The striper fishing on Lake Lanier has absolutely been on fire and the water temperature has been through the roof at 86 to 88 degrees. Numbers are up and some big fish are showing up each week. If you have not fished Lanier this Summer you have missed the best Summer fishing in years but luckily September is great as well.
September should be much of the same as August until late in the month when the first few Fall fronts cool off the surface. Look for the stripers to continue to be on the south end of the lake. The schools are massive and easy to find when they are feeding. They may be slow for an hour or two but when they decide to feed it is chow time. Live herring on a downline with a carolina type rig is the way to catch the most fish. Tie a 2/0 gamakatsu Octopus hook on the end of the rig. You will need a 1 1/2 oz. Capt. mack Swivel Sinker as the weight. For best results use a Shakespeare Striper Series rod paired with a Penn Squall Linecounter reel spooled with fifteen pound Trilene Big Game line. Be sure to take plenty of bait.
If live bait is not your thing, leadcore is also catching some nice fish. Leadcore is a weighted line that gets 30 to 40 feet deep where the fish are int he cooler deeper water. Just be sure to get the right reel for the leadcore. You need a Penn 330 reel for the line capacity. A reel any smaller will not work. I see this mistake all the time and then the angler has to go buy a second reel. Pair the Penn 330 with a Shakespeare ML Tiger Rod. This is a heavy duty rod for heavy duty use. Talk to your local tackle store guys for the details. You will need some strong leader material and some good Capt. Mack chipmunk jigs.
There will be some nice fish caught in the coming weeks. See you on the water,