Topic: Lake Lanier Fish Report: Stay deep to catch stripers

[RGecy]

BY Eric Aldrich
For The Gainsville Times

UPDATED  Aug. 6, 2009 9:12 p.m.

Lake Temperatures are in the lower 80s and the lake level continues to hold steady at just above 1,065 feet, which is less than 6-feet below a full pool of 1,071 feet. Lake Lanier is clear on the main lake and slightly stained in the creeks. The main lake and creeks will become stained around the edges on the weekends due to lake traffic. The Chattahoochee River is clear. Check generation schedules before heading out to the river at 770-945-1466.

Bass fishing is still up and down (literally!). We have encountered and OK topwater bite this past week during the active feeding periods through out the day.

The topwater action seems to be best when the sun is up. Cast a SPRO Dawg 100 or a Super Spook in a shad or blueback pattern when you encounter surface feeding fish. You will have to cover some water to locate the active schools.

The rest of the time we have to go deep to catch the bigger spotted bass. Continue to work drop shot rigs or a jig head rigged straight tail worms in the brush at 20- to 30-feet deep. Use a Spotsticker Hand Poured or a Zoom finesse or trick worm in natural colors. I locate these offshore brush piles with my Humminbird display set to side imaging then I enter a waypoint on the units GPS function. This way I can come back to the brush piles day after day without having to search for them. After this I can use my Humminbird 777c unit on the bow to stay above the brush. It's really cool to actually see your lure falling on the screen and to watch the fish rise up to grab it. We call it “Video Game Fishing”. Learning this type of fishing requires quality electronics and some time spent on the water.

Spot tail minnows are still producing nice catches of bass. Spotted bass and other species can't seem to refuse a lively spot tail minnow fished on a down line. If you fish for bass with live bait, please use a small Gamakatsu circle hook to ensure that these fish don't get gut hooked so you can release them unharmed.

Striper fishing is very good but you will still need to fish deep. The fish are really schooled up from 30- to 50-feet over 55- to 100-foot bottoms.

Watch your Humminbird fish finders to determine the best depth to set out your down lined bluebacks.


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[blackjew]

Hi guys wow this information is fantastic ,as i come from down under and our Bass season is closed until the end of August,for the little beuties to spawn.They head to the rivers mouth.
I cant wait to put this method to practise.Im also new to fishing in the fresh.We have esturys over here that are conected to the sea.The further up the river you go the fresher the water gets,rull of thumb is when you see the water lillys thats the start of the fresh.
Its a real shame over here ,only the other day i heard of a profesional fisherman .well a squarehooker ,filled his net with Bass because its a native species ,he is not allowed to sell them so after 4 days that it took him to empty his net,they all went to the dump.Can you believe that the Australian government actually allow this sought of fishing.Thanks again for this great site .

Cheers Rob 

[sonar2000]

Robert...great article and full of tips.  This information is what this forum is all about.  Good posting..
Chuck