Trash Day by the Lake

Thursday morning found me walking the bank of a small lake not far from home. That’s not unusual. What was vastly different for me was that I was not there to fish. Instead I spent the morning and the first part of the afternoon picking up trash left by other anglers.

I’d like to claim that was just an idea I had and how I chose to spent my day. It was actually my job that day because the company I work for — PRADCO-Fishing — chose to support and participate in a national fishing-industry-wide waterway cleanup effort that took place throughout National Boating & Fishing Week.

The Million-Pound Challenge, established by the American Sportfishing Association, brought together fishing tackle manufacturers, retailers, fisheries and land management agencies and individuals to pick up trash along waterways all over the United States.

PRADCO, which owns and operates top fishing lure brands like YUM, Rebel, Heddon and Bobby Garland, made it every employee’s job to pick up trash around a waterway last Thursday. Most folks participated in coordinated group clean-ups at sites scattered around Fort Smith, Arkansas, where the company is based. Remote employees (which includes me) selected a local site to clean.

I picked Nancytown Lake and Lake Russell on the Chattahoochee National Forest. Nancytown is a small lake where trout get stocked early in the season. It gets a lot of bank fishing use and some canoe and kayak access. Lake Russell, which just down the creek from Nancytown is 100-acre lake that gets some bank fishing use but also has a ramp for small boats.

I figured key areas around both could use some cleanup, and I was correct. My total trash haul was just a little more than 14 pounds, but that was 14 pounds of small, light stuff like snack wrappers, lure packaging, worm cups, drink cans and cigarettes, and it ended up forming a bulging bag.

I was talking with a friend about the nationwide effort, and as important as the actual total of trash picked up last week might be the added awareness for participants and observers. I know it made me think more. I always take away my own trash, and literally don’t recall ever consciously littering. However, I’m not so good about picking up other stuff I when I’m out fishing - even when doing so would be easy. I’ll try to work on that!

Bait?

Bass bait! I won’t claim the thought didn’t go through my mind. When I caught a little shiner while bream fishing with my son at his pond, I naturally wondered what might happen if I re-hooked the shiner on a larger hook and pitched it back by the dock or near a shoreline bush.

I used to do that with other golden shiners at a creek near my house while I was growing up. It was fun, and I recall a bit of extra pride that came from catching fish on another fish I had also caught by rod and reel.

As luck would have it for the shiner, I only had the one light rod, which was rigged with a 1/48-ounce jig that had a No. 8 hook. It wasn’t worth hanging onto the baitfish and tying on a bigger hook — and my rod wouldn’t really have been suited for the job. 

So the shiner, which was a new species for me in 2026, got away with just smiling for a single photo before being tossed back into the pond. 

I really need to check some notes and write out my whole list, but with the shiner and some kind of chub or sucker I caught on another recent trip, I think the ‘26 species tally is at 22.

Georgia Largemouth Elusive

It’s somewhat comical to me that with only one species remaining to achieve the Georgia Bass Slam in 2026, one of the species that would get me there is the most common of all — the largemouth bass. 

It takes qualifying fish of five different black bass species (out of 10 possible) to earn the slam, the way the program is set up. I’m confident I’ll get there with more than half a year remaining. Beyond largemouth, Chattahoochee bass live in my part of the state, and I sometimes spend time in waters where other species can be found. Last year I caught qualifying fish of seven species.

It’s just funny to me that I have four of five needed, but no largemouths. I have caught several largemouth bass this year. In fact, I caught some last week. They just haven’t been in Georgia. Last week’s bass came from Lake Guntersville in Alabama. I’ve actually caught bass in three states this year. Just not Georgia.

Qualifying bass I have caught in 2026 include Bartram’s bass, shoal bass, spotted bass and Coosa (redeye) bass. 

Company Fishing Day

My job last Thursday was to go fishing. Simple as that. And the same was true for every other employee of PRADCO-Fishing, which owns and operates Rebel Lures, YUM Bait Company, Bobby Garland Crappie Baits, Heddon Lure and a host of other great fishing lure companies — all found at Lurenet.com

Quite a few people get to tie in fishing with work, whether regularly as a guide or tournament angler or on occasion for entertainment, gear testing or maybe some as aspect of marketing in the fishing industry. 

I’m one of those folks, as a content producer. Part of my job is to get photos and video of fish, fishermen and fishing lures and to write about the same subjects. Consequently I get to spend a reasonable amount of time in a stream or someone’s boat, “researching” and gathering content.

Thursday was different, though, as is one day around this time every year. It wasn’t about gathering content or trying new lures. It was all about enjoying a day of fishing. 

Every year, the company has “PRADCO Fishing Day,” and everyone in the company, whether they work on accounting, manufacturing, sales, marketing or somewhere else, leaves the regular job behind and goes fishing. For some, a couple of hours is enough. Others fish all day. Either works. The only requirement is for everyone to send in a photo of themselves fishing.

Fishing day is always scheduled near a holiday weekend to allow for a nice long break. For PRADCO, this day is inortant for a couple of reasons. First, it’s a gift to employees that shows appreciation. Second, it makes sure that everyone has a least a little exposure to what we do as a company.

I had spent the first half of the week out, doing some of the kind of on-water stuff that’s more common to me, and had spent time in a few different creeks and small rivers and on Lake Guntersville. In short, I had already gotten to fish quite a bit and had been away from home for three days. Therefore I chose a simple and close-to-home plan, wading a section of the Chattahoochee River and fishing for whatever bit. 

I caught a handful of fish of four different species and had a delightful time. Sincere thanks to PRADCO for offering a fishing day!

If you want to see how I spent my morning, visit Fishing on Foot on YouTube and check out “My ONE JOB was to go Fishing.”

Georgia Bass Slam & 2026 Fish Species Tally

Spotted bass/Alabama bass almost feel like freebies for Georgia Bass Slam. These highly similar species, which are treated as one for the Slam, are ultra plentiful in waterways through much of the state, including many places where they aren’t supposed to be and mess up a lot of stuff with native black bass species.

Nevertheless, I had not caught a spot from Georgia waters yet in 2026, so I was delighted to land a pretty 14-inch fish on Monday and to get it properly measured and photographed to meet Georgia Bass Slam requirements.

Today, while filming a different North Georgia stream, I was delighted to see the tail of a Coosa redeye bass cross the 8-inch line in my measuring board. The spot and Coosa were species three and four toward this year’s Slam for me. The minimum for earning the Slam is five of ten possible qualifying black bass species caught during a calendar year. 

Something nice for me is that largemouth bass renain on the list of species that could get me to five. If can’t catch am 8-inch-plus largemouth bass from Georgia waters before the end of the year, I should just give up my fishing license. I also haven’t yet tallied a Chattahoochee bass, and those live in waters close to me. I hadn’t targeted these bass prior to last year, but I feel like I should be able to accomplish that one if I’m intentional about it.

Unrelated to the Georgia Bass Slam, I am keeping a running tally of fish species I catch this year and I was able to grow that year’s list this week. 

Coosa bass, which I actually caught a few of from a couple of streams this week, were additions. I was also able to add redear sunfish and rock bass. I need to go back and look at a few things and do some documenting, but I think that brings this tally to 20 species caught.

I might have written this blog prematurely. I’m fishing again today and could add another species to the Slam and/or my 2025 species list!

Santee Cooper Slugfest at Elite Series Event?

The Bassmaster Elite Series begins at Santee Cooper tomorrow, and it’s another one of those national tournaments that I’m excited about as a fan and as a part of the fishing media. No doubt, I will have the live tuned in while I work tomorrow and will be glancing at BASStrak throughout all weekend, no matter what I’m doing.

This one intrigues me at a few levels, beginning with the likelihood of a bunch of big fish being caught. Santee is a world-class largemouth fishery, with outstanding habitat and diverse and abundant forage, and all reports say the fishery is the healthiest it has been in decades.

Santee Cooper is also very familiar to me, which invariably magnifies interest in a major event. I’ve spent dozens of days fishing all over the 170,000-plus acres that makes up lakes Marion and Moultrie so I know what areas look like and how they differ from a fishing standpoint as I watch the action unfold.

I’ve actually spent a lot of fishing for other species, including catfish, crappie, bluegill and stripers, on the Santee Cooper lakes, but time on the water doing any kind of fishing builds familiarity, and I’ve also enjoyed some outstanding bass fishing on these storied waters.

Adding a third layer of interest, the company I work for, PRADCO-Fishing, sponsors half a dozen Elite Series pros. One of them, Luke Palmer, won the most recent Santee Cooper Elite and finished fourth the year before. Jason Christie won a National Pro Tour event on Santee a couple ago.

About Santee Cooper 

Although often dubbed Santee Cooper Lake, two distinct reservoir and system of canals make up Santee Cooper, which was created in the 1940s. 

Lake Marion, known locally as the Upper Lake, covers 110,00 acres and has extensive flooded timber, a swampy upper end and vast shallow backwaters along its edges. 

Lake Moultrie (the Lower Lake) covers 60,000 acres. It’s basically round and looks wide open, but it bottom is completely with hills, valleys, ditches and other structure. It’s bound by vast, swampy backwaters.

Shallow areas of both lakes are loaded with cypress and tupelo trees and vast stands of vegetation, including hydrilla and eelgrass. Local anglers say the grass coverege is as extensive as they remember, undoubtedly contributing to the health of the bass population.

Santee Cooper is also fertile and is home to several shad and herring species, along with crawfish and various sunfish species to keep the bass well fed. 

Variety Likely

Unlike many major tournaments, where a couple of key approaches make the most sense, causing virtually everyone to fish the same way, a host of approaches are apt to produce at Santee Cooper right now, so anglers will be fishing a lot of different ways. It is also one of the Elite Series events where live sonar is not permitted, which tends to bring out more diverse angling approaches.

Topwater, pitching plastics to trees, cranking humps, swimming vibrating jigs and swim jigs, flipping grass, frog fishing, targeting a shad spawn… The possibilities go on and on. Big bags are apt to be caught with a variety of techniques and from all over the lakes. 

I look forward to seeing how it all unfolds - and hopefully with a story to write to start next week about a YUM or BOOYAH bait producing a win at Santee Cooper!

Asher’s Bream

The fish I caught Friday afternoon were among my favorites from this year, but it had nothing to do with size, species or anything noteworthy about the strikes or fights. It was all about location.

The 10 or so fish I caught — all bluegill or green sunfish— came from my son’s new front yard pond. Asher closed on his first house Friday, and the property includes a stretch of pond bank.

Two of Asher’s siblings and I visited Friday afternoon. We mostly went just to see the house and property, but of course I had my car rod and reel and a few lures handy and had to make at least a few casts! 

I started with a Crickhopper. A few fish pecked at it, but nothing committed. I could see some little fish around the bait so I switched to an Itty Bit Mayfly on a 1/48-ounce jighead and put it beneath a small float. That was the ticket. Several catches followed in short order.

The other slightly noteworthy thing was the fact that some of the fish were green sunfish, and I hadn’t caught one of those previously in 2026.

We saw one bass, which probably weighed a couple of pounds, but didn’t get it to go after anything. Asher did a bit more fishing over the weekend and has caught some other fish, including a shiner. No bass yet, but I’m guessing it won’t be long.