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Lake Athens Bream #12304483 06/21/17 04:20 PM
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Duke1227 Offline OP
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Anyone kid enough to share any pointers for Athens Bream??? I live on Palestine and fished it once last summer for Bream but the hydrilla or moss was terrible and never did find any decent Bream. Any help would be appreciated!!

Re: Lake Athens Bream [Re: Duke1227] #12304487 06/21/17 04:20 PM
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Duke1227 Offline OP
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Kind enough I meant...

Re: Lake Athens Bream [Re: Duke1227] #12304664 06/21/17 05:42 PM
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Laker One Offline
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Athens is a great Bluegill lake. Several anglers who post here and fish Athens hopefully should respond.

Re: Lake Athens Bream [Re: Duke1227] #12304774 06/21/17 06:29 PM
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Brad R Offline
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They are all over Lake Athens. My favorite spot for big bluegills is just off to the south and east, directly across from the boat launch. You will see the AMWA boathouse, not so good, then a small cove, then about 100 yds of lake vegetation along the bank. There will be a series of 4 or so boathouses and I like tossing a jighead with a grub with a curly tail up into the shade. I've caught my largest bluegills along those first 4 structures.

Back up where I live, beyond 2495 in the NW corner, we have very heavy lily pad cover this year and since they are limited in the depth of water they can grow, they "outline" the Flat Creek channel. I like to throw the same set-up directly in the middle of the channel where I assume the panfish are using it as a "highway" to move around. Then, too, I like tossing into open spots in the lily pads or at the edge of the pads and the creek channel.

From my canoe or my kayak, so far, I haven't found any place that doesn't hold panfish. The lake is really loaded down with them.

Brad

Re: Lake Athens Bream [Re: Duke1227] #12306029 06/22/17 01:59 PM
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Flags Online Content
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I fish Athens out of a float tube. The main place I fish is across from to boat ramp at the marina on the far side of the 2495 bridge. The whole stretch along the road is good and there are several boat houses on that part of the lake as well and there is a long grassy shoreline at the back of the cove. I use worms under a float but sometimes I'll take a worm or piece of a crawler and tip a plain jig hook with it and skip it across the bottom. Another trick I use it to take small jigs (normally 1/64th oz) and rig a bunch of them of different colors on droppers. I'll usually but a 1/8th oz chartreuse jig with a spinner blade on the bottom and put black, yellow, white, brown and olive at 6 inch intervals. This gives the fish several color options until I see what they like best. I get a few bass on the spinner jig as well.

This is the average gill I take on Athens and on an average day I can take a couple dozen this size:


Retired Navy Chief Signalman
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Re: Lake Athens Bream [Re: Duke1227] #12307840 06/23/17 01:29 PM
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Brad R Offline
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Flags, that area on the other side of 2495 from the ramp . . . all the way back across the cove I guess 400 or 500 yards? I like to toss my lure between lily pads along there. Bluegills everywhere. And, this is a great spot to snag an occasional large bass. My biggest, so far, has been around 4 lbs. caught on 2 lbs. braid and a 1/40th oz. jig head.

The bass pulled me to him.

On the attached image, the little boat houses I fish for the biggest blue gills show up on the bottom right of the image. Too, I drew a red line from the boat ramp under 2495 . . . out to a little point where, for whatever reason, I always catch several crappie. The water isn't deep there so maybe it is just a seasonal thing related to their spawn.

And, for small bluegills, nothing big so far, the little cove just behind the new restaurant, the one full of lily pads? If I throw a lure in there, I get bit constantly. For a fly fisherman, that'd be a neat area to fish just outside, as close as one can cast to the pads, to get a lot of bites . . . and practice.

Brad


Re: Lake Athens Bream [Re: Duke1227] #12308105 06/23/17 04:10 PM
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Brad if you go right along the roadbed of 2495 on the left side there are always some good gills there. I've also taken catfish on worms under a bubble there. The bank drops of real fast along the road bed and you can catch fish right up against it. I also take quite a few fish off those boat houses on the shore above your line. That cove on that side of the bridge has been really good for me. Have to dodge the bass fishermen sometimes but they tend to come in, toss lures for a few minutes and then leave. that's the thing about a float tube you can really cover the water. The impatience of the bass fishermen leads them to miss a lot of fish, but I ain't gonna point that out to them.

When is the next time you're going to hit the lake? I'll probably be on it sometime tomorrow depending on weather, they say it may rain. If you see a guy in a turquoise float tube, that will be me. swing on by and say hello.


Retired Navy Chief Signalman
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Re: Lake Athens Bream [Re: Duke1227] #12308180 06/23/17 05:07 PM
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Athens is my favorite gill lake along with Kurth Lake deep east Texas! On Athens, Ive had my best luck finding big bull gills on beds either around islands or in coves!

My normal setup is: 5'5 Shakespeare micro light rod and reel with 4lb mono...I use a #8 sickle hook on a 1/64 just head. Hook the cricket behind his head up under the tough mid section so it sits and looks natural. I rarely use a float

I cast right in the middle of the beds and slowly let the cricket fall! For some reason the gills LOVE crickets and seem to blast it on the fall before it hits the ground. Once the line takes off, the fight is on!


Katchin krappie...doin surgeries(filleting)...and givin hott grease baths until krunchy and golden brown is what it's all about!!!

"STAY ready for the THUMP"!!!!
Re: Lake Athens Bream [Re: Duke1227] #12315116 06/28/17 06:29 PM
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Duke1227 Offline OP
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Guys, thanks for the advice, I didn't go Saturday, I heard there was a bass tourney so I fished my backyard, Flatcreek on Palestine and did well, no 10 inchers but nice bream..


Re: Lake Athens Bream [Re: Duke1227] #12315486 06/28/17 10:35 PM
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Nice fish. Perfect eating size! thumb


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Re: Lake Athens Bream [Re: Duke1227] #12316245 06/29/17 11:11 AM
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Nice fish. woot

Re: Lake Athens Bream [Re: Flags] #12317069 06/29/17 07:42 PM
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Brad R Offline
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Originally Posted By: Flags
Brad if you go right along the roadbed of 2495 on the left side there are always some good gills there. I've also taken catfish on worms under a bubble there. The bank drops of real fast along the road bed and you can catch fish right up against it. I also take quite a few fish off those boat houses on the shore above your line. That cove on that side of the bridge has been really good for me. Have to dodge the bass fishermen sometimes but they tend to come in, toss lures for a few minutes and then leave. that's the thing about a float tube you can really cover the water. The impatience of the bass fishermen leads them to miss a lot of fish, but I ain't gonna point that out to them.

When is the next time you're going to hit the lake? I'll probably be on it sometime tomorrow depending on weather, they say it may rain. If you see a guy in a turquoise float tube, that will be me. swing on by and say hello.


Oops! Flags, I didn't check back in for responses. June 29th today so you may have "come and gone" since your post.

What I have been doing lately is dodging the heat and fishing for a couple of hours from about 6:30PM on. Of late, I have been experimenting with some bass riggings, doing really well with a Keitech 4" shad like bait, on a 4/0 Mustad Jig hook with a 60 degree bend and an Owner CPS centering pin to rig up the plastic. I catch a half dozen or so in a creek channel defined by lily pads on each side. The bass, bowfin and tons of bluegills seem to navigate late in the afternoon up and down the creek bed and/or they are sitting right on the edge under pads waiting for an ambush opportunity.

I'll PM you.

Brad

Re: Lake Athens Bream [Re: Duke1227] #12317973 06/30/17 11:31 AM
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Originally Posted By: Duke1227
Guys, thanks for the advice, I didn't go Saturday, I heard there was a bass tourney so I fished my backyard, Flatcreek on Palestine and did well, no 10 inchers but nice bream..






Feast


Psalm:91

Quote on the wildman" They Said he'd eat the hair off of a man's head when he was hungry
and squeeze the water out of rocks when he was thirsty"
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