LAKE LANIER IS 1.32 FEET OVER FULL, THE CREEKS ARE STAINED AND THE MAIN LAKE IS CLEAR THE RIVERS AND UP LAKE COVES ARE VERY STAINED. 60S


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


Currently the lake stands at 1.6 feet over full pool, and sits around 62 degrees surface temperature. The lake has been holding pretty steady in terms of water level over the last couple of weeks. The backs of the live creeks in the lower lake are still slightly stained. The lake above Brown's Bridge is also slightly stained and progresses to heavier stain as you approach Gainesville Marina and above. We have entered "the fun zone" for fishing on Lake Lanier! Pretty much pick how and where you want to catch them and go after it. A crankbait, jerk bait, spinnerbait, fluke, and even some top water have been productive, and of course a worm. Shallow is the word for the fish we have been on focus on 15 feet and less. Points, humps, rocks, docks all have fish on them. A Spro McStick jerk bait and a Castaway 1.5 Shad crank are good choices for the crank and jerk. Also, these baits will work back shallow in the creeks as well. Some days the wood in these areas is holding fish also, so make sure to make some casts to the now many pieces of flooded cover. The shaky head and weightless Senkos are good options in the worm category. Its time - get out and fish and have fun. Here are my remaining open dates for April: 12(AM), 15, 17, 18, and 23(PM), 24, 26, and 27(AM), 29, 30(PM).


Striper fishing is good. Fishing this week as been up and down and very wet! The Stripers are about to move south. Bald Ridge and Shoal Creek have been good this week as well as Flat Creek. Live bait continues to be your best bet. Blueback herring is the bait of choice when fished on both UN weighted free lines 100 feet behind the boat and with a one or two split shots 50 to 80 feet back. Fish your planner board lines 50 to 60 feet behind the board. This down lake bite will only get stronger soon. Keep your trolling motor speed between .6 and 1.2 miles per hour. Small stripers and large spotted bass will bite the Red Fin at first light. It is always a good idea to keep someone on the front deck casting a Red Fin or a buck tail jig while you are pulling bait. Umbrella rigs are great search rigs hit some creek points this week. There are a lot of spotted bass in the same areas both over deep water and shallow points and flats. Buy a few extra baits and change your baits often as the spotted bass and the gar will attack the herring without you noticing and you will end up fishing with dead or injured bait. The water temperature is in the mid 60 degrees during the day and the water is stained on the main lake with heavy stain in the backs of the creeks.


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


In the last month, we’ve been taking advantage of fishing shallow docks while the fish were staging for spawning This week, the anticipated change is taking place as we see signs that the spawn is nearing completion and we are headed to the post-spawn. The fish we have been catching on shallow docks have moved to deeper docks, 15 feet and deeper. In the next 3-4 weeks, we expect them to move to stand-alone brush piles. With this change occurring, some may say that the bite has slowed down. This is somewhat true, but the bite is still there if you cover a lot of water. Don’t expect to catch the same number of fish in a single spot. The numbers have gone down significantly. The early morning bite is definitely the best part of the day, and the bite lessens significantly by 10:30 or 11:00 on a sunny day. The bite picks up late in the evening around 7:00 and continues until dark, and on certain days, is even better than the morning bite. As the water temp warms up, the fish should begin to move to the brush piles that are now deeper than normal for this time of year. The water remains moderately stained, so experimenting with various colored jigs is helpful. Certain color jigs may work better in one pocket over another. It is a good time to be on the water in the last weeks before school gets out, but there is still some floating debris in the water, so keep an eye out. Get out there and enjoy some good fishing and some good weather. Wear your life jacket it can save your life.


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 free by sending me an email to ken@southernfishing.com. Please tell me what model machine you have.


Please watch this video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7k0ECCQjeY


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