Since my annual Bear Island trip was canceled, we decided to do a short trip to Lake Lanier for a few days of Striper hunting.
I found a few pictures online of some of the hurricane damage to the island...
We hope to go back next year although, we have been actively hunting a new saltwater trip that allows campfires.
The other guys chalked it up as a lost vacation while my buddy Steve and his son came to Georgia for some camping and fishing on Lake Lanier. We decided ahead of time to get 3 nights with the option of leaving after 2 since the forecast showed cold nights. Here is the site...
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| We were actually left of the red marker just into the mouth of the smaller cove. |
We got the truck all packed up Sunday evening and then hooked up the boat. We did not plan to leave early Monday since check-in is not until 3 if someone is on your site. We pulled out around 11 and headed to Hammonds for bait and a few topwater lures.
Heading out!
The bluebacks were lively and of a good size so I got 2 dozen. We were hoping for a top-water bite so I did not want to overbuy live bait. While I was looking around at all the awesome stuff in Hammonds I ran into Captian Mac. He confirmed a few reports I had been watching and gave a few tips. Thanks Mac!
I already had some poppers and Magic Swimmers so I picked up a few Bombers...
Once we arrived, we unloaded and set up camp.
The boat ramp was just outside of the campground gates so rather than worrying about coming in too late and getting locked out, we put the boat in and tied it off near our campsite. The ramp was just across the cove so it was an easy task. There was a little bit of a bank/ledge to contend with but after digging some steps out with my trusty shovel, we managed to navigate it without breaking our necks.
The worst of this plan was the sandy mud. We placed rocks to walk on to the boat but you could not keep the mud out. I do not mind the mud so much as walking on it while fishing after it dries. Needless to say, the deck has a bunch of tiny scratches all over it now ( you get a sample in the Bomber pics above). I guess you could say I finally broke it in. I may look into some Sea Dek!
We went out for a bit after setting up camp but had no luck. We came in just after dusk to get started on dinner, Ribs!
I precooked them at the house the day before so all I had to do is warm and sauce them. They turned out great!
We fried up some potatoes to go with them and we had some coleslaw.
The nights were cool which was perfect for a campfire. We also had a string of lights to see by.
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| Gotta love Funky Flames! |
Once the fire died down we settled into bed. The Big Agnes did awesome as usual. It is so small it tends to hold heat very well. I was also trying out the new
Exped Down Mat I purchased for colder weather. This mat paired with my
North Face Inferno -20 bag left no chance of getting cold. I actually had to climb out of the bag several times during the night. I learned that I could lay the bag upside down over me with my feet in rather than climb in the bag and this made it easier to regulate heat. Picture a quilt with a pocket for your feet (back on the mat rather than the bag). My biggest complaint with the mat would be the size. My first mat (SynMat 7) I ordered in long wide and it was just a tad long for my truck bed as well as the area I can use behind my front seats so I opted for the regular in this one. The small amount of extra you get with the larger mat is well worth it! I felt like I was falling off of it all night. Part of this was due to the slope of the ground in our camping area. I suspect it will be much better on a level surface. None-the-less it was overall comfortable and extremely warm. My spot for the trip...
Up early the next morning for some breakfast before we hit the water, Half Smokes, Bacon, and Fried Eggs in the trusty Lodge cast iron pan. And, of course, coffee. The nice thing about campground camping is water and electric! Hello, coffee pot!
Day 2, we fished from the campground area down to Little Hall without much luck. I did pick up a Needlenose Gar that was about 3.5 feet long. Once I got a good look at it, I did not bring it in the boat. I wish I would have taken a picture though. We came off of the water with just enough daylight to fix some Low Country Boil for dinner.
Once we had our fill we went back out at dusk to try some topwater.
We checked out several areas without any luck. The wind was up a bit and I think that kept the bite down so we headed in to sit around the fire before bed.
We actually used up all of the firewood so we decided we would head home Wednesday evening rather than Thursday morning. We had sausage, potatoes and egg skillet for breakfast with coffee. We used the leftover Low Country Boil potatoes and surprisingly, they were awesome fried up, even with the LCB seasoning soaked in!
There was some fog on the water this AM!
We trolled around Little Hall for a while as well as toss topwater without any luck so we headed down to Old Federal, Holiday Marina, then over to Six Mile. Again, windy and no fish. We had fun none-the-less. We marked fish here and there but just could not get a bite! We headed back to camp, stopping to throw topwater along the way.
We spent the rest of the evening packing up camp, loading the boat, and then headed home.
Backing the boat down the drive to put away until next time. (We did wash it before putting it in the garage)
I hope to get back out in a couple days, maybe the topwater action will pick up!
