Great guides on area lakes?

Rob Eidson - First Bite Guide Service

I agree with Emmerson Biggons, Capt. Rob is a terrific guide and a quality gentleman. He knows how to catch fish and is an excellent instructor when it comes to Striper and Hybrid fishing techniques. He has first class equipment and a very comfortable, well setup boat for any weather. See my post of my 11/28 trip to see some photo's of the trip that my friend Gunne and I took.

TT

Charlie Brown is the man

I have been fishing with Charlie Brown on lake hartwell for about 10 years now. I've fished with a lot of other guides, and he is my favorite for stripers and hybrids. His number is 864-338-5197.

Randy Weaver if you are wanting to fish seminole. www.lakeseminoleguide.com. Caught 10 lb bass, a bunch of 7's. Nicest guy on the lake, funny too. Knows everything about the lake and can tear some fish up.

Perry Hayes said:

I have fished with Ron Savage on West Point several times and we have always caught bass.He will only use artifical bait however.I fished with Tommy
Mike one time,his boat broke down and he still charged full price.The steering
cable broke way up in the river and we steered the 150 with a rope back to his house.We gave him $700 dollars he gave us 6 fish and a teeshirt.

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that is pretty crappy. he didn't give you any break at all?? i hope one of this 6 fish was a 10 lb. bass.

I think this is a great topic. I would like to add my 2 cents to who I think is worth hiring .

Lake Allatoona Fred Duncan and ME. lol

Bartletts Ferry Lake Johnny Chapman

Carters Lake Buddy Callahan

Lake Hartwell Steve Crenshaw and Randy Brown

Lake Lanier Greg Robinson, Ryan Colman

Lake Oconee and Jackson Aaron Batson

Lake West Point Ron Savage and Paul Parsons

Lake Weiss Mark Collins

The Coosa Basin Cy Grajcar

Lake Varner Randall Kirkpatrick

I know there is a lot more great guides . These are just my favorites

.. Even good guides have bad days. But bad guides have a lot more...If anyone has a question about another guide that isn’t on my list . Just shoot me a PM I’ll try to help you..

Would like to add...

Robert Makes some good points here. Part time guides and wannabe's often obtain their knowledge from full time guides. Hiring them first, then birdogging them second. Guys like myself and Robert have DEEP playbooks from years of following the fish under our belts. Between the two of us, there must be at least close to 60 yrs of striper fishing experience on Lake Allatoona alone. Both graduates of the Gary Sosebee school of striper fishing from the early 80's. Mr Sosebee held the lake record for striper on Allatoona for over 8 yrs.

Like Mack Farr, we've seen start-up guides come and go... Most have only one card to play on any particular day. If that fails what then? Look for Robert or Fred, thats what then. Part timers have no vested interest in keeping customers in their program. After all, come monday, they are back on their jobs were their real income comes from.

Fish are always on the move. The only way to stay with them is to fish practically everyday. Thats what you get when you hire a full time professional fishing guide. A guy that has a plan a,b,c,d,and e to fall back on if needed. A guy that puts food on his table by your repeat patronage. A guy that will therefor, be honest and tell you over the phone, "wait another week" if fishing is bad.

Two things you should ask a guide are as follows: are you a full time prfessional guide? and How long have you been fishing that particular body of water?

This board has a good resource in Robert. Take heed of what he tells you. He also speaks for me. Cap'n Fred

Fred Duncan said:

Robert Makes some good points here. Part time guides and wannabe's often obtain their knowledge from full time guides. Hiring them first, then birdogging them second. Guys like myself and Robert have DEEP playbooks from years of following the fish under our belts. Between the two of us, there must be at least close to 60 yrs of striper fishing experience on Lake Allatoona alone. Both graduates of the Gary Sosebee school of striper fishing from the early 80's. Mr Sosebee held the lake record for striper on Allatoona for over 8 yrs.

Like Mack Farr, we've seen start-up guides come and go... Most have only one card to play on any particular day. If that fails what then? Look for Robert or Fred, thats what then. Part timers have no vested interest in keeping customers in their program. After all, come monday, they are back on their jobs were their real income comes from.

Fish are always on the move. The only way to stay with them is to fish practically everyday. Thats what you get when you hire a full time professional fishing guide. A guy that has a plan a,b,c,d,and e to fall back on if needed. A guy that puts food on his table by your repeat patronage. A guy that will therefor, be honest and tell you over the phone, "wait another week" if fishing is bad.

Two things you should ask a guide are as follows: are you a full time prfessional guide? and How long have you been fishing that particular body of water?

This board has a good resource in Robert. Take heed of what he tells you. He also speaks for me. Cap'n Fred

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I totally agree with Mr. Duncan, part time guides are not your best money spent. Thats not to say they dont or cant catch fish, but I even have some days worthy of charging for but not every time I fish for sure.

Nottely.

Does anyone have any recommendations on Lake Nottely striper guides.
Does Jerry Hester guide up there?

mbhall said:

Does anyone have any recommendations on Lake Nottely striper guides.
Does Jerry Hester guide up there?

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Brent, Jerry doesn't do Nottley. I don't think Nottely has a full time guide....

guides.

here is my take on striper guides!

My home lake: Allatoona!

Fred Duncan and Robert Eidson are awesome guides.
I have been out with both of them and had great days.
Robert has called me soo many times out of the blue telling me that the fish were biting on the dead sea. He has taught me where to catch bait, when no one else would.
I caught my first big striper with on toona with Fred Duncan.
I have fished with Eidson on toona, Tenn. river, and Carters' lake.
you can't go wrong with either!

Lanier: the only guide that I use on Lanier is Clay Cunningham. He is the hands down nicest guy that you will ever meet. If you do not agree after going out with him, I will take you fishing with him for free. Unfortunately, there are soooo many guides on Lanier that it is getting over crowded.
I know that the old school guys like Clay, Jerry Hester, the Watson crowd, Roberson (if he is not retired), and Mack Farr are the best.

Carters': Buddy Callahan is the best. Mark's guide service is also good on Carters. Eidson even does some guiding there.

Hartwell: I have been out with Charlie Brown. He is a great guide.

I have even heard that www.seeinstripes.com is a great guide on Sinclair and Juliette. The only bad thing is that when the Tennessee state patrol pulled him over and realized that he was a Volunteer fan, they said "boy you are over the speed limit, have you got any ID?" He said " Got any ID bout what? "

Just kidding about that. Just a joke!

We love our Volunteer brethren?

At least they don't wear jean shorts and tank tops like the GATOR fans.

Everyone that striper fishes has to book one trip to Tenn with someone. You will never regret it. I think that Eidson, Jerry Hester, and seeinstripes all go up there in the spring and fall.

Aaron and Smitty I didn't make this post to start anything. Fred and myself carry out a client not more then 3 months ago. He didn't know JACK about fishing. ( Any kind of fishing ) And now we see him on the lake with guide service on his boat.... And doing nothing but bird dogging us all day... That chaps my butt.

I am sorry if I did anything to hurt anyone feeling on this site. Smitty I injoy our talks on this forum. I hope we can keep having them......

Robert Eidson said:

Aaron and Smitty I didn't make this post to start anything. Fred and myself carry out a client not more then 3 months ago. He didn't know JACK about fishing. ( Any kind of fishing ) And now we see him on the lake with guide service on his boat.... And doing nothing but bird dogging us all day... That chaps my butt.

I am sorry if I did anything to hurt anyone feeling on this site. Smitty I injoy our talks on this forum. I hope we can keep having them......

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Robert - I understand your frustraiton with this charater...do not worry - we all know that he will not last long with his practices - clients are smart people and will figure him out quick. I too hate to see somebody give the rest of us a black eye. PM sent

Aaron, I got your PM. ( Thanks ). I forget that there are lakes like Oconee, Jackson and Bartletts Ferry (Plus seasonal rivers ). that can’t support a man to be a full time guide. So guiding on these lakes and rivers full time is just not possible. Fred and I was just doing a little venting. I will still stand behind this. There is a group of people all over Ga. That try to get in to guiding before they are ready. I just wish they would learn the trade before going out and making all of us look bad..... And I am sorry if I made any one mad... And just remember I speak for Fred to..lol

Smitty I need to clear one thing else up with you......

STRIPERS RULE....... lol

I just got up on the wrong side of the creek. must be a cold front moving in on me.
Fellas I am not a professional guide and should stay off this thread. Guys work hard. Some don't understand how hard you work to know where the fish are each day. I have people follow me around my lake. Next time i see them they are where I fished when they followed.. I commend you guys that HAVE to Catch everyday in any condition. I get to pick and choose with whom and when I go. Good luck yall....I know guides don't need luck!
Tightlines to you all!

Robert Eidson said:

Smitty I need to clear one thing else up with you......

STRIPERS RULE....... lol

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that is for sure.. They ARE the biggest and baddest fish in the lake. Those fellas even have an attitude. I've hooked many stripers trying to get a crappie to the boat.. They just eat everything. They are fun to fight and some people make me fish for them. my son won't crappie fish with me much but he loves those stripers. The average fisherman wouldn't think that crappie and stripers/hybrids eat at the same table 3/4 of the year. That is why I catch so many hybrids. we have more hybrids around here. Anything that hurts the crappie population gets me upset. When Ga power drops lake levels DURING the spawn it gets me mad.
I don't guide everyday but I do fish 3-4 days each week and always fish the 2 days leading up to a guide trip so I don't have to wonder what they are doing or where they are feeding.

we can do that for sure. I went to west point today. All I caught was tater chips . I didn't have one of even a pound. I didn't really catch plenty till the sun was setting. I'm just learning WP so I guess it was a good day. I landed about 15 small green bass that have rough upper lips...scraped all the skin off my thumbs.

I must agree with the guys who recommended Ryan Coleman on Lanier. A real class act and will answer any question you have. Not only a great fisherman, but a great teacher as well.

Robert Eidson said:

Nice site .....

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My marketing department works hard to produce quality. They are expensive but well worth the money. Give me a call and I'll have them hook you up.

Peace
Smitty

I fished with James Jordan on West Point last friday. Three of us filled a large cooler with Hybrids, Stripes and White bass. He knows what he is doing, has a good boat, bait tank, provided lunch and soft drinks/water. We had our limit of 22"+ as well. He is reasonably priced as well. You an find him on Highland Marina's web page.