2025 Fishing Adventures

 

Angling adventures during 2025 generally kept me closer to home than normal, with no fishing trips outside the Southeast. Typically I find my way to some other region a time or two, at least, but this year, the farthest I traveled was to Arkansas for a fall bass trip on Lake Ouachita.

Pursuit of the Georgia Bass Slam gave me reason to explore a bunch of Georgia areas, including some spots not too far from home that I had never fished before. The slam was central to several outings this year and turned out to be a lot of fun. 

I achieved the Slam and ended up catching seven different black bass species from Georgia waters this year. Meeting an added challenge I’d set for myself, I caught them all “Fishing on Foot,” either bank fishing or wading.

The below video tells more about the Georgia Bass Slam and my pursuit of it this year.

As always, I also spent time in trout streams in North Georgia and Western North Carolina and did my share of pond hopping for bluegill, bass or whatever bit. 

I also made a few trips to Lake Guntersville to fish for bass and get photos for work with guide Jimmy Mason. Jimmy is a great friend, and we spend a few days fishing together every year.

One of my favorite fishing days this year was spent with Daniel Griffee of On Deck Fishing Charters, casting topwater lures for aggressive, hard-fighting bluefish over the shoals at Cape Lookout in Eastern North Carolina. Except a bit of casting from a pier near Charleston, SC during a mostly non-fishing trip early in the year, that was it for saltwater pursuits for me in 2025.

I don’t know what kind of fishing opportunities the new year will bring (although I certainly have some ideas), but I look forward every adventure!

 

YouTube Channel about Fishing Without a Boat

A fairly new venture for me has been the establishment of my Fishing on Foot YouTube channel. As the name suggests, this channel is all about fishing that can be done on without aid of a boat, whether that means walking a lake's bank, wading a creek or river, walking out onto the ice, fishing from a pier or wading a saltwater flat. 

It's a work in progress, and I'm still in the process of figuring out the tone and types of videos that will be the most prevalent, but I feel like it will lean heavily on how-to and destination content, where I can share some of my experience and hopefully make on-foot fishing experiences more fun and productive for anyone who chooses to tune in. It's also a learning project. I admittedly don't have much video production experience, so I'm figuring stuff out as I go. I hope you'll consider following the channel and joining me as I step farther into this venture. I've inserted a few videos from the channel.

Chattooga River Bartrams Bass

 One of my favorite fishing outings, and one I try to make at least a few times every year, is a hike-in wading trip on the Chattooga National Wild and Scenic River to fish for Bartrams bass. I’ve only made two trips this year, and the season if quickly passing for the way I like to fish, so that might be it for 2022.

If you don’t know Bartrams bass, they are one of several species of black bass that are collectively called redeye bass. When I first started chasing these fish, nearly three decades ago, they were categorized as shoal bass, but there was no explanation as to why shoal bass in other areas grew substantially larger. Then they were recognized as redeyes, but lumped with Coosa redeye bass. More recently, biologists recognized redeyes in the Savannah River watershed as genetically distinct and named them Bartrams bass.

There’s no hot section of the Chattooga for these fish, from my observation. I’ve caught them well up into trout waters and at the far lower end of the river run and have found similar success throughout. Numerous trails and a couple of roads provide access in different areas, from Georgia and South Carolina. River levels, the amount you are willing to do and the character of stream you seek are better determinants for the best section for any given day. 

Some areas are pretty easy to access with a short walk and well suited for quick outings. Others can only be reached with a lot of walking, wading, rock hopping, climbing etc. Some areas have no practical fishing access.

I keep my fishing approach simple for these fish, wading wet and carrying a single light or ultralight spinning outfit and a small box of lures that I can put on a backpack or vest pocket. I like small, crawfish-imitating crankbaits, topwater lures and small soft plastic baits. If I could have only one bait for this fishing it would be a Rebel Deep Teeny Wee Crawfish. Top producers on this year’s outings were the new Bobby Garland Mayfly and a Bomber 6A.

It’s important to note that much of the Chattooga corridor is rugged and remote, and currents, vertical drops, slippery rocks and more can be dangerous. Water levels are also ever changing, totally changing the river’s character and accessibility. 

A fishing license is required, but a reciprocal licensing agreement makes either a valid Georgia or South Carolina license valid anywhere on the river.

First Fish of the Morning - Santee Cooper Catfish

"That's what we want!" Capt. Brett Mitchell said as one of his catfish rods bowed hard. I scrambled to the rod and pried it out of the rod holder, and the fight was underway. Five minutes later, Mitchell slipped the net under what turned out to be a 27 1/2 pound Santee Cooper blue catfish.

We were drifting for blues on the Lower Lake, as Lake Moultrie is most often called in Santee Cooper Country. Photos for un upcoming article on Lurenet.com and fishing fun were the primary objectives. The latter was a given, spending a day on the lake Fishing With Brett. And with the first fish of the day -- a quality catfish -- having been caught, photographed and released before 7:30 a.m., a successful photo day was secured early.

Drifting is a highly efficient way to find actively feeding catfish and is very effective on the open waters of Lake Moultrie. Most catfish anglers drift with cut herring or other baitfish. Mitchell mostly drifts with cut chicken breast, favoring its durability and having found it extremely productive.

We ended up catching about 20 catfish (plus a few big longnose gar). The first fish of the morning was the largest, but the catch included a few in the 10- to 15-pound range. We caught the most fish and the best fish on the chicken, but actually switched to herring after lunch because we ran out of chicken and caught several more catfish on the cut baitfish.

Most cats were blues, with one channel in the mix. Blues are predominant in the open waters of Lake Moultrie and the main fish caught by drifting. It's always fun drifting and watching rods at Santee Cooper because any time one goes down the fish at the other end could way 5 pounds or 50 pounds.

Want to fish Santee Cooper? Blacks Camp can take care of all your needs.

 

Don't Overlook Chattooga River Bass

When folks think about fishing the Chattooga National Wild & Scenic River, trout normally come to mind. That's reasonable. This river supports an excellent and diverse trout fishery, and trout are certainly the sport fish most associated with clear, cold mountain rivers. However, the lower portion of the Chattooga also offers fun fishing for Bartrams bass, a type of black bass that was only recently identified as a distinct species.

I've been wading the lower Chattooga for river bass from time to time for many years, and when I first started fishing for them, they were believed to be shoal bass that simply didn't grow as large as the ones in the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers. After that, they were separated from the shoal bass and re-classified as Coosa redeye bass. More recently, biologists have identified the redeyes in the upper Savannah watershed as Bartrams bass.

Whatever you want to call them, these are feisty river bass that are fairly plentiful from the lower end of the primary trout waters (around Highway 28) all the way to where the river backs into Lake Tugalo. There's no hotspot or even a prime section, from my experience. They are nicely distributed through the lower river, and different stretches will be good on different days. I pick my spot most days based on the section of river I want to see that day.

Because of Wild & Scenic River protection, most access to the Chattooga calls for a least a bit of walking. That's OK, though. The remoteness is a major part of the fun. Several hiking trails or boating access points on both the Georgia and South Carolina banks lead to places you can get in and wade. Because of rapids and remoteness, wading the lower Chattooga River calls for significant caution, and is best done with a fishing partner. Generally speaking, this fishing is best suited for fairly low flows.

I keep my river bass fishing very simple, wet wading in shorts and a tee-shirt and carrying a small backpack with a handful of lures, drinks, snacks and a few extra items, like pliers and sunscreen. Various lures will catch these bass, but my definite go-to is a Rebel Deep Teeny Wee-Crawfish, which matches common forage and can dig down in pools or grind along gravel bars.

Bartrams bass aren't big. A 12-incher is somewhat noteworthy. However, they are big in spirit and very fun to catch.

Nothing to Tell

Having a bit of time available and a computer on my lap, I'd like to update this blog with a fresh fish story. Sadly, though, there's nothing to tell. Between some work practicalities, full recent weekends and a lot of unfavorable weather, I simply haven't fished much lately. The few trips I've taken have been mostly to shoot lure photos, with a few casts made along the way. I've caught a few fish, but nothing really worth writing about.

Photo, which was taken by Tim Mead, was from a super fun day last winter on Wilson Creek in Western North Carolina. Not many fishing days look like that one in this part of the world. A few photos from that trip just caught my eye when I was looking at files on my computer.

I suppose it's because there's nothing to tell that this blog doesn't really say anything. Let's hope the next one will be necessitated by a good fish story that needs telling!

Autumn Farewell

My phone tells me it's 21 degrees outside my house, and yesterday's rain knocked off many of our late-clinging leaves. Seemingly, autumn has fled North Georgia, and days that have that wonderful autumn-like feel and appearance won't return for another 11 months or so. 

I'm glad to say that on Monday (the day before the rain arrived) it fit well with work needs for me to slip out to one of my favorite Georgia streams to do a bit of fishing and lure photography. I didn't venture far from the care or hit the fishing super hard. Various lure pics were my main priority. Even so, the trout were cooperative enough that I was able to catch and release several pretty little brown trout. Rebel Teeny Wee-Craws and Tracdown Ghost Minnows earned all the day's catch credits.

The stream was low and clear, and the steep slopes that bound it sported the rusty colors that define late autumn. Making a good thing even better, I had the stream to myself, despite fishing very close to an easy access point.

Time to start thinking about winter fishing!