Bob Smith
Bob Smith
bob@bassinbobs.com

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"BOBS LOCAL RIVER REPORTS"

 GANTT LAKE

March 16, 2002
Water Temperature: Mid 60's
Water Clarity: Heavy Stain

The hard bite that has been going on continues. The 16th MXS Bass Club fished our March tournament at Gantt Lake today and while there were quite a few fish caught throughout the day, most of them were short fish. Morning came foggy, and it stayed until about 7:30am. Skies were cloudy, to partly cloudy with a fairly light wind most of the day. Water was a heavy stain
and averaged about 65 degrees.
My partner, Ron Whitman of Niceville and I started off in the trees once the fog lifted enough to run the outboard. It was slow, without a bite for quite a while.
We worked trees for about an hour and a half with my
first keeper taking a buzzbait. After the first run through the trees we moved to docks near the bridge. On the docks I caught some short fish and missed a few decent topwater strikes.
We fished the ditch, and a run of lower lake trees then headed back towards the upper lake trees to finish out the day.
I pulled my last 4 keepers from the trees - 3 on a buzzbait
and 1 on a black Baby Eel.
There really didn't seem to much of a pattern. While we got bites and fish every place we stopped there was no size to them.
As usual, wood was my primary producer with horizontal wood better than standing trees. The docks were also fair.
A lot of fish came from the ditch, and we missed a
few nice ones in there also, but I had to stay with what was producing for me - main lake wood. All my fish came from 1 - 4 foot of water. Topwater strikes were aggressive, and once more I managed to miss a lot of them.
Only three fishfell to my plastic, I broke off one on a spinnerbait (small, I seen him come up beside the boat)
and most strikes were topwater.


March 2, 2002
Water Temperature: Mid 50's
Water Clarity: Heavy Stain

Kevin Friend and I arrived at Gantt Lake at 8:30am and fished until 5pm. Skies were cloudy with light rain ending at around 10:00am then getting sunny for awhile and then cloudy again. Wind was brisk at about 15 early, then light, then calm.
Water ranged from heavy to moderate stain and
likely was low 50's (a guess).
Following a week of record setting cold weather we knew the bite would be a hard one today. So, with a light drizzle falling we headed off up the lake to explore some new ground.
While we found a lot of good "looking" water we did not find any bass. About an hur and a half after we had
arrived, we headed back to some more reliable spots.
Our first stretch of "reliable" water yielded nothing.
I knew the bite would be hard.
Fishing docks above the bridge turned up our first fish, a couple of shorts and a nice 2 pounder. The usually good canal on the lower lake was a bust. Had a jack grab a floating worm but otherwise nothing. We fished a few deep banks with marginal success. Overall the bite was very slow and difficult.
The typical Gantt pattern of fishing the trees was not present and Docks seemed to be the order of the day.
Water depth didn't seem to be a major factor as we got
bites from 1 to 10 foot. Fish were not holding tight to the docks either, like I had anticipated. The bait for the day was once more an Allen Lures Baby Eel, Black, fished Texas rigged. We managed 13 bass and easily missed twice that number. It was far from a great Gantt day, but we were fishing and that is always a good thing. A tremendous thank you to Ron Whitman for letting me use his boat today. My boat is still in the shop getting the lower unit rebuilt and the VRO fuel pump replaced. Hopefully the folks at Niveville Marine will have her done for my tournament next weekend.



February 23, 2002
Water Temperature: Mid 50's
Water Clarity: Heavy Stain

Ron Whitman of Niceville, FL and I spent a cold, windy, day on 2,747 acre Gantt Lake today. With air temps in the mid 30's we slipped Ron's Glastream into the heavily stained waters at about 6am and fished until 2:30pm. Sky was clear and sunny following a strong cold front, wind around 15 out of the North. Water was heavy stain to moderate stain and in the low to mid 50's. Ron caught our first bass. Am 11 1/2 incher on a worm fished off the end of a dock in 6 foot of water. My first fish exploded on a buzzbait, giving me the false hope that I may have a winter topwater bite today - wrong. That single bass was the only surface strike of the day as I threw the buzzer on and off.
As the sun rose and the air temperature climbed through the 40's the fishing was pretty slow. As much as I wanted a good day on the water, I knew that the front would most likely have them tight and deep with a severe case of lockjaw.
On the lower end of the lake we again got into fish with 3 solid 1 -2 pound keepers boated in a short stretch. The bite seemed to be picking up - it was around noon now. Here and there fish came to the boat on a black Allen Lures Baby Eel while nothing else would draw a strike. Everywhere we stopped after noon yielded at least one bass. When we pulled out our total stood at 13 bass - with just 3 short fish among them.
There didn't really seem to be a pattern as strikes were sporadic. Water depth ranged from 1 to 6 foot for most fish, with the majority coming from 2 - 4 foot. Strikes were noticeable, but not excessively vigorous.



September 15, 2001
Water Temperature: 70's
Water Clarity: Clear

Since the 16th MXS Bass Club tournament originally scheduled on Apalachicola Rver was cancelled, Jeff Taylor and I took a trip to Gantt Lake today. It was not a typically good Gantt day with clear sunny skies and relatively clear water on much of the lake. The wind picked up out of the west for much of the day and water temps reside mostly in the upper 70's.
Starting out we caught a couple near the old bridge pilings beside the public ramp, then headed across to the cypress trees. IN the trees it started off pretty slow with a couple more fish coming to the boat, and several missed strikes on a buzzbait.
We worked along the docks and trees towards the bridge with mediocre success. For several hours during the middle of the day we went nearly fishless as we tried places below the bridge towards the dam. The closer we moved to the dam the clearer the water became. Finally we headed back up the lake to the trees and lightly stained clear water. As the afternoon wore on we worked the trees where we had started out to no avail.
Moving to the opposite side of the lake (the side the public ramp is on) we worked along the docks, boathouses and scattered trees. Jeff caught a few nice keepers on a black and blue tube, and I picked up a few more on a buzzbait.
All the fish were relating to wood. Water depth didn't seem to be
a major factor as we caught fish or got bites from 1 - 10 feet. Heavier horizontal cover such as brush piles and branches seemed best to generatetopwater action.
Texas rigged tubes caught fish along both trees and docks,
with the docks seeming the better bet for the bulky plastic bait.
When we pulled Jeff's Triton out at 3pm our total for the day stood at 16 bass - about half and half keepers and short fish. The buzzbait accounted for the majority of fish boated, with a black and blue Texas rigged Bass Pro Shops tube pulling up in second place. Strikes on the plastics were relatively light.
A lot of fish came up on the topwater and missed, some of
them seemingly sizable. The Tube managed the largest bass, probably 3- 3 1/2 pounds, which came off at the pilings near the ramp. Considering the less than desired conditions we faced today it was a pretty good day of fishing. Give me a breezy, cloudy, drizzly, cool day on Gantt any time and I will show you the best the lake has to offer.


June 30, 2001
Water Temperature: 77-82
Water Clarity: Light Stain

On the water this morning at 6am and fished until 1pm.
Skies were overcast and light rain, wind 5 - 10 from the northeast. Water was lightstain and ranged from 77 - 82 degrees.
Started off in my usual place - across from the public launch.
First cast with a buzzbait brought a strike and I missed it
(I missed a lot during the course of the morning). Next cast put him in the boat, a stocky14 inch bass.
For most of the morning I stuck with the topwater. About 11am theywent off the surface bait and I had to go down after them. Primary cover was trees in 0 - 4 foot of water. Most fish were holding on the back side of the cypress trees and a long cast through them was needed to reach the bass.
After the topwater bite deteriorated I found the fish had moved a
little deeper (4 - 6 foot) onto the docks. A black, Texas rigged, Baby Eel started the fish coming to the boat once more.
The best docks were those that had trees either as part of the dock or right beside it. Strikes on top were explosive!
Just the way I like them.
The worm bite was a bit subdued and you had to be paying pretty good attention or you may never feel them.
When I loaded up the boat at 1pm I guess-timated the catch to be somewhere around 60 or so mostly fair sized bass.
I stopped counting around 11am with a total of 48, and I kept catching them. There were a fair number of 10 - 12 inch fish and my largest would be right around 3 pounds or so.
An awesome day. It's been a long time since the topwater action
was so good. Oh, did I mention I had most of the lake to myself on a summer Saturday - I did.


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