Hot Tips and PFA Fishing Reports

Check here for the latest information on what is biting at Georgia PFAs. The information below is based on reports of what anglers have been catching and what they have been using.  Best bets for what to expect for fishing in the upcoming month are presented too. Go fish!

These tips are updated throughout the year. If you do not see a recent report here for a PFA that you are interested in contact the PFA directly for up-to-date information. Click on the links on the right to learn more about each PFA.

• Water temperatures at the McDuffie PFA are at 86 degrees due to hot weather. The McDuffie PFA Lakes have been recently fertilized. Water temperatures will be cooling off now so the bass fishing will be getting better. The largemouth bass catch rates will increase due to cooler water temperatures and anglers should find bass feeding heavily in early morning and late evening. The bream are biting well but may be in deeper water. Look for bream to spawn during September’s full moon. All McDuffie PFA lakes have concrete boat ramps and courtesy docks for boating anglers. 

Boaters must have PFD’s for each person on board and must have registered their boats if they have an electric trolling motor or gas motor on the boat. 

**All lakes excluding Rod Bender Lake received a supplemental stocking of channel catfish in October 2009. 

• Clubhouse Lake: visibility: Green- Anglers are catching bluegill, shellcracker and catfish. Clubhouse catch rates of bass remain low but anglers who are patient will catch bass of quality size. During September, good catches of bream and catfish will be available to anglers, especially early in the morning and late evening. This lake does have some trees near the shoreline for shade and at the ADA piers.
• Bream Buster Lake:  visibility:  Green – Bream Buster Lake only receives light fishing pressure for largemouth bass. Locally, Bream Buster is known as a catfish lake but quality bass are present for action during mornings and evenings. Catfish are biting well in this lake and some limits will be caught.  Bream will be biting as well and the bite should get even better as the spawn draws near in September. Bream Buster has some shade trees on two sides for bank anglers.
• Bridge Lake: visibility: Green - Bridge Lake is a good catfish and bream lake and receives steady pressure throughout the summer from bank and boat anglers. Channel catfish are biting now, as well as brown bullheads.  Anglers catching brown bullheads should expect these fish to be greater than 12 inches. Bluegill should spawn on the September full moon. Bream can spawn in water depths of 12 inches to 3 feet of water and usually around structure. Bass will be getting more aggressive as the water temperature cools. Bridge Lake has some truly impressive bass in both size and numbers. Striped bass in this lake should begin biting this month and anglers targeting this fish should expect quality size. Blue crank baits are highly recommended.
• Beaver Lodge Lake: visibility: Stained - Catfish catch rates remain low. This lake is heavily stocked with catfish but will still offer some good opportunities for bream. Largemouth bass are in low numbers and can be caught in the lily pads and around structure in the lake. This lake has some standing and submerged stumps but is very shallow in these areas. However, fish enjoy these shallow areas for feeding and resting. Beaver Lodge Lake has shade trees on the East side for early mornings, midday and late evenings for bank anglers in a picturesque setting.
• Rod Bender Lake: visibility: Green"- Rod Bender Lake is open to fishing the first seven days of each month. Bass fishing in this lake is catch and release only. Largemouth bass are in very good condition. The best time to fish Rod Bender will be early mornings and late evenings during the seven days it’s open. Bass have a lot of food in these forage species (shiners, threadfin, small bream) so they will have to be tempted to bite. Bass are mainly caught in and near the submerged trees where the baitfishes are congregated but also along the shoreline. Tie on the right size and color lure to match the local baitfish and fish slow and deep then hang on to your rods. Fishing floating worms and buzz baits should generate some exciting strikes. The old standbys like rubber worms, artificial minnows, and spinner baits will also catch bass during the Fall season. Rod Bender does have a quality size population of bream that can be caught from the boat pier and shoreline. The lake has two catfish species (speckled and channel catfish), which can be harvested.

• Willow Lake: visibility: Green- Willow continues to receive most of the bass fishing pressure on the PFA.  There is constant fishing pressure for bream in Willow with nice stringers being caught. Bream should bed on the September full moon near the shoreline. Catfish are biting chicken liver, blood bait and worms near the bank and fishing piers.
• Jones Lake: visibility: Green- McDuffie PFA anglers are harvesting good catches of channel catfish and bream from this lake. Good catches of bream and catfish will continue to be caught throughout September. Some of the 10 –13 inch bass should be growing well and may reach legal size by early fall. Several anglers are still casting for largemouth from the shoreline in late evenings and early mornings.