Dirtroad Current Reports

REMINDER!!!

Tomorrow is the shotgun patterning day at Wilson Shoals WMA.  It runs from 10 am – 2 pm and is a free event.   This is a great opportunity to tune up before turkey season opens in two weeks.  Thank you to Georgia DNR for supporting this event!  We hope to see everyone there!!!

We turn on the news tonight to see that March is starting with a Winter Weather Advisory.  Where was this during duck season?

Cold spring starts can offer some excellent fishing though.  Stripper and crappie fishing are both excellent this time of year.  Lake Lanier is one of the best stripper fishing lakes in the southeast.  If you have access to deep water, now is the time to get out.  Crappie fishing is available almost anywhere.  Many of our small lakes in north Georgia have crappie.  There are several ways to fish for them, but our favorite is with a small jig and minnow in the stick ups.

A lesser known fish that is active in Georgia this time of year is walleye.  There are several areas to fish for walleye in north Georgia.  The upper end of Lake Lanier has some remaining population along with the Georgia Power Lakes in North Georgia.

Contact us at dirtroaddispatch@ymail.com for more information on each of these fishing opportunities.

The duck season came to a somber end on Sunday.  Mixed reviews were reported for this season.  Ducks populations were definitely up, but the migration didn’t cooperate in all areas.  Some historically great areas had poor seasons and areas that are normally so-so were excellent this year.  Georgia hunters had great seasons in the coastal regions with better than average season for the remainder of the state.  Other states such as Texas and North Dakota had spectacular seasons again this year.

Now that the season is over, it is time to prepare for next season.

*Clean the guns throughly.  Remember that we abuse our duck guns and now is the time to prolong their life.

*Organize the decoys.  Replace worn lines.  Remove knots and hitches in the lines.  Repaint the ones that need a touch-up.

*Organize left over shotgun shells.  Sort by size and place in safe dry areas.  Shells will rust too.

*Check waders for holes and store properly.  We also check these before the start of the season.

*Clean out boat.  Clean areas of the boat and trailer that took abuse from highway salt and cinders.  We recommend pressure washing these.  Do preventative maintenance now too.  We all will use our boats before next duck season, but take the time in between to seasons to take care of our equipment.

Next time we will tell you about your responsibility to give back nature during the month of February.

This duck season is in its last hours. Where do you plan to spend the finale? Cold weather has pushed some ducks and hunters are getting a little luck to end the season. The end of the season is always a sad day, but we are only 7 months until the early seasons re-open. Enjoy the last day and good luck to everyone hitting the water tomorrow!!!

Duck Season ends in most of the southeast this Sunday. It has been a pretty good season for a lot of hunters that put in time and effort. Ducks never moved through in large numbers due to the mostly unseasonably warm temperatures throughout the winter, but there were several mini-flights. Drought conditions affected many hunters across the southeast. Many of the good spots from year’s past were dry this year. Arkansas hunters encountered this as well as hunters in Alabama, Georgia and others. The mini-flights provided some interesting hunts for many hunters. There were several good days that brought a nice mixed bag. Georgia had reports of teal, gadwall, redheads, mergansers, mallards, shovelers, scaup, ringnecks, buffleheads, and of course wood ducks. Without the big migration, this still proved to be a good season.

With cold weather moving in tonight and sticking through the weekend, we may get some additional birds to move. Thankfully the season lasts a week longer than in the past to take advantage of this cold spell. If you are able to get out and enjoy the end of the season, try to take a kid or someone new to the sport.

After record high temperatures over the weekend and rain on Monday and Tuesday, the southern zone deer season has come to a soggy end. A thermocell was more important than cover scent or a bleat call this season. Reports from the southern zone were disappointing, much like the northern zone. Although some hunters have reported seeing more deer this season, most are reporting a dip in numbers. Also, fewer trophy deer have been reported from the southern zone than previous years. One hunter even was caught saying, “I can’t believe that I had to go hunt private land in the norther zone to kill a trophy buck.”

Hopefully Georgia DNR will take some suggestions from the hunters and biologists across the state. Be sure to voice your concerns to the DNR. It is less than 9 months until bow season reopens, so keep scouting and practicing. The season will be here before you know it!