Lake Lanier Fishing Reports

It has been an incredible March here on Lake Lanier. The weather so far this year has been the best in years along with the fishing. There has been some big fish caught the past several weeks and April is not even here yet. Look for some more big fish to show up in April. With the warmer than average weather, look for the topwater bite to be early this year. we are already starting to catch some bass on topwater and we have had a few swirls from the stripers. Keep the topwater baits tied on like the Sebile Slim Stick. There has not been many fish up river yet. The month of April is usually the key month to find the stripers in the rivers. Hopefully we get a little more rain to bring the lake on up to full pool. We are still down several feet below full pool. Hope to see everyone soon,

Been slow making reports, been too busy fishing with the great weather this winter. Right now, the big stripers have pulled up shallow preparing for the spawn making this the best time of the year to catch a big one. It is definitely quality over quantity right now. The biggest reason is because we are pulling big baits for the big fish. Numbers are more at night if the weather is stable.
We are also running a good many crappie trips right now. The crappie are ganged up under the deep water docks making them easier to catch in big numbers. As it warms up into April look for the crappie to pull shallow to spawn which is the best time to take kids fishing. You can teach them the fundamentals of casting and have a good time. We are already booking a few trips for Spring Break so please plan ahead. We plan to be running two trips a day so give us a call. Look forward to seeing you,.

Fishing continues to be great on Lanier for striped bass. Most days the weather has just been incredible. The water temperature is better than normal and fishing is definitely better than the last two years this time due to this great weather. The stripers are deep on the downline. Most of our fish are coming on medium trout 30 ft deep near the big pods of bait. Also we are catching a few stripers and spotted bass on spoons. Most of the fish ahve been 8 to 12 pounds but a few nice ones are mixed in here and there. Overall, fishing continues to be great.

Fishing has been consistently good on Lake Lanier the last couple of weeks. We are not running up huge number but we have been catching some nice fish each day. Also catching some huge spotted bass while we are striper fishing. Most of our fish are coming on free lines and planer boards. I would say the planer board has been very important. The planer boards are catching the bulk of the fish. The bait of choice very day has been live trout. Now that some colder weather has finally arrived look for the fish to push further up into the creeks. The good thing about this is that it keep us out of the wind. Little bit easier to stay warm. Last December was a big month for us so hopefully this year will be the same. Hope to see you out there,

Fishing has been pretty good on Lanier the last couple of weeks now that turnover is out of the way. On days when the wind is calm we are seeing a good bit of surface activity and we have been able to catch the stripers casting small baits. Once the wind picks up we have been fishing very deep downlines. as a matter of fact, yesterday we caught stripers on the surface at daylight and shortly after the sun came out and we began to catch the stripers 70 feet deep on the downlines. The good news has been the fish have stayed in the same areas day after day. Very few people will be on the lake this coming week. Everyone will be going the following week. Makes this a great week to be on the lake. Many people are asking us about the low lake levels. The low lake levels make no difference to us. The lake is safe and we will be out every day. Hope to see you out there,

The topwater bite is here on Lake Lanier. The stripers are beginning to school on top and some of the group are fairly large. We are catching most of the fish on seven inch redfins in the chicken scratch and chrome and blue colors. Windy bad weather days have been some of the best fishing so don’t let the weather keep you off the lake. The topwater bite should continue until about the second week of November. Then we will be using more live bait including rainbow trout as bait. This is also a good time to catch a big fish up the river but we have not been up that way as much. Most of the topwater fishing is on the dead opposite end of the lake down near the dam. Time to get out and enjoy Fall. See you out there.

Fishing continues to be pretty good here on Lanier. Water temperature continues to hang around 84 degrees which is keeping the fish deep but not as deep as expected. The water quality is better than normal due to the lack of rain and the stripers are on a 40 ft bottom. Most years they do not pull up to the 40 ft bottom until late September so maybe fall is going to come early. Over the next few weeks look for us to contiue fishng the downline. We have caught some big fish recently and plan to contiue to do so in the next two months. October especially is a big fish month.  The topwater  bite that may of you are waiting for will most likely begin around October 11 which is the full moon.  Try to book ahead if you plan to go around the full moon. The ones who have experienced the big days around the full moon if the weather falls right are already making plans. Some of the best days I have ever had on Lake Lanier came on the full moon in October.  The night bite on Lake Lanier called the long a bomber bite should also start the first week of October. Great way to spend the evening with a four hour night trip starting about an hour before dark to catch a little topwater as well. Come see us soon. Lets go catching not fishing.

Hard to believe two months have gone by since my last report. Been really busy chasing the fish on the lake with the good weather. Over the past few weeks we have been throwing topwater for the stripers and spotted bass. However with the unexpected hot May the topwater bite and quickly turned to the downline bite. The good news about the downline bite is that we normally catch better numbers of fish. Also we have less fronts which leads to more consistent fishing. Now is the time to get the kids out on the water. June, July, and August are our busiest months with good reason.

Right now the striped bass are pulling off the points out over the timber. The north end is still the most consistent location but places like Two Mile Creek, Four Mile Creek, and Six MIle are not bad choices either. Right now, the fish are 25 to 40 feet deep. We are dropping our downlines 25 to 30 feet deep over the top of the first timber off the points. Still some fish on the deep brush but I feel these are mostly small fish. They can be easily caught on umbrella rigs. Be sure to take as much bait as you possibly can hold safely in your tank. You will need them. Fresh bait is crucial this time of year. Depending on how long I am fishing, I am normally taking 5 to 8 dozen of baits. The bait of choice is blue back herring. we are using a 2/0 mustad octopus hook and twelve to 15 pound test on the line. Flourocarbon is very important.  See you out on the lake.

April is almost here and the stripers are getting ready to spawn.  The water temperature is finally climbing into the high fifties and some big fish are showing up. As always for this time of year, we are not catching big numbers of fish but we are making up for it in size. Now is the best time of the year to catch a  big fish. We are pulling some really big baits that are over a pound in size so this is one reason we are not catching as many of the small fish.  Hard for a eight pound fish to swallow a  pound and a half gizzard shad. Also this is due to location of the fish.  Most of the smaller fish stay on the south end of the lake. They do not have the spawning urge to head north into the rivers. The larger fish do and this is why we tend to fish more on the north end of the lake. For the numbers, we are also catching some spotted bass that range from 2 to 5 pounds. Friday we boated one spotted bass that weighted 6 pounds. Overall, fishing this time of year is really busy for us. The weather is great, less boats on the water, and it is a great time to catcha trophy. Hope to see you soon. Thanks Clay C

March 29 2011

All kinds of things going on the lake right now with the rapidly changing weather. During the daylight hours, the striper fishing has been a little tougher due to some of the fish feeding at night.  As a result, some of trips have been during the day and some at night. During the day, we have been using freelines with herring trolled behind the boat.  This is also the best time of the year to catch a big fish so don’t be surprised to see us put out a bait that is over a pound. While we are trolling the live bait we are also casting bucktails for the fish that are right up on the banks. Most days we are catching more fish on the bucktail than live bait. This is not surprising this time of year. Overall, we are still not catching big numbers of stripers during the daytime. If you don’t have but two people in your group the night bite is not a bad idea. Some nights if the weather is right you can run up some good numbers in a short period of time.
On another note, we are catching a lot of crappie.  The next few weeks are the best time of the year to take young kids fishing. I am going to be running some short 2 hour trips during the weekdays after lunch except Thursday. This is the best way to introduce the little ones to fishing. Spring break is coming quick and it is one of the busiest weeks of the year for us so please try to call ahead as much as possible. We look forward to seeing you out there. Be sure to check out the video I did the other evening. Kids Fishing