December 6, 2006 Water Temp 61 Over the past few days we have experience some unseasonably, beautiful weather, that has done absolutely nothing for the fishing. In spite of it all, we have still managed to catch some nice stringers. On the last couple of trips we have caught a lot of the 3.5-pound, second year, striped bass, without hooking into a nice 8 or 9 pound hybrid. The spots we have targeted are River Bend and Little Stone Mountain. These are the “go to” places when the fish just don’t seem to cooperate. A new “go to” spot that has come up on the map and has produced many fish so far this year is the area in front of the Great Waters Boat house. If you go there this time of the year it will usually be loaded up with hungry gulls, waiting for the fish to push the bait to the top. Last year I spent an entire month fishing that one spot during the fall that produced great catches each and every time. If you are interested in catching some of these line sides the method is using minnows or shad. This time of the year the shad have been hard to find, but using large bass minnows will do the trick. Most of my bites have come on slow trolled flat lines over the past week, but I look for the down line bite to start any day now. If you want to fish shad, there are some to be netted around the Hwy 44 Bridge. If anyone reading this has found a cove holding a lot of bait, let me know so I can pass it on to other anglers. Most of you know how fast the bait can disappear on us and the first rule of every great angler is to help others in need. ? Tight Lines Doug Nelms