Hello everybody! Well, I guess this means I am the new outdoor columnist. I hope this is the beginning of a long and enjoyable relationship for all of us. They say I am supposed to introduce myself. That’s hard. How do I introduce myself to you all in the print world? I’ve not really figured that out, but hey, we are going to give it a try today.

In my regular life I am a father of five who’s been married to the love of his life for 23 years. I’m a salesman and travel the southeast working. This gives me the opportunity to hunt and fish in a lot of different places and in a lot of different scenarios — from deer in the low country of South Carolina, big bull redfish in the rivers around Georgetown, S.C. and off Savannah, to speckled trout in Steinhatchee, Fla. Bass in Okeechobee and Seminole. 

I love it all, people.

However, the Lake Country is home. I was born in Atlanta and grew up in Social Circle, Ga. where I attended school from kindergarten until graduating high school there many moons ago. I started hunting and fishing in the Lake Country around about the time that Oconee was backed up. Both grandfathers and my father and uncle were members of a hunting club over on the Taliaferro-Greene County line, and I killed my first deer there on opening day of 1988. I can’t remember a time when we didn’t fish down here. My maternal grandfather (whom I called Pop) owned a lot and trailer on Sinclair around the Crooked Creek area from the early ‘70s to the mid-‘80s and we were always there fishing. I remember fishing Oconee when the only houses were those way up Richland or way up Sugar Creek. 

I’m one of those guys you meet around here that every time he passes an old farm tells you a story about a dove hunt or treeing a coon nearby. 

My memory is full of good times and wonderful people that all centered on the lake. 

Today, my 10-year-old son most often accompanies me on the lake, and we love to chase stripers and bass more than anything. Because of him and my concern for the lake, I am the president of the new Lake Oconee Striper Club. I get to see the Lake Country through his eyes, which at times are full of wonder and excitement. It’s a nice change. 

Well, that is me. Not much to it. I’m just an old country boy who lives this life day to day trying to raise children, be a good husband, make a living, and enjoy the outdoors as much as possible. 

In more important news, deer season is open. Bow season opened Sept. 11. Drew, over at the Meat Shed, has received some dandy bucks already this year. One real nice one from Baldwin County was brought in. It was a heavy 9-pointer. If you are a new bowhunter or new to the area, a little tip that has brought a lot of meat to my freezer is this: Look for squirrels. Squirrels are going to be on acorns and the first acorns to hit the ground will be knocked down by squirrels. If you find squirrels, you will find deer.

Squirrel season, by the way, opened on Aug. 15. Now, when I was a kid this was a big deal. We loved it. Shotguns came out of the closets and off we went. Today these little fellas are overshadowed by deer, but let’s get something out there. A good hunter hunts squirrel. If you can walk Redlands, Oconee WMA, private farms, or woodlots and bring in a limit of bushy tails, you are a hunter. Early season calls for a good shotgun, though, and as the leaves fall, we transition over to 22 rifles. If you don’t hunt squirrels, you are missing out. Contrary to popular opinion they don’t taste like chicken. It’s much better! 

Fishing reports: Stripers are still for the large part out of the Lake Oconee area. They should start to make their way back around the middle of October and hit here solidly by November. Hybrids have been biting though! That’s a change of pace over the past number of years. Hybrids staying in the lake area and in numbers enough to catch. Try trolling mini-mac rigs on the main lake and any of the striper hot spots. Bass- Bass have been tough from what I can tell. In all honesty due to having my bay boat worked on I haven’t bass fished since middle of August. Then we were catching them on neko rigs, shakey heads around docks and deep points and I caught my biggest one of the summer (4 pounds) trolling a Berkley Flicker Shad in firetiger. As we move into fall though and some cooler water make sure you get those frogs out and tie them on. A good topwater bite is only a second away around here.

I’ll have you guys a crappie and catfish report next week. 

Again thank you for having me in your home and I look forward to hearing from you.

Outdoors columnist James Press can be reached at pressleyoutdoors@gmail.com.