Jim Murray Jr.
Nestled in the southwest corner of Georgia, you will find the swift rocky shoals of the lower Flint River. These shoals are home to some of the biggest Shoal Bass found anywhere. Chances are you’ll also find Jim Murray Jr., a B.A.S.S Elite Series Pro Angler and river guide extraordinaire. Jim knows these waters and the fiesty Shoal Bass as well as anyone… thats probably because he has spent so many years on the Flint River chasing this rare species. He uses a custom made aluminum tunnel boat, equipped with a Mercury 115HP four stroke engine, to navigate the shallow rocky environment.
On the Lower Flint its not uncommon to catch largemouth bass but Jim specializes in Big Shoal Bass. His guide service includes a full eight hour day of catch and release fishing. For trophies, Jim will take measurements and pictures of your fish so you can get a replica mount made to exact proportions. Whether as a gift to a friend, or a personal fishing trip of a lifetime, the Flint River and its hard fighting Shoal Bass is something you need to experience.
Go ahead and book your trip today and come join Jim on a Flint River adventure. For more info on a great guided river trip, visit Murray’s Guide Service. You’ll be glad you did!
Jim’s Flint River Fishing Reports!
Water Clarity: 2-3 feet
The river really tunred on last week with a lot of big shoal bass being caught. However, we got a lot of rain this past weekend causing me to reschedule a few trips. The way it looks now, it might be next week before the Flint gets good again.
We caught a lot of fish on topwaters all day, with a few fish coming on Zoom Super Flukes during the slow times of the day. After this fresh water, the bite should be great throughout the fall with the best fishing yet to come.
I am booking now for October, this is prime time for big shoal bass. Take a day off from work and come catch one of these big shoal bass!!!!
August 27, 2009
Water Temperature: 80
Water Clarity: 2-3 feet
The cooler mornings have had the shoal bass on the move. It has been nice on the water for the most part of the day with the morning and evening topwater bites getting better each week. The fishing has been good for numbers with a few nice ones mixed in. The big shoal bass are still out deeper in the swift current around isolated rocks and wood.
For topwaters, we have been throwing prop baits and Zoom Super Flukes. During the day, small jigs and CBT jigheads with a small crawfish has been getting steady bites from all sizes with the most being around 2 lbs.
The recent rains have picked the spinnerbait bite up for largemouth and shoal bass. The largemouth have been on the bank in and around cypress kness while the the shoal bass have stayed around isolated rocks around the chutes. Early in the morning, topwaters and buzzbaits have beeen producing as well for steady action.
These patterns will remain the same until the river clears up and drops about a foot or so.
I have days open in August and September for both the river and area lakes. Get away from your normal routine and let’s go get catch a hard fightin’ shoal bass!!!
August 8. 2009 – Fishing the “Ol Monster”
The dog days of summer are approaching us here in the south. One of my favorite lure for the summer months is a Zoom ‘Ol Monster worm in the Plum Apple color for stained water and a Watermelon Seed for clearer conditions. This worm can be fished on ledges, shellbeds, docks, really any kind of targets in and around their summer haunts. Although, I texas rig it most of the time, I will carolina rig around deep offshore ledges. Usually, I use a 1/4oz. for water 5 feet or less, 3/8 oz. for water 5 to 10 feet, and 1/2 oz. for depths greater than 10 feet. As far as carolina rigs go, I use 1 oz. exclusively because I want the weight to make a disturbance on the bottom. The hooks I use are simple, a 5/0 straight shank for open water and a 5/0 offset shank for brush and grassbeds. Both of these hooks have a regular wire and a round bend style. If you have not used a big plastic worm such as the Zoom ‘Ol Monster before, give it a try. You will be suprised just how many fish you will catch from all sizes ranging from big to small.
During the day, the bite tends to be more scattered with an occasional big fish mixed in. Lures such as football heads and CBT jigheads with a small Zoom Critter Craw work well. For big fish, we have been throwing a homemade swimbait custom painted by Custom Bass Tackle. This pattern gets a lot of followers, and they are all tanks.
I have days open next week and in August. Come go with me and let’s catch a shoal bass!!
June 28, 2009
Lower Flint River (below Lake Blackshear)
Besides the heat, this is what I live for, big shoal bass on topwater!!!! Recent trips have been good for numbers of fish in the 2lb. range with an occoasional big one mixed in. The best lure for me is a topwater prop bait or a Zoom Super Fluke. I fish these lures around the shoals or isolated logs in the river.
There is also a good bite on a CBT shaky head rigged with a Zoom Finesse Worm. This lures imulates a helgrammite and the shoal bass cannot stand it. When the topwater bite goes way, this is my “go to” bait for bites.
I have a few dates left in July. We can work around the heat, so go ahead and book your trip today.
Good fishing,
Jim Murray Jr.
1662 HWY 33 South
Arabi, GA 31712
229-322-9602
www.jimmurrayjr.com
For dawn and dusk conditions, everyone likes to throw a topwater. My go to pattern for this is the Custom Bass Tackle HD Bream lineup. For shallow conditions, I usually fish a prop bait the majority of the time. This lure imulates suspended bream you find around shallow vegetation and docks. For giant bass, be sure to cast this lure around bream beds. The results can very rewarding and you may catch the fish of a lifetime.
July 24, 2009
Water Temperature: 83
Water Clarity: 2-3 feet
The early morning topwater bites has been good the past few days on buzzbaits and prop baits. The fish are getting real specific in their locations and we are moving around quite a bit from one area to another.
