Early October bass fishing Seminole State Park

Question
QUESTION: Hi Jack!
We are taking our family to the state park cabins starting on 10-6-07.  ( We are coming from south Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina).  
This will be our fifth trip to the park, and are wondering what advice you can give us on bass fishing. We have had some success near the fish gate, and just north of it, but none near the fish pond drain area. We fish south Florida regularly, and use mostly plastics (flukes, horny toads, worms, etc. The kids like live shiners). On our last trip we met a man who caught about a 5 or 6 pound largmouth right in front of our cabin. I could not believe it, but he kept it. He already had it on ice in his cooler.  After I gave him a few choice words, he went on his way very quickly.
Any advice you could give would be very much appreciated, as we would like to give our family a memorable fishing trip at the lake!!
Thank you for your time!!
Rob and Pattie Miller
Pompano Beach, FL
954-703-0573

ANSWER: Hi Rob and Pattie; I am glad you are getting together with family here at Seminole.  I just got back from a trip to Wisconsin where my brother, his wife, my sister,her husband and her daughter and husband and his parents spent a week fishing.  It was really cold for September but at least we got a lot of fishing in.  I mostly fished for muskie and didn't catch one.  I had a pretty good one on but he got off at the boat.  I would have released him anyway.  My brother caught his first one and so did my brother in law.  Nether was of "keeper" size but the first muskie is a thrill anyway.  I caught a 37" one last year.  Took a picture and released him.    I have kept some bass bigger than 6lbs over the years although in the past several years I have released all big bass.  

Now to your fishing.  If you go on down the fishpond drain to the mouth there is some good bass fishing.  I am sure the hydrilla is thick but that is where the fish are in this lake now.  I fish the edges of the hydrilla with either a topwater when conditions allow or with a senko or other plastic when it is too rough for surface.  The creek channels are usually open and so is the deeper water.  I have caught a number of good bass fishing the openings in the hydrilla.  

I have caught some pretty good bass up in Ray's Lake.  In the upper end there are many lilly pads which keep the hydrilla from growing so thick.  Shade I guess.  Anyway a topwater fished in the openings of the pads or a plastic worm, swim bait, lizzard or senko worked in the pads may bring some good bass.  There are a few stickups in the upper end that have provided some bass on plastics.

I do not fish the main lake much except If I hear the crappie are biting in the Flint or Chatahoochee or the hybrids are hitting.  I haven't done much with largemouth in the main lake. However I have caught some bass in the area up the Hooch a ways where the piling marks the channel going to a seldom used landing to the right going upstream.  This area is shallow with acres of lilly pads and I like to fish this early in the morning but it is such a long run from my place I seldom go there anymore.  I use poppers in the pads there.

By far the most of my fishing has been in the Spring Creek arm from near Rattlesnake point up to  the old Knights' landing.  I have caught many 6-8lb bass and a couple around 9lbs in this area over the past 15 years. Still haven't been able to break the 10lb yet. If you do not do well in the fishpond area you might trailer your boat to Reynolds' landing one mile south off Ga.253.  Look for sign saying "Spring Creek Park".  This is a brown   state sign. The road is "Reynolds' landing road and there is a sign advertising "Big Jims' Resort" no fuel no bait. This is a good concrete landing although narrow.  There is plenty of parking.  Some of the places I have caught bass in this arm of the lake follows.  

Go out the channel from the landing and as you enter the lake look to the right. Back in that corner has produced some bass over the years.  I got two eight pounders on two successive casts off a stump just a ways South from the corner.  Cast a large plastic worm and hit the stump and let the worm fall on a slack line keeping your eye on the line.  If it twiches reel down and set the hook.  If you are using the new "sharp" hooks you do not have to turn him inside out just a wrist strike will do.  I use 8lb line mostly on my spinner and 15-17 on casting.  I use casting mostly.  Crank baits and spinnerbaits will take bass in these deep stumps.  I work in and around the stumps working to the North.  When you get through the stumps and come to the boat channel (marked with pilings) coming out from the landing work both sides of that channel carefully with worms, crankbaits and spinnerbaits and use a Chrome/black or blue rattletrap and you may come up with a big largemouth or perhaps a big hybrid.
About halfway between the set of pilings toward the landing and the set leaving the stumps for the main part of the lake on the North side of the channel (right facing the landing) if the water stays low as it is now you will easily see the creek channel winding into the tree stumps. If the water is high the channel is difficult to see.  Be careful there is a big stump just off the boat channel in the area of the mouth of the creek.  It used to stick up well above water level but has broken off just under the water.(it may show some if lake is low as now.)

I like to work the creek channel and the stumps on both sides especially the close shoreward side until there is a break in the thick stumps.  That area has produced many nice bass in the 5-7lb class for me.  I like a rattletrap of crankbait working the open water between the channel and the hydrilla.  There may not be too much open water but probe what there is.  Topwaters early and late in the day can produce some big bass.  As you move up the creek
towards the point with the homes on it and the little bay to the left of the point.  This bay has produced some 5-7lb bass.  I like to fish this area just as the sun sets with topwater such as hula popper (yup the old hula popper) or a devil's horse or chug bug.  When it gets truly dark I change to a black magnum (musky) jitterbug. I love it when a big mouth hits one of these.  Always shine a light on your catch before thumbing him because small gators and grennel like jitterbugs too.  Both have teeth that bass don't have.  As you come to the point you have a choice.  You can continue working along the shoreline casting to the docks and out into the stumps or working your way out toward the main boat channel marked by pilings.  After dark I stay close to shore since my home is only about 20 or so docks up the shore and I am usually heading home.  If you go out toward the boat channel work your way carefully through the stumps.  The creek channel twists and turns through here.  From where you enter the creek channel from the boat road out from the landing on up the channel will be 18-20feet while the area out of the channel will run from 8-12'.  If you continue along the shore line casting both to the docks and out into the stumps you will come to a very large house with a big concrete pool and a large dock.  That was my late brother-in-law's house.  My house is the next one.  In front of my house the stumps gradually end and open water or hydrilla is thick.  It is likely necessary at this time of year to head out through the stumps to the boat channel.  The boat channel is not necessarily deep but the boats keep it relatively clear of weeds.

If you take the boat channel to the left (North) you will  soon come to an intersection.  There is a channel heading to the right leading behind the islands and coming out in the Flint River arm across from Wingates Lodge.  If you turn on this at the intersection head directly toward the pilings as there is a small but dangerous group of stumps on the right out away from the other stumps.  These are a good place to try for some bass.  When you reach that first set of pilings on that boat road  on the left is a small bunch of stumps.  They are on the channel edge and often produce bass.  The channel is about 75' wide with stumps across there.  At the pilings look to the right.  There are some trees still standing.  There is a deep hole in the channel as it bends toward the far shore.  I have caught some really nice bass just off this hole toward the trees.  The hole is sometimes good for crappie.  Work toward the South of these trees in and around the hydrilla using a topwater has produced nice bass.  I caught my two biggest bass here one night on the big bug.  I cast in and got a bass just over 9lbs and cast again and got her twin just a few ounces less.  I will admit that I baked both of these and company thought they were delicious.  I probably wouldn't do that now.  I would rather keep the 14 inchers.
I have a friend who is a marine biologist and he insists that taking a few even big ones to eat now and then is not harmful to the lake but I do believe that the big ones should be released now.

Going back to that little bunch of stickups by the piling head north along the channel.  The right side has many stumps while the left side has only occasional stickups.  To the left of the channel is a large flats going to the far shoreline.  It will be thick with hydrilla until the first cold weather but open areas can be fished.

Continuing up the creek channel about 1/2 mile or so is a lone small group of stickups and among these is an arm pointing to the right.  Directly across from this pointer is the mouth of a slough.  That mouth is the deepest spot in this area that I have found. It is 25-26' deep.  The slough has stumps on both sides for a couple hundred yards. This slough has produced some good bass and some nice crappie in the fall.

Continuing on up fish the stump side with worms, crank baits or topwaters.  When you come to the bend to the left continue across the boat channel marked with pilings.  The creek continues West toward the shoreline until it is about 200' from the bank.  Here it turns back north.  That bend has been one of the hottest places in the lake  at times and is also good for crappie.  There is an island of stumps in the middle of the creek.  Fish it well as well as the area to the left.  There is a place where the locals have marked a channel between the stumps with white jugs on stumps.  Carefully work through here into the stumps.  The docks and the stumps out from the docks are a great place.  I work on through the stumps.  Here I like to use the Zara Spook in the evening before dark and the big bug after dark.

A caution; Never and I repeat never run with your gas motor at more than idle speed outside the marked channel and even then stay in the center of the channel especially on bends.  You can manuver with a trolling motor  through the stumps but even then you may find yourself atop a sunken stump.  Carry a paddle to push off using other stumps.

You do not have to work through the stumps from the channel leading out of the landing area.  You can run out to a junction and go either right or left.  Right takes you toward Rattlesnake point, left takes you to the area I just described.  I go to Rattlesnake point area often working on the upstream side of the point back in the bay.  Sometimes the bass are in there sometimes not but there is also a chance you may hit some hybrids feeding in there.  That is fun too.

The tree stumps just opposite Rattlesnake point goes from a couple of feet on the upper shore to 18 or so feet the other way.  There is a sunken island near the shore about half way down toward the South.  That area is also good for brim at times.  My wife loves to go there using grass shrimp and fish in 20 feet of water for brim.  These she keeps if they are 3" long.  She has me scale and behead them and gut them and then fry them crispy.  I like the bigger ones myself.  I fillet them. I don't like bones. LOL

I realize I haven't given you much on the area around the fishpond drain but that is because I haven't fished that area very much.  About 90% of my fishing is nearly within sight of my home and that is the area I know best.  I know there are other places in this lake that are good for bass but since it is such a big lake I do not know the rest of lit like I do the Spring Creek arm.

I hope this has been of some help to you.  If I can be of further help after you get here give me a call.  I am retired and am home most of the time.  My phone # is 229-861-2366.  My name is Jack L. Gaither and I live at 8043 Spring Creek Drive about one mile toward Bainbridge from Reyonlds' landing.
Thank you for calling on me to answer your question about my favorite Southern lake.  I have a couple of favorite Northern lake.  I used to spend summers in northern Minnesota and the past several years we have been going to northern Wisconsin.  Still this is my home lake and I love fishing it and sharing what I have learned with other fishermen and women.

Jack L. Gaither (JackfromSeminole)
Lake Seminole. Ga.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Jack!
Thank you for your response about fishing at Seminole.
I am printing out your advice and will try to put it to good use.  
I know how exciting it is to fish for muskie, northern pike and trout in Wisconisn and Minnesota, as I grew up in Northern Illinois right on the Wisconsin border.  I remember many trips to the countless lakes and rivers up north. Those places are so beautiful, I really miss them!!
We are so excited about our trip, both for the fishing and the family time.
I will be happy to let you know how things went at the end of next week.
Thank you again Jack, and take care!!
Rob Miller and Family

Answer
Hi again Rob; Hey I am originally an Illinoisian too.  I was born in a tiny town just south of Decatur.  I moved to Florida Panhandle in '69 to teach in a Junior College.  Now I have a place on Lake Seminole in Georgia, having retired from teaching.  My first wife died and I married a gal from Bainbridge Ga.  Our 21st wedding aniversary is coming up in October.

I certainly hope you do well on Lake Seminole and enjoy the time with your family.

Jack