Nick Holt's Blog (22)

I watch a number of you tube videos featuring some of our members catching big gills and crackers.  My question is why do you release them?  Is it simply that your freezers are full, or is there a state regulation on length limits?  I know that in some private compounds such as Richmond Mills that you folks catch and release because you want the population to grow.  If that is the case, doesn't the lake get to the point where you need to take a few out?  Please understand that I'm not…

Caught a small break in the heat on the 4th, so I went to my friend's lake to test out some new colors of the 1" jig that I hand inject.  It wasn't anymore than the second cast when I hit pay dirt catching a 3/4 pound gill.  On the following cast, I hit another gill about the same weight.  That new smoke/silver glitter did the trick.  I was on the lake about 8:00 AM and was off at noon with 18 nice gills and redears to my credit.  Sure felt great watching that 6' ultralite bend.  Hope ya'll…

Went to my friend's lake Sunday the 29th on a whim.  It was chilly, damp,  breezy, and the water was muddy from all the rain we've had here in Georgia. (Don't guess what would be called ideal conditions).  Was throwing a 0ne inch black curly tail grub from the bank and got hit right away!  An hour later, I ended up with ten nice gills weighing in between 3/4 to 1 pound.  Hope this kind of action remains this way throughout the season.  Nick

Hey Greg, It's one of my hand poured one inch curltail grub bodies that I pinched the tail off of. I then threaded the legs through the body with a sewing needle.  The legs are spinner bait skirt material.  If you want to make your own, buy a package of curl tails and some skirt material and experiment with it.  To complete the rig, run a 1/32 ounce jig head through and clip on a 1" diameter foam, weighted tear shaped or round bobber a foot or so above your terminal tackle. If you don't get…

Hope you like 'em.  Nick

This question is for Bruce Condello.  Some of my friends told me that they have been feeding panfish small nugget size or pellet size catfood in one of the public ponds.  Is this a safe idea or can it damage the fish?  Nick

Hey Greg,  I have been experimenting with different colors of my panfish baits, and came across a bag of what I call "Silver Minnow" color. 

they are 1 1/2' and full of silver dye and silver glitter.   I'll be happy to send them to you if you e-mail me your postal address.  If it's not exactly what you want, then we can tweak it until we get it right.  Nick

About 30 minutes from me in Columbus, Georgia, there's a ritzy family resort called Callaway Gardens. The resort has a main lake of around 120 acres. It's a fee based lake where one can rent a boat and trolling motor for $35.00 for a half day's fishing. An angler may take 7 bluegill well over 1 1/2 pounds, 7 bass, and all of the crappie he can tote! I talked with the fisheries biologist, and he said that the gill limit is low (at one time an angler could take home 15 gills), but due to the…