July 7, 2010: “Vacationing on the Ocmulgee”
Met up with my friends ”PawPaw” and “TyGa10″ to fish the Ocmulgee River. Man, was it hot. The fishing was pretty good for me. I caught 15 on the day… a mixture of Shoal Bass (a nice 4 lber included), Largemouth and Spotted Bass. The day started out Kinda dumb really. I tossed my Crazy Creek seat in the back of my pickup, but didn’t bother to strap it down or at least put something on top of it to weigh it down. When I got to the put in, I noticed it was missing… it was then I remembered… So I back tracked down the highway about 4 miles. Found it laying beside the road. Would’ve been a long day without the comfort of a padded seat. I was really lucky. Anyway… on with the pics.
My big "Shoalie" 3 lbs. 15 oz. This largemouth went about 3 lbs.
This was a little cut through the big island. Sure was pretty on this section of the Ocmulgee.
This largemouth went about 3 lbs.
Just look at this view!!!
Biggest Spot of the day.
June 6, 2010: “Celebrating Sweet 16″
Fished the lower Flint river today with my good friend Rob and his son Zack and his friend Josh. Fishing was slow due to the river being up but we still had a great float. We were celebrating Zack’s 16th birthday… so I was a bit honored that I was included in this “party”. Boy, we had some good food too thanks to Rob “Hoth2o”. Brats, beans and kraut for lunch on Saturday… Jack Daniel’s Steak Saturday night! For breakfast Sunday morning he fixed pancakes and Stripling’s sausage. Wow was that good eatin’. Thanks again Rob! On with the pictures…
June 3, 2010 – Jim Murray, Jr.
Water Clarity: 2-3 feet
Got a break from the largemouth today and got to fish for my favorite freshwater fish, the Flint River Shoal Bass. I had the pleasure of spending the day with a father/son from Texas and watch them complete their Bass Slam. They have driven all over the country fish all types of environments and yesterday their “Bass Slam” was complete.
Fishing was a little slow due to the recent thunderstorms. The water was flowing hard with a nice stain. We managed to catch several shoal bass and largemouth on jigs and topwater. I have days open in June for reservoir or river fishing.
March 6, 2010 - Fished with my friend Tom Reese of Thomaston GA. We made a trip to the lower Flint River below Albany. The river had a good color but was still high and roaring like a runaway train. The water temp was right around 53 while we were there and the clarity was about two feet. The fishing was difficult to say the least. All we caught was this 2.8 Shoal Bass…
September 21, 2009
Water Clarity: 2-3 feet
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!!!!
Arabi, GA 31712
229-322-9602
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 fishing will be getting better each week with September through November being prime time for big shoal bass. I have days open in September and October. Give me a call, let’s go catch a shoal bass.
Murray’s Guide Service
1662 Hwy 33 South
Arabi, GA 31712
229-322-9602
August 18, 2009 – Flint River Fishing Report
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!!!
Jim Murray
July 24, 2009 – Flint River Fishing Report
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.
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.
July 11, 2009
Met up with some friends to float & fish the lower Flint river. The fish were not biting at all but my friend Rob did land a huge Bowfin. These are fierce prehistoric fish that will tear up your gear. These fish have an attitude… Congrats to Rob for his catch.
June 28, 2009 – Lower Flint River
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
2 lbs. range with an occasional 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 lure imulates a helgrammite and the shaol bass cannot stand it. When the topwater bite goes away, 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.
229-322-9602
June 26, 2009
... drove up to Atlanta on Friday to fish with my son Chris “Riverman” on the Chattahoochee River. He lives within walking distance of one of the best stretches of the river for fishing. We put in Saturday morning at Power’s Island and paddled down to the I-285 bridge. We only fished a few hours due to the heat and the fact this area is also popular for recreational “tubing” and “rafting”. I only caught three but one was a decent Smallmouth Bass. Here are some photos:
The Chattahoochee runs right through Atlanta but in most areas you would never know it…
I caught this Smallmouth Bass right under the bridge using a spinnerbait.
Chris watching the “rafters” go under the bridge
Chris’ first “Hooch Largie”
We didn’t tear ‘em up but we had a great time nonetheless. Thanks Chris… for a great father’s day weekend. I’ll be back soon to fish that beautiful stretch of water with you.
June 13, 2009 – Fishing Dodge
I met up with several friends to fish Dodge County Lake near Eastman, GA this month. The wind was howling and the bite was off but we did catch a few fish. The highlight of the day was another great lunch prepared by my buddy Rob “hoth2o”. Here are a few photos from the day:
hoth2o posing in his new Hobie Pro Angler
Brats for lunch at Dodge County Lake
I landed this Largemouth early using a buzz bait
Rob’s first Bass from the Pro Angler – caught him using a plastic worm
We had a blast!
May 16. 2009 – Kayak Fishing on the Flint River
My fishing buddy Tom and I met in Thomaston, GA for what we hoped we be a good day to fish for Flint River Shoal Bass. We started the day like we always do with a nice breakfast. Sausage, eggs, bisquets and hash browns hit the spot. We were a little concerned about it being a rainy day but decided if the fish didn’t mind, neither would we. Turned out that it only sprinkled a few times and for the most part it was a gorgeous day to be on the river. We shuttled from Sprewell Bluff State Park to a private launch up river about six miles. We were on the water by 8:00. I caught my first Shoal Bas about 20 mins. later using a Black buzz bait. I caught a small Spotted Bass in a grass bed a little later using a “home made” 4 inch Red Bug worm. After that we didn’t see much of a bite at all. I kept getting ”hits” on the worm so we decided to go with that after lunch. I’m glad we did. I landed this guy using a Texas Rigged Green Pumpkin/Green worm. 
Here is my fishing buddy (and all around good guy) Tom paddling in search of his next shoalie.
We caught about 24 on the day. The Green worm was definitely a favorite of the Shoalies today. All were released unharmed to live and play another day in this great Georgia fishery.
Happy Paddling!
My big "Shoalie" 3 lbs. 15 oz.
