By Henry Cowen
May on our North Georgia lakes means one thing…TOPWATER! Yes, the sun’s warming rays brings our surface water temperatures on all our area lakes up to the high 60’s (at a minimum) and easily into the low seventies! For the most part this means that the game fish that were spawning during the month of April are now feeling good and looking to put on the feed bag.
There are multiple patterns that may exist in the month of May. First and foremost is the early morning topwater bite. Now is the time to grab a nine or ten weight rod rigged with a floating line and one of Charlie Bisharat’s pole dancer flies and have at it. If you have never seen a striper eat a Zara Spook or Top Dog lure off the surface (for conventional anglers), then you have no idea what you are missing.
A pole dancer is just that; a fly angler’s Zara Spook. It walks the dog when retrieved and striped bass do not just eat it…THEY DESTROY IT! Once you witness this vicious strike yourself you will liken it to throwing a 20lb cinder block into the lake from two stories high. You can also toss poppers, sliders, gurglers and wiggle minnows at these fish but nothing works better than a pole dancer.
After the sun comes up you can switch over to a sinking line and start tossing coyote flies off the points. The key to this pattern is to keep moving. The more points you fish, the more bites you will attract. While low light (both early and late) is the preferred time to fish rather than the middle of the day, do not discount mid-day when it gets a tad windy.
This is also the time of year where fishing a point off the main lake river channel can get a topwater eat from any fly that is slowly worked on the surface and makes a seductive V-like wake. Conventional fisherman call this time of year “the Redfin bite”. Fishing big 7” long Redfins can be very effective on windy days. I always keep a few rigged in my boat for May. On sunny days use a chrome sided Redfin and on cloudy days fish a matt colored Redfin.
Fly anglers can use a large slider type fly on a floating line to mimic the action of a Cordell Redfin. Finally, keep in mind that the dock light bite is in full swing. Both stripers and large spotted bass will be wreaking havoc on all the dock lights all over the lake. This is easy fishing as game fish seem to get really dumb when fished to on a dock light. While I prefer a sinking line when fishing these fish it is also fun to toss a slow sinking intermediate so that you can actually watch for the bite when your fly passes over the light.
May is a great time to be fishing the ponds of North Georgia…short sleeves, shorts and sun block are the dress code. Best of all, keep an eye out for what comes next….CARP SEASON IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER! See you on the pond.
Anyone wanting to book a trip may reach me at www.Henrycowenflyfishing.com