

APR.- MAY 1969

MAY, 1969

HIGH WATE R

LO W WATE R

Day

A.M. HT. P.M. HT. A.M . P.M.

1. Tues. 6:54 7.0 2. Wed. 7:30 7.2 3. Thurs. 8:06 7.2 4. Fri. 8:48 7.1 5. Sat. 9:30 6.8 6. Sun. 10:18 6.5 7. Mon. 11:12 6.2 8. Tu es. 9. Wed. 1:06 6.9 10. Thurs. 2:18 6.7 11. Fri. 3:36 6.7 12. Sat. 4:42 6.9 13. Sun. 5:42 7.1 14. Mon. 6:30 7.3 15. Tues. 7:12 7.3 16. Wed. 7:48 7.1 17. Thurs. 8:24 6.9 18. Fri. 9:00 6.6 19. Sat. 9:36 6.2 20. Sun. 10:06 5.9 21. Mon. 10:48 5.6 22. Tues. 11:36 5.4 , 23. Wed. 12:00 6.4 24. Thurs . 12:48 6.2 25. Fri. 1:42 6.1 26. Sat. 2:42 6.1 27. Sun. 3:42 6.2 28. Mon. 4:42 6.4 29. Tues. 5:30 6.7 30. Wed. 6:18 6.9

7:12 7.4 7:54 7.7 8:30 7.9 9: 12 7.9 10:00 7.8 10:54 7.5 11:54 7.2 12:18 5.9 1:30 5.8 2:42 5.9 4:00 6.3 5:06 6.8 6:00 7.4 6:42 7.8 7:24 8.0 8:06 8.0 8:36 7.9 9:12 7.7 9:48 7.4 10:30 7.0 11:12 6.7
12:24 5.2 1:24 5.2 2:24 5.4 3:30 5.8 4:24 6.3 5:12 6.8 6:00 7.4 6:42 7.9

12:54 1:36 2:1 8 3:06 3:48 4:36 5:30 6:30 7:42 8:54 9:54
10:54 11:42 12:06
1:00 1:42 2:24 3:06 3:42 4:24 5:00 5:48 6:36 7:30 8:30 9:30 10:18 11:00 11:48 12:24

- 1:06 I 1:48 2:24 3:06 3:48 4:36 5:30 6:36 7:54 9:12
10:18 11:18
12:30 1:12 1:54 2:36 3:12 3:48 4:24 5:06 5:54 6:48 7:54 8:54 954
10:42 11:36
12 :30

GEORGIA COASTAL WATERS

HOW TO USE THESE TABLES

The calculations are for the outer bar. Find the readin g fo r the desi red tide. In the t able below find the number of minutes to add to co rrect for the place you are going to fish or sw im. The outer bar calcu la t ion, plus this correction, gives the correct reading for the point desired.

AdJUSt Fo r Dayltght Savtng Ttm e By A ddmg One Hour

CORRECTION TABLE The t1mes gi ven are for Savannah Riv er

entrance (Tybee).

Hrs. Min .

Savannah High

0 44

Savannah (low)

* 57

Hilton Head, S. C.

0 10

Thunderbolt

0 20

Is le of Hope

0 40

Warsaw Sound

0 00

Ossabaw Sound

0 05

Vernon View

0 35

Coffee Bluff

0 55

Ogeechee River Bridge

3 50

St. Catherine Sound

0 25

Sapelo Sound

0 00

Brunswick Bar

0 00

St. Simon Pier

0 25

Frederica Bridge

0 50

McKay Bridge

0 50

Brunswick Ea s t River

0 50

Turtl e River Bridge

0 55

Turtl e River, Cri s p e n Is.

1 10

Humpback Bridge

1 00

Jek y ll Point

I) 30

Jointeo Is land

55

Hampto n Riv e r Vil la ge Cree k En t .

0 20

Villa ge Fi s hin g Ca m p

0 45

Taylor Fi s hin g Ca m p

1 00

Al tam a ha Fi s h ing Pa rk , Everett, Ga.

4 00

Two-Way Fis h ing Ca m p, S. Altamaha 2 00

Full

Last

New First

Moon Quarter Moon Quarter

APR.

2

9

16

24

MAY

2

8

16

24

Day

A.M.

--

1. Thurs. 7: 00

2. Fri. 7:42

3. Sat. 8:30

4. Sun. 9:18

5. Mon. 10:06

6. Tues. 11:12

7. Wed.

8. Thurs. 1:00

9. Fri. 2: 06

10. Sat. 3:12

11. Sun. 4: 18

12. Mon. 5:12

13 . Tues. 6:00

14. We d. 6:42

15. Thurs. 7:24

16. Fri . 8:00

17. Sa t. 8:30

18. Sun. 9:06

19. Mon. 9:42

20. Tues. 10:24

21. Wed. 11:06

22. Thurs. 11:54

I 23. Fri. 12:12

24. Sat. 1:06

25. Sun. 1:54

26. Mon. 2:54

27 0 Tues. 3:48

28. Wed. 4:48

29. Thurs. 5:42

30. Fri. 6:30

31. Sat. 7:24

HIGH WATER HT. P.M. HT.
--
7.1 7:24 8.3 7.1 8:12 8.4 7.0 9:00 8.3 6.8 9:48 8.1 6.5 10:48 7.7 6.3 11 :48 7.3
12:1 8 6.1 7.0 1:24 6.2 6.8 2: 36 6.3 6.7 3:42 6.7 6.6 4:42 7.1 6.7 5:36 7.5 6.7 6:18 7.7 6. 7 7:00 7.9 6.5 7:36 7.9 6.4 8: 12 7.8 6.1 8:48 7.6 5.9 9:24 7.3 ~.7 10:00 7.1 5.5 10:42 6.8 5.4 11:24 6.6 5.4 6.4 12:48 5.5 6.2 1:42 5.7 6.2 2:42 6.1 6.2 3:36 6.6 6.3 4:36 7.1 6.4 5:30 7.6 6.6 6:18 8.1 6.8 7:06 8.4 6.9 7:54 8.6

LOW WATER A.M. P.M.
-
1:12 1:12 2:00 2:00 2:48 2:42 3:36 3:36 4:24 4:24 5: 24 5:24 6:24 6:30 7:30 7:42 8: 30 8:54 9: 30 10:00 10:24 11 :00 11 :12 11 :48
12:00 12:36 12:42
1: 18 1:24 2:00 2:00 2:42 2:42 3. 18 3: 18 4:00 4:00 4:36 4:36 5:1 8 5:24 6:00 6:12 6:48 7:12 7:42 8:12 8:36 9:12 9:30 10:12 10:18 11:00 11.06 11:54 11:54 12:48 12:42 1:36 1:36

To repo rt violat 1ons or 1f you need ass1st ance m t he Coastal Area-C'lii - State Garroe & F1sh CommiSSIOn. Brunsw1ck. Georg1a. P. 0. Box 1097, Phone 265-1552, Savannah 233-2383. R1chmond Hill 756-3679.