bass fishing in spring creek area

Question
i'll be on lake seminole in the cypress pond area from march 18th till the 25th me and my son's first visit to lake seminole and we are wondering about baits and tactics also good areas to bass fish this time of year.thanks we are really looking forward to hearing from you. thanks again. can you recommend a good bass guide

Answer
Travis; I am not very familiar with Cypress pond itself but from what I have seen it seems to be much like much of the rest of the northern  part of the lake.  The pond was formed by rising water when the lake filled and is filled with dead trees.  Much of this lake is made up of what was at one time standing timber.  The exception to this is the area of the two main river channels, the Flint and the Chatahoochee.  There was standing timber on both sides of both channels.  I would venture to say that a large percentage of the bass in the lake hang out in this standing timber which is now greatly accompanied with huge amounts of hydrilla.

Much of the timber has broken off at about the level of the waterline and one must be very careful outside of the clearly marked channels.  You can maneuver around in the standing timber with a trolling motor without much difficulty.  I think more of the timber is still standing in Cypress pond.

The pond is connected with the rest of the lake by channels.  One runs south into the area just west of Sealies Point.  The other is a canal running around the north side of Sealies Island. This canal leads through several small ponds and opens out into the Spring Creek Arm about half mile north of Rattlesnake point.

Since I live on the Spring Creek arm I do most of my fishing right here in this area.  The Spring Creek Arm is probably about 3500 acres and is virtually a lake unto itself not just a pond.  I catch most of my bass in the standing timber and around the coves and docks here in Spring Creek.

If you go down the south channel you come into the north side of the main lake.  Just to the west of the channel outlet is the mouth of Fish Pond Drain.  The lower  end of this has always been a good area for bass.  It is mostly standing timber or what is left of it.  Out in the open most of it has blown down over the half century since the lake was filled.  

Now about baits and tactics my suggestion would be to try the shallower water along the island or the pond early and late using a topwater lure.  This is a very good lake for fishing with such things as poppers, plastic frogs or minnow lures in the spring if it has been warm.  At that time of the year it is always questionable about the weather.  It can be very warm and it can be pretty chilly.  Nothing like up north of course but the fish notice it when a cold front comes through.  The idea is  to be prepared for anything.  For example just around Christmas this past year we were catching some very nice bass  out in the timbers in front of my house and down a ways.  Most of these were caught in about 16-18 feet of water just off the creek channel.  They were not in the channel which is about 20-22 feet but  just off the channel.  We used small spinnerbaits at first and worked them very very slowly along the bottom around the stumps.  A friend then tried using a plastic swim bait in shad color and began catching big bass.  (6-8 pounds)  At first he was using a 3" lure but as time went on he began using four and then five then six then even seven and eight inch long lures and catching big bass on all of them.  He was down here from Connecticut and was having the time of his life.  He said he had never seen so many big bass in his life.  Most of this time the water was extremely clear and about 48-52 degrees and early in the morning when the bass hit it was in the high 30s and we had to wear cold weather gear but catching those bass kept us warm.  He really kicked my behind but I managed to catch some nice ones too.
We released them all so they are still in the lake and will bite again.  Another time they (his brother and dad came down) were catching fish on surface lures near Rattlesnake Point.

I am  telling you all of this to let you know that even in cold weather it is possible to catch big fish.  If it is warm plastic lizards and worms work well.  A good method is to drop them straight down some of the bigger tree stumps.  You must let the lure fall on a completely slack line.  If you put any tension on the line at all the lure will swing away from the tree.  The fish are often right against the tree and will not move far for a lure at times.

I also like to cast crankbaits  along the creek channels or around clumps of hydrilla. A crankbait running just over the grass top is often a good  tactic.  A spinnerbait worked the same way produces too in spring.

I do not know any guides personally but I do know that there are places where you can contact and hire guides.  Of course the most well known place is Wingate's Lunker Lodge has several guides who work out of there.  I believe Trails End Lodge and marina has a couple and probably Seminole Lodge.  These should all be listed in the phone book or yellow pages under guides.  I will check around and see if I can find out about guides.  People often ask me about them.  

I am not a guide I do not have a license to charge for guide service but I often take people out and show them around where I have caught fish.  I do not want to compete with the jobs of the guides though.
If you wish you may give me a call for more information.  My number is 229-861-2366.  I live about a mile East of Reynolds' landing and about three miles east of Cypress Pond.

Thanks for calling on me to answer your question.  I hope it has been of some help.  I hope you find Lake Seminole an enjoyable place to visit and that you catch some good fish.  If you want to eat a few keep the smaller ones (they are better anyway) and release the big ones to bite again. I and my friend from Conn. released all of ours.

I am
Jack L. Gaither   (JackfromSeminole)
Lake Seminole, Georgia