LAKE LANIER IS DOWN 7.9 FEET, THE CREEKS ARE STAINED AND THE MAIN LAKE IS CLEAR & 70’s




I think we can pretty much declare the spawn to be over, and that can only mean one thing top water time! While I'm sure there are other patterns working, I don't care. When the top water bite is on, we chase it. And folks, it is on. We have had good success with a Chug Bug and a Pencil Popper this week. Focus on offshore structure with cover, such as brush on humps and points for this approach. The bite seems to be better in the middle of the day than any other time, but we have seen some good morning schooling activity this week as well, for which the top water lures have been excellent. Just throw it into the action and hang on. Windblown points have been the best places for this action. The fluke has continued to produce well also in the same type places. Work it fast and then kill it and let it settle. Vary the cadence until you find what the fish want. The fluke can be a good option when there is no wind. The only other thing we are throwing with any consistency is a Super Spin. We are using this bait in the same areas as we do for the top water as another option if the fish won't come up.

This Report brought to you by: Jimbo Mathley, www.jimboonlanier.com 770 542 7764




In May I only have 23(AM) open. Here are a few of my available June dates: 2, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. Father's Day is coming up! What better gift to give Dad than a fishing trip with Jimbo! Call me to purchase a gift certificate. In case you missed it in the short report above, its Top water Time! June should be the prime time for this top water action, and my June dates will go fast! Give me a call and let’s get out and have some fun!


I am now guiding in a Brand New Xpress Bass Boat 21’3″ powered by a 250 Yamaha SHO and equipped with the latest Lowrance HDS Gen III units featuring 3D Structure Scan technology. Come take a ride in this beauty! As I mentioned, if you are wanting to learn the deep timber bite and/or the ditch bite, now is the time!


This Lake Lanier Striper report is from Captain Ken West 404 561 2564. Contact us on our web site. www.bigfishon.com


Striper fishing is good. There is an early morning top water bite on the South end of the Lake. Red Fins and Chug Bugs are working best for these early morning surfacing fish. The bad news is the fishing gets really tough after 8:30 am. Unweighted free lines will also work early but the top water baits are out fishing the live herring. There continues to be a bite on the north end of the lake in and around the river channel form Holly Park to Gainesville Marina. However, with the rapid increase in water temperature the herring are not living very long below 40 feet. These “North End Fish” should start moving south in the next week looking for better oxygen levels in deeper water. Deploy unweighted free lines in the morning and start weighting them with split shots as the sun gets up. Always keep a couple of down rods deployed as you are pulling live Herring. Pitching a herring to a point is a blast as you never know what you might catch. Spotted Bass, Stripers and Catfish are mixed in on points and brush piles. The umbrella rig is back this week and will work on those suspended fish. However, with the lake down 8 feet be prepared to get hung up as you have to go deep with 120 to 140 feet of line out. Keep your eyes on your Lowrance HDS and when you see a shallow (20 foot or less) tree, power up and “jump” your rigs over the trees. We use 1 ounce buck tail jigs on a 3 ounce 4 arm frame. Pearl or chartreuse worms or chad bodies are the preferred trailers. Vary you speed between 2.7 to 3.4 MPH. The lake is 8 feet below full pool and the water is clear on the main lake and stained in the back of the creeks. The water temperature has risen to the high 70’s this week. 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


Water temperature is in the mid-seventies, and a few degrees higher in the afternoon. The month of May remains strong for Crappie fishing on Lake Lanier. The secret to catching crappie this time of year is to use the method of “run and gun” (targeting as many docks with structure as possible). Using your downscan and side scan will greatly assist in finding these spots. There are a lot of fishermen on the lake, and it is getting busier with recreational boaters as well. We’ve been catching good numbers of quality fish on deeper docks, especially targeting the channel docks in fifteen to twenty five feet of water. When you start catching smaller fish, move on. The fish on submerged brush piles in fifteen to twenty feet of water are greater in number, but smaller in size. The brush piles with tops about 10 feet below the surface are producing best. Your electronics will help you determine whether there are fish on the brush piles or not. If there are, throw a marker buoy and fish the whole brush pile by circling your buoy to find the best angles. Stay off the brush about thirty feet, cast your jig past the brush pile and retrieve slowly while shaking your rod. This will give the jig more action. You will get most of your bites ten feet below the surface either directly over or slightly to the side of the brush pile. Our preferred bait is still one twenty fourth ounce soft body jigs or hair jigs. If you prefer using a crappie minnow under a slip cork, it will work just as well. Fish are aggressive, so the color doesn’t seem to matter, but if the bite slows, switch colors. The night fishing bite is still not producing well. Once the nights are consistently warmer that bite will pick up.


Saturday, May 27, 2017 2pm at Bass Pro Shops in Lawrenceville, learn BASICS OF ELECTRONICS BY LOWRANCE PRO STAFF, KEN STURDIVANT


Ask for a free sonar set up sheet by sending me an email to ken@southernfishing.com. Please tell me what model machine you have.


We recommend Overboard Designs for 2956 Waterworks Road Buford, Georgia 30518 Phone 678.714.7122.


The Advantage Boat Center in Cumming Georgia offer sales, service and storage close to Lake Lanier. 678 771 8745. Ask for Myra.


We recommend Transducer Shield and Savers. Protect your investment.


We have the LOWRANCE Gen 3 Touch and the game changing technology in the NEW 3D Lowrance Technology on our boat. Bring any HDS machine only to Lake Lanier and learn it ALL in one day. Call Ken for details. See our Southern Fishing Schools page for the latest screen shots of the LOWRANCE 3D technology. See bass over a ladder in 10 feet of water, 168 feet from my boat. www.lowrance.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 for
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


Ultrex and Cable Guard protects external Transducer cable for remote control trolling motors. The cable guard will allow the transducer cable to turn kink free and the shaft can be raised or lowered without pinching the cable. No more messing with cable ties or black tape. For Factory Direct Pricing contact Precision Sonar at 270 703 6133


For the Lowrance Gen3 & Carbon units on the boat using Software version 4.5 – aka NOS 56 (this includes StructureScan 3D & SonarHub)
When first updated, the units will be in Legacy Mode.
Once everything on the boat has been updated to 4.5, to get the units out of Legacy Mode, you need to go to each unit and: Press the Pages Button Select Settings Select Sonar Press Restore Sonar Defaults (Will light up blue, but no type or progress bar will show on screen) Power down the entire boat (graphs and all) for 1 minute. Power everything back up and you should be good to go. When you set the front graph to This Unit for its sonar source, it should not change, even if Network Sonar is turned on.