LAKE LANIER IS 4.4 FEET OVER FULL, THE CREEKS ARE HEAVILY STAINED AND THE MAIN LAKE IS CLEAR & MID 50’S

Lots of Debris Lake wide and many ramps and parks are closed.

Spotted bass fishing is slow. It will be hard to set up a good pattern with all the weather so use the old stand lures like the spoons and jigs. Lots of pine straw in the lake means check your baits often. Find cleanest water out on the main lake. Spots are chasing baits well for now, so it’s time to see how slow you can fish and how deep they can be holding. Try some finesse worms and small jigs down lake in the clearer water. Shakey Heads in a 3/16 ounce weight at from 20 to 40 feet and finesse worms in green’s are the best bet. Also, try a small Zoom green or chartreuse mini lizard on a lead head jig and add some scent like Spike It. There have not been a lot of spots caught with any fast moving baits, so go slow. Try the drop shot and use a ¼ ounce weight and get this rig deep to 40 feet in old channels in the creek. But stay out close to the deeper waters away from the stained waters. Get right over the old brush piles and drop baits right to the structure. If they strike short on worms or jigs, add some scent and work the same location for several casts. Try sitting right over the fish and you may not see them until, you drop a jig down there and the up the pop up off the bottom.

This Lake Lanier Striper report is from Captain Ken West and Captain Mike Maddalena of www.bigfishon.com

Stripers are biting but the fishing conditions are awful. The lake has risen over 3 feet the past two weeks which has washed all the debris on the shore into the lake. Logs, bottles, sticks and a ton of pine straw has produced “trash slicks” on the surface. Care should be taken as you motor down the lake as this floating debris includes some big logs which can inflict some heavy boat damage. In addition, the water flowing into the lake is very muddy which creates a “mud line”. There is a big difference between fishing the mud line and fishing trash slicks. The Stripers do not like the muddy water and will seek out the better quality water ahead of the mud line. As you move into the creeks find the mud line and then turn around and fish the water ahead of the line. The problem with the trash slicks is not water quality but it does make it difficult to pull free lines and boards as the trash gets tangled on your lines. Fishing down rods is your best technique when fishing trash slicks. Trolling with Umbrellas rigs is not a good option as you will spend all of your time cleaning the pine straw off of your rigs. Live bait is your best bet with Blueback Herring, and Gizzard Shad being the bait of choice. As always, fish the areas with the highest concentration of bait fish. Shoal Creek, Six Mile Creek, Flat Creek, Big Creek, Flowery Branch, and mail lake points are good places to start. The water temperature is 58 degrees and the lake is 3 feet above full pool. SEVERAL OF THE PARKS AND BOAT RAMPS HAVE BEEN CLOSED DUE TO FLOODING! Check with the Army Corps of engineers for a current list. To book your guide trip call us at 404 561 2564 or contact us on our web site. www.bigfishonguide.com

This Lake Lanier Crappie report is from Dan Saknini, member of the Lanier Crappie Angler’s Club. See our club’s website, www.laniercrappieanglers.net

Today, December 31, 2015, Lake Lanier’s water level was 1075.4 and rising. This is the highest recorded level in thirty five years. With the amount of rain experienced in the past several days and the high volume of run off entering the lake, there is a tremendous amount of debris in the water, both natural (limbs, etc.) and trash. Thanks to the outstanding efforts of over a thousand volunteers that participated in the Shore Sweep coordinated by the Lake Lanier Association and the Corps of Engineers in late September of this year, there are several tons LESS trash in the water than there could have been! Can you imagine if all the trash that was collected was still in the lake, ALONG with everything there now?! Thank you Lake Lanier Association! The high water levels have resulted in the Corps of Engineers closing recreation areas in many parks, however boat ramps are, thankfully, still open. Having said that, use extreme caution in operating a vessel, and avoid being on the water before daylight or after dark. Currently, the water temperature is right at sixty degrees. This is six to ten degrees warmer than typical for the time of year. There is heavy stain up and down the lake, especially in the backs of creeks. The biggest challenge with everything in the water is to get your jig to drop below the debris. When it finally does (sometimes after several casts), the results are good, as fish still need to eat. So be patient, and keep casting if the jig is not dropping. Some of the fish are holding close to the brush but below the debris, so they are a bit shallower now than a week or two ago. Regardless, crappie are structure related fish, so look for them around brush piles and docks with structure below. Darker jig colors seem to work better in the stained water. Rain is expected to taper off, with cooler nights expected. This should bring the temperatures closer to typical for this time of year. Fishing should get better as the water temperature drops and the stain clears. So, stay safe on the water and wear your life jacket!

The 2016 Atlanta Boat Show hits the Georgia World Congress Center January 14 to 17, 2016. Meet Ken Sturdivant, Al Bassett, Captain Mark Smith, Matt Driver, and Jimbo Mathley, Renee Hess, Chris Scalley. See www.atlantaboatshow.com for details.

Ken Sturdivant, Lowrance Professional Fishing Staff will be conducting FREE Sonar Seminar at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Lawrenceville Georgia on Saturday December 26, 2015 at 2pm. Seminar is subject to change without notice. Be sure to see the NEW Lowrance machines coming on www.lowrance.com

For a free set up sheet for your sonar, send me an e mail to ken@southernfishing.com

Anglers have these books for sale BASS FISHING ON WEST POINT LAKE, BASS FISHING LAKE RUSSELL, BASS FISHING WEST POINT LAKE, and BASS FISHING LAKE HARTWELL. These books have lots of bass fishing and covers every week of the year. Each book $39.00. If you would like a sample of any book, send us an e mail to ken@southernfishing.com.

We offer these waypoints for sale. You get the coordinates and you load them into your GPS unit
Lake Allatoona for $99.00, Lake Lanier for $99.00, Lake Oconee for $99.00, Lake Weiss for $99.00, Lake Hartwell for $99.00 WAYPOINTS ARE NOT REFUNDABLE

Our mailing address is Southern Fishing Schools Inc. 106 Hickory Ridge, Cumming Georgia 30040. 770 889 2654