More of this Feature • Part 1: Tying Up Under a Bridge • Part 2: Eatin Chicken and Catching Fish

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"You ever tie up under a bridge and fish?  Have any luck?  What are some of your best - and worst - memories?" Ronnie

Related Resources • Too Hot To Go Fishing? Never! • Late July Fishing Patterns

Past Articles One Year Ago - 7/24/00 - I Hooked the Big One! Two Years Ago - 07/26/99 - Jacks Are Wild Three Years Ago - 07/20/98 - Snakes I Have Known - Part 2 Four Years Ago - 07/28/97 - Late July Fishing Patterns

Another night I was tied up next to a family of six in a big ski boat.  They were having a good time, listening to their radio, talking and laughing.  About the time it got dark I got hungry so I pulled out my usual supper of sardines and saltines.  Just about the same time the mother next to me opened a huge box wrapped in tin foil and started handing out fried chicken.  I could smell it very strongly I was so close.

Usually I enjoy sardines and saltines, but that night they just did not taste very good!

A good method of catching fish under a bridge is to tie up, put your light out and watch your depthfinder.  You should be able to see schools of shad and also bigger fish suspended under them.  Drop live minnows or little jigs down to the depth just above where the bigger fish are holding.  Fish tend to move up for food but not down, so offer them something a little above the depth they are at.

Also watch for baitfish in the water and try to "match the hatch."  Young of the year shad are tiny here in Georgia in early June and fish eat them like popcorn.  As my night I talked about earlier showed, they will not eat bigger baits.  Try soem different things to get them to bite if they are eating little minnows.

Get your lanterns, poles and bait and head to a bridge this summer.  It is a lot of fun - just be sure to take along some good food so you can make the folks nearby drool, not the other way around! 

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