LAKE LANIER IS 1.02 FEET OVER FULL, THE CREEKS ARE STAINED AND THE MAIN LAKE IS CLEAR THE RIVERS AND UP LAKE COVES ARE STAINED. 80 S DEGREES.


This report brought to you by: Jimbo Mathley Jimbo on Lanier www.jimboonlanier.com
Give me a call and let s fish! 770 542 7764


Bass fishing is good. The Corp of Engineers continues to pull water and we are approaching a full foot down from full pool. This is a traditional drop as the Corp often pulls water and reduces the pool in the fall as preparation for the Winter/Spring rains. The lower lake is still mainly clear with a slight stain back in the creeks. Above Brown s Bridge the water is slightly stained in the creeks, but fairly clear in the main river channel up to the Gainesville Bridge. Above the Gainesville Bridge there is slightly more stain both in the main river as well as the creeks. The top water and swim bait bite is on. The recent weather change has been fantastic for the fishing. The fish are starting to transition into their fall patterns and the next month on Lanier should be awesome fishing. The top water and swimbait bite has come back and is getting stronger every day. Traditional humps and points with brush have been the best option for that approach. Walking baits, Whopper Ploppers, and a Sebile have been our best options. These locations on the main lake as well as creek mouths have been producing. We are seeing lots of bait starting to move back into the mouths of the creeks recently, and a lot of schooling going on both in the main channel as well as in the mouths of the creeks. All of these factors support the occurrence of the fall transition and signify great fishing ahead. In addition to the top water and swimbaits, other lures of choice for me this month will be a jerk bait, a SuperSpin, and a Spybait. That is about all I’m going to have on my deck for the next month. We are really looking forward to power fishing for a while! October is one of my favorite months on the lake. I hope you will make plans to come join me.


This Lake Lanier Striper report is from Big Fish on Guide Service. To book your trip call Captain Ken at 404 561 2564 or contact us on our web site. www.bigfishonguide.com


Striper fishing is good. We are stuck in a late summer pattern which will not move until we can get a break in the temperature. The Stripers have been pushed up into the thermocline due to the lack of oxygen in the deeper water. Consequently, Stripers are beginning to show up on 30 to 40 foot humps as well as the suspended at 30 to 40 feet just over the river and creek channels. There are also some smaller Stripers on points mixed in with Spotted Bass. Trolling with Lead core line and Umbrella rigs has slowed some this week and live bait using Herring on down rods out performed trolling. Look for two or three Stripers suspended at 30 to 40 feet and deploy your down rods. Fish the area for 15 minutes and move if you are not getting bit. We are using 2 ounce slip weights and a 6 foot fluorocarbon 12 pound test leader with a #1 or 1/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hook for our down rods. For our Lead core we are using 1 ounce buck tail jig with a white or chartreuse 4 inch shad body set at 8 to 9 colors back and trolled at 3.0 to 3.8 MPH. Always start out with both white and chartreuse and see what color is working. Some days it will be only white, some days only chartreuse and some days the color does not matter. We use 9, 1 ounce buck tail jigs on a 3 ounce frame for our umbrella rigs set at 130 to 150 feet back and trolled at 2.8 to 3.2 MPH. The water temperature is in low 80’s. The water is lightly stained in the backs of the creeks and clear on the main lake. The lake is .9 feet below full pool. 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 fishing 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 high 70’s in the mornings, and with cooler nights, is inching lower. This means better fishing! Today’s fishing was excellent. In addition to that, our club had their tournament this past Saturday, and every boat that participated was pleased with their catch. Expect this pattern to improve over the next several weeks. We are not catching the bigger fish yet, but the numbers are there, and the fish are healthy. The fish are relatively deep, the bite is noticeable, and they are becoming aggressive. We are seeing and catching fish on stand along brush piles, especially the deeper ones at 25 feet or more. The shallower brush piles are also holding fish, but they are smaller in size. Shooting docks is very good right now. Hair jigs and soft body grubs are working well. Jiffy Jigs, Bobby Garland and Mr. Crappie are also working well. To start the season off on a new track, let’s talk about equipment. An all time favorite rod is the Berkley Shock, 6’6” Medium. To a bass angler, this is a drop shot rod, but it can be used for shooting docks, and is available almost anywhere tackle is sold. Another rod I’m falling in love with is the Wally Marshall Speed Shooter IM8 by Lew’s, Medium Light. It is available in 6’6” and 6’0”. The Sharp Shooter 6, by B & M, Medium Light, 6’0 is another good rod. Personally, I would give the nudge to the Wally Marshall 6’6”. These rods all retail for $39 to $49. They are all excellent choices. If your budget allows or you want to splurge, St. Croix sent me a rod to try out, the AvidX 6’6” AX566 MLF, Medium Light. These rods retail for $169 to $189. It is a well balanced rod and feels great in your hand. Will it help you catch more fish? You’ll have to be the judge. When it comes to reels, my favorites are the Shimano 1000 series, priced from $39 and up, depending on the model or one of Lew’s several reels that are good for Crappie fishing. When it comes to line, the two that I would recommend are Mr. Crappie Hi Vis 4 pound test, or my favorite, Vicious 2 pound test, Hi Vis Yellow. Line is relatively inexpensive, and I highly advise you to change it often. On another note, last Saturday I had an incident at the Thompson Bridge access boat ramp. Normally, it is a safe ramp, but my car and 2 others were broken into and ransacked. Luckily, I had nothing of value inside other than my easily replaced sunglasses. The Gainesville Police handled it in a very professional manner including follow up. However, my recommendation is to not let a thief ruin your day don’t leave valuables in your car – including your wallet and your checkbook. Be safe on the water! Wear your life jacket, it can save your life!


LOWRANCE TIPS: VIEW: NO SPLIT, ZOOM, BOTTOM LOCK, and FLASHER PALLETTE: Palette 1 for 200 kHz, palette 3 for 83 KHz. TEMP GRAPH: Use as needed DEPTH LINE: Use as needed A SCOPE: Vertical flasher use as needed PREVIEW: CURSOR ON or OFF FISH ID: OFF


We have all the details for our On the Water SONAR School on our web SCHOOLS page. We have the LOWRANCE CARBON and 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 158 feet from my boat. www.lowrance.com


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.


Call Brian Leiva at www.bbgmarine.com 888 570 0916 for all your Lowrance and other technology.


We 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


Ken Sturdivant will be hosting FREE Fishing classes at 4 Forsyth County Library Branch s. These seminars will cover Bass Fishing, Striper Fishing, Crappie Fishing, Fly Fishing and Sonar. These are the dates and times. Anglers DO NOT need to pre register. Please come to the event 30 minutes prior to start time. All events are subjects to change without notice.
These are the locations: Cumming Library Branch, 585 Dahlonega Street, Cumming, GA 30040, Sharon Forks Branch, Sharon Forks 2820 Old Atlanta Road, Cumming, GA 30041, Hampton Park Branch, Hampton Park 5345 Settingdown Road, Cumming, GA 30041, Post Road Branch, Post Road 5010 Post Road, Cumming, GA 30040
These are the dates, times and topics:
Sunday October 14, 2018 Hampton Park SONAR 2 to 4 pm Ken Sturdivant will teach this class on Basics of SONAR.
Sunday, October 21, 2018 Sharon Fork BASS LURES 2 to 4 pm Ken Sturdivant will teach the Basic Bass lures.
Sunday, November 4, 2018 Post Road: FLY FISHING 2 to 4 pm Meet Rene Hess, FFI Certified Casting Instructor at this class.
Sunday, November 11, 2018 Cumming Library: SONAR 2 to 4 pm Ken Sturdivant will teach the Basics of SONAR at this class.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018 Cumming Library: CRAPPIE 7 pm Ken Sturdivant will teach the basis of Crappie fishing.
Sunday, November 18, 2018 Sharon Forks: FLY FISHING 2 to 4 pm Rene Hess will teach this class on Basics of FLY FISHING.
Sunday, December 9, 2018 Hampton Park: FLY FISHING 2 to 4 p.m. Rene Hess, FFI Certified Casting Instructor will teach this class.
All events are subjects to change without notice.