Water Temperature: 75
Water Clarity: 4 feet or greater

Shane Watson Guide Service Thursday Report. The topwater striper bite continues to be very good most mornings and late afternoons. If you can find them busting on top they will bite a Redfin, Spook, Chugbug, or a Sammie. They were on top strong, in several places this morning on the southend. They were relaxed and there were no other boats on them. They were thick on the downline while they were busting on top as you can see in the picture above. If you can't find them on top, downlines fished 35-80 feet deep will produce in the mouths of most southend creeks. Leadcore is also still producing a few. On another note, on my new boat Capt. Mack hooked me up with a Keep- Alive oxygen setup used in my factory built in 22 gallon bait tank. I wanted to run this thing for awhile to see how it works before I reported about it. I've used it for almost 2 weeks and this setup keeps 5 dozen bluebacks better than anything I have ever seen. Thomas has always used pure oxygen in the store tanks and in the transport tanks and we wanted to try it in a smaller day to day setup. This oxygen setup does not beat the bait up. Your bait looks just a good at the end of the day, as when you put them in your tank that morning. There is no filter to clean and this setup has a very low oxygen consumption with the adjustable regulator. Not to mention the additional room that I have, without a bait tank sitting on my floor. If you have a decent size built in bait tank and you are wanting to have the best bait possible, I would check into this deal. We have these setups at the store for sale. You can also come by and see mine in operation after my morning trips. The store is setup to re-fill our oxygen tanks for 8.00 to 12.00 per bottle, depending on size. With the small size tank, we are estimating 30-40 trips use before re-filling. The bigger tanks will last much longer. This report is brought to you by Shane Watson Guide Service and Hammond's Fishing Center. Good Fishing.

Water Temperature: 78
Water Clarity: 4 feet or greater

Shane Watson Guide Service Friday Report. Many things have worked this week on the stripers. We've had some good topwater fishing on Redfins, Spooks, and Sammies when we've seen busting fish. The downline bite has also been good out over the main channel for bigger fish and in the mouths of creeks and in deeper coves just off the main lake for smaller fish. Leadcore continues to produce as well out over the main channel on Capt. Mack's jigs and Shadalicious paddle tails. Your best bet is to look for busting fish for the first 2 hours early each day and the last 2 hours before the sun goes down. If they aren't on top, I would look for some downline fish or troll leadcore. On another note, Thomas went yesterday and picked up the first load of trout of the season. They are 1.00 a piece and we will have them all winter long. It's been a quick year, seems like the fall is coming in early with this cooler weather and the fish already on top. It is so great to see a big school of busting stripers on the surface. This week, if you get half way close with a Redfin, you are hooked up. While we were rigging my new boat the other day, Dwayne and I came out and took the red boat out on it's final run before I sold it. We fished about a hour and a half and caught some nice fish including this 27 pounder on downline bluebacks fished 40-80 feet deep just off the main channel. All of our fish were released. This report is brought to you by Shane Watson Guide Service and Hammond's Fishing Center. We appreciate your business and good fishing.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resource Division (WRD) and its partners invite parents to bring their children to a Kid’s Fishing Event (KFE) at the Buford Dam Lower Pool Park on the Chattahoochee River. This special event will take place on September 22, National Hunting and Fishing Day, from 9 am – 2 pm and is a great way to introduce the fun of fishing to kids. Buford Trout Hatchery will stock 3,000 rainbow trout in the river for the event, and the Optimist and Kiwanis Clubs will provide hot dogs and drinks to participants.

This event is for children 15 and under. Participants are asked to bring their own fishing poles, as only a limited number of loaner poles will be available. Sponsors will provide the bait but participants can bring their own bait or lures if desired. Parents must accompany children throughout the event and WRD recommends that everyone, especially young children, bring and wear life jackets. There will be some fishing demonstrations and volunteers available to assist participants with tasks such as baiting hooks and removing fish from hooks.

For more information on this event, contact Bill Couch at the WRD Buford Trout Hatchery at 770-781-6888. For directions to the Lower Pool Park, call 770-945-9531. For more information on fishing opportunities in Georgia, visit www.gofishgeorgia.com

Water Temperature: 80
Water Clarity: 4 feet or greater

Shane Watson Guide Service Sunday Report. The striper fishing was very good both Saturday and Sunday on our boats. The stripers were busting on top in several places and would bite a Redfin everytime you got close to them. While our customers were reeling them in on the casting rods, we would put the downlines out and hook up immediately. Above is a quick picture that I took while the fish were busting around the boat on top. As you can see, there are many fish under the ones that are on top. I believe they would have bit a freeline this morning while it was cloudy, but I didn't have time to try it. Get out your casting rods as the schooling bite is on. Keep your downlines ready as well. Also, we did catch some nice stripers this morning on leadcore after the sun came out and the wind got up. This report is brought to you by Shane Watson Guide Service and Hammond's Fishing Center. Good Fishing.

Water Temperature: 77
Water Clarity: 4 feet or greater

Shane Watson Guide Service Wednesday Report. Since my last report the striper fishing has been very good at times. If the stripers are moving up in the water column and bunched up, you might catch 20 or 30. If they are deeper and scattered, your bites will be scattered as well. Your best bet is to downline bluebacks 35-60 feet deep over a 70-120 foot bottom or troll leadcore. Look in the mouths to the middle of southend creeks and over the main channel from Vann Tavern to the Dam. The most important thing is to keep moving until you get on the fish, blind fishing remains hit or miss at best. We are starting to see a few busting fish, so I would keep a bone super spook or a sammie tied up and ready. Over the next 2 months as the surface temps drop, we will see more and more surfacing fish. This report is brought to you by Shane Watson Guide Service and Hammond's Fishing Center. Good Fishing.