LAKE LANIER IS .63 FEET BELOW FULL POOL, THE MAIN LAKE AND CREEKS ARE STAINED & MID 40’S

Bass fishing on Lanier has been fair over the past week. There have still been fish shallow as well as in mid depth and deep ranges. The ditches with standing timber in 45 to 60 feet should still be your first check. They are not everywhere, but when you find them they are schooled up nicely, especially on sunny days. Check for bait in these likely areas. If there is no bait, move to the next ditch. In the early mornings, start shallower in 15 feet or less in pockets or the back of productive creek ditches with a Spro McStick or a 1/4 ounce Super Spin. A spoon, a Chattahoochee Jig, a Shaky Head worm, and a drop shot are all good potentials out deep and have remained consistent producers for us. Focus on timber edges and work your baits SLOWLY! The cold weather this weekend should push the fish back a bit in their pre spawn progress. This is still a great time to learn how to fish the deep timber on Lanier. How and where to find the most productive timber, how to fish it, and with what lures. This is also a great time to learn the art of fishing the winter to spring transition on Lanier. Here is what I have open the remainder of February: 23, 24, and 26. Give me a call and let's go bust some fish.

This Lake Lanier Bass report is from Jimbo Mathley. www.jimboonlanier.com 770 642 7764

The DVD's from Jimbo’s January 17th Seminar are now available. They are $39 each. Give me a call if you are interested in purchasing one: 770 542 7764.

This Striper report is from Captain Ken West and Captain Mike Maddalena of Big Fish On Service 404 561 2564. www.bigfishonguide.com

Striper fishing is good. The only thing that has changed this week is the weather! I must admit, I have not been on the water for the past several days; way to cold and windy. There is a shallow water early morning bite using Herring, Threadfin and Gizzard shad on free lines and planner boards. Once the sun gets up, weight your lines with several split shots, deploy your down rods in addition to your free lines and move to deeper water. The bait has been moving to a depth of 25 to 40 feet over 40 to 80 foot bottom. If you are not marking any bait; move until you do and fish there. This pattern should hold as long as the water temperature stays in the mid 40 degree range. If the water temperatures dips into the low 40's we will start to see a Threadfin Shad die off and the Stripers will get "locked in" on these small bait fish. This will require you to fish with smaller baits in an attempt to match the small Threadfins. You may also want to reduce your trolling speed to .3 to .5 miles per hour. There are fish in every creek with high concentrations of bait. However, Flat, Balus and Four mile creeks are hard to beat this time of year. The lake temperature mid 40's and the water is lightly stained on the main lake with heavy stain in the backs of the creeks. The lake is less than one foot below full pool.

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

Water temperature is still cold. We are targeting docks on river channels and on creek channels. Locate the bait, and you will find the fish. We are starting to catch numbers, but not the larger fish. If you are wondering where the bigger fish are located, they are on the move, chasing bait and fattening up for the spawn. Trolling could put bigger fish in the boat, however our favorite method right now is still shooting docks using soft body jigs. Crappie Assassin, Mr. Crappie and Bobby Garland jigs, all with straight tails are working well. Our favorite jig head is one twenty fourth ounce, with one sixteenth ounce on a windy day. Every time we are out on the water, we are keeping an eye on our brush piles, but are not yet finding large numbers of fish on them. They should begin moving to the brush piles in the next few weeks, pending the rise of the water temperature. Expect the fish to begin moving to more shallow docks ranging from fifteen to twenty foot depth or less. Always target the darkest part of the dock. If you are fishing with crappie minnows, your bait should be suspended five to ten feet below the surface. If you find a school of fish and you catch a few, you will notice that the entire school will rise in the water column, so make adjustments to the depth of your bait. Be safe on the water and wear your life jacket, it can save your life!

Call Ken Sturdivant about the ON THE WATER SCHOOLS for Sonar or the Rods, Reels and Lures for Bass or a full day STRIPERS School. Call 770 889 2654 for details. Send an e mail to [email protected]