Lake Lanier Info

Lake Lanier Fishing Report February 14

LAKE LANIER IS DOWN 18 FEET, AND THE LAKE IS CLEAR & 49 DEGREES. There are still humps, trees and long points exposed lake wide. Be very careful running the lake. See our site for the Lake Lanier Ramp calculator. Charleston Park’s two ramps are now open. Be sure to buy a pass at the ramp or you can get an annual pass Forsyth County’s Central Park. Up north Clarks Bridge ramp is open. Largemouth bass fishing is slow. Most of the lake is clear with a little stained water in the mid to upper lake creeks. Bass will soon be moving under large docks, especially marinas and sandy backs. There are a few bass biting jigs and jerk baits even in the cold waters. The bass on the main lake are not to be found in any structure. Use the jigs and spoons early in the day until the water warms up. Small all black or all brown jigs with Uncle Josh pork trailers are the cold weather baits. Try a couple of spoons in different sizes and colors and use a slow lift and drop technique. There are a few anglers using small #5 bright Shad Raps in the jointed model in bright colors in the up river creeks. But this is an afternoon tactic and watch the water temperature gauge all day for the warmest water anywhere. Sometimes muddy water can warm up during the winter and stay warmer than the rest of the area. Spotted bass fishing is fair. There are some big spots on deep docks lying right on the bottom. Use a Zoom icicle finesse worms but also try the six inch u tail worms as well. An occasional spotted bass will be caught at the mouth of the Little River and Wahoo Creek on the long run out points. The #5 Shad Raps in the brighter colors will take a few fish with a little warm weather. During the day, concentrate on rocky areas where wood is present. Some spots are being caught are being caught on jigging with a small profile and a slow flutter like the be a Flex It or a small Silver Buddy/Cicada type bait in the 1/4 1/2 ounce sizes. Use a white or silver color on a sunny day and a gold or solid white on a cloudier day. On sunny days, some fish are being taken on deep rocky banks out of the wind on suspended jerk baits in a silver and blue or an orange and copper color. Thompson Creek and Wahoo Creek along with Little River is your best for putting numbers in the boat. Jerk baits and small crank baits will work later in the day as the water warms. Striper fishing has been fair and there are still some fish out there that can be caught. The north end of the lake is good up to Gainesville Creek and then back down to Browns Bridge. Look on the Lowrance and find the large schools of bait fish. There are bound to be some stripers close by and all your time can be either very good or very bad. The fish are moving and that is the key to catching these fish. Troll the single or double buck tails in the one ounce sizes. Start in the creek mouths mid lake and troll these baits along with large stick bait like the Rebel Wind Cheaters or the larger style stick baits. The Hopkins and Flex It spoons have also been producing better this week working the spoons vertically over the school while down lining live bait. If the fish are on top, double up your Super Flukes and cast to the breaking fish. Gizzard shad, large minnows and herring are all working, but medium sizes of herring are out producing the rest. Down lining and free lining are both working lake wide. Some really big fish may surface so watch for any single swirls. Most of the fish are going to be between wide ranges of depths anywhere from 15 to 35 feet deep with the majority between 20 and 35. Keep your bait just above the fish. Pull live bait on down rods and flat lines and mix up the bait sizes all day. During the day, look at 27 feet over a 45 foot bottom. No night bite yet. Captain Chuck Biggers Southern Striper Guide Service 404 405 8280 *1/2 day trips are 6 hours now until March* Striper fishing is good but challenging with all of the rain we’ve had. Conditions are changing from day to day. Start in the backs of the creeks early in the morning with “planer boards” and “flat lines”, and work my way out to mid creek. Be sure to watch your graph! If you don’t see fish, fish the bait. Striper are still biting trout, but vary the size and kind of live bait you use with weather and temperatures changing. While fishing shallow along the banks, use a shorter “leader line” behind your planer boards, about 20 30’. Lengthen the “leader line” when you move to deeper water. This is the same for “flat lines”. Put out 30 to 50’ in shallow water and 50 to 100 feet when you get to deeper water. Later in the afternoon, you may want to switch to “down lines”, as the bait and fish move down in the water column. Striper are being caught at all times of the day. Crappie fishing is good and there are some fish in the docks in the backs of the lakes creeks. Large docks are the best areas and small bass Pro Shops Squirt jigs in bright colors will work. The small 1/32 ounce lead head jigs on Sufix 4 pound test line has been the best combination. Depths are from 7 to 12 feet and the marinas also have some fish under them as well.