LAKE LANIER IS DOWN 10.1 FEET, THE CREEKS ARE STAINED AND THE MAIN LAKE IS CLEAR & 50’s

Bass fishing on Lake Lanier remains good and continues to improve. The lake level and water temperatures have been fairly stable over the past week. We have focused our efforts shallow over the past week. We are starting back in ditches early and have found a good early morning schooling bite in some of these areas. Fish are very active for about the first 45 minutes of daylight. This bite is somewhat random, but contained within the ditch. The fish can be busting in 4 feet or over 40 feet when they are chasing the bait aggressively. After the schooling bite slows, focus on the key features you find shallow near the ditches as well such as clay and rock points. We are starting in ditches and staying in them through the day as well as working shallow pockets just off the main lake or main creek channels. Most days we are focusing in 15 feet of water or less. We are starting with a SuperSpin tipped with a boot-tail type trailer right in the ditch. Also, a Spro McStick or McRip has been a good choice as far as jerk baits go, in addition to a Megabass Vision 110. A Pearl White or Blue/White combo have been the best colors. A watermelon candy finesse worm on a Picasso Shakedown Head or a Chattahoochee Jig has been a good alternative if the fish are not as aggressive. Check the shallower brush through the day as well, as we have been finding some fish staging around this brush. As the sun gets up, check the shallow docks in ditches and pockets for activity. Work a jerkbait and a soft plastic swimbait beside these shallow docks, as well as a jig and worm. These fish are already starting to stage in preparation for the spawn. You will find spots and largemouth in these places. This pattern definitely works better when the sun is out as opposed to cloudy conditions. The clouds make the fish scatter and often bottom locked as well. While they still remain close to the dock, they are often not directly under the docks. The fishing is definitely more random under cloud cover. Here are the dates I have open in March: 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17, 20, 21, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29 and 30.

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

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. This has been a crazy year! Checking your records to determine where the fish should be has not worked this year. The Stripers have not moved to the back of the creeks as in years past but have continued to roam the mouths of the creeks and main lake pockets. Consequently, you should focus your search for Stripers to main lake pockets and creeks. Because the Stripers are feeding on small Threadfins, medium minnows have been working better than Herring. Deploy both unweighted and weighted free lines with a medium minnow on a #4 or a #2 Gamakatsu Octopus hook. We have used both 10 pound and 12 pound test leaders over the past couple of weeks and concluded there is no significant advantage to using 10 pound test. Down rod fishing and trolling with Umbrella rigs have not worked well this week. Clearly free lines with medium minnows in the ticket. The fish are scattered lake wide with mid lake being your best bet. The lake is 10 feet below full pool and the water is clear on the main lake and slightly stained in the back of the creeks. The water temperature is in the mid 50’s. Call Big Fish On Guide Service at 404 561 2564 to schedule a guided fishing trip on Lake Lanier.

This Crappie fishing report is from Dan Saknini.
See our club’s website, www.laniercrappieanglers.net

As to be expected, fishing is good to excellent this time of the year. Water temperature is between 57 and 60 degrees, varying between morning and afternoon. With the full moon about two weeks away, combined with warmer weather, the stage is being set for the spawn. The combination of warm weather and a full moon will create ideal conditions. The trolling bite is good, using double rigged curly tails in a variety of colors. Try tipping some with minnows. This technique will result in bagging bigger fish, and with the abundance of bait, will give you an edge. For dock shooters, the bite has been consistent all day long, Target shallower docks, fifteen foot depths or less. Don’t hesitate to try docks as shallow as 6 8 feet, as that is where the females will most likely be. (Be mindful though, that the females are holding our future crappie stock, so catch and release this time of year is an excellent practice.) As you start at a dock, you will notice you are catching the bigger fish. As they tend to get smaller, move on to another dock. As we mentioned in the past, you are competing with a large number of fishermen this time of year, so it is very important to keep moving if you are not getting bites. The secret to putting a lot of fish in the boat is to simply cover a lot of water. Keep moving! Some fish are holding on the more shallow submerged brush piles, but the bigger fish have moved from brush piles to shallow docks with cover. Four pound high visibility line is very important. Your jig color should vary depending on the water color. The more stain, the darker the jig should be. Stay away from heavier jig heads. 1/24 ounce remains our number one choice unless the day is very windy. As we mentioned in the past, keep asking your friendly bait store to carry that type jig head. They tend to be difficult to find. To target blowdowns, water temperatures need to be around 60 degrees for a few days in a row, which we’ve not consistently reached. Watch for it though, it’s coming, and that will be the first sign of the spawn. Another sign of fish moving to blowdowns is seeing turtles sunning on the exposed portions of blowdowns. Once the water temperatures rise, the turtles will come out of hibernation. Best blowdowns are the ones that have been submerged a year or longer, in the backs of pockets. They’ve had a chance to build algae, which attracts the plankton, which attracts the bait…..you get the picture. Stay safe on the water, always wear a life jacket!

On April 29, 2017 in Blue Ridge Georgia, the Blue Ridge Trout Fest will be there for their second year. Vendors, seminars and much more are planned. http://blueridgetroutfest.com/

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

Ken Sturdivant, Lowrance Pro Staff will teach two Free SONAR classes at the Cabela’s in Greenville, South Carolina, Saturday February 25, 2017 at 10 am and again at noon.

Ask for a free sonar set up sheet by sending me an email to [email protected]. Please tell me what model machine you have.

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

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 [email protected].

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

Saturday, March 25, 2017 2pm at Bass Pro Shops in Lawrenceville, learn BASICS OF ELECTRONICS BY LOWRANCE PRO STAFF, KEN STURDIVANT