Lake Lanier Striper Report

The Striper bounty is in full swing on Lake Lanier. Several nice fish have already showed up. Now is the peak time to catch the biggest fish in the lake as the fish prepare for the spawn. The big females have to eat and they are shallow for the warmer water greatly increasing your odds. Plus with the fish shallow, you are less likely to lose the fish to the deep timber. Live bait will be the best bet for the big females. Do not be afraid to pull a one pound gizzard shad up in the shallows. You need to use  a little heavier line with the big baits. Most of the time with the big gizzards we spool up with twenty pound Trilene Big Game and a twenty pound Trilene 100% Flourocarbon leader. At other times free lining blueback herring will be the best bait. We typically use a little lighter line fifteen pound test on the herring to give them a little more action. Also, be sure to use as small a hook as possible on the herring. Most of the time use a 2/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hook. Using too large of a hook is the most common mistake. Casting bucktail jigs to the shallows will also catch some fish. Look for stained water for the best success. 

Lastly, do not forget about the night bite. Casting Long A Bombers into the shallows can be exciting when a big fish crushes your lure five feet off the bank. Now that the nights are warming up, the night fishing is a little more pleasurable.

Lake Lanier Fishing Report Oct. 29, 2012

The topwater bite has arrived on Lanier. The stripers are feeding on threadfin shad early and late most days. The hurricane on the northeast has killed it for the next few days but look for the topwater bite to go back into full swing as soon as the wind lays down Tuesday night. The fish have been very visible schooling on the surface. The best bait most days has been the Sebile Magic Swimmer in Sea Chrome. A couple other good baits have been the Houston Bleeding Shad Super Spook and The Cotton Cordell Redfin. We have been throwing these baits on 12 pound Trilene Big Game line. The bites have been bone jarring. At times they have been knocking the baits several feet up in the air. When this happens, this is the time to throw the Sebile Magic Swimmer. As the water cools the following weeks, look for the stripers to start wanting the smaller baits like the ice fly. Throw the ice fly behind a weighted casting bubble. The casting bubble is filled with water.

For those chasing the big fish, There has also been a good river bite up the rivers. These fish have been in three to five feet of water most of the time. Big live trout and gizzard shad on freelines have been the best choice for these fish.

August 13. 2012

Fishing has been great on Lake Lanier for striped bass. The Summer fishing this year as a whole has been better than the last couple of years. Without a doubt, the average size fish been much better than last year. The fish are really concentrated on the south end of the lake. The fish have been out over the deep water. Most of the fishing has been in sight of the dam area. It was a busy Summer out on the lake but now that school is back in session the lake has become quite and calm making it perfect for catching.

We are still downlining herring on long carolina type leaders using 16 pound flourocarbon leaders. We are using Penn 310 Line Counter reels spooled with 15 pound monofilament. The key right now is plenty of lively bluebacks. A premium livewell is very important right now. The trolling bite appears to be slacking off already however it could bounce back if we get some hot weather in the high nineties. Over the next few weeks the bite should continue to be great out on the lake. The fish should continue to be heavily ganged up down near the dam area. We hope to see you soon,

Lake Lanier Fishing Report May 25, 2012

With the hot weather, the striped bass on Lake Lanier are rapidly moving into their summer haunts. Most of the fish are coming on heavy freelines using blueback herring. We are pulling the freelines around .8 mph across main lake humps and points. Still a few fish being caught late in the evening hours on topwater baits like the Sebile Slim Stick. Over the next few weeks look for the downline to become the dominant pattern as the fish move out over open water. Take as much bait as you possible take in your bait tank. Ice and a pure oxygen system will help keep your bait in the best possible condition.
This is also our most predictable good fishing of the year. Be sure to try to book your trip during the week. Fishing is always better during the middle of the week. The boat traffic on the weekends make the fishing much tougher on the weekend. Time to get the kids out on the lake. See you out there,

Lake Lanier Fishing Report December 2011

Fishing continues to be great on Lake Lanier. The bulk of the fish are deep but a few big fish are shallow each morning. Pull freelines with trout and gizzard shad early each morning. Look for seagulls and loons to know where to fish the freelines. Most of these fish are cruising under the surface about 10 feet deep. Very few of them are breaking the surface. Later in the day, look for the fish 30 to 50 feet deep. These fish will be near the very large pods of bait. Take plenty of bait or you will be throwing the cast net. Concerning artificials, the only choice has been the flex - it spoon. Drop the spoon on the deep schools of fish and hop the spoon. Most of the bites will be on the fall.

July 30 2011

Fishing has been great on Lanier for the stripers. We are catching good numbers of fish on downlines and trolling leadcore line tipped with a 2 ounce chipmunk jig or pulse jig. Most of the big fish have come on the downline but we did pick up one big one yesterday on the leadcore. If you have never been fishing on Lake Lanier. Now is the best time. The schools are larger right now and the weather is consistent. All of the fish are on the south end of the lake. Time of day has not made much difference. Just get out and go.

Lake Lanier Fishing Report June 13 2011

The weather is great and the fish are on the points. As long as you are fishing points you can catch them on a variety of methods. We have been catching fish mostly on downlines since it is the lightest tackle. On the downlines we are also catching some nice spotted bass and even some catfish. Most of the stripers are 20 to 30 feet deep. Also of note, the best fishing has been very early. we are starting to catch some fish midday but it is no comparison to the early morning bite.