Altamaha River - Search for the new state/world record

[catmax]

i truly believe that this river will yield a new state record, and will be caught this year. me and my buddy intend on fishing the altamaha many many times this year.

[Cuda-Cada]

I definately know there are flatheads bigger than the state record still in the Altamaha. I think there are probably a few that go over 100 lbs. I caught and released one that weighed 62 lbs last year and limbliners catch some every year that weigh over 70 lbs. Just a matter of time. Probably start back chasing them in late march myself.

[catmax]

i was wondering how the weather has been and if the river is warming up at all. and what is the desired tempature for the first visit to the river.any locals around please respond

[sharkn1979]

the altamaha is still a little cool and the bite has been real slow but it should start picking up in the next month

[whisker bend]

the new state record is 83 or 85 lbs for a flat. it was caught out of the altamaha last year. good luck and use big tackle so you can get that new state record to the boat.

[sharkn1979]

it was 86# and something is fishy about his story and it was not the fish

[Cuda-Cada]

I usually start in April. I have heard of limeliners catching them all year round though. I think the water might still be too cold but the rise and fall of the river gets them moving. The water temp. is usually in the high 50's, low 60's in the spring when I start and in the fall I have fished down to when the water is 46 degrees but caught flatheads only down to 53 degrees.

[catmax]

i upgraded my line to 80 pound braided. and down graded my rodds, but they are still stiff. last years rodds were so stiff that a 38 pounder drugg the boat and had another one drag it about 15 feet before he got into a heavy snagg:ooooh: . but cant wait for this summer

[catmax]

the first trip has been planed.march 16,17,18. may be a little early but hell what else you gonna do

[georgia_hunter]

Me and a friend went last weeknd, did not do anything hardly. We caught 5 fish nuttin over 10 pounds. We planed on going back but the river is on a fast rise here in Hazlehurst. Let me know how you do, hope you have better luck than us.

[catmax]

were those 5 fish flatheads???????

[georgia_hunter]

Yup All 5 were Flatheads.

[catmax]

my god in heaven, remind me to never fish the altamaha river when its 11.5 and rising. lets just say the river could have capsized most average size boats.:ooooh: and the 30mph winds were hell. i didnt even know where to start to fish when i pulled up to jaycees landing and saw the river.

[Ole Muddy]

How much current does the altamaha have most of the time. How much weight does it take ?

[Baitkiller]

I hope this helps! There r ones with temps included somewhere too.

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ga/nwis/rt

:sweat:

[RiverKing]

it was 86# and something is fishy about his story and it was not the fish


What was fishy about it?? The guy who caught it is a BOC member..Didnt seem fishy to me. Sounded like he was in the right place at the right time, and landed a monster.

[catmax]

ole muddy- i use 4 ounces but i think sometimes u need 5 or 6. 4 skipped along on the bottom of the river this weekend. in which stretch of the river did he catch this monster 86 pounder.

[Ole Muddy]

Thanks fellows I coming down to Hazelhurst the 26 to try to stick a big ole flatty

[sharkn1979]

What was fishy about it?? The guy who caught it is a BOC member..Didnt seem fishy to me. Sounded like he was in the right place at the right time, and landed a monster.
i know the the exact place where he caught caught the flathead and the reel he was useing most likely would not hold a cat of that size in the current that he was in. i have been fishing that area for over twenty years and have caught several over fifty pounds in that same area and i know how much pressure it will put on a reel and line. sometimes fame will make even the best of people lie. fish of over fifty pounds are very common on this river and can be caught almost anywhere.i am not saying that he did not catch the fish and he may have lucked up and caught it on a rod

[sharkn1979]

he caught that catfish a couple miles away from jacee landing

[catmax]

was it caught south of jaycees landing. that sure is a big fish to be caught in fast moving water. it would seem like a cat that big would be in very slow moving water.

[JAinSC]

i know the the exact place where he caught caught the flathead and the reel he was useing most likely would not hold a cat of that size in the current that he was in. i have been fishing that area for over twenty years and have caught several over fifty pounds in that same area and i know how much pressure it will put on a reel and line. sometimes fame will make even the best of people lie. fish of over fifty pounds are very common on this river and can be caught almost anywhere.i am not saying that he did not catch the fish and he may have lucked up and caught it on a rod

Look. It's none of my business and I don't know the guy that caught the fish or the details of the catch, but I think you ought to be a bit more open minded. Sure, there's a measure of luck involved in landing any big fish. Just because you think you would have had a very hard time landing a fish under a given set of circumstances, I would not accuse someone else of cheating and lieing in a public forum.

Personally, I have caught blues up to 90 pounds and flatheads to 60 on 15 pound test line. Was there some good luck involved? Heck yes. Where I caught the blue there was virtually no cover around. The flathead was kind enough to stay clear of cover (I happen to believe that flatheads usually do not intentionally head for cover).

[catmax]

flatheads do head for cover more times than not. when hooked 80% of the time(the fish i have caught) they head strate back to where they came from. and especialy a giant like that one.

[JAinSC]

flatheads do head for cover more times than not. when hooked 80% of the time(the fish i have caught) they head strate back to where they came from. and especialy a giant like that one.

I'm lucky that the area I fish for flats most of the time has almost of the cover along the banks. Once you get out about 15 feet from the bank, the river bottom is pretty much clear. The only flats I have lost on snags - and yes I have lost several - seem like they were just running down the river or following the deep water and they just happened to go by a snag. It didn' tseem to me like they intentionally went there to rub me off or anything like that. That's just me, though.

I read somewhere a while back that it seems like the harder you pull on a flathead, the harder they pull back. Like if you really lean on them hard they kind of freak out, but if you just keep easy even presure on them, a lot of times you can guide them away from snags, etc.

[sharkn1979]

all i am saying is come fish the altamaha river and you will find out what i mean

[jerseycat9]

I wish ya the best of luck on your conquest. Its a far distance from me but when the fishing heats up Im gonna head down there and see if I cant contend for that record myself LOL

[jerseycat9]

it was 86# and something is fishy about his story and it was not the fish
That is a pretty big claim from someone who doesnt even have the weight of the fish correct It was 83 lbs and hell Ive caught a 22 pound striper on 6 pound test on an ultra light from a jetti in the delaware river that had lots of timber at its base so it is more than possible to catch any fish at any time

[sharkn1979]

I wish ya the best of luck on your conquest. Its a far distance from me but when the fishing heats up Im gonna head down there and see if I cant contend for that record myself LOL
there is a catfish tourneyment may 5 and 6 feel free to come down and try your luck the site for this tourneyment is on the wayne county bourd of tourism.

[jerseycat9]

Thanks for the heads Up on that tourny I will look into heading Down that way for it. Just gotta wait for the funds to build back up after the move

[r ward]

Some of you all talking about the Altamaha that is where our gathering is May 4 5 6 7 so come on and try your luck during that time

[sharkn1979]

the flathead bite on the altamaha is starting to crank up. caught several nice flatheads yesterday that were 15 to20 pounds. and hung into a good one that i could not slow down until he got me into some snags. so feel free to come down and try your luck on the state record.

[r ward]

Hey Chris congrats on the flatheads will be down in may and try to help see the next state record caught:006: :0a23: :0a32: :0a32: MAYBE

[georgia_hunter]

I hope they are biting better down around Jesup better than they are on up the river. We fished in the Big Cat Classic yesterday and hardly anyone caught anything. We almost placed with under 10 pounds of fish. I'm thinking about heading that way next weeknd just to see what we can do.

[Beaufort]

I'm going to have to get down there this summer i'''ve wanted to fish it for afew years now.

[catmax]

what is the water level at jaycees landing??????????

[sharkn1979]

5'8"and steady at jaycee

[catmax]

5'8"and steady at jayceeToday 12:28 PM
good. cuz last time i went it was 11.5 and rising. is it still moving like a frake train?????

[sharkn1979]

it has slowed down a little but it always has a strong current

[Gator]

There is always a strong current in this river and when she gets low she get dangerous.

[roundhill]

im coming to ga gathering can i use my pontoon in the river in that area all info will be apre as i have never been thear thanks in advance see you soon ron howard

[sharkn1979]

yes u can run a pontoon in the altamaha unless it is very low

[cherokee laker]

was it caught south of jaycees landing. that sure is a big fish to be caught in fast moving water. it would seem like a cat that big would be in very slow moving water.

catmax
Where did you get your info on the location of the catch? I think it was a little further up river from that.......like several miles up river.

CL

[cherokee laker]

he caught that catfish a couple miles away from jacee landing

I don't mean to sound like a "know-it-all butt"......but
I know you are incorrect on the weight, and I'm sure he didn't catch it a coupla miles away from jaycee landing..........and after talking with him the next morning, and knowing he and his fishing partner....I'm convinced that he caught it where, when and how he claimed......stranger things have happened. I'm incredibly happy for him, and it gives me hope of there being a bigger in the same spot.
We are having it mounted for him, in order to use it for tourism promotion. That was one fine specimen.

CL

[catmax]

I didnt know where he caught it untill a guy in this thread told me and everybody else. 83 or whatever it is probably wont hold for long (2 or 3 years) now that this river is getting alot if attention from other cat fishermen.

[cherokee laker]

I didnt know where he caught it untill a guy in this thread told me and everybody else. 83 or whatever it is probably wont hold for long (2 or 3 years) now that this river is getting alot if attention from other cat fishermen.


You have a good point.........it is getting a lot of recognition

[greg]

I am personally convinced that the next world record flathead will come out of the Altamaha. And give it a couple of years and there will be some huge Blues come out of the river.

[catmax]

WHATS THE WATER LEVEL AT THE RIVER

[Gator]

6.8 feet right now as near as I can tell any way. And droping fast

[catmax]

goooooooood!!! i like the river low

[catmax]

whats the water level. i plan on coming down this weekend

[STUMPKNOCKER]

as for who believes me, i could give a damn, u pay 4 the lie detector test i will take it, my fishing partner will take it, my father in law who is a respected police officer will take it, saying that, hell yea it was luck but we were the only people on the river that night and the previous week too, point being to be lucky u better have your bream in the hole, also you are way off on the location, and i have fished where u are talking about, dick swift is bout 2 miles down from jaycee and there are way to many snags there for me, without revealing my hole i will say it was an eddy next to extremely fast current next too a deep hole, and read my previous posts u will c we were the only ones out there a week or so before in a tropical storm when my partner caught a 24# flattie. sayin all that look forward to metting you at the captains meeting, maybe you need to get to know someone before you judge them.

[cherokee laker]

4.21, almost steady....real slight fall

[cherokee laker]

You tell'em carl!!

[catmax]

who and what weight won that tournament

[cherokee laker]

Catmax, the winners of the tourney were Kevin Yeomans and David Geiger, with a 62 or 63lb flattie, and a few smaller ones........they had a total of 100lbs plus.............which I think netted them around $6,000.00

The results will be posted as soon as the girls at the tourism board catch their breath.
I think it all came off real well..........I had a good time.....didn't catch any fish....but I'm learning
I'll have some pictures to post for Catfish Commando shortly.
As I stated in another post.many thanks to Gator for the custom "Wayne County Catfish Tourmanent" prize rod and reel.

I hope more members from here can partiicipate next year.

[catmax]

were these fish released

[STUMPKNOCKER]

he was in a dry cooler. the dnr was offering to release weighed fish though, of my 3 weighing 32 pounds one died on the boat one swallowed the hook and the other was small so ima eating mine. im sure some were realeased, but i weighed at the very last minute so im not sure how many, had two release themselves with snags.....:crazy:

[Cuda-Cada]

I called up to Wayne County yesterday and got some information about the tournament also. Sounds like it went off well. A 60 plus pound flathead is definately a nice fish. I also heard about a 46 pound fish. I wanted to fish but since I live out of state and my daughter's 16 B-day was Sat., I couldn't swing it. Next year, I should be there. Coming up next week to spend a couple of days on the Altamaha hopefully.

[matt22va]

We fished and caught 2 small ones for a total of about 3 lbs. We had a great time though. This tournament definately seems to be setting the standard catfishing tournaments in this area. I've fished several on Santee now and this one twice and the Santee ones don't pay nearly as much. It was only my third time on the Altamaha targeting flatheads and I was wondering what some of you guys do to get away from the gar and the mudfish, they ate us up. Also, does goldfish provide any advatage at all. I figured most people would be fishing bream but a lot of guys were catching good ones with gold fish. Anyway, we just got back from a two month patrol on the sub and this get together was a good way to relax a little and blow off steam. I just wish we had the time to get to the gathering. Good luck to all you guys and gals.

[STUMPKNOCKER]

A good friend of mine come in second in the tourny, Greg Aspinwall he uses goldfish he paid 13$ a pound for them, he likes them cause of their livability, for me we spent all day friday and caught bream, all i use is bream, bluegills and stumpknockers seem to live the longest on the hook, we caught 32 pounds but had 2 fish die, one a 4 pound channel would have put us in about tenth place, also lost two in snags one probly in the 30s i stayed up 35 straight hours and loved every min. wish they had anothr one this weekend, as for the gars u just have to deal with them, best thing if there bad is to move hit a faster current right into a snag, they are not as bad in the swifter current, when u see them start hittin the top of the water they are fixin to find your bream and scale him, but sayin that my partner had a bream that survived 2 gar attacks and then caught him a 15 pounder.

[sharkn1979]

the dnr around jesup is being investigated by the dnr headqaurters in atlanta. because several cats had been turn in that had been shocked.

[catmax]

wooooooooooooooooooooow!!!!! imagine that. its funny you said that cuz me and my friend were talking and he said that there would be a good bit of that going on. . i didnt know the dnr could tell if a fish had been shocked. bet you some people are holding there breath

[STUMPKNOCKER]

THEY CAN TELL IF A FISH HAS BEEN SHOCKED, AND THEY HAD AN INDEPENDANT POLYGRAPGH EXAMINER, SEVERAL DNR FROM DIFFERENT AREAS THIS WOULD BE THE BIGGEST CONSPIRACY SINCE THE KENNEDY ASSASINATION...........GET REAL, WHO IS YOUR SOURCE???

[Cuda-Cada]

Pictures are up on the Wayne County wesite of the tournament. Lots of good fish caught...

[sharkn1979]

the dnr in atlanta is my source

[sharkn1979]

hey carl when is the last time you set bush hooks , i have not seen you setting any since last year

[STUMPKNOCKER]

Never ask anyone who knows me, i have never set hooks or trotlines in the Altamaha, pony up for the lie detector, THAT IS A STANDING OFFER!!!

[roundhill]

i dont know about carl but thear are more limb lines on the altamaha than any river in the world they never get took out if the dnr wants to do something they can go take them all down then outlaw them.

[cherokee laker]

Now that is interesting.........Chris I sure hope you have your facts straight...........even rumors of this can be devistating to this tournaments' future.
That's the first I've heard of it.
I communicated with the commissioner of DNR last week by email several times.....and he had no indication of an investigation, rather he praised the local DNR for the job they did with the tourney.:confused2:

cl

[cherokee laker]

the dnr around jesup is being investigated by the dnr headqaurters in atlanta. because several cats had been turn in that had been shocked.


Hey Chris, would you mind sharing the division of DNR in Atlanta conducting this investigation with me by PM?

CL