Nestled among the mountains near Rome, Georgia is one of the state’s best kept secrets for a plentiful rainbow trout fishing experience. This is a continuation of the Man Can Outdoors trip to Johns Mountains blog series.
A quick 45 minute drive north of Rome, GA takes you to a secluded WMA with limited cell service and plenty of scenery from rolling green hills to lush forest. Johns Mountain WMA has plenty of activities from hiking, hunting, camping, fishing and lots more. A winding road follows beside Johns Creek in the WMA allowing for easy access to rainbow trout.
Waking and walking up at the crack of dawn at the campsite next to the stocking section of Johns Creek, we were greeted with a couple of old timers already well into their limits of trout. The stream barely 20 feet wide was full of colorful rainbow trout from the hatchery. The variety of setups for the trout in our arsenal would make the morning interesting none the less, and each cast in the water was met with a bite or flash of interested fish.
Man Can Staffers Donny and Josh used the strategy of a split shot and a small size 6 hook with a Powerbait worm in a wacky worm rig. The setup proved fruitful as they landed their limits in just a couple of hours. A simple cast and steady reel in lead to several strikes and a stringer full of fish. The color of the bait and line size (4-6 pound Fluro) play a serious role in their success. Trout are very visual hunters and high water clarity helps them spot the line and bait.
My strategy of using a size 10 Joe’s Fly short striker lure proved just as productive. Several short bites from a regular lure would have been missed if it was not for the trailer hook on my lure to secure the shy rainbows. Brown, black and red all produced hits, while orange and green produce no bites. A steady retrieve with a split shot made my presentation flawless. My limit was made right in the timeframe with the Powerbait anglers in my party.
For more information on Johns Mountain WMA, please click here.
Do not throw that old Christmas tree out or even burn it! The following video shows you how to make a Christmas tree habitat that will stay in place and create a prime fishing spot by aligning the tree vertically. This method creates an optimal habitat compare to just throwing the tree in the lake with a rock tied to it. See the video below on Man Can’s best practices on making a Christmas Tree Fish Habitat.
Have you ever wished you could go back in time? To a simpler way of life. A place where the frills of the dot com world were considered science fiction. A place where the basic necessities of coffee, beer, bait and fishing, are all that you need. In the hustle and bustle of the workplace and family, I needed an escape, and I bet you do too.
Late October, I continued my fall fishing adventures in the salt flats off the Forgotten Coast in the sleepy town of Saint Marks, Florida. This trip was with my Dad, and we targeted red drum, black drum, flounder, seatrout and Spanish mackerels. Our home base was the rustic Shell Island Fish Camp, a pocket of nostalgia with clean, but simple rooms that were close to the marine garage, bait shop and dock. The bait shop, managed by Bucky, could get you a hot cup of joe, boat equipment, snacks, fishing gear and bait. They also book rental boats and charters at the shop. A piece of advice to the novice, always book a guide to learn the area from honey holes to pesky oyster bars that hide in the tide.
After we drove down rural 27 south and passed a round Tallahassee, we pulled Dad’s center console skiff into the camp. This pocket of Floridian history has not changed much with the times looking like a page out of a 1960s history book. Bucky was waiting with our key at the rustic baitshop with some friendly banter. After the pleasantries, we gotthe boat in the water and docked in front of the Tarpon infested fish cleaning area.
The majestic silver kings impatiently waiting on the next scrap of cleaned fish. Within a few minutes after a short walk from the wooden dock, we arrived in our quaint room and prepared to rest up for the night.
At first dawn, we loaded up in our skiff with the gear and headed south down the river toward the first oyster bar in the hazy fall morning. Our first stop on the way out is an oyster bar by the channel marker. With the tide at the right height and direction, we positioned in front of a hole at the edge of the bar and dropped two anchors. A few casts with a live shrimp rigged for the bottom turned up small bites and empty hooks. Eventually, on the third cast and my third shrimp, I hooked into something with a little fight. As I reeled it in, my heart raced for the first hook up of the day. The dark fish broke the surface with a feisty splash, and it was clearly a keeper black drum. I flipped it in the boat and open the cooler to ice my prize.
Dad on the other hand has casted several times and lost numerous shrimp to opportunist smaller fish. He grumbled to me to hand him a shrimp after one cast and fruitless reel-in. And in my facetious ways, I handed a shrimp the size of large mouse to my dad thinking that it would keep the fish from taking his bait and at the same time not catch anything with monstrous prawn.
He hooked the jumbo shrimp onto 1/16 oz. jighead and casted just over the hole. As he reeled in slowly, I was chattering up a storm with him. I was midsentence when interrupted me in angry outburst.
“I hooked bottom!” Dad said. He started to pull the line free and to our surprise the line began to squeal. He had a fish on.
The fish bent Dad’s rod over as it fought hard to get away from the boat. Dad kept his tip up to keep the line tight and ensure a colossal catch. Dad’s heart sunk as the rod went straight and line begin to show slack.
“Did you lose it?” I asked. Reeling in the line, Dad’s silence was my answer. “I would love to see that monster caught,” I thought to myself.
Just then, the line grew taut again. The fish must have swum directly to the boat because the fight was still on.
Dad, much like Hemingway’s Santiago, struggled with the mighty fish. He took some of the line and the fish took more. The reel screeched in agony as the drag pulled against the stubborn fish. The clever fish tried to maneuver around the motor, but Dad swiftly raised the rod high to keep the line from tangling and breaking in the outboard. Eventually, the fish breached the top of the water. It looked like a big red but faded. It was a monster Black Drum, and he ran as soon as we saw it.
Dad’s final moments of the fight were harsh, but brief. His shoulder began to throb in pain as the last few yards of line were reeled to the skiff. The fish beside the boat broke the surface.
Our guide yelped, “it won’t fit in the net!”
Dad retorted back, “it better!”
As the guide dipped the net into the water, the fish hung out from it like a grown man in a kid’s hammock. He swung the net over into the boat and the 34-inch black drum was caught.
For video of some of the fight see below.
After the photos and release of the fish, Dad took a well-deserved 10-minute break from fishing. We continued the day with a flounder, Spanish mackerel and several seatrout in the flats of the gulf. Later, back at the dock, the chatter was about the big black drum as the old men drank cold domestic beer and shared fish tales from their own adventures of the day.
For more information about Shell Island Fish Camp, click here.
Man Can Staffers Donny and Josh used the strategy of a split shot and a small size 6 hook with a Powerbait worm in a wacky worm rig. The setup proved fruitful as they landed their limits in just a couple of hours. A simple cast and steady reel in lead to several strikes and a stringer full of fish. The color of the bait and line size (4-6 pound Fluro) play a serious role in their success. Trout are very visual hunters and high water clarity helps them spot the line and bait.
Man Can Outdoors 