LAKE LANIER IS DOWN .61 FEET, THE CREEKS ARE STAINED AND THE MAIN LAKE IS CLEAR THE RIVERS AND UP LAKE COVES ARE STAINED. 50’S


This report brought to you by Jimbo Mathley Jimbo on Lanier www.jimboonlanier.com 770 542 7764


The lake has been pretty stable over the past week and now stands at .7 feet below full pool. The main lake is fairly clear, and the creeks are stained. The spoon bite in the timber has been the bomb for us this week! We have had some great days, including one half day trip when we boated 55 fish, with the best 5 going 17 pounds. Look in the 30 to 45 foot range for the spoon fish, but that can change any day in terms of the depth they are holding based on the bait. Look for the fish to be tighter to the timber on sunny days, and roaming more in those ditches on cloudy days. We have also still been working shallower rocky points with crankbaits, jigs, and worms in the mornings and sometimes throughout the day. When the fish are active, the crankbaits are hard to beat. Try using a deeper diving crankbait, like the Spro Little John DD on those shallow points keep the bait digging on the bottom. You can cover water quickly and find the aggressive fish. Also, with the cooling water temperatures, look for the jerk bait bite to pick up soon as well in those same areas, as well as back in pockets. When the bite slows, switch to a worm and jig presentation in those same areas but back out from the shallows. The chasing fish have been in 10 feet or less, and the worm and jig fish have been more in the 12 to 20 foot range, but we have found them to be very shallow at times as well. Look for those worm and jig fish to show up deeper now on some days as well, based on the water continuing to cool. Focus on the shallower rock points in both the mouths of creeks as well as the main lake. Also the mouths of creek pockets in the first half of the major creeks have been productive as well. The creek ditches are holding some fish now in shallower water and we have been catching some on the SuperSpin down in the ditches on some days so count that bite has officially started and ready for training! THIS is the time to learn those winter patterns ditch fishing timber fishing spoon fishing....it’s a great time to learn them all. I hope you will make plans to come join me. This is a great time to learn the deep timber bite with a spoon, worm, and jig, as well as the SuperSpin fishing in the ditches. Here are my open dates for December: 4 (PM), 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31. Give me a call and let’s fish.


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 if you can handle the cold temperatures and high winds. There are fish scattered from Vann’s Tavern to Little River and from the river channel to the back of the creeks. The key is to find the areas with the greatest concentration of bait. Look for deep bait from 30 to 50 feet over a 50 to 100 foot bottom. When you locate a high concentration of this deep bait target any fish you mark with herring and medium shiner’s on down rods. Fish your down rods above, into and under the bait. Also, look for shallow bait from surface to 20 feet and target these areas with free lines and planner boards. Vary the depth of you lines with split shots and distance behind the boat and planner boards. The umbrella rig is working in the areas with shallow bait and makes and excellent search tool. Set your rigs at 120 feet back and pull at 2.8 to 3.0 MPH. Focus on a depth of 30 to 60 feet. We have seen some surface activity early morning so keep your eyes on the water and target these areas with a buck tail jig and small spoons. Flat Creek, Balus Creek and Two Mile Creek are good places to start your search. The water temperature is in the low to mid 50’s and the lake is .5 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 report is from Dan Saknini, member of the Lanier Crappie Angler’s Club. See our club’s website, www.laniercrappieanglers.Net

Water temperature is between 54 and 57 degrees, depending on which part of the lake you are fishing. The backs of creeks are moderately stained. The main Creek channels and river channels are clear. Fishing remains good to excellent. We prefer fishing with limited breeze on the water, which was the condition over the weekend. However, late fall on Lanier brings challenges to crappie fishing. Obviously, it can be cold, which can make fishing uncomfortable. In addition, windy weather such as we’ve had the last few days can make casting difficult. To top that off, leaves in the water in the area you want to cast, can impact your aim. So, my first tip is to dress in layers to help keep you warm, but also to aid in staying comfortable with the ability to shed layers if the sun or increased activity warms you up. My second tip is to use heavier jigs in windy conditions. We typically use 1/32 or 1/24 ounce jigs on normal days. On windy days we will use 1/16 ounce jigs or tie two 1/32 ounce rigs on one rod to help get the bait where we want it against the wind. There’s no magic to dealing with floating leaves. You just have to be patient and know that you may have to cast again…and sometimes again… and again to get your jig past the leaves in the spot you want. But this is still one of my favorite times of the year to be out on the water. Pleasure boaters and PWC’s have been winterized and are mainly off the lake. Hunters are chasing deer and other prey in the woods. That leaves the fall colors surrounding the lake to the fishermen. So we have to deal with some challenges, but it is definitely worth it! My favorite jig right now is still Bobby Garland. If you prefer hair jigs, Jiffy Jigs are my choice. Always remember that crappie relate to structure, so watching for and finding natural bait around structure on the lake is going to lead you to a fun catch! So, get out on the water and enjoy the late fall advantages. Be safe! Wear your life jacket it can save your life!

Ken Sturdivant, Lowrance Pro Staff will be teaching a two hour “BASICS OF ELECTRONICS” on January 5, 2019 at 2pm at Cabela’s Greenville, South Carolina. See the NEW Lowrance HDS LIVE equipment at work.


The 2019 Progressive Atlanta Boat Show is January 10 to 13, 2019 at the Georgia World Congress Center building A. We will have room 312 for FISHING SEMINARS and there will be one seminar every hour each day. http://www.atlantaboatshow.com/seminars


LOWRANCE TIPS: Be sure to back up your waypoints, routes and trails at least every other month. This data is valuable that cannot be lost.


We have all the details for our On the Water SONAR School on our web SCHOOLS page. We have the LOWRANCE LIVE and 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 Branches. The last seminars will cover Fly Fishing. 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.
We have the next Fly Fishing class 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.