LAKE LANIER IS DOWN 7.8 FEET, THE CREEKS ARE STAINED AND THE MAIN LAKE IS CLEAR & 70’s


Bass fishing is good. More rain this week! The lake continues to inch upwards which is nice to see. The spots are definitely in full spawn now. We are seeing a lot of spawning activity around the lake on humps, shoals, and in sandy pockets. We are even starting to catch a few post spawn spots. The fishing has continued to be very good over the past week. We have been doing well on numbers and quality every day. There are a number of patterns working right now, and you can pretty much catch fish any way you wish. We are still focused on main and secondary clay/rock points, shallow shoals around the banks and islands, as well as sandy pockets in 12 feet of water or less for the majority of this past week. A finesse worm or a Senko on a Picasso Shakedown Head has continued to produce consistently, and should continue to be a producer for several weeks. Look for the shallower brush on points and in pockets through the day as well, as we have been finding some fish staging around this brush which is often now just under the surface a couple of feet with the low water conditions. A new swimbait called the Sweet Herring from the Sweet Bait Company has worked very well on some days in these areas also. The Sweet Herring swimbait has also been good on the windblown rocky points and banks, as well as over the aforementioned shallow brush. The fluke has continued to produce well also points, docks, humps all of the above are viable. When you are targeting the post spawn bass, consider using a weighted fluke meaning use a shank weighted hook on the fluke. Let it settle considerably between twitches. The bass in this stage are often lethargic and are not as aggressive. The weighted fluke will get down to them more quickly. We are continuing to get a top water bite in the AM. A Vixen, a wake bait and a chug bug have been steady producers each day. A Sebile swimbait has also been good in the early morning hours. The top water bite is getting stronger and even becoming viable through the day. Look for this to get stronger and stronger as we move forward through May and particularly into June. This is simply an awesome time to go fishing! I only have a few dates remaining open in May: 18, 19, and 20(AM), 23(AM), and 31. Give me a call and let’s get out and have some fun! I am also booking for June which should be the premium top water month these dates will go fast so get on the books NOW!

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

I am now guiding in a Brand New Xpress Bass Boat 21’3″ powered by a 250 Yamaha SHO and equipped with the latest Lowrance HDS Gen III units featuring 3D Structure Scan technology. Come take a ride in this beauty! As I mentioned, if you are wanting to learn the deep timber bite and/or the ditch bite, now is the time!

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. Both down rods and free lines are working with Blueback Herring as the most productive bait. We use 2 ounce slip weights, a bead to protect the knot and a swivel tried to a 5 or 6 foot, 12 pound test Seaguar fluorocarbon leader. We use Gamakatsu octopus hooks size 1/0 or #1 depending on the size of the Herring. We use the same setup minus the 2 ounce weight for our free lines. This keeps things simple and we can easily swap a down rod to a free line and vice versa. This week we have been running 4 down rods and 3 free lines with a small split shot behind the boat and pulling at .7 MPH. Set your free lines at 70 to 100 feet behind the boat and add a small split shot as the sun comes up is late morning. In addition to Blueback Herring you may also want to pick up a couple of Gizzard Shad and float them on a balloon 130 feet behind the boat or pull them shallow on a planner board. Target creek points, channel and flats with Blueback Herring or Gizzard Shad. There are still some fish in the river channel from Browns Bridge to Little River Always keep someone on the front deck casting a ½ ounce buck tale jig with a small fluke trailer. The Red Fin is also a good choice for casting while you are pulling baits. The umbrella rig has slowed this week but never leave home without them. If you are having trouble getting the stripers to eat live bait try to get a reaction with an Umbrella rig. We use 1 ounce buck tail jigs on a 3 ounce 4 arm frame. Pearl or chartreuse worms or chad bodies are the preferred trailers. Get out your Red Fin, Chug Bugs and Spooks and have them ready for deployment. Spend some time early casting these top water baits as the bite should “kick in” over the next several weeks. The North end of the Lake is out fishing the South end. Target creek mouths from Browns Bridge to Wahoo Creek Including the creeks off the Chestatee River. The lake is 8 feet below full pool and the water is lightly stained on the main lake and heavily stained in the back of the creeks. The water temperature has risen to the low 70’s. Call Big Fish On Guide Service at 404 561 2564 to schedule a guided fishing trip on Lake Lanier.

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

Crappie fishing is good to excellent during the month of May. Most of the crappie we are targeting are still on docks with structure at about twenty to twenty five feet deep, but some have moved to stand alone submerged brush piles at similar depths. Those close to a creek or in the backs of creeks on deeper docks seem to be producing best, as well as docks in channels. Because community docks are often in deeper water, they will be good targets, too, but you may have to spend time locating the fish. The crappie are willing to bite, and are doing so aggressively. If you don’t get a bite in the first few casts, move to a new area. If you have Lowrance down scan and side scan this could and will make it easier by locating the fish on the screen. Initially your bite is a little deeper but once you get the school chasing your bait you will notice them moving more shallow and sometimes this will create a feeding frenzy. The key to putting a lot of fish in the boat is to be willing to move from one dock and brush pile on to the next. We usually pre plan our trip ahead of time so that we have an idea of which docks and brush piles to hit first. Some tend to do better earlier in the day, and some do better later in the day. If you notice bait around your fishing spots, that is a big advantage. Always use four pound test line. Our favorite continues to be the high visibility line because it allows you to see the line jump or move when a fish hits. Jig colors still do not matter much this time of year as the fish are feeding well. May is one of our favorite months of the year for fishing. We have witnessed the end of the spawn of the crappie followed by the spotted bass spawn.

Saturday, May 27, 2017 2pm at Bass Pro Shops in Lawrenceville, learn BASICS OF ELECTRONICS BY LOWRANCE PRO STAFF, KEN STURDIVANT

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.

The 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

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

For the Lowrance Gen3 & Carbon units on the boat using Software version 4.5 – aka NOS 56 (this includes StructureScan 3D & SonarHub)
When first updated, the units will be in Legacy Mode.
Once everything on the boat has been updated to 4.5, to get the units out of Legacy Mode, you need to go to each unit and: Press the Pages Button Select Settings Select Sonar Press Restore Sonar Defaults (Will light up blue, but no type or progress bar will show on screen) Power down the entire boat (graphs and all) for 1 minute. Power everything back up and you should be good to go. When you set the front graph to This Unit for its sonar source, it should not change, even if Network Sonar is turned on.